Essentials of Music Theory: Elementary

by Carl E. Gardner

ESSENTIALS OF MUSIC THEORY

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CHAPTER I.

RHYTHM.

Sound is the effect produced by propagated atmospheric waves which affect the sense of hearing. Irregular impulses, propagated through the air, produce noise. Regular impulses produce musical tone.

The duration of tone is indicated by symbols called notes. Following is a list of notes:—

or	Double whole note or Breve.
	Whole note or Semibreve.
	Half note or Minim.
	Quarter note or Crotchet.
	Eighth note or Quaver.
	Sixteenth note or Semiquaver.
	Thirty-second note or Demisemiquaver.

Occasionally the sixty-fourth note

is used. Following is a table of the relative value of notes:—

The breve or double whole note is not given in this table as it is but seldom used. The value of it is twice the whole note, four times the half, etc.

The whole note is represented by an open oval; the half, by an open oval and stem; the quarter, by a closed head and stem; the eighth note is the same as the quarter with a flag; the sixteenth, the same with two flags; the thirty-second, the same with three flags. As is seen in the table, the eighth, sixteenth and thirty-second notes are often grouped when more than one occurs in succession.

Suspension of tone is indicated by symbols called rests. Each note has its equivalent rest. Following is a list of rests:—

	Double whole rest.
	Whole rest.
	Half rest.
	Quarter rest.
	Eighth rest.
	Sixteenth rest.
	Thirty-second rest.

The rate of vibration is called pitch. Rapid vibrations produce "high" (shrill) tones. Slow vibrations produce "low" tones. More complete information on sound, tone and pitch is given later under the heading "Acoustics."

The notes are written on the staff which consists of five horizontal lines together with their spaces. The duration of a tone is determined by the note used; the pitch, by the note's position on the staff.

A dot placed after a note or rest adds one half its value. A "tie" is a curved line connecting two notes of the same pitch. Examples of dots and ties:—

equals

or 1 + 12.

equals

or 12 + 14.

equals

or 14 + 18.
etc., etc.

A double dot adds one half and one fourth its value, thus:—

equals

or 1 + 12 + 14.

equals

or 12 + 14 + 18.

equals

or 14 + 18 + 116.
etc., etc.

Bars are lines drawn vertically across the staff dividing music into measures. The contents of the measure is determined by the fraction at the beginning. The denominator of the fraction shows the kind of notes, and the numerator, the number of that kind contained in a measure. Each measure must contain the number and kind of notes or rests designated by the fraction, or their equivalents.

Artificial groups are groups of notes played and summed in other than their fractional value. The most common artificial groups are the triplet and sextuplet. A triplet is a group of three notes played in the time and summed in the value of two of its own kind. A sextuplet is a group of six notes played in the time and summed in the value of four of its own kind. A group of five notes is played in the time and summed in the value of four of its own kind. A group of seven notes is played in the time and summed in the value of six of its own kind. Occasionally a group of two notes occurs. This group differs from other artificial groups inasmuch as it is played more slowly than the tempo notes. A group of two notes is played in the time and summed in the value of three of its own kind. Artificial groups are designated by a curved line over or under the notes with a figure showing the kind of group, thus:—

triplet

sextuplet

group of two notes

In "counting" music, it is customary to give as many counts to each measure as the numerator of the fraction indicates. Each of these counts is called a pulse. Pulses should occur regularly unless otherwise marked. Irregularities in the occurrence of pulses are marked in various ways. The ritardando, the hold (

), and the accelerando are the principal marks of irregularities. The ritardando (abbreviated ritard. or rit.) means to lessen the speed, the accelerando (abbreviated accel.) to quicken the speed, and the hold (

) to hold the note, over or under which it is placed, as long as musical taste dictates.

This occurrence of pulses is called rhythm. The most common rhythms are 44 or

, 34, 24, 68, 38, 48, 98, 128, and 22 or

also called alla breve. Other rhythms not so common are 64, 84, 14, 28, 12, 62, 32, 42, 316, and less often 11, 54, 58 and 516, etc.

On the first pulse of all kinds of rhythm is a primary accent called thesis. Secondary accents, called arsis, occur in 44 on the third count and in 68 on the fourth count. These natural accents give a "swing" to the music. They can only be displaced or overshadowed by artificial accents which are designated in various ways. The most common artificial accents are the forzando (designated thus: >, ^, or fz), meaning a sudden strong accent to the note or chord over or under which it is placed; the rinforzando (which is not quite so marked as the forzando); the staccato (designated by a dot placed over or under the note or chord) which makes the note thus indicated short and crisp, and the syncopation, which is a form of rhythm displacing the natural accent by the note's entrance on an unaccented part of the measure and its sustentation through the pulse.

The rapidity of the occurrence of pulses is called tempo, which is indicated at the beginning of a movement by Italian words usually, the most common of which are as follows:—

Grave, slow and solemn (the slowest tempo).

Largo, slow, a trifle faster than Grave.

Larghetto, a trifle faster than Largo.

Adagio, a trifle faster than Larghetto.

Lento, slow.

Andante, moderately slow.

Andantino, translated literally means slower than Andante, but it is more often used incorrectly meaning faster than Andante.

Moderato, moderate; the mediate between fast and slow.

Allegretto, cheerful.

Allegro, quick.

Vivo, quick.

Presto, very quick.

To many of the above words is added the ending issimo which gives the word to which it is added its superlative degree. Other terms are oftentimes combined with the above words to characterize the movement. Every pupil should have a dictionary of musical terms for constant reference.

The majority of piano students have an absolute disregard for note values and tempo marks which are so important that the pupils fail to gain any good results from their study unless they understand and pay strict attention to these marks. The incompetency of so many teachers is somewhat responsible for this state of affairs, but the majority of piano studies and methods is more largely responsible. In second grade studies, there are many which, if written in a judicious manner, would be excellent second grade work, but when played as they are written and as their tempo mark demands require a virtuoso to execute them correctly. These studies have led pupils to playing allegro movements in largo tempo. At the end of a week's practice a moderato tempo may be the result. Continued enforced disregard can produce nothing but habitual disregard for tempo marks. The teacher should constantly remind the student of these facts and, in as far as possible, omit such studies as cannot be played a tempo. Many exercises may be rewritten in a playable manner by the teacher, who, by so doing, would not only impress the pupil with the importance of tempo marks, but would develop his ability to read from manuscript, an ability which, unfortunately, is almost universally lacking in pupils.