Cole CampBANDS
STUDENT RESOURCE BOOK
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Staff andClef Pg. 1
Note PlacementontheStaff Pg. 2
NoteRelationships Pg. 3
TimeSignatures Pg. 3
Ties andSlurs Pg. 4
DottedNotes Pg. 5
Counting Rhythms Pg. 6
Key Signatures Pg. 7
Enharmonics Pg. 8
Major andChromaticScales Pg. 9
Circleof Fourths andOrder of #/b Pg. 10
Intervals Pg. 11
Articulations Pg. 12
Phrasing Pg. 13
Proper PracticeTechniques Pg. 14
SoundWaves andTuning Pg. 15
EnsembleBalance Pg. 16
Balance,Blend, Intonation Pg. 17
ImportantTerms Pg. 18- 19
STAFF
Inmusic,the staffis thesetof 5lines and4spaces where notes andrests are placed.Itlooks likethefollowing:
5lines 4spaces
CLEFS
A clefis a symbol thatis placedonthestaff andittells us whatnotes areonour lines or spaces.
Therearetwo clefs thatwewill deal withinband:the TrebleClefandthe Bass
Clef.
The TrebleClefis also knownas theG Clef becauseitshows us the positionof G
onthestaff.
Flutes, Oboes, Clarinets,Saxophones,Trumpets,Horns,andPercussionread treble clef.
The BassClefis alsoknownas theF Clef becauseitshows us the positionof F on thestaff.
Bassoons,Trombones,Baritones/Euphoniums,Tubas,andPercussionreadbass clef.
NOTEPLACEMENTON THESTAFF
Thereare7letter names usedinmusic.(A,B, C,D,E,F,andG)Whengoing higher onthestaff,wego forwardinthealphabet.Whengoinglower onthe staff,wego backwards inthealphabet. Whengoinghigher andwereachG, we start backover withA andcontinue on. Whengoinglower andwereachA,we start backwithG andcontinueon.
F G A B C D E F
A B C D E F G A
LEDGERLINES
Ledgerlinesareadditional lines addedaboveor below thestaff to extendthe staff. Our note names continueto go alphabeticalupor down withtheledger lines. Below areexamples of reading notes onledger lines inbothclefs.
E D C B F G A B
G F E D A B C D
NOTERELATIONSHIPS
Thefollowingchartshowsthebreakdownofnotevalues.
Example:twohalfnotesequalonewholenote.
TIMESIGNATURES
Atime signaturetellsustwothings:
Thetop numbertellsus thenumberofbeatsin eachmeasure.
Thebottom numbertells ushow manycountsthewholenotegets.
2on bottom= 4on bottom= 8on bottom= = 2 = 4 = 8
= 1 = 2 = 4
= ½ = 1 =2
= ¼ =½ = 1
=1/8 =¼ = ½
TIES
A tieis a curvedlinethatattaches 2 or more notes oftheSAME pitch.Ties add notevalues together andareto beplayedas one unbrokennote.Multiple examples of counting tiednotes aregivenbelow (eachexampleis treatedas being inatimesignaturewitha 4onthebottom):
The half notereceives 2 beats. The quarter notereceives 1 beat.
2 beats for the half note+1 beat for thequarternote=3beats for thetiednotes.
The quarter notereceives 1 beat. Theeighthnotereceives ½ a beat.
1 beatfor thequarter note+½ a beat for theeighthnote=1½ beats for thetied
notes.
SLURS
A sluris a curvedlinethatattaches 2or more notes ofDIFFERENTpitch.The first note under aslur marking is to betonguedandallremaining notes shouldnot be tongued.
Tongued NotTongued
Tongued NotTongued
DOTTEDNOTES
A dotaddedafter anote changes thenote’s value.A dotalwaysADDSHALF OF WHATSBEFOREIT.Multipleexamples aregivenbelow (eachexampleistreated as being ina time signaturewitha 4onthe bottom):
The half notereceives 2 beats.
