Download Middle School WorkBook

MIDDLE SCHOOL
WORKBOOK
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Student Responsibilities for Balance, Blend, and Intonation
3 Steps to Balance, Blend, and Intonation……..
To immediately improve tone quality of your band, respond to the following steps:
1. If you hear yourself above all others in the section or band….YOU ARE OVERBLOWING or
OVERPOWERING. Make the necessary adjustment in volume. This initiates an auditory response to
BALANCE.
2. If you still hear yourself and you have made a volume adjustment…YOU ARE PLAYING WITH POOR
TONE QUALITY. Adjust your embouchure, breath support, and posture. This physical reaction initiates
an auditory response to BLEND. Poor tone quality will not BLEND with your section or band.
3. If you still hear yourself and you made the adjustments with BALANCE and BLEND…YOU ARE
PLAYING OUT OF TUNE. Adjust the length of your instrument. If you are SHARP you need to make
the instrument longer by pulling your mouthpiece or tuning slide out making the instrument longer. If
you are FLAT you need to make the instrument shorter by pushing your mouthpiece or tuning slide in
making the instrument shorter.
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IF YOU CAN SAY IT…..
YOU CAN PLAY IT!!!
THE KEYS TO MASTERING THE CIRCLES OF 4ths:
THE KEYS TO MASTERING YOUR SCALES:
STEP 1…..Introducing the Process
Recite Circle of 4ths
Recitation tempo = 60 bpm
1. Clockwise motion
C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-Cb-E-A-D-G-C
2. Vary Starting Letter
Ab-Db-Gb-Cb-E-A-D-G-C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab
(Be sure to use the enharmonic note also: C#, F#, B
IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN A STEADY TEMPO/PULSE WITHOURT
HESITATION OR REPEATING LETTERS
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Lisk E. (1991). The Creative Director. Alternative Rehearsal Techniques. Pg 16. MEREDITH MUSIC PUBLICATIONS
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SCALE MASTERY
THE KEYS TO MASTERING YOUR SCALES:
STEP 1…..Introducing the Process
Recite Musical Alphabet
3.
4.
5.
6.
Recitation tempo = 60 bpm
Ascending
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-etc.
Ascend & Descend
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-G-F-E-D-C-B-A
Vary Starting Letter
D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-C-B-A-G-F-E-D
Recite with accidentals
D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D-C#-B-A-G-F#-E-D
(D Major Scale)
IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN A STEADY TEMPO/PULSE WITHOUT
HESITATION OR REPEATING LETTERS
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STEP 2…..Applying the process with instrument
PROCESS
AWARENESS LEVEL
Recite Pitch Names
(Ascend & Desend)
Mental
Recite & Dictate
(Fingering Instrument)
Mental - Physical
Mental Dictation
(Internal dictation while Playing)
Mental – Physical - Auditory
Dictate-Play-Read
(Internal dictation while playing and
reading Musical notation)
Mental – Physical
Auditory - Visual
Lisk E. (1991). The Creative Director. Alternative Rehearsal Techniques. Pg 16. MEREDITH MUSIC PUBLICATIONS
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MAJOR SCALES
In music theory, the major scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an
eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher.
The simplest major scale is C major (figure 1), the only major scale not to require sharps or flats on the musical
staff and consequently uses only the white keys on the piano keyboard:
C major scale.
When writing out major (and minor) scales, no line or space on the stave can be skipped, and no note can be
repeated with a different accidental. This has the effect of forcing the key signature to feature just sharps or just
flats; ordinary major scales never include both.
In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti (or Si) (and Do)."
The major scale is the same as the Ionian mode.
