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Easy Music Theory Newsletter Free, from Spring Day Music
February 2002
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The Easy Music Theory Newsletter
February 2002 A Publication of Spring Day Music www.EasyMusicTheory.com
Welcome!
Welcome to the second edition of the Easy Music Theory newsletter. Our aim is to continue to provide you with some useful information to make your music studies fulfilling, fun, and yes, easy. This month's newsletter is longer, with lots of great information for you. Don't feel that you need to read it all in one sitting. In fact, you may want to print it out and read it at your leisure.
We've had some very positive reaction to our first edition. Thanks for all your feedback. It really helps.
If you're looking for last month's newsletter, go to http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/newsletter.html. That's the signup page, where you can find a link to our previous edition.
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News From Spring Day Music
We're very pleased to announce that design on our Ear Training course has begun. What is ear training? Well, apart from the obvious (training for your ear!), how would you like to be able to listen to a piece of music, write out the chord progression, the melody, the rhythm, and even the harmony, without needing to play it again and again and again? Think of what an asset you'd be for your band or choir! And think how much easier it would be to get those melodies down on paper. That's what a good ear training course can do for you. I know that those of you who are using Easy Music Theory are expecting nothing but the finest caliber in an ear training course. Good! That's what we intend to give you. We'll give you status reports in this newsletter, so stay tuned.
More news: Contest! With this edition of the Easy Music Theory Newsletter, we start our Easy Music Mix Contest. Details below. Don't miss it; it's fun!
The Guitar Chord Chart
Some have heard about the chord chart we're giving away for free. Yes, it's still available. Send an email to articles@easymusictheory.com with "guitar chord chart" in the subject line, and it's yours.
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Preparing for College-Level Music
2. The Easy Music Mix Contest!
3. Transposition Refresher
4. Key Signatures
5. Composing Music
6. Use a Metronome When You Practice
7. Question of the Month: What is "Classical" Music?
8. Skill-Testing Question
1. Preparing for College-level Music
Are you thinking of studying music at a university or college next year? No doubt you have your applications sent in by now. The next step will be your auditions and entrance exams. As well as working hard on your instrument, be sure to keep up with your music theory studies. The Easy Music Theory on CDROM course will ensure that you have a firm grasp of all the fundamentals. If you don't have it, find out about it at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com.
In university, your success will be largely dependent on your understanding of the rudiments of music, plus a solid ear! If you aren't practicing ear training daily, you should start. Check with a local music school or conservatory about enrolling in an ear training program (also called "aural perception".) Waiting until university to improve your ear is leaving it rather late. Get to it!
This is going to be a lot of fun! It's pretty simple. Listen to three music excerpts, and tell us the names of the pieces. The catch? Well, we only give you twenty seconds of music, and, oh yeah, we play all three at the same time! Go to the new contest page and give it a try. Then email us your answer. The rules are on the contest page.
This is the first one, so we've made it pretty easy. A little hint: all three excerpts are famous classical music pieces that most folks have heard.
The contest page is at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/contest.html
We're picking three winners, who will be announced in the next newsletter. Deadline for submissions is March 10, at 5:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time. For those who are wondering, that's one hour ahead of New York :-) We'll put all the correct answers in "the hat" and draw out three winners. Winners receive a CD of some wonderful music.
?? ?? ?? Did You Know ?? ?? ??
Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory was created right here in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada. How beautiful is it? Well, we've given you a fairly good idea in Lesson 23 of the Easy Music Theory on CD-ROM course. Pop in CD 2, go to video lesson 23, and in the last couple of minutes of the lesson, you'll see some scenery of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
Trumpet in Bb... Alto Sax in Eb... French horn in F... What does it all mean? And what notes do you write for each of these instruments so that it sounds right with the piano? If you play in a band, or want to write music for these instruments, you need to know!
So here's a quick overview: An instrument is in *concert pitch* if its notes are at the same pitch as piano notes. For example, a flute is a concert pitch instrument: if you play a C on a flute, it will sound like a piano's C. If an instrument is a Bb instrument (like trumpet), that means that when it plays a C, it actually sounds like a piano's Bb. So all the notes of a trumpet sound a whole tone lower than the piano. To "correct" this when you write for a trumpet, you have to write the notes a whole tone higher than the piano notes. So if a pianist plays a C-major scale, and you want to write that scale to be playable by trumpet, you actually have to write a D-major scale.
The alto sax is called an Eb instrument. This means that when an alto sax plays a C, it's actually a piano's Eb. To convert piano music to be played by the alto sax, you need to raise every note by a major 6th.
Here's a handy reference list for you of many instruments and their transpositions:
CONCERT PITCH INSTRUMENTS:
Flute, All mallets, Oboe, All keyboards, C-tin whistle, C-Trumpet, C-Trombone
Bb INSTRUMENTS:
Bb Clarinet, Bb Bass Clarinet, Bb Trumpet, Soprano Sax, Tenor Sax, Baritone (T.C.), Bb Flugelhorn, Bb Cornet
Eb INSTRUMENTS:
Alto Clarinet, Alto Sax, Eb Horn, Baritone Sax , Eb Tuba (T.C.)