The dotADDS half of2to thenote.Half of2=1
2 beats for the half note+1 beat for thedot=3beats for the dottedhalf note.
The quarter notereceives 1 beat.
The dotADDS half of1to thenote.Half of1=½
1 beatfor thequarter note+½ a beat for the dot=1½ beats for the dotted quarter note.
Theeighthnotereceives ½ a beat.
The dotADDS half of½ to the note.Half of ½ =¼
½ a beatfor theeighthnote+¼of a beat for thedot=¾ of a beatfor the dotted
eighthnote.
DOUBLEDOTTED NOTES
What happens if we havea notefollowedby 2dots?Thefirst dotADDS half of the notevalueandtheseconddotADDS half of thevalueof thefirst dot.
Anexampleis givenbelow:
The half notereceives 2 beats.
Thefirst dotADDS half of 2to the note.Halfof 2=1
TheseconddotADDS half of thefirst dot.Halfof 1=½
2 beats for the half note+1 beat for thefirst dot+½ a beatfor theseconddot=
3½ beats for the double dottedhalf note.
COUNTINGRHYTHMS
Thefollowinggivesexamplesofhowtocountcommonrhythmpatterns
intimesignatureswitha4onthebottom.
TimeSignatureswitha4onthebottom:
1234 12 1 1 + 1 e + a
1 +a 1 e + 1e a 12 + 1 a
1 + 1 e 123
KEYSIGNATURES
A keysignatureis a setof sharps orflats atthebeginning of a pieceof musicthat tells us to play certainnotes as sharpor flatalltheway throughthepiece.The key signatureis derivedfromthesharps or flats presentinthemajor scale.
Keysignatures will nevercontainbothsharps andflats atthe same time!
Example#1:
Thefirstsetof examples below show theBbmajor scalewrittenwithouta key signature. Therearetwo notes inthescalethatareflat: Bb,Eb.
Thesecondsetof examples,show thescalewrittenusing a keysignature.Theflat notes inthescalehave now beenmovedover to thekey signature.
Intheaboveexamples,thesame notes areplayedflateachtime.
Key signatures arereadfromleftto right.Thesharps andflatsareALWAYS putin thesameorder.
The Order of Flats is:BEA DG CF The Order of Sharps is:FC G D A E B
ENHARMONICS
Whenwesharp(#)anote,wego higher onthekeyboard.(Example–Cto C#)
Whenweflat (b) a note,wego lower onthekeyboard.(Example–D to Db)
NoticethatbothC#andDbareonthesamekeyon thekeyboard.
Thesenotesarecalledenharmonic.
Enharmonicnotessoundthesameandarefingeredthesame,butarewrittendifferent.
Thereareseveralenharmonicnotesthatweseeonaregularbasis.You needto befamiliarwithalltheenharmonicnotestobeaproficient
musician.
Theenharmonicnotesareasfollows:
C#/Db
D#/Eb
E/Fb
E#/F
F#/Gb
G#/Ab
A#/Bb
B/Cb
B#/C
MAJOR and CHROMATICSCALES
Inmusic,ascaleisaseriesofascending(goingup)anddescending(goingdown)notes.
Therearemanytypesofscales.TheMajorScaleandthe ChromaticScaleareexplained below.
Amajorscaleisbasedonaspecificseriesof wholesteps(W)andhalfsteps(h).A
chromaticscaleismadeupentirelyofhalfsteps.
Awholestepconsistsoftwohalfsteps.Ahalfstepisthedistancebetweentwo adjacentkeysonakeyboard.
Example:
Thedistancebetween Thedistancebetweenthese thesetwokeysisahalfstep. twokeysisawholestep.
ThefollowingisanexampleofamajorscalestartingonC.Theplacementof whole steps(W)andhalfsteps(h)aremarked.
W W h W W W h
Thefollowingisanexampleofa chromaticscalestartingonC.Thescalecontainsonly halfsteps.
h h h h h h h
CIRCLEOFFOURTHS
ORDEROFFLATS
B E A D G C F
ORDEROFSHARPS
F C G D A E B
INTERVALS
Inmusic,theterm intervalrefers to the distance betweentwo notes. Eachinterval has a specificname.Thosenames areshownbelow andan explanationonhow wefindthe name.