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Constructing major scales
To construct any major scale, start with your chosen note (which can be a white or black key on a piano) for
the root or starting note; this will be your tonic. Then move up in pitch two notes (counting each white and
each black key as one note). This is referred to as a whole step, and will be the second note of the scale, or the
supertonic. Move up again two notes, this is the third note of the scale, or the mediant. Next move up one
note, this will be the fourth note of the scale, or the subdominant. Move up again two notes, this will be the
fifth note of the scale, or the dominant. Move up again two notes for the sixth note or submediant of the
scale, up again two notes for the seventh note or leading tone of the scale, and finally up one note for the
eighth note or octave (which is the same as the tonic). This is commonly shown as:
1
W
2
W
3
H
4
W
5
W
6
W
7
H
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Above, W means "whole step" or "whole tone", which is simply moving up two notes; and H means "half step" or "semitone", which
is simply moving up one note. These "steps" in the order shown are how you construct every major scale in western music. The C
major scale has no sharps or flats. If you look at a keyboard, you can see that the distance from C to D is two notes, if you count the
black key in between them. The distance from D to E is two notes, also counting the black note between them. Then from E to F is
only up one note. Therefore, if you wanted to construct the D major scale, you would start by moving up from D to E (two notes,
whole step) and then from E to F# (again two notes, whole step) and then from F# to G (one note, half step) just exactly the way you
did in the C major scale; two whole steps, then a half step. This would be followed by three more whole steps and a half step to
complete the D major scale. You use these steps for every major scale: W - W - H - W - W - W - H
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RUDIMENTS
Percussions Key to Mastery
Included in this section is a list of rudiments for percussion that are required for middle school students. On the Vic
Firth website, http://www.vicfirth.com/education/rudiments.html, you can find all 40 of The Percussive Arts
Society's Essential Snare Drum Rudiments, along with videos of each rudiment being performed by Dr. John
Wooton, audio play-along files, exercises that apply the rudiment to "real world" musical phrases and practice
suggestions from the Vic Firth Education Team. To get started, grab your sticks and a practice pad and select a
rudiment from one of the rudimental families below!
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
The rudiment in each of the midi files below start at the slowest tempo marked and is played at a consistent
tempo for 4 measures. The tempo is then moved up 4 beats per minute and the rudiment is repeated eventually ending at the fastest tempo notated for the level.
BRONZE
m.m. = 50-60
SILVER
GOLD
PLATINUM
DIAMOND
m.m. = 65-75 m.m. = 80-95 m.m. = 100-115 m.m. = 120-135
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The Single Stroke Roll
The Single Stroke Four
Single Stroke Seven
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Multiple Bounce Roll
Double Stroke Roll
The Five Stroke Roll
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Seven Stroke Roll
The Flam
Flam Accent
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The Flam Tap
Flamacue
Flam Paradiddle
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Single Paradiddle
Double Paradiddle
Single Drag Tap
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Double Drag Tap
Single Ratamacue
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ATRICULATION
Articulation - The articulation is what happens in between the notes. The attack - the beginning of a note - and
the amount of space in between the notes are particularly important.
Staccato
Staccato notes are short, with plenty of space between them. Please note that this doesn't mean that the
tempo or rhythm goes any faster. The tempo and rhythm are not affected by articulations; the staccato notes
sound shorter than written only because of the extra space between them.
Staccato
Figure 1
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Legato
Legato is the opposite of staccato. The notes are very connected; there is no space between the notes at all.
There is, however, still some sort of articulation that causes a slight but definite break between the notes (for
example, the violin player's bow changes direction, the guitar player plucks the string again, or the wind player
uses the tongue to interrupt the stream of air).
Legato
Figure 2
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Accents
An accent requires that a note stand out more than the unaccented notes around it. Accents are usually
performed by making the accented note, or the beginning of the accented note, louder than the rest of the
music. Although this is mostly a quick change in dynamics, it usually affects the articulation of the note, too.
The extra loudness of the note often requires a stronger, more definite attack at the beginning of the accented
note, and it is emphasized by putting some space before and after the accented notes. The effect of a lot of
accented notes in a row may sound marcato.
Accents
Figure 3:
 The performance of an accent depends on the style of music, but in general,
sforzando and fortepiano accents involve a loud beginning to a longer note. They
are usually heavier and longer than caret-type accents, which often rely more on a
powerful attack to make a short note louder than the notes around it.
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Slur
A slur is marked by a curved line joining any number of notes. When notes are slurred, only the first note
under each slur marking has a definite articulation at the beginning. The rest of the notes are so seamlessly
connected that there is no break between the notes. A good example of slurring occurs when a vocalist sings
more than one note on the same syllable of text.
Slur
Figure 4
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Tie
A tie looks like a slur, but it is between two notes that are the same pitch. A tie is not really an articulation
marking. It is included here because it looks like one, which can cause confusion for beginners. When notes are
tied together, they are played as if they are one single note that is the length of all the notes that are tied
together.
