Music Theory

  Lesson 32 February 18th, 2022 Lesson 32 Lecture notes: The Neapolitan six is when you take the second degree of a diatonic scale , whether major or minor , lower the root note , and put the said chord in the first inversion . I'll give an example using an F major scale with and without the Neapolitan Six . Without I ( F ,   A   , C ), ii ( G ,   Bb ,   D ), iii ( A ,   C ,   E ) IV ( Bb ,   D ,   F ), V ( C ,   E ,   G ), vi ( D ,   F ,   A ), viio ( E ,   G ,   Bb ), I ( F ,   A ,   C ). With   I ( F ,   A ,   C ), bII6 ( Gb ,   * Bb ,   Db ), iii ( A ,   C ,   E ) IV ( Bb ,   D ,   F ), V ( C ,   E ,   G ), vi ( D ,   F ,   A ), viio ( E ,   G ,   Bb ), I ( F ,   A ,   C ). Lowering the root note in the second-degree triad of the diatonic scale turns it from a diminished chord to a majo...

  Lesson 31 February 11th, 2022 Lesson 31 Lecture notes: Modal mixture is the use of mixing parallel major and minor modes . Composers use this technique to enrich their music with more expressive possibilities . Modal mixture is usually mainly applied to major keys . The modal mixture is achieved in major key signatures by borrowing the parallel minor's flat 3 , flat 6 , and flat 7 . As a result, mixture chords are also called " borrowed chords ." The major diatonic scale and natural minor diatonic scale can interchange chords to achieve a modal mixture . The degrees for the major scale include: I , ii , iii , IV , V , vi , viio , I . the degrees for the natural minor scale ( in this case parallel minor ) include: i , iio , bIII , iv , v , bVI , bVII , i . Minor keys do not offer as many colorful and insightful changes of mode as major keys , but they are commonplace in a chromatic bass line . Mixture chords often serve as a predominant fun...

  Lesson 30 February 4th, 2022 Lesson 30 Lecture notes: There are multiple types of variations , inclusive of the continuous variation , sectional variation , figural variation , chromatic variation , textural variation , and timbral variation . The continuous variation is the continuous flow of a musical idea and a Fortspinnung phrase structure. This variation type was widely used in the Baroque era of music. Fortspinnung is the development process of a specific musical motif . First, the motif in question is developed into a complete musical using sequences , intervallic changes , and simple repetitions . There are two different types of continuous variations . Ground bass or passacaglia and chaconne . The ground bass / passacaglia  is when there is a repeating bass line , and only the upper voices change or vary . In the chaconne , the harmonic progression is repeated and varied while the bass remains the same for several successive variations ,...

   Lesson 29 January 28th, 2022 Lesson 29 Lecture notes: Fugues are opening melodic ideas that become the theme of a song and are explored or variated as the song progresses.  Fugues are done in no less than two voices and can range up to five voices . A  subject is the opening melodic line or phrase in a fugue or invention . This opening line establishes the key / mood of a song and is imitated throughout the various voices in the music.  The point of imitation is when a melodic idea is played in one voice and then answered by another voice with the same idea . The point of imitation is an octave apart in an invention and is a fifth and octave apart in the first two points of a fugue . The subject of a fugue is followed by an answer or countersubject , which comes in two forms , namely real answers and tonal answers . They are usually transposed up a fifth or down a fourth . A real answer is a melodic idea that is an identical t...

  Lesson 28 January 22nd, 2022 Lesson 28 Lecture notes: The binary form is one of the most common forms used in music. It consists of two sections that are usually repeated . There are five types of binary forms , including simple binary , continuous binary , sectional binary , rounded binary , and composite binary . A quick way to tell if a song is in binary form is to look for repeat signs . A visual example of these symbols would be | |: :| | | |: :| | The simple binary form is when the second half or B section ends without returning to the beginning section of A . A visual example would be | |: A :| | |: B :| | . The sectional binary form is when the first section ( A ) of a song ends with a cadence ( PAC ) on the tonic of the primary key . This section can stand on its own due to being tonally complete . The continuous binary form is when the first section ( A ) ends with a cadence ( HC ) that is not on the tonic of the primary key . The rounded bin...