Happy New Year from MyMusicTheory.com! We wish you a happy and musical 2012!

Composition Masterclass for Grade 5 Music Theory Candidates – 27th January 2012

If your Grade Five ABRSM Music Theory Exam is looming, you might be interested in joining our Composition Masterclass. This is a forum-based revision course for anybody taking the grade five exam.

We will teach you a fool-proof method for gaining maximum marks in the composition question. The composition question is worth 15% of the whole exam, so can easily make the difference between a pass or a fail, or a merit and a distinction. 

You’ll also have a chance to review and revise the other vital skills you need for your exam.

Course Dates

27th January 2012 – 2nd February 2012. One lesson per day (7 lessons).

Course Content

• Technique for composing a melody for an instrument
• Revision of Cadences
• Revision of Scales
• Revision of Intervals
• Revision of Musical Terms and Symbols
• Revision of Performance Directions

Course Delivery

Lessons will be posted every day in a private section of the forum.

Each lesson will contain detailed instruction and a homework task.

You will need to print off the lesson and complete the homework task in pencil, then scan or photograph your work and post it back in the forum.

Each student’s work will be evaluated by the course tutor, Victoria Williams (BA Hons Music), with detailed feedback given. Students are encouraged to discuss their work together as well.

You will also have the opportunity to ask any other music theory related questions which are not specifically related to the day’s lesson.

Course Fees and Places

The course fee is 25 UK pounds. This is for 7 lessons and 7 homeworks marked, which works out at less than 4 pounds for each lesson.

Payment is made by Paypal.

Unfortunately I cannot accept other payment methods at this time.

Number of places allocated – 5. (2 places left – last updated 8.1.12)

How to Sign Up

Please click on this link http://www.mymusictheory.com/grade5/composition-masterclass/composition-masterclass.html and make your payment by Paypal to reserve your place.

Email us at info@mymusictheory.com for more information.

Testimonials

Please click here to view what other people have said about studying with MyMusicTheory.com

Ye Olde Christmas Music

Having just put together a CD of my favourite Christmas songs in preparation for this year’s festive season, I thought I’d write a post about some of our oldest Christmas music. My home-made CD contains songs from about the 13th century to modern day pop numbers – an awful lot of Christmas music has been written over the centuries, but did you know that many of the carols still popular today are actually several hundred years old?

Earliest Christmas Carols

From the 14th century, the word “carol” had been used to describe well-known Christian religious songs, which were often accompanied by dancing. The earliest carols we can be sure of the date of are in a book by John Audeley, who was a 15th century poet. His manuscript, which is now kept in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, contains twenty-five “Caroles of Cristemas”. Unfortunately, there is no music in the book, only the text of the carols. However, scholars believe that the character of the poems means that they would most likely have been sung. Audeley’s book is available to buy from Amazon.

Coventry Carol

The oldest version of the text of the Coventry Carol that we know of was written in 1534, and the oldest music for it dates back to 1591. The Coventry Carol gets its name from the place where it was originally performed, Coventry in the United Kingdom. It was part of a Mystery Play, which was a kind of Medieval religious play. The text is about the massacre of children which was ordered by King Herod, and is appropriately sombre. Coventry Carol is haunting and melancholy, but despite its sadness it is one of the most beautiful carols. Watch this heart-wrenching, perfect performance and enjoy the medieval harmonies.

O Come O Come Emmanuel

Originally written in Latin some time in the 6th to the 9th century as “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel”, this carol was translated into English in the mid 1800s. It was written as one of a series of “Advent” hymns which is known as “O Antiphons”- songs to be sung in the seven days leading up to Christmas and it is the last in the series. No one is quite sure how old the music is, but it is assumed that it is at least from the 15th century, and perhaps as early as the 12th century. The oldest known manuscript of the music is in the Bibliotheque Nationale in France, but even the date of the book is not known for sure. The “New Oxford Book of Carols” suggests that it dates from the 13th century. This is a modern arrangement of the carol, by the female vocal group Aliqua.

 In Dulci Jubilo (Good Christian Men Rejoice!)

“In Dulci Jubilo” is the original Latin title for the carol which is sometimes translated as “Good Christian Men Rejoice!” The melody was published in 1582, but it is thought that it was actually composed in the early 1300′s. These days it’s common to find the version either in English, or in a mixture of English and Latin. Many people dislike the full English translation – HJ Masse described it as a “musical wrong-doing” and Sir Edward Heath called it “the most horrible one”. The arrangement in this clip is by R.L. Pearsall and is sung by the King’s College Choir.

Unto Us a Child is Born

In Latin, this carol is known as “Puer Nobis Nascitur”, and is first mentioned in the 14th century, in a book called the “Moosburg Gradual”. Since many of the songs in this book were old even then, it’s possible that the carol actually dates back to 12th or 13th century. Here is a simple , beautiful rendition, with a Celtic feel.

