Grade 2 Music Theory Review

Leger Lines

When you draw leger lines they must be straight! Make sure that they do not slope up or down. They must be the same distance apart as the stave lines.

Time Signatures

Music with two beats in a bar is said to be in duple time. The beats can be minims (half notes), crochets (quarter notes), or quavers (eighth notes).

Music with three beats in a bar is always in triple time.

Music with four beats in a bar is always in quadruple time.

• What does the 2 in 3/2 mean?

  • Every beat is a half note.

• What does the 8 in 3/8 mean?

  • Every beat is an eighth note.

• Give the full meaning of 4/2.

  • Four half notes in a measure.

• What does cut time represent?

  • 2/2 time.

• Explain the difference between 4/4 and 2/2.

  • 4/4 means quadruple - 4 beats.

  • 2/2 means duple - 2 beats.

Major Keys of A, Bb, and Eb.

• A major has 3 sharps: F#, C#, and G#, and no flats.

• Bb major has no sharps and 2 flats: Bb and Eb.

• Eb major has no sharps and 3 flats: Bb, Eb, and Ab.

Triplets

• 3 quarter note triplets are played in the time of a half note.

• 3 eighth-note triplets are played in the time of a quarter note.

• 3 sixteenth-note triplets are played in the time of an eighth note.

• 3 half-note triplets are played in the time of a whole note.

Minor Keys of A, E, and D

Each major hey has one scale - the notes in that scale are the same whether they go up or down. Each minor key has two scales: the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale. The descending form of the melodic scale is different from the ascending form.

• A minor is related to C major which has no sharps and no flats. G# is raised in a harmonic scale and F# and G# are raised in a melodic scale ascending and descending, there are no sharps and no flat.

• E minor is related to G major which has 1 sharp: F# and no flats. D# is raised in a harmonic scale and C# and D# are raised in a melodic scale ascending and descending, only F# is raised.

• D minor is related to F major which has no sharps and 1 flat: Bb. C# is raised in a harmonic scale and B# and C# are raised in a melodic scale ascending and descending, only Bb is raised.

As in major scales, the first note of a minor scale is called the key-note, 1st degree or tonic. The tonic triad of a minor key consists of its key-note plus the 3rd and 5th degrees of the scale above it.

The terms harmonic and melodic refer only to scales, not to keys. For example, a piece of music may be in either ‘in the key of D minor’, or just in ‘D minor’, but you cannot say that it is either in the key of D harmonic minor or in the key of D melodic minor.

Grouping Notes and Rests

Simple uses of beams, ties, and dots were covered in Grade 1. Now these will be looked at with the new time signatures, 2/2, 3/2, 4/2, and 3/8.

The main points to remember when you put notes in groups are as follows:

• In time signatures with a minim (half-note) beat (2/2, 3/2, 4/2)

  • Always use a semibreve (whole note), not two tied minims (half notes) where possible.

  • Beam together a group of 4 quavers (eighth notes), which could be replaced by a minim (half note).

  • Similarly, beam together 4 semiquavers (16th notes), which could be replaced by a crotchet (quarter note).

• In 3/8, beam together quavers (eighth notes) and/or semiquavers (16th notes) that make a complete bar.

• Except in 3/8, do NOT beam together more than 4 semiquavers (16th notes.)

When you want to beam together notes written on a stave, a new problem can arise.

Here the stems of the first two notes go down, but the stem of the last note goes up. But when you beam notes together, all the stems in the group go either up or down — usually according to what suits most of them.

These are the main points to remember about the arrangement of rests:

• If you need to show a complete bar’s rest, you should write it like a hole.

• In quadruple time, use a two-beat rest if the first half of the bar is silent. The same applies to the second half.

• Where you need to use rests of less than a beat, group the notes and rests in half beats.

• Do not use more rests than needed.

• Groups of notes that can be beamed together can still be beamed together when a rest is used instead of a note.

Intervals

When you play two different notes - one higher note and one lower note - the distance in pitch between them is called an interval.

If you play one note first and then another after it, it is called a melodic interval.

If you play two notes together at the same time, it is called a harmonic interval.

The number of degrees is the number of the interval. In Grade 2, all the intervals will have the key-note as the lower note. Therefore, the number of the interval will always be the same as the degree of the scale on which the top note is placed.