Slurs & Ties
Figure 5:
 A slur marking indicates no articulation - no break in the sound - between notes
of different pitches. A tie is used between two notes of the same pitch. Since there
is no articulation between them, they sound like a single note. The tied quarters
here would sound exactly like a half note crossing the bar line. Like a note that
crosses bar lines, the two-and-a-half-beat "note" in the fourth bar would be
difficult to write without using a tie.
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SIGHT SINGING
Sight-singing” simply means singing a piece of written music - at first sight - without the aid of any other
instrument. It’s a special skill that both singers and instrumentalists can develop, by training with one of several
sight-singing techniques. We will be using Zoltan Kodaly's method of sight singing called Solfege. We will also
be learning movable Doh. Because the note represented by doh changes according to the major scale being
used (doh is “C” in C major, but “E” in E major). Since most music is made using scales, Solfege has obvious
advantages. The student of Solfege learns how to hear (and then, of course, sing) the relationships between the
notes of the scale and these are the same relationships that build our melodies, chords and counterpoint.
Solfege trains the ear and mind in the actual ways of music.
The following pages will discuss the different syllables used for Solfege and show the different hand signs to
visualize the notes and pitches. Remember…”If you can sing it, you can play it”.
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CHROMATIC SOLFEGE SYLLABLES:
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SOLFEGE HAND SIGNS:
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SIGHT READING
Sight reading is the reading and performing of a work, typically, a piece of music, but sometimes also linguistic
texts like drama, without having seen it before. The ability of a student to sight read is assessed by presenting
the student with a short piece of music, with an allotted time to peruse the music, then testing the student on
the accuracy of the performance. A harder kind of test requires the student to perform without any
preparation at all.
Sight reading is essential in a muscian skill bag. Before reading a given melody, make these general
preparations, all of which refer to all sight reading situations.
1. Look at the key signature. What key does it indicate? On what line or space is the tonic of the
key? Does the melody begin on the tonic tone, or on some other pitch? Play the tonic note, but
no other, immediately before singing.
2. Scan the melody for passages in scale-line movement and then for intervals particularly those
presented through-out the piece.
3. Observe phrase marks. The end of a phrase mark usually indicates a cadence, that is, a temporary
pause or a final stopping place, much the way commas and periods indicate pauses in language
reading. Look ahead to the late note under each phrase mark so that you know where you are
heading.
4. Continue the use of the conductor’s beat together with the tapping of the beat divisions. Sing to
the end of the example without stopping, no matter how many mistakes you make. Then go
back, review the melody, practice the rough spots, and sing the entire melody again.
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DYNAMICS
Sounds, including music, can be barely audible, or loud enough to hurt your ears, or anywhere in between.
When they want to talk about the loudness of a sound, scientists and engineers talk about amplitude.
Musicians talk about dynamics. The amplitude of a sound is a particular number, usually measured in decibels,
but dynamics are relative; an orchestra playing fortissimo is going to be much louder than a single violin
playing fortissimo. The exact interpretation of each dynamic marking in a piece of music depends on:





comparison with other dynamics in that piece
the typical dynamic range for that instrument or ensemble
the abilities of the performer(s)
the traditions of the musical genre being performed
the acoustics of the performance space
Traditionally, dynamic markings are based on Italian words, although there is nothing wrong with simply
writing things like "quietly" or "louder" in the music. Forte means loud and piano means soft. The instrument
commonly called the "piano" by the way, was originally called a "pianoforte" because it could play dynamics,
unlike earlier popular keyboard instruments like the harpsichord.
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DYNAMIC MARKS
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TEMPO MARKS
Tempo means time in Italian. The expression found at the top left corner of the musical staff indicates how fast the music should
be played. The expression could be a word or a metronome marking.
Italian Terms
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
adagio:
very slow.
allegretto:
fairly quick, slightly slower than allegro.
allegro:
lively, rather quick.
andante:
rather slow, at a moderate, walking pace.
andantino: this used to mean a little slower than andante, but now it usually means a little faster than andante. rather
slow, at a moderate, walking pace.
6. con moto:
with movement, or a certain quickness.
7. grave:
extremely slow and solemn.
8. largamente: broadly.
9. larghetto:
less slow than largo.
10. largo:
slow and broad.
11. lentamente: slowly.
