SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

SPACING, MOTION, AND DOUBLING PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

SPACING, MOTION, AND DOUBLING PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS)

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES Here’s one way: if we take the pitches of C major, but emphasize a different note, we can have a different scale. The minor key that shares C major’s pitches is A minor. This relationship is called relative. C major and A minor are relative keys. Another way is this: If we transpose A minor to start on C (like we did to make D major

from C

PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical

CLASSICAL CADENCES

Classical Cadences. Cadence – a two-chord harmonic gesture that ends a phrase of music. Classical-period composers spend a lot of time setting up, stating, confirming, and avoiding cadences. Multiple recent theories of classical form focus on cadences to define the

SEVENTH CHORDS

Seventh chords in inversions are always complete. Most importantly, the seventh of the chord resolves down by step as soon as possible. (In certain circumstances, you may have to wait a chord, but it usually is directly to the next chord.) This is tonal tension and release at one of its most basic levels, and is amazingly effective

when followed.

FIRST INVERSION TRIADS First inversion triads are where the creativity comes into part writing. There are fewer guidelines for how these work. You can usually double whatever you want, except for the leading tone.And they help you write longer phrases, more varied progressions, and melodic

bass lines.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES Basic Part Writing Principles and Style Guidelines. Part Writing is an example of strict composition. By strict, I mean that we are composing music with exact standards and stylistic expectations. This allows us to zero in on a few specific musical traits and really work on learning their possible applications.

SECONDARY DOMINANTS

Secondary Dominants. Here’s a reduction of the beginning of Beethoven’s First Symphony in C major. Notice that even though I said this music is in C major, two chords don’t make sense in our key. The first chord is a C dominant seventh chord with a B flat. And the fifth chord is a PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID Parallel 5ths and 8ves. When we write parallel P5s and P8s, two voices that were independent suddenly fuse to sound like one thing. We want to keep all of our voices independent. Parallel 5ths – In the same voice pair, a harmonic P5 is followed by another P5. (the melodic intervals do not affect this.) If either of these intervals is a °5 TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS Seventh Chords. Seventh chords have roots, thirds, and fifths. They add a fourth pitch called the seventh. There are five standard seventh chords. Secondary names are in parantheses. Major (major-major): Major triad + M7. Dominant (major-minor): Major triad + m7. Minor (minor-minor): Minor triad + m7. Half Diminished (diminished-minor

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES

WORKS | DAVID KULMA

An opera for television and YouTube. by Trystero (words by David Kulma and music by Dorian Wallace) Directed by John Sanborn. Nychthemeron (2014) 1458′ A twenty-four hour meditation by Trystero (with Dorian Wallace) Living Room (2014) 70′ An album by Trystero (with Dorian Wallace) ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS Memorizing Roman Numerals. Please memorize the roman numerals, correct qualities, diatonic pitches (solfege), and inversion symbols for all of these chords in major and minor. You will spend a huge amount of your theory coursework analyzing music with these symbols. The sooner you know them, the better. I cannot overstate this point. FORM IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC 1:42. “Since my baby left me”. “Although its always crowded”. “Now the bellhops tears keep flowing”. “Well if your baby leaves you”. Instrumental: guitar then piano solo. “Although its always crowded”. In the history of music and song forms, strophic form is very common in earlier music, but becomes less common in NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

INTERVALS | DAVID KULMA Coumpound interval – octave or bigger. If we add 7 to any simple interval, we get its compound equivalent (2nd plus an octave = 9th). Here are the next octave of interval sizes and their simple equivalents. Note a double octave is a 15th. We will often reduce compound intervals to their simple equivalents, such as calling a 10th

a 3rd.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES Basic Part Writing Principles and Style Guidelines. Part Writing is an example of strict composition. By strict, I mean that we are composing music with exact standards and stylistic expectations. This allows us to zero in on a few specific musical traits and really work on learning their possible applications.

