band exam review

Musical Terms

Articulation

Legato - smooth and connected

Marcato - marked with emphasis

Staccato - light and separated

Dynamics

Crescendo (cresc.) - gradually get louder

Decrescendo - gradually get softer

Diminuendo - gradually get softer

Fortepiano (Fp) - loud then suddenly soft

Fortissimo (ff) - very loud

Mezzo Forte (mf) - medium loud

Mezzo Piano (mp) - medium soft

Pianissimo (pp) - very soft

Piano (p) - soft

Form

Cadence - arrival point in a phrase or in music

D.S. al Fine - Del Segno al Fine, repeat to the sign, play to fine. Final, end

Da Capo - From the top

Introduction - Beginning of a piece

Phrase - A musical idea or sentence

Solo - A moment where one person plays

Harmony / Counterpoint

Chord - Three or more notes sounding together

Enharmonic - Same pitch spelled differently

Root Position - Chord with scale degree 1 as lowest note.

Meter

Anacrusis - a pick-up note

Common Time - same as 4/4 time

Complex Meter - an asymmetric meter (uneven groupings.

Cut Time - Alla brev. (2/2) Music sounds twice as fast as it looks

Hemiola - polyrhythm of 2 against 3

Mixed Meter - Music that goes between meters often

Subdivision - smallest division of the beat

Time Signature - tells pulse value and how many for each measure.

Notation / Terminology

A tempo - First tempo of the piece

Accelerando - gradually speed up

Allegro - fast

Andante - walking pace

Dolce - sweetly

Embouchure - the shape of the face you use to play

Espressivo - expressively

Largo - slow, beats are large

Maestoso - majestic

Presto - very fast

Subito - sudden

Tacet - Silent, don't play.

Theory

Flats + sharps

Flats: BEADGCF

Sharps: FCGDAEB

How do you identify a key signature?

  • For flats: Second to last flat (go into the sharps if there is 1 or 0 flats)
  • For sharps: Half step up from the last sharp

Time signature

Top number: # of beats

Bottom number: which note gets the beat

Musical Symbols

Sharp - raises a half step \n Flat - lowers a half step \n double sharp - raises two half steps (or a whole step) marked as an X \n double flat - lowers two half steps (or a whole step) \n natural - cancels out any existing sharp or flat in a measure or key signature.

enharmonic tones - same note, different spelling (ex: Bb and A#)

Music History + Marching Band (The Letter B)

Music Sources

Contest Show

Movement I: Bach's 2-Part Invention in D Minor sourced from Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat

Band, and Flight of the Bumblebee, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Movement II: Hungarian Dances, Brahms and Run the World (Girls), Beyonce

Movement III: Let it Be, The Beatles

Movement IV: Only God Knows Why, The Beachboys and Ode to Joy, Beethoven

]]Overall arching storyline: a light-hearted look at all things B.]]

Spirit Show

Movement I: National Emblem Trio, Eugene Bagley

Movement II: Eye of the Panther (Tiger), Survivor

Movement III: Back in Black, AC/ DC

Final Set: East Fight Song, sourced from "The Victors" University of Michigan Fight Song

Production Staff

**Program Coordinator:**Reid Atkinson \n **Guard:**Wesley Tyree \n **Music:**Drew Shanefield (Crossmen, Cavaliers, Cadets) and Bret Kuhn (Percussion Instructor in Illinois, The Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment) \n **Drill:**Jeremy Seneca (The Cavaliers, Santa Clara Vanguard) \n Music and Visual Instruction: John Brennan, Ryan Albert, Megan Pickle, Wesley Tyree, Jeremy Seneca (The Ferocious Five)

Band Knowledge

How do you set up a row of chairs?

  • Divide the room down the middle
    • Odd: place the chair in the center, with an even number pushed out in both directions.
    • Even: place a gap in the center, and even a number of chairs push out in both directions.

Score Order

Piccolo \n Flute \n Oboe \n Clarinet \n Bass Clarinet \n Bassoon \n Alto Saxophone \n Tenor Saxophone \n Bari Saxophone \n Trumpet \n French Horn \n Trombone \n Euphonium \n Tuba \n Mallet Percussion \n Timpani \n Snare Drum \n Bass Drum

Bonus

Albert’s dog: Simon

Pickle’s dog: Pebbles

Seneca’s favorite band: AC/DC, tool?

Animal in Brennan’s yard: ??

Last strain in sousa march: A/C

Paul McCartney songs: the beatles, yellow submarine, let it be, here comes the sun?