AP Music Theory Unit 2: Music Fundamentals 2

Other Scales

  • pentatonic scale

    • five notes

  • hexatonic

    • six notes

    • every note separated by whole step

  • octatonic

    • eight notes

    • alternating between whole and half steps

  • chromatic

    • twelve notes

    • separated by half steps

Consonance and Dissonance

  • consonances are stable intervals

    • P8 P5

    • 3rds and 6ths

  • dissonances are unstable intervals that need to resolve

    • 2nds 7ths

    • all augmented and diminished

    • 4ths in certain cases

Harmonic Series and Timbre

Timbre: unique quality of a sound

  • when a note is played on an instruments, overtones will be heard above that note

    • fundamental pitch

  • basis of tonal music

  • different timbres are created when different overtones are emphasized

  • timbre can clarify form and function

    • doubling

      • two instruments on same line to strengthen it or create a composite color

    • register shifts

      • same instrument changes character across registers

        • clarinet typical example

    • contrast for form

      • new color can signal a new section

Practical Contributors to Listen For

  • spectrum / brightness

    • stronger higher overtones often sound brighter

  • envelope (attack / decay)

    • how quickly sound starts and fades

      • piano attack v bowed string sustain

  • noise components

    • breath noise

    • reed buzz

    • bow texture

    • stick attack

Instrument Families: Common Timbral Fingerprints

Strings (Bowed)

  • violins

  • violas

  • cellos

  • double basses

  • sustained tone w audible bow texture

  • wide expressive range

  • can play pizzicato (plucked) for percussive and short sound

  • viola darker sound than violin

  • bass lower and less agile than cello

Woodwinds

  • flue

    • airy

    • pure

    • strong breath component

  • oboe

    • penetrating

    • reedy

    • nasal

    • highly distinctive

  • clarinet

    • smooth

    • woody

    • round

    • very dark in low register

  • bassoon

    • reedy but hollow / wood

    • low and expressive

  • oboe is sharper and more nasal than rounder clarinet

Brass

  • trumpet

    • tend to be bright and direct

  • horn

    • tends to be mellower and blends easily

  • trombone

  • tuba

  • share buzzing mouthpiece w powerful resonance

Percussion

  • includes pitched and unpitched instruments

  • pitched percussion

    • timpani

    • marimba

    • xylophone

    • vibraphone

  • unpitched percussion

    • snare drum

    • cymbals

    • bass drum

  • often features strong attack and prominent material sound

    • metallic shimmer

    • drum snap

Voices: Ranges and Timbral Categories

  • soprano

    • highest female voice

  • alto

    • lower female voice

  • tenor

    • highest typical male voice

  • bass

    • lowest typical male voice

Texture

Monophony: one voice

Homophony: one melody + accompaniment

  • chordal homophony

    • chords

    • like chorales

Polyphony: multiple melodies at the same time

Heterophony: two voices play variations of the same melody

Triads

  • three note tertian harmony

  • harmonies built in thirds

  • Major triad

    • M3 between bottom and middle note and m3 between middle and top note

      • ex: F A C

    • from bottom to top is P5

    • consists of 1 3 5 notes of key of bottom note (root) of triad

  • minor triad

    • m3 between bottom and middle note and M3 between middle and top note

      • ex: F Ab C

    • from bottom to top is P5

    • consists of 1 3b 5 notes of key of bottom note (root) of triad

  • diminished triad

    • m3 between bottom and middle note and m3 between middle and top note

      • ex: F Ab Cb

    • from bottom to top is d5

    • consists of 1 3b 5b notes of key of bottom note (root) of triad

  • Augmented triad

    • M3 between bottom and middle note and M3 between middle adn top note

      • ex: F A C#

    • from bottom to top is A5

    • consists of 1 3 5# notes of key of bottom note (root) of triad

  • bottom note is root

  • middle note is 3rd

  • top note is 5th

Melody: Shape, Structure and Motivic Development

Melody: logical progression of pitches and rhythms

  • linear succession of notes that form recognizable unit

  • do not have to begin on downbeat

  • need movement and clear sense of direction to feel coherent

  • many strong melodies are contoured and contained in limited range

  • longer melodies rely on repetition, distinct form and construction from simple motifs and short phrases

Melodic Motion

Melodic Motion: describes how a melody moves from pitch to pitch

Conjunct Motion, mostly stepwise (seconds), usually smoother and more singable

Disjunct Motion: frequent skips, leap (3rds and larger) often more angular or dramatic

  • in tonal melodies, leaps outline important chord tones (tonic / dominant) while stepwise motion connects those structural tones w passing or neighboring motion

Contour, Range and Tessitura

  • melody’s contour is its overall shape (i.e. rising, falling, arching, zigzagging

Range: distance between highest and lowest notes

Tessitura: where the melody mostly sits within that range

  • in dictation tracking where melody peaks and where it “lives” helps notate accurately

    • in singing, tessitura matters more than the absolute high/low notes

Motives, Repetition, Variation and Sequence

Motive (motif): short, recognizable melodic and/or rhythmic idea that can be repeated and developed

  • sequence is where motive repeats at a different pitch level while preserving interval rls

  • can also use repetition and variation for coherence

  • not all repetition is sequence

    • sequence is specifically involving transposition to a new pitch level

Phrase Structure: Musical Punctuation

Phrase: musical unit that feels like a complete thought and often ends w a cadence