F INSTRUMENTS: French Horn, English Horn
What is the best way to learn key signatures? There are many little rhymes and gimmicks you can use. To remember the order of flats as they appear in a key signature, commit this sentence to memory: "Battle ends and down goes Charles' father." The first letter of every word represents the flat to write in the key signature. To remember the sharps, simply reverse the order of the words: Father Charles goes down and ends battle." But how do you recognize and identify a key signature? Check out Lesson 9 of the Easy Music Theory Course! Yes, gimmicks will work, but the very best way to remember key signatures is to write scales every day. Try this as an ongoing assignment: Every day, write five or ten scales, complete with key signatures. You will find that within one month you will know all of your scales and key signatures. And this method is far better than any gimmick!
Even if you do not consider yourself a composer, you should try writing music on a regular basis. Composing is one very important way to use the theory that you have been learning. Once you have written something, use your knowledge of theory to proofread what you have done. But think about this: Music theory does not allow or disallow anything. Music theory simply helps you identify the various components of music, and attempts to explain why things work the way they do. If you find yourself asking, "Am I allowed to write this... am I allowed to use this chord in this way... " the answer is always: Yes, if it sounds good to your ears. Music theory was not intended to allow anything - simply to identify and explain it.
Use a metronome when you practice your instrument. It will continuously reinforce a steady tempo, which is very crucial to accurate playing. Some people fear that a metronome will result in emotionless playing, but this is not true. The best musicians all use a metronome, especially when tackling a technically challenging passage. Once you have mastered the tricky section with the metronome, then try it without. You will be pleased with how precise your playing will become.
!! Hmmm... about perfect pitch... !!
If you check out the Easy Music Theory forum, where you can get your musical questions answered, you'll see some excellent exchanges on the pros and cons of perfect pitch. The forum is at http://www.musictheory.halifax.ns.ca/ceilidh/emtforum.html . Reminds me of the following joke:
Question: What it perfect pitch?
Answer: When you toss an oboe into a dumpster without hitting the rim. (Okay, okay, you *can* substitute "oboe" for any instrument. I had to pick *something*! :-) )
7. QUESTION OF THE MONTH: What is "Classical" Music?
Are all the famous composers - like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner - are they all "classical" composers?
Answer- The term "Classical" as applied to music has taken on several definitions over the generations. The term has been applied to that period of time between roughly 1750 and 1820. Composers writing at that time (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, for example) are therefore considered Classical composers. It is said that these composers, as well as the artists of the day, were trying to emulate a more sophisticated, elegant style of music, what they imagined might have come from the time of Ancient (Classical) Greece.
Often people refer to classical music as anything that is played by an orchestra. So all of the historical figures in music - Handel, Bach, Brahms, Stravinsky- all tend to be described rather inaccurately as "Classical" composers, even though in reality they all come from different eras. In that list, Handel and Bach come from the "Baroque" era (c.1600-1750), Brahms comes from the "Romantic" era (c.1820-1900), and Stravinsky is from the 20th century, long after the "real" Classical era.
And we have come to use the term "Classical" in other ways too. "Classical" can mean any piece that has become a permanent fixture in a culture, and so in this sense, even though pop music is often thought of as the opposite of classical music, the Beatles' "Penny Lane" is often considered a "classic". Sometimes pop musicians differentiate between classical and popular music by using the term "legit" to mean "classical".
You are looking at a key signature comprised of sharps, and the last sharp in the key signature is an E#. What major key is it? If you don't know the answer, you need to check out Lesson 9!
That's it for this month's Easy Music theory Newsletter. Questions or comments? We're all ears at emtinfo@easymusictheory.com.
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Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory represents the finest in music theory instruction. If you play an instrument or sing in a choir, you can expand your musical horizons by learning music theory.
Get all the information at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com
Why not forward this email newsletter to a friend? Until next month... study and practice! You can do it!
This newsletter is copyright (c) 2002 Spring Day Music, a division of Corporate Impact Inc. Contact us at 902-481-2677, or emtinfo@easymusictheory.com
Newsletter editor: David Ewer
Music education content: Gary Ewer
Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory™, Easy Music Theory™, and Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory on CD-ROM!™ are trademarks of Spring Day Music
Did you know you can watch Gary teaching music theory? Gary makes music theory easy! Buy Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory on CD-ROM, and you'll get more of the teaching you've come to enjoy from Gary, plus all-new worksheets (these are great!), new quizzes, and answer sheets. But the greatest feature of the double-CD-ROM course is the awesome videos of Gary teaching each lesson. Don't miss out. Click here to learn more, or click here to purchase now. It's completely guaranteed!
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©2001 Spring Day Music. All rights reserved Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory is a trade mark of Spring Day Music, a div. of Corporate Impact Inc. Contact us at emtinfo@EasyMusicTheory.com
