Download Paul E. Shoremount, Band Director Telephone: (540) 338-0800

Paul E. Shoremount, Band Director
Telephone: (540) 338-0800
38174 West Colonial Highway
Hamilton, VA 20158
http://cmsweb1.loudoun.k12.va.us/509_5052135310/site/default.asp
Band Exam Review
A Staff is made up of five horizontal lines and four spaces.
A staff is divided into small sections called Measures by vertical lines called Bar Lines.
Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet (A B C D E F G).
A Clef is a musical symbol placed at the beginning of the staff that determines the letter
names of the lines and spaces. The two main clefs are the treble and the bass:
A grand staff is a combination of both the treble and bass clefs connected by a vertical
line on the left side of the staves (plural staffs).
Ledger Lines are an extension of the staff. They are additional lines both above and
below which are parallel to the staff. Each ledger line contains one note.
Note Values
Each note has a specific duration.
Meter
Meter is the regular recurring pattern of strong and weak beats of equal duration; also known as
time. The meter or time signature in a musical composition is indicated by a fraction, and located
at the beginning of a piece of music. The lower number of the fraction tells what kind of note
receives one beat. The upper number tells how many beats are in a measure.
Accelerando - tempo gradually gets faster
Accidental - symbols such as sharps or flats and naturals that raise or lower a pitch.
Adagio - slow speed (not too slow)
Allegro - fast tempo / speed
Allegretto – moderately fast
Andante - play the music at a moderately slow speed.
Bar Line - a vertical line on the staff to separate measures in a composition.
Bass Clef - The sign at the beginning of the staff, indicating which notes are represented by
which lines and spaces. Lines in the Bass Clef - The lines are G-B-D-F-A. Count the lines (1-5)
from the bottom of the staff to the top.
Spaces in the Bass Clef - The spaces are A-C-E-G. Count the spaces (1-4) from the bottom of the
staff to the top.
Beam - a straight line connecting two or more notes such as eighth and sixteenth notes.
Beat - a musical pulse or unit of time / the steady pulse of music.
Chord - a combination of three or more notes sounding at the same time / multiple notes
sounding simultaneously (Ex. A C Major chord may consist of the notes C-E-G.)
Clef - a symbol placed at the beginning of the staff to indicate names of lines and spaces.
Conductor - the director of a group of musicians.
Crescendo - gradually get louder
Da Capo ( D.C.) – from the beginning
Dal Segno ( D.S.) – from the sign
Decrescendo or Diminuendo - gradually get softer
Dot - a small symbol placed to the right of a note that increases the duration of the note by one
half.
Dynamics - symbols that indicate a change in volume of a song. (The students played the music
louder and softer, as indicated by the dynamics written on the music.)
Enharmonic - Two notes that sound the same but are spelled differently.
Fermata - a pause in the music, indicated by this sign.
Flat - a symbol written to the left of a note that lowers the pitch by a half step.
Forte - loud. (The percussion section saw the forte mark on their music and played the music
with a booming sound.)
Half Step - the distance between one key and the next adjacent white or black key on a
keyboard. The smallest distance between two notes.
Instrument Positions – rest, attention & playing.
Interval - The distance from one note to the very next note, either above or below the original
note, is one half step. A whole step is the distance of two half steps aprt from the original note.
All scales are made up of a series of half and whole steps. The formula for any major scale is ww-h-w-w-w-h.
Largo - slow and stately
Ledger Line - a small line written above or below the staff to extend the range of notation.
Legato - playing notes in a smooth, connected manner.
Major Scales for melodic instruments and Rudiments for percussion instruments are
fundamental to build flexibility and technique. There are 12 basic major scales.
March - A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in
origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band.
Most all marches are performed in 2/2 2/4 or cut time.
Measure - the space between one bar line and the next.
Mezzo – half or moderately
Moderato - medium tempo / speed
Mutes - A mute is a device fitted to a musical instrument to alter the sound produced: by
affecting the timbre, reducing the volume, or most commonly both.
Musical Phrase – is similar to a sentence in speech, a complete musical thought. It is important
to breath in the proper place, to make the phrase sound connected.
Piano - soft
Octave - the interval between two adjacent notes of the same name.
Piano - softly
Piu Mosso – quicker
Presto - very fast tempo or speed
Rallentando – gradually slower
Repeat Sign - a sign that indicates a section of music to be played again.
Rest - a symbol used to indicate silence in music.
Rudiments - a rudiment is one of the basic patterns used in rudimental drumming. These
patterns of drum strokes can be combined in many ways to create music. There are 26 basic
rudiments.