Inorder to findaninterval name,we mustcountall letter names involved
betweenandincluding theletternames of the notesshown.
Unison
Involves 1 note name (both pitchesareC)
Second(2nd)
Involves 2 note names (2letternames–C,D)
Third(3rd)
Involves 3 note names (3letternames–C,D, E)
Fourth(4th)
Involves 4 note names (4letternames–C,D, E,F)
Fifth(5th)
Involves 5 note names (5letternames–C,D, E,F,G)
Sixth(6th)
Involves 6 note names (6letternames–C,D, E,F,G, A)
Seventh(7th)
Involves 7 note names (7letternames–C,D, E,F,G, A,B)
Octave(8th)
Involves 8 note names (8letternames–C,D, E,F,G, A,B,C)
We cancontinueto go higher by just continuing tocounttheletter names involvedineachinterval.
ARTICULATIONS
A clear understanding of articulations andhow theyare playedis very important to createa good, uniformedensemblesound.
Thefollowing chartshows articulationtypes,writtenrepresentations of the note, interpretedvalues of the note,visual representations of the notelength,anda descriptionof how eachshouldbeplayed.
Inthe columnforvisual lengthof the note,eachbox is representative of 1beat andthe shadedareais the lengththe noteshouldbe playedwithinthatbeat.
PHRASING
A phrase,inmusic,isa completemusical thought.Phrasesaretypically 4or 8 measures long (butmay be moreor less dependingonthemusic).
Lookatthefollowing musical selection(Twinkle,TwinkleLittleStar):
This selectioncanbebrokeninto 3 phrases,each4measures long.
Inorder for our phrasing to be correctandto producea complete musical thought,we mustbreathe ONLYattheendof thephraseor at breathmarks providedby thecomposer.
If we breatheininappropriate places,our performance becomes segmentedand choppy anddoes notmakesenseto theaudience.Tounderstandthis concept,
try singing Twinkle,Twinkleandtaking breaths atrandomspots inthe song.Then sing thesong again,breathing theendof eachphraseonly.
Breathing atappropriate places is only one partofmusical phrasing. We must also play throughthe phraseinamusicalway by emphasizing the highpoints, playing dynamics,articulations,etc.This conceptwill be coveredinmore detail as we performour musical selections.
PRACTICETECHNIQUESFORTECHNICALPATTERNS
Properpracticetechniquesare EXTREMELYimportanttoproperlyand quicklylearn music. First,weneed todefinewhatagood practicesession issupposedto encompass:
1. Warm-up–Long tones, breathing exercises,lip slurs,registerjumps,etc.(5minutes)
2. Scales–Practicescalesdailytoimproveotheraspectsofplaying.Workon accuracyand speed toimprovetechnical passages. (5minutes)
3. Music– Thisshould firstinclude musicthatisNOTeasytoplay.Pulloutthesections that need themostworkand focus on thoseitems.Then,forfun,playsomeof thethingsthatyou can alreadyplaybeforeputting yourinstrumentup.Spendmoretimeonthehardthingsthough!!!(15minutes)
4. Sight-read–Pickasongout ofthebook;find othersheetmusic,etc. and sight-read apiece you haveneverseen before.This will helpwith yourabilitytobe moreaccuratethefirst time you seeanew piece.
Nowthatwehavedefinedwhatagoodpracticeshould be,hereareafewtechniques thatyoucan use to makeyourpracticingmoreefficient.
1. When playing atechnicalpassagesuch as this:
a. Changetherhythm tolongernotevaluesto betterattain thefingering pattern:
b. Changetherhythm tothefollowing patternstoallowthefingersto restoncertain notes longertoallowformusclememoryto develop:
c. Thefollowing mayalsobedone(iftheaboveisnotattainableimmediately)toimprove tonguing and musclememory.
