The Building Blocks of Harmony Flashcards
(57 cards)
What is a polyphonic instrument?
Name an instrument that isn’t polyphonic.
An instrument able to play more than one note at a time, like a piano and guitar.
Brass, woodwinds, and the human voice are monophonic.
How many keys do most pianos have?
88 keys
Electronic keyboards can have as few as 12 keys.
What is an octave?
An interval or distance between two notes where the pitch of the second note is either double or half the frequency of the first note
For example, doubling the frequency raises the note an octave higher.
Define
Frequency
The number of times per second a sound wave oscillates, usually notes in hertz (Hz) or cycles per second.
What is the frequency of the note A 440?
440 Hertz
A 440 is considered the standard pitch, or “concert pitch” for tuning instruments.
How many notes are there within an octave on the piano?
12 notes
This includes seven white notes and five black notes.
How many octaves does a typical piano have?
Seven octaves plus additional notes to total 88 keys
This allows for a wide range of pitches.
What is the first C note on the piano referred to as?
C1
Each note in that octave is accompanied by a one until reaching the next C.
How many A notes are across the seven octaves of a piano?
There are eight A notes across the seven octaves of a piano.
What effect does choosing the right octave for a note have in songwriting?
It can significantly affect the overall sound and feel of the song
This applies to basslines, lead parts, and vocal melodies.
What is the lowest A on the piano known as?
A0
Each note within that octave is accompanied by a zero until you reach the first C note
How many notes are in an octave? Name them.
12 notes in an octave. C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and B.
Define
Enharmonic naming
Altnerative note names where the pitch is the same, but the notes are named differently depending on its context.
What are the enharmonic names of the black keys?
- C-sharp or D-flat
- D-sharp or E-flat
- F-sharp or G-flat
- G-sharp or A-flat
- A-sharp or B-flat
Enharmonic naming depends on the context of the music.
Define
Equal temperament
A musical tuning system where an octave is divided into 12 equal steps or semitones.
We perceive each pair of adjacent tones as equidistant from each other.
What are the seven white keys of the piano named?
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
After G, the sequence starts over again with A.
What do the five black keys on a piano represent?
Modifications to the white keys, referred to as accidental keys.
Each black key is either higher (sharp #) or lower (flat b) in pitch than its white key neighbor.
Define
Half step or semitone
The interval between two adjacent notes in a 12-tone Western scale
This is the smallest musical distance or interval used in Western music, and the building block of the chromatic scale.
Define
Chromatic Scale
The 12 consecutive notes that make up an octave.
The chromatic scale is the same on both piano and guitar.
What is the difference between a half step and a whole step?
A whole step is made up of two half steps
The half step is the smallest interval used in Western music.
True or False: G-sharp and A-flat refer to different pitches.
False
They refer to the same pitch but are notated differently.
Define
Musical scale
A series of notes ordered by pitch, either ascending or descending.
Scales can be made up of combinations of half steps and whole steps.
What are the two ways scales are referred to?
By the number of different pitches (e.g., pentatonic, heptatonic) or according to the intervals they contain.
Define
Pentatonic scale
A five-note scale, containing five pitches.