CLASSICAL CADENCES

Classical Cadences. Cadence – a two-chord harmonic gesture that ends a phrase of music. Classical-period composers spend a lot of time setting up, stating, confirming, and avoiding cadences. Multiple recent theories of classical form focus on cadences to define the SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) You have found a major or minor triad in second inversion. Then look at the bass line including the two chords surrounding the six-four chord. Then you have three options: The three bass notes are the same: Neighbor. The three bass notes follow two rising or falling steps:

Passing. You have a

TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS Seventh Chords. Seventh chords have roots, thirds, and fifths. They add a fourth pitch called the seventh. There are five standard seventh chords. Secondary names are in parantheses. Major (major-major): Major triad + M7. Dominant (major-minor): Major triad + m7. Minor (minor-minor): Minor triad + m7. Half Diminished (diminished-minor BASICS OF CLASSICAL HARMONIC SYNTAX Three Main Harmonic Tendencies. Common-practice composers tend to write chord progressions in a certain direction. They prefer root movement by descending 5th, descending 3rd, and ascending 2nd. They often mix these in a single phrase. The three other possibilities do exist in this music (ascending 5th, ascending 3rd, and descending

2nd), but

SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical SPACING, MOTION, AND DOUBLING NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical SPACING, MOTION, AND DOUBLING NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES Here’s one way: if we take the pitches of C major, but emphasize a different note, we can have a different scale. The minor key that shares C major’s pitches is A minor. This relationship is called relative. C major and A minor are relative keys. Another way is this: If we transpose A minor to start on C (like we did to make D major

from C

INTERVALS | DAVID KULMA Coumpound interval – octave or bigger. If we add 7 to any simple interval, we get its compound equivalent (2nd plus an octave = 9th). Here are the next octave of interval sizes and their simple equivalents. Note a double octave is a 15th. We will often reduce compound intervals to their simple equivalents, such as calling a 10th

a 3rd.

SEVENTH CHORDS

Seventh chords in inversions are always complete. Most importantly, the seventh of the chord resolves down by step as soon as possible. (In certain circumstances, you may have to wait a chord, but it usually is directly to the next chord.) This is tonal tension and release at one of its most basic levels, and is amazingly effective

when followed.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES Basic Part Writing Principles and Style Guidelines. Part Writing is an example of strict composition. By strict, I mean that we are composing music with exact standards and stylistic expectations. This allows us to zero in on a few specific musical traits and really work on learning their possible applications.

SECONDARY DOMINANTS

Secondary Dominants. Here’s a reduction of the beginning of Beethoven’s First Symphony in C major. Notice that even though I said this music is in C major, two chords don’t make sense in our key. The first chord is a C dominant seventh chord with a B flat. And the fifth chord is a PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID Parallel 5ths and 8ves. When we write parallel P5s and P8s, two voices that were independent suddenly fuse to sound like one thing. We want to keep all of our voices independent. Parallel 5ths – In the same voice pair, a harmonic P5 is followed by another P5. (the melodic intervals do not affect this.) If either of these intervals is a °5 TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS Seventh Chords. Seventh chords have roots, thirds, and fifths. They add a fourth pitch called the seventh. There are five standard seventh chords. Secondary names are in parantheses. Major (major-major): Major triad + M7. Dominant (major-minor): Major triad + m7. Minor (minor-minor): Minor triad + m7. Half Diminished (diminished-minor SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES Here’s one way: if we take the pitches of C major, but emphasize a different note, we can have a different scale. The minor key that shares C major’s pitches is A minor. This relationship is called relative. C major and A minor are relative keys. Another way is this: If we transpose A minor to start on C (like we did to make D major

from C

ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

INTERVALS | DAVID KULMA Coumpound interval – octave or bigger. If we add 7 to any simple interval, we get its compound equivalent (2nd plus an octave = 9th). Here are the next octave of interval sizes and their simple equivalents. Note a double octave is a 15th. We will often reduce compound intervals to their simple equivalents, such as calling a 10th

a 3rd.

BASIC PART WRITING PRINCIPLES AND STYLE GUIDELINES Basic Part Writing Principles and Style Guidelines. Part Writing is an example of strict composition. By strict, I mean that we are composing music with exact standards and stylistic expectations. This allows us to zero in on a few specific musical traits and really work on learning their possible applications.

SECONDARY DOMINANTS

Secondary Dominants. Here’s a reduction of the beginning of Beethoven’s First Symphony in C major. Notice that even though I said this music is in C major, two chords don’t make sense in our key. The first chord is a C dominant seventh chord with a B flat. And the fifth chord is a PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID Parallel 5ths and 8ves. When we write parallel P5s and P8s, two voices that were independent suddenly fuse to sound like one thing. We want to keep all of our voices independent. Parallel 5ths – In the same voice pair, a harmonic P5 is followed by another P5. (the melodic intervals do not affect this.) If either of these intervals is a °5 TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS Seventh Chords. Seventh chords have roots, thirds, and fifths. They add a fourth pitch called the seventh. There are five standard seventh chords. Secondary names are in parantheses. Major (major-major): Major triad + M7. Dominant (major-minor): Major triad + m7. Minor (minor-minor): Minor triad + m7. Half Diminished (diminished-minor

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

DAVID KULMA

David Kulma. Home. I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public

music nerd.