SOUNDWAVESANDTUNING
Everypitchthatweplayproducesasoundwave.
Eachhighandlowpointonthewaveisasinglevibration.Thenumberofvibrationsper seconddependsonthepitchthatweplayandinwhatoctaveweplaythatpitchin.
Ifweplaythefollowing:
Thepitchcreates440vibrationspersecond.
Asthepitchgetshigher,thevibrationsincrease.So,thesamepitchoneoctavehigher vibratestwiceasfast(880vibrationspersecond).
Asthepitchgetslower,thevibrationsdecrease.So,thesamepitchoneoctavelower thantheoriginalexamplevibratesathalfthespeed(220vibrationspersecond.)
Itispossibleto playeverypitchwiththenumberofvibrationsfasterorslowerthanthe desiredoutcome.Ifinstrumentsinthegroupareplayingpitcheswithdifferentnumbers ofvibrationspersecondthenthesoundwavesdonotlineup.
Whenthesoundwavesdonotlineupproperly,weareplaying“outoftune”.
Whenweareplaying“outof tune”,youwillhearbeats(pulsing)in thesoundbetween theinstruments.Wemustmakeadjustmentsto ourinstrumentsto lengthenorshorten itso thatthevibrationswillbebeginto lineupandwecanplay“intune”.
Playing“outof tune”isdispleasingto theearandshouldbefixedimmediatelyto allow foratopnotchperformance.Anaudiencedoesnotwantto listentoan“outof tune” band.Itislikelisteningto someonescrapetheirfingernailsdownachalkboard.
ENSEMBLEBALANCE
Inorder for a bandtosoundits best,wemust playwithproper balance.The following diagramshows us how weshouldbalancetheensemble.
Remember,theinstrumentor instruments playing themelodyareALWAYS the mostimportantandshouldbethe most prominent.After making surethe melody is heard,theensemble mustthenbe balancedas follows:
BALANCE,BLEND,andINTONATION
Ifyouhearyourselfoverthe entireensemble,thenoneor moreof thefollowingisthe problem:
1. BALANCE:
Ifyouhearyourselfaboveall othersinyoursectionor band,YOUare
OVERPOWERINGorOVERBLOWING.
Makeanadjustmenttovolumebyplayingsofter.Loseyourindividualidentity!
2. BLEND:
Ifyoustill hearyourselfandyoumadethevolumeadjustmentin #1,then
YOUarePLAYINGWITHPOORTONEQUALITY.
Makeanadjustmentwithyourembouchure,breathsupport,or posture. Poortonequalitywill notblendwithyoursectionor band.Loseyourindividualidentity!
3. INTONATION:
Ifyoustill hearyourselfandyoumadetheadjustmentsin#1and#2,then
YOUarePLAYINGOUTOFTUNE.
Adjustthelengthof yourinstrument.Applythe6stepbeatlesstuning procedurebelow.
1. As youplayConcertFwiththeband,listenforthe“beats”.Makean adjustmentwiththebarrel,mouthpiece,or slide.Didthebeatsspeeduporslowdown?
2. If the“beats”are faster,youmovedthebarrel,mouthpieceor slideinthe
wrongdirection.Moveitintheoppositedirection.
3. If the“beats”becameslower,youare makingthecorrectmove.Continue in this directionuntil all“beats”areeliminated.
4. Ifyoufindyourself“pinching”yourembouchuretoeliminate“beats”, yourinstrumentistoolong,itmustbe shortened.
5. Ifyoufindyourself“relaxing”yourembouchuretoeliminate“beats”,your instrumentis tooshort,itmustbelengthened.
6. Whenyouareplayingthesamepitch,withoutanyunnecessary embouchurepressureor relaxation,andyouare notabletoidentifyany “individualsound”inyoursection,theyou andyoursectionare perfectly
in tuneandplayingwithproperbalanceandblen.
COMMONMUSICALTERMS
1. 1st2ndEndings–Playthroughthe 1stendingthenplaytherepeatedsectionof music,skippingthe1stending andplayingthe2ndending.
