Grade 3 Music Theory Review

Rhythm

The Demisemiquaver

• The demisemiquaver is one of the shortest time values used in musical notation. It has three tails, or three beams when it is part of a group.

• There are 8 demisemiquavers in a crotchet, so each demisemiquaver is worth an eighth of a crotchet beat, or half a semiquaver.

• Like quavers and semiquavers, demisemiquavers can be grouped together using beams. They can also be beamed with quavers and semiquavers, and with dotted quavers and semiquavers.

A semiquaver is equal to 2 demisemiquavers.

A minim is equal to 16 demisemiquavers.

A dotted crotchety is equal to 12 demisemiquavers.

Two quavers are equal to 8 demisemiquavers.

Three semiquavers are equal to 6 demisemiquavers.

Triplet Demisemiquavers

• Three triplet demisemiquavers are played in the same amount of time as two demisemiquavers or one semiquaver.

• Triplets may include notes and rests of different values.

• When triplet demisemiquavers are beamed into beats with other notes or rests, a bracket can be added to show which notes are part of the triplet.

Starting on an Upbeat

• Not all music starts on the first beat of the bar. Many melodies start on an upbeat - often the last beat of a bar. When this happens, the final bar of the melody is usually shortened so that the first and last bars make one whole bar when added together.

• If a melody in 4/4 starts on the fourth beat of the bar, the last bar will often only have three beats - the final beat has been ‘borrowed’ from the last bar and placed at the beginning.

• A melody in ¾ time that begins on the third beat will often have only two beats in its final bar, and so on.

Duple, Triple and Quadruple Time

• Time signatures may be described as duple, triple, or quadruple, depending on how many beats they have in a bar. This is shown by the top number of a time signature.

  • A duple time signature has two beats in a bar.

  • A triple time signature has three beats in a bar.

  • A quadruple time signature has four beats in a bar.

• Notice that the type of beat does not matter here - only the number of beats in a bar.

Grouping Notes and Rests

At Grade 2, we discovered how to group notes and rests to make the music as easy to read as possible. As the rhythms get more varied at Grade 3, the grouping of notes and rests is very important.

Here are a few key points to remember for the following exercises:

• Beams

  • Quavers, semiquavers, and demisemiquavers can be beamed together across one or more beats, but avoid beaming them across the middle of a bar (beats 2 - 3) in 4/4 time.

• Rests

  • Each whole bar, half bar, or whole bar of silence should have its own rest. For silences in the middle of a beat, use a new rest for each half-beat. Whole bars of silence should use a whole-bar rest.

• Ties

  • Avoid using ties where a single note can be written instead.

Simple and Compound Time

• All the time signatures we’ve met so far are examples of simple time. In simple time, each beat divides into two - a crotchety into two quavers, a quaver into two semiquavers, and so on.

• It’s time to meet some compound time signatures. In compound time, each beat is a dotted note that divides into three. At Grade 3, the compound time signatures all have a dotted-crotchet beat, which is divided into three quavers.

• The top number of the time signature tells us how many quavers (shown by the bottom number ‘8’) there are in a bar.

  • What is the time signature for four dotted-crotchet beats in a bar?

    • 12/8 time

  • How many quavers are there in a bar of 6/8 time?

    • 3

  • Give an example of a compound time signature.

    • 6/8 time

  • How many dotted-crotchet beats are there in a bar of 9/8 time?

    • 3

Grouping Notes and Rests in Compound Time

Notes in compound time are grouped to show the beats, just as they are in simple time, but there are a small number of extra things to remember:

• Beams

  • Notes are always beamed to make dotted-crotchet beats. Multiple beats are not beamed together.

• Ties

  • Ties are used to join notes that go across different beats, but NOT to join notes within a beat.

  • Exception: two full beats are written as a dotted minim.

• Rests

  • Rests in compound time follow the same rules as rests in simple time:" Don’t use more press than necessary, but give each new beat of silence a new rest.

  • Exceptions: In 12/8 time, use a dotted minim rest for the first two or last two beats of the bar, but NOT across the middle of the bar.