Scale - The intervals between the notes of a major scale are as follows: Whole step, Whole step,
half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step or (WWhWWWh)
C Major Scale- no sharps or flats
The distance from the first note to the last note is an octave. There are 8 notes from C to C
Sforzando – strongly accented with cresendo
Sharp - a symbol written to the left of a note that raises the pitch by a half step.
Slur - a curved line connecting two or more different notes, indicating to play the music
smoothly.
Sostenuto – sustained and prolonged
Staccato - a dot over or under notes that indicate playing the music short and detached.
Staff - horizontal lines on which notes are written. The musical staff has five lines and four
spaces.
Tacet – silent
Tempo – rate of speed
Time Signatures – include 4/4 or common time for the vast majority of works, ¾ for waltz’s,
2/4 of cut time for marches, 6/8 for a triplet in two feel, and numerous multiple odd meters.
Treble Clef - The sign at the beginning of the staff, indicating which notes are represented by
which lines and spaces. Lines in the Treble Clef - The lines are E-G-B-D-F. Count the lines (15) from the bottom of the staff to the top. Spaces in the Treble Clef - The spaces are F-A-C-E.
Count the spaces (1-4) from the bottom of the staff to the top.
Tutti – all instruments or all instruments within a section
Vivace – fast and spirited
The Four Families
The Strings
All of the string instruments are concert pitch, or non transposing instruments. They do however
use a wide variety of clefs
Violin
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Most common orchestral instrument.
The smallest out of all the strings
Highest pitched.
Plays in treble clef
Viola
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Slightly larger than the violin
Deeper pitch in comparison to violin
"Middle register" of the string family.
Plays in “C” clef
Cello
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Still bigger than the violin and viola.
Beautiful, mellow sound.
The cello rests on the floor
Plays in Bass clef, C clef, and Treble clef
Bass
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Biggest instrument in the string section.
Plays the wide assortment of music (Classical to Broadway to Jazz)
Plays in Bass clef
The Woodwinds
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows
air 1. against a sharp edge, or 2. through a reed, causing the air within its resonator (usually a
column of air) to vibrate. Most of these instruments are made of wood, but can be made of other
materials, such as metals or plastics.
Flute
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Made of metal
Bright tones
Plays concert pitch (C)
Piccolo
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Smaller relative of the flute.
Same notes and fingerings
Much smaller than flute and has a
higher pitch.
Clarinet
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Single reed instrument.
Plays a wide range of music
(classical to jazz)
It also has a very large range of notes
Transposing instrument (can be Bb
Eb, A)
Oboe
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Double reed instrument
Widely used in classical
compositions.
Non transposing
Saxophone
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Single reed instrument.
Sounds mellow or strong.
Although it is made of brass, it is not
part of the Brass Family.
Plays a wide variety of music (popclassical)
Transposing (Eb, Bb)
Bassoon
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Double reed instrument.
Plays very low notes
Backbone of the orchestra.
The Brass Family
All brass instruments have one characteristic in common, being the cupped mouthpiece.
French Horn
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Played with the right hand inside the bell.
Transposing instrument (F).
Trumpet
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High brassy notes.
Mutes can make the
trumpet sound completely
different.
Great jazz instrument
Transposing (Bb)
Tuba
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Lowest instrument in the whole brass
section.
Used in marches and other compositions
Keeps good strong beat.
Non transposing.
Trombone
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Slide. No valves to alter
pitch
Non transposing
The Percussion
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement,
shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. Rudiments
are the basics of drumming and are as essential for a player to know as a scale.
Cymbals
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Produce a crashing sound.
Snare Drum
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Used for rolls
Adds accents to music.
Timpani
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Commonly used in rolls.
Can be tuned to a certain note.
Deep sound. Has only one head.
Bass Drum
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Used to keep a pulse in music.
Extensively used in marches.
Whole Note
Four beats equal one whole note.
Half Note
Two half notes make a whole.
Quarter Note
Two quarter notes make a half note
Four quarter notes make a whole note
Eighth Note
Two eighth notes = 1 quarter note
Sixteenth Note
Two sixteenth notes make one eighth.
Whole Rest
Half Rest
Worth 4 beats, like the Whole Note
Worth 2 beats, like the half note
Quarter Rest
Worth one beat, like the quarter note
Eighth Rest
Worth half a beat, like 1 eighth note
Sixteenth Rest
Worth a half an eighth rest.
Counting note values in common time.
The quarter notes would be "1, 2, 3, 4".
The eighth notes would be "ands": "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and".
The sixteenth notes are in between: "1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a 3-e-and-a 4-e-and-a." (1-ee-and-uh 2ee-and-uh)