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. SOLFEGE AND SCALE DEGREES A second system of note labels is scale degree numbers. These number are pretty easy to figure out and use, and I will use these terms interchangably with solfege to talk about specific notes in a key. Note the caret above each number. This caret tells us we are talking specifically about scale degrees. To say these numbers out loud, we

can say

HARMONY IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC Harmony in Rock and Popular Music. You may be familiar with the word harmony to describe the music usually sung by backup singers in songs. But for music theorists, and other classically trained musicians, harmony is a more general term. It describes how musical pitches are grouped together, usually into chords, and then how these chords are PITCH-CLASS INTEGERS Integer – A whole number. Not a fraction. Pitch – A specific note in a specific octave. Pitch Class – A specific note, but can be in any octave. When you get to Theory IV you will spend a lot of time talking about pitches and notes as numbers instead of letter names and accidentals. This is because for about 100 years, the musical NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS

HARMONIC FUNCTION

SECOND INVERSION TRIADS (SIX-FOUR CHORDS) ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

WORKS | DAVID KULMA

An opera for television and YouTube. by Trystero (words by David Kulma and music by Dorian Wallace) Directed by John Sanborn. Nychthemeron (2014) 1458′ A twenty-four hour meditation by Trystero (with Dorian Wallace) Living Room (2014) 70′ An album by Trystero (with Dorian Wallace)

MUSIC THEORY

Flippin’ Theory! A supplemental webtext for the flipped music theory classroom. by David Kulma. FORM IN ROCK AND POPULAR MUSIC 1:42. “Since my baby left me”. “Although its always crowded”. “Now the bellhops tears keep flowing”. “Well if your baby leaves you”. Instrumental: guitar then piano solo. “Although its always crowded”. In the history of music and song forms, strophic form is very common in earlier music, but becomes less common in NONCHORD TONES (NCTS) Nonchord Tones (NCTs) As you’ve probably noticed by now, not every note in the music we see fits in the chords we plop Roman numerals under. Luckily, these nonchord tones happen in regularly recurring ways and we have names for them. When we see a nonchord tone as we analyze, we circle the notehead, and then write the abbreviation for

what

PITCH COLLECTIONS, SCALES, AND KEY SIGNATURES Here’s one way: if we take the pitches of C major, but emphasize a different note, we can have a different scale. The minor key that shares C major’s pitches is A minor. This relationship is called relative. C major and A minor are relative keys. Another way is this: If we transpose A minor to start on C (like we did to make D major

from C

ROMAN NUMERALS AND INVERSION SYMBOLS Memorizing Roman Numerals. Please memorize the roman numerals, correct qualities, diatonic pitches (solfege), and inversion symbols for all of these chords in major and minor. You will spend a huge amount of your theory coursework analyzing music with these symbols. The sooner you know them, the better. I cannot overstate this point. ROOT POSITION TRIADS: THREE BASIC MOVEMENTS When we part write, we have three basic ways to connect root position triads to each other. Root Movement by 5th. Root Movement by 3rd. Root Movement by 2nd. These three root movements each follow a pattern no matter what diatonic triads we connect with them: I, ii, iii, iv, V,

and vi.

BASICS OF CLASSICAL HARMONIC SYNTAX Three Main Harmonic Tendencies. Common-practice composers tend to write chord progressions in a certain direction. They prefer root movement by descending 5th, descending 3rd, and ascending 2nd. They often mix these in a single phrase. The three other possibilities do exist in this music (ascending 5th, ascending 3rd, and descending

2nd), but

PARALLELS AND MORE: THINGS TO AVOID Parallel 5ths and 8ves. When we write parallel P5s and P8s, two voices that were independent suddenly fuse to sound like one thing. We want to keep all of our voices independent. Parallel 5ths – In the same voice pair, a harmonic P5 is followed by another P5. (the melodic intervals do not affect this.) If either of these intervals is a °5 TRIADS AND SEVENTH CHORDS Seventh Chords. Seventh chords have roots, thirds, and fifths. They add a fourth pitch called the seventh. There are five standard seventh chords. Secondary names are in parantheses. Major (major-major): Major triad + M7. Dominant (major-minor): Major triad + m7. Minor (minor-minor): Minor triad + m7. Half Diminished (diminished-minor

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I compose, teach, talk about, and write about music. I also make YouTube videos. In other words, I’m a public music nerd.

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