Term 2 - Lesson 3 - Friday 20th January

From next week, this lesson will be given over to your final projects. Think about what you would want to be achieving in these lessons.


Today:
Extended Chords

Here are the main types of 7ths (you should remember this from last year):

Here is a massive, thorough account of chords, including 9ths, 11ths and 13ths.

Term 2. Lesson 2 - Friday 13th January

This is a brilliant introduction to temperament.


Here are some of the ratios and exact frequencies.

Term 2 - Lesson 1, Friday 6th January

Using Logic Score editor

Make sure no regions are selected. Press cmd 5. Then go to view: page view.

In the arrangement window, make sure regions start together and are all glued together.

Make sure instrument is set to the correct "style" (which can be found in the top left corner). eg. "piano" for a keyboard.

To edit the pitch or duration of a note, use the piano roll, not the score editor.

Text (title etc.), dynamics, key signatures, can be found in the "part box" on the left hand side and are put in by dragging and dropping.

pdf is made by going to file - print - pdf etc.

Transposing Instruments (from last year)

Basically, some instruments are not written at the pitch they actually sound!

For example, the Clarinet in B flat (which is the most common type of clarinet). If you play a C on a Clarinet in B flat, you will hear a B flat. In other words, it will sound a tone lower than it is written at.



Here are some of the common transposing instruments.

Here's an excellent wikipedia entry on transposing instruments.



This "Music Teacher" with, like, "Three Degrees" doesn't understand why we have transposing instruments:



Fortunately, "Mr Audio" does.

Lesson 10 - 2nd December 2016

String Arranging

Here is a handout explaining some stuff about string instruments. 

Here is an example of a bad string quartet. 



Woodwind:
Here are the ranges (written and sounding) of the woodwind instruments.

Here is some information about transposing instruments (again.)

Lesson 9 - 25th November 2016

Recognising intervals aurally:

Here are some resources, many of which you'll have seen last year.






The song helps us to recognise how intervals sound.


Lots of brilliant things here. (Do look at this: it is a stunning resource)

Test yourself on recognising intervals aurally: (when you are regularly getting most of them right, move onto the next one)

Major and Perfect Intervals only.

Major, Perfect and Minor intervals PLUS the tritone (augmented 4th / diminished 5th)

Lesson 8 - Friday 18th November

Some examples of modal music:

Dorian Mode:

  

Phrygian Mode:



Lydian Mode:



Mixolydian Mode:




If you want to practise sightsinging, this page is the place to go. It has countless exercises, you can specify the intervals and key signatures that you want your exercises to include and it has midi files of the exercises so you can check how you did.


Below are some sheets of sightsinging exercises:
A selection of sightsinging exercises of varying difficulty
A load of exercises, including minor and modal melodies.

Lesson 7 - Friday 11th November

Part of the content of these lessons will be decided by YOU.

Let me know what areas of music theory, aural and general musicianship you would like to learn more about. Be as specific as possible.

When you start getting auditions and interviews for Higher Education, you will be told about various things that you need to do. If any of these things worry you, let me know and I will cover it in these lessons.

Use the contact form on the right of this blog to tell me about anything else you would like to cover.


Here are what you said you would like to look at:

Group 1:

Group 2:

Modes

This handout gives you the info you need on modes.


There are some other ways of remembering modes:

Mixolydian is Major with a flattened 7th.

Aeolian is Natural Minor.

Dorian is Major with flattened 3rd and 7th.

Lydian is Major with sharpened 4th.


OR


Mixolydian (TTSTTST)
Aeolian (TSTTSTT)
Dorian (TSTTTST)
Lydian (TTTSTTS)

Make sure that by next week you can play:
C Aeolian
C Dorian
C Mixolydian
C Lydian
G Aeolian
G Dorian
G Mixolydian
G Lydian