12. lento:
slow.
13. moderato:
moderate pace.
14. prestissimo: as quick as possible.
15. presto:
very quick.
16. rapido:
rapid.
17. veloce:
with velocity.
18. vivace:
quick and lively.
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HISTORY
Tempo markings had been used since the early Baroque period, particularly with instrumental music. Not all
instrumental music at that time had a tempo mark. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) often left out tempo
marks in his keyboard music which was left to the discretion of the performer. The time of a piece was often
determined by its purpose. Dance music was played at a certain tempo, depending on its style, so as to be
danceable. Likewise, choral music had a certain tempo reflecting the mood of the text. Tempo markings
became necessary to the point that Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) provided metronome markings
instead of descriptive words.
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MUSIC VOCABULARY
1. Staff – is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces, on which note symbols are placed to indicate their pitch
2. Beat – is a pulse on the beat level, the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic unit. Thus a beat is the basic time
unit of a piece
3. Rhythm – A group of Long Short and Silent sounds
4. Musical alphabet – A B C D E F G.
5. Accidentals – is a musical notation symbol used to raise or lower the pitch of a note from that indicated by the key
signature
6. Sharp – means raise the pitch by half step #
7. Flat – Means lower the pitch by half step b
8. Natural –Returns a sharp or flat note to its original sound, the sharp and flat are then negated.
9. D.S al Coda – D.S. al Coda means to repeat from the Coda sign. Once you reach the coda sign, skip to the next coda sign,
and play the coda section.
10. Da Capo (D.C.) – is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning, often abbreviated D.C.
11. Enharmonic – Same pitch Spelled differently
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12. Whole note and rest – is a note represented by a hollow oval note head, like a half note (or minim), and no note stem. Its
length is typically equal to four beats in 4/4 time. Whole rest is When an entire measure is devoid of notes, a semibreve
(whole) rest is used, regardless of the actual time signature
13. Half note and rest – is a note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a
quarter note (or crotchet). In time signatures with a denominator of 4, such as 4/4 or 3/4 time, the half note is two beats
long. The half rest is 2 beats long in a 4/4 measure.
14. Quarter note and rest – is a note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are
notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The quarter rest is ¼ of the 4/4 measure.
15. Eighth note and rest – is a musical note played for one eighth the duration of a whole note, hence the name. The eigth
rest is held for 1/8 of the whole note.
16. Sixteenth note and rest – is a note played for one sixteenth the duration of a whole note, hence the name. The rest is held
for a 16th of the whole note.
17. Tie – is a curved line connecting the heads of two notes of the same pitch, indicating that they are to be played as a single
note with a duration equal to the sum of the individual notes' note values.
18. Dot – is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration.
19. Simple meter – is a time signature or meter in which each beat (or rather, portion, 1/2 or 1/3 of a measure) is divided into
two parts, as opposed to three which is compound meter.
20.Compound meter – is a time signature or meter in which each measure is divided into three or more parts, or two uneven
parts (as opposed to two even parts, called simple metre), calling for the measures to be played with principal and
subordinate metric accents (the latter called subaccents), causing the sensation of beats.
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21. Syncopation - is a stress on a normally unstressed beat, or a missing beat where a stressed one would normally be
expected.
22. Duple Meter - is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed "beats", If each measure is
divided into two beats, it is duple meter
23. Triple Meter - is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple)
or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3/4 and 9/8 being the most common examples.
24. Key Signature - is a series of sharp symbols or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be
consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes (for example, the white notes on a
piano keyboard) unless otherwise altered with an accidental.
25. Time Signature – is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each
measure and what note value constitutes one beat. Time signatures indicate meter, but do not necessarily determine it;
the composer is free to write in a different meter than that indicated by the signature, so long as the music contains the
correct number of beats.
26. Major Scale – W – W – H – W – W – W – H
27. Circle of 4ths – Beginners Row – C – F – Bb – Eb – Ab ---------E – A – D – G
28. Key – is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a
certain key, such as in the key of C or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in
the key of A minor or in the key of B-flat major, and so on.
29. Chromatic Scale – is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone or half step apart
30. Major triad – is any chord which has a major third above its root, as opposed to a minor chord which has a minor third.
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31. Phrase – is a section of music that is relatively self contained and coherent over a medium time scale.
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