  • many tonal phrases are 2, 4 or 8 measures (not a rule tho)

Antecedent Phrase: “question,” often ending w a weaker cadence (commonly a half cadence)

Consequent Phase: “answer,” often ending w a stronger cadence (commonly an authentic cadence)

Motivic Transformation (Melodic and Rhythmic)

  • composers often transform motives to create unity w variety

Motivic Transformation Devices

  • fragmentation

    • using portion of a motif or larger idea

      • often repeated and/or carried

  • melodic sequence

    • repeating a motif starting on a different pitch

  • melodic inversion (inversion)

  • mirror inversion

    • inversions where inverted intervals are exact

      • chromatically precise

        • tritones

  • retrograde

    • playing melody backwards

  • retrograde inversion

    • playing pitches backwards and inverted

Rhythmic Transformation Devices

  • augmentation

    • pitches remain same but rhythms are equally lengthened

  • diminution

    • opposite of augmentation

    • note values are shortened

  • rhythmic displacement

    • keeping original rhythmic structure but shifting its placement to a different part of the measure

Exam Focus

Typical question patterns include listening for conjunct vs disjunct motion, repetition vs sequence, phrase endings/cadences, and minor-key raised 7 (and sometimes raised 6) in dictation and sight-singing. Common mistakes include ignoring phrase structure and trying to notate purely note-by-note, missing raised 7 at cadences (writing subtonic instead of leading tone), and relying on contour without securing the exact intervals required for AP scoring.

Texture: Types, Density and Textural Devices

Texture: describes how many musical layers are happening at once and how they relate; instead of counting instruments, listen for independent musical lines

Core Texture Types

Monophonic

  • single melodic line w no accompaniment

  • solo singer w/o accompaniment

  • multiple performers in unison / octaves can be treated as monophonic bc musical content is one line

Homophonic

  • primary melody supported by accompanying harmony

    • two subtypes

      • chordal homophony

        • voices move tg w exactly (or near exact) same rhythm in chordal blocks

      • melody w accompaniment

        • one clear melody w accompaniment patterns that may not match the melody’s rhythm

  • where chord progression and cadences are often easiest to hear

Polyphonic (counterpoint / Contrapuntal )

  • two or more independent melodic lines of roughly equal importance

    • imitative polyphony

      • lines resemble each other

      • entries may be staggered

      • e.g. Angel’s Tango and Devil’s Waltz

    • non imitative polyphony

      • lines show little or no resemblance

        • fugue

          • Baroque form where theme (subject) is introduced by one voice and then imitated by others in succession

  • countermelody is secondary melody written to be played simultaneously w more prominent melody

Heterophonic

  • one melody is performed simultaneously in multiple parts, but w different ornamentation or rhythmic variation

Other Terms and Devices

Ostinato: short, melodic, rhythmic or harmonic patter repeated throughout all or part of a composition

Alberti Bass: keyboard accompaniment figure (typical left hand) that breaks chords into an arpeggiated pattern

Walking Bass: bass line style creating regular quarter note movement, like steady walking

Ragtime: America style popular around turn of 20th century; often features characteristic syncopation and a texture that can sound like melody over accompaniment

Solo: single performer or passage for one performer

Soli: a passage for an entire section of an ensemble

Tutti: all members play

Density and Register Spacing

Density: how many layers / notes are sounding

Register Spacing: whether parts are close together or widely spaced

  • two homophonic passages can feel very different depending on thickness and spacing

Exam Focus

Typical question patterns include recognizing chromatic/whole-tone/pentatonic collections by their spacing (half steps, whole steps, no half steps) and using correct interval vocabulary (melodic vs harmonic, consonant vs dissonant, augmented vs diminished). Common mistakes include mixing up “quality” (major/minor/perfect) with “quantity” (2nd/3rd/6th, etc.) and forgetting that compound intervals relate to simple intervals by adding/subtracting 7.

Rhythm, Meter and Accent Concepts

Syncopation and Hemiola

Syncopation: rhythmic displacement of expected strong beats

  • created by dots, rests, ties, rhythmic placement, dynamics

Hemiola: special kind of syncopation where the beat is temporarily regrouped into twos

Accents and Articulation-Related Emphasis

Accents: markings indicating emphasis or stress

  • strong accent is called marcato

Agogic Accent: emphasis created by giving a note slightly more duration than its surroundings (performance-based emphasis rather than a single universal symbol)

Meter Types

Meter: organization of beats into regular groups

  • duple meter

    • two beats per measure

  • triple meter

    • three beats per measure

  • quadruple meter

    • four beats per measure

  • compound meter

    • beat divides into 3

      • felt as combo of duple and triple groupings

  • irregular meter

    • uneven beat groupings

Exam Focus

Typical question patterns include identifying syncopation and hemiola by ear, describing accent/articulation effects, and naming meter types. Common mistakes include confusing staccato (shortening) with accent (emphasis) and missing hemiola because the notation may still “look” like the original meter while the grouping temporarily shifts.

Typical question patterns include deciding major vs minor using key signature plus cadential/leading-tone cues, identifying where raised 7 (and possibly raised 6) occurs and explaining its function, and describing how texture and timbre clarify or obscure melody in listening excerpts. Common mistakes include declaring key from the key signature alone, treating any accidental as a modulation rather than a common minor alteration, and overlooking which voice is melodically primary in thicker textures.