• Show silent bars with a whole-bar rest, whatever the time signature.

• If the first two quavers in a beat are silent, use a crotchety rest. If the second two are silent, use two quaver rests.

Compound Time: Duple, Triple, and Quadruple

We know that simple time signatures can be described as duple, triple, or quadruple, depending on whether they have two, three, or four beats in a bar. The same applies to compound time.

Pitch

Notes on Three Ledger Lines

• So far, we’ve met notes that use one or two ledger lines. Now we’re going to add a third.

• These notes may be sharpened or flattened by the addition of an accidental, or by a key signature.

Rewriting Notes One Octave Higher or Lower

So far, we have been rewriting notes at the same pitch in a different clef. In Grade 3, you also need to know about rewriting notes one octave higher or one octave lower, either in the same clef or in a different clef.

Rewriting a melody so that it sounds at a different pitch is called transposing or transposition.

Keys & Scales

Two New Major Keys

So far, we’ve explored major keys and scales that include up to 3 sharps or 3 flats. At Grade 3, you will meet keys and scales with up to 4 sharps or flats. The two new major keys and scales are E major (4 sharps) and Ab major (4 flats).

• All major scales have a semitone between the 3rd and 4th degrees and the 7th and 8th degrees.

• Major scales that include accidentals always have EITHER sharps or flats, never both.

Info on the scales:

• E Major: 4 sharps, F#, C#, G#, D#.

• Ab Major: 4 flats, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db

The Melodic Minor Scale

• In Grade 2, we explored the harmonic minor scale, in which the 7th degree of the scale is raised by a semitone.

• Let’s look at another type of minor scale the melodic minor scale. In this scale, the 6th and 7th degrees are raised by a semitone when the scale ascends, and lowered again when it descends.

• Like the harmonic minor, the melodic minor scale starts on the 6th degree of its relative major key.

New Minor Keys

• Every major key has a relative minor key that shares the same key signature.

• The tonic (key note) of a relative minor key is the 6th degree of its relative major - or you can count down three semitones from the tonic of the major key.

• A, E, and D are the relative minors of C, G, and F major respectively.

In Grade 3, we’ll explore the relative minor keys of all the major keys introduced in Grades 1-3.

Although these relative major and minor keys share the same key signatures, their scales start on different tonics (key notes), and they do not contain all the same notes. As we have seen, minor scales sometimes require additional accidentals to the 6th and 7th degrees.

The sharps or flats in a key signature are always written in the same position on the stave and in the same order.

Intervals

The Perfect Interval

• So far, we’ve learnt to number intervals by counting up the degrees of the scale from the lower note (the tonic) to the upper note.

• As well as giving them a number, we can also describe intervals as being major, minor, or perfect.

• The 4th, 5th, and 8ve are all perfect intervals because the notes are the same in major and minor keys.

• For instance, the 4th degree of the E major and Eminor is A: it is not raised or lowered in either the major or the minor scale. This means that the interval from the tonic (E) to the 4th degree (A) is a perfect 4th.

• Count up the degrees of the scale from the lower note until you reach the named interval.

Major and Minor Intervals

Other intervals above the tonic can be either major or minor.

Major intervals above the tonic contain notes from the major scale.

Minor intervals above the tonic contain notes found in the harmonic or melodic minor scale, but not in the major scale.

In minor intervals, the upper note is a semitone lower than in the major interval of the same number

• The intervals of a 6th and 7th may be major or minor in minor keys. This is because minor scales can be raised or lowered 6th and 7th degrees.

• The major 2nd is part of major and minor scales. The minor 2nd is not part of either scale until Grade 4.

Tonic Triads

Tonic Triads in Major and Minor Keys

• As we know, a tonic triad is a chord consisting of the 1st (tonic), the 3rd, and the 5th degrees of the scale.

• In this chapter, we’re going to meet the tonic triads of the new majors and minor keys.

• A we discovered, the interval of a 3rd above the tonic is minor in a minor key and major in a major key. It is this interval that makes the major triad and the minor triad sound different.

• At grade 3, tonic triads are written without key signatures, with the tonic as the lowest note.