2. Accent–Articulationthatmeanstoemphasizethenoteandplay¾ ofthewrittenvalue.
3. Accelerando– Graduallyquickenthetempo.
4. Accidental–Any sharp,flatornaturalsignwhichappearsinthemusicwithoutbeingin thekey signature.
5. Allegro-livelytempo.
6. Andante–Slow,walkingTempo
7. Articulation–Howwetongueornottonguea note.
8. Atempo–Returntotheoriginaltempo.
9. BarLines– verticallinesthatdividethestaff.
10. Beat–thepulseofmusic.
11. BreathMark– Takea deepbreaththroughyourmouth.
12. Clef–indicatesthepositionofnotenameson a musicstaff.(Treble,Bass,etc.)
13. Coda–closingsectionofa pieceofmusic.
14. Consonance–harmonious,pleasingtotheear.
15. Crescendo– Graduallygetlouder.
16. DaCapo(D.C.)–tothebeginning.
17. DalSegno(D.S.)–tothesign.
18. Decrescendo– Graduallygetsofter.
19. Diminuendo– Graduallygetsofter.
20. Dissonance–harsh,lackofharmony.Notpleasingtotheear.
21. Dot–Addshalfthevalueofthenotetoitself.
22. DoubleBar–indicatestheendofa pieceofmusic.
23. Duet–A composition(pieceofmusic)withtwodifferentpartsbeingplayedor sungatthesametime.
24. Dynamics–Tellushowloudor softtoplay.
25. Fermata–Holdthenoteorrestlongerthannormal.
26. Fine(fee-nay)–theend.
27. Flat-makesthenotesoundlowerandremainsin effectfortheentiremeasure.
28. Forte–playloud
29. Fortissimo–play veryloud
30. Harmony–twoormorenotesplayedtogether.Eachcombinationformsa chord.
31. KeySignature–tellsuswhichnotestoplayassharpor flatthroughouta pieceofmusic.
32. LedgerLines– shortlinesaboveandbelowthe staff.Theselinesextendthestaffso thatmorenotescanbe
playedthanjustthenoteson thestaff.
33. Legato–play smoothly.
34. Marcato–Articulationthatmeanstoemphasizethenoteandplay for½ thewrittenvalue.
35. Measure–thespacebetweentwobarlines.
36. Melody–themainthemeorideaofthepieceofmusic.
37. MezzoForte–playmediumloud.
38. MezzoPiano–playmediumsoft
39. Moderato–Moderatetempo
40. Natural-cancelsa flator sharpandremainsin effectfortheentiremeasure.
41. Pianissimo–play very soft
42. Piano–play soft
43. Pick-upNotes–Oneormorenotesthatcomebeforethefirstfullmeasure.ThebeatsofPick-upNotesare subtractedfromthelastmeasure.Mayalsobe calledan anacrusis.
44. Rallentando– Greatlyslowthetempo.
45. Ritardando– Graduallyslowthetempo.
46. Sharp–makesthenotesoundhigherandremainsin effectfortheentiremeasure.
47. Slur–Curvedlineconnectingnotesofdifferentpitches.Indicatestotheperformertonottonguethenotes.
48. Soli–entiresectionorgroupplays.
49. Solo–onepersonplays.
50. Staccato–playa notefor½ thewrittenvalue.
51. Staff–a setof5 linesand4 spaceswherenotesandrestsareplaced
52. Tempo–thespeedofmusic.
53. Tenuto–Articulationthatmeanstoperformthenotelightlyand for fullwrittenvalue.
54. Tie–A curvedlineconnectingnotesofthesamepitchandindicatestotheperformertoaddtheconnected notevaluestogetherandplayasoneunbrokennote.
55. TimeSignature–indicateshowmanybeatsper measure(topnumber)andhowmanybeatsthewholenote receives.(bottomnumber)
56. Tuning-theactofraisingandloweringa pitchofan instrumenttoproducethecorrecttoneofa note.
57. Tutti–everyoneplay.