The CD this clip comes from is available from Amazon.

Sources

http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/fsjaintro.htm

H. J. L. J. Masse, “Old Carols” in Music & Letters, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1921), Oxford University Press, p.67.

Edward Heath, “Carols – The Joy of Christmas”, 1977, Sidgwick and Jackson/EMI Music, London, p.12.

In a recent article entitled “Music Theory is Actually Redundant”, David Alan Reed makes an intriguing argument that it is not necessary to know about music theory, and in fact, having knowledge of it can even be a bad thing. He sums up his theory by saying”…music theory is redundant. Music itself is already so very elegant, so supremely well-organized, that its mere contemplation leads one to comprehend it perfectly.” He cites his experience of studying musicians in Brazil and West Africa, who don’t use any form of written notation and have no names for musical concepts or ideas yet still produce complex and well-developed musical pieces, which are not improvised but carefully constructed.

Reed is very critical of music theory as a whole. He speaks about music theory as though it is a list of rules which Western composers adhere to, in effect stifling their creativity as they struggle to conform. He suggests that in the West, instead of getting on with the business of living music, we spend too much time analysing it. He also mentions that, like most Westerners, he was surprised at the level of precision that the Brazilian performers could achieve in terms of rhythm, given that they didn’t know a time signature from a key signature. Reed even claims that in Western culture, music’s purpose is trivial in that it is simply used to “entertain and impress”, whereas in less-developed countries it has a more profound raison d’etre – to heal and connect people with their past and with each other.

I’d like to examine each of these arguments in more detail. Firstly, we need to acknowledge that music came first, and music theory came second. If we look at the history of music in the West, if you go back more than five hundred years there was almost nothing written down in musical notation.

Does this mean that people weren’t making music? Of course not.

Literary sources from the Bible to Shakespeare are full of evidence that music was a huge part of people’s lives. Music was important in the Church, and music was important in the home. Bands of minstrels would roam around playing often bawdy music for entertainment, whereas music in the Church was serene, precise and meaningful – it was a way of reaching God. Although the music played in the West five hundred years ago probably has nothing in common with current Brazilian/West African music in terms of what it sounds like, the way it was shared and the reason for having it in the first place are identical. In every culture, there is music. No cultures have ever been discovered that do make use of music in some way. Music is used for fun, for relaxation, for important ceremonies, for dance, for religion – wherever you go in the world.

Around 500 years ago, musical notation began to be developed. At first, it was more of a pictoral representation of sounds, with marks written high for high notes and low for low notes, without precise pitches actually being notated. Just like any system, over the years, the system was tweaked and refined until we have the system we recognise today. But one thing needs to be fundamentally clear – the reason for inventing notation was so that compositions could be shared – both down the generations in time, and geographically across the world. Notation was used as a way of recording what was already happening in music. It was not invented as a system of rules, dictating what could or couldn’t be composed.

As time went on, the number of musical scores passed down the generations naturally increased. In the beginning this was a slow process, as manuscripts had to be copied by hand. After the invention of the printing press the process was speeded up considerably. By the 1700’s, libraries were beginning to fill up with old music books. Some composers and scholars, interested in how musical styles had changed over the years, began to study the old manuscripts available to them. A musical vocabulary was gradually developed, to describe every aspect of music from chord progressions, keys, musical forms and more. Many people today still interested in this subject. We are very lucky that we can examine the music of the 15^th century onwards – why?

Because it’s interesting and fulfils our quest for knowledge. Because it connects us with the past and allows us to view the linear development of music over the centuries. We can connect with other people who enjoy the same music, because we can talk about it with them.

Music theory is a tool which allows us to see back in time, and to discuss music from the past to the present. Many of the greatest Western composers (Mozart, Beethoven etc.) were only able to compose as they did because they were able to study the scores of music written at an earlier time. They used earlier works as a springboard for their creativity, and of course we could not know their music today had they not had the means to write down their ideas.

It is perfectly possible to teach somebody to play/sing any piece of music from memory, just as the Brazilians do. However, it’s not the most efficient method because it takes time and it’s easier for mistakes to creep in. Having said that, it’s a method which is still in use today in the West, in many places where songs are still passed on aurally. Go to any school playground today and you will hear children singing songs which have been passed down for over a hundred years (in the UK) – they don’t learn from notated scores of course! Everybody knows the tune to “Happy Birthday to You”, and the words of course. Who learnt that from a song book? No one. The ability to learn music is an innate skill we have, and which we make use of. Chanters at football matches pass on songs in the same way. Mothers teach their children songs like this. But it’s not the only way.

Unlike Reed, I don’t think for a second that it is surprising that the Brazilians can keep to strict time without knowing about time signatures or note values. Time signatures were invented because most music conformed to precise measures, as a method to represent the metrical character of contemporary compositions. They were not invented so that all music would conform! Throughout the history of music, every development in our system of notating music has happened because composers were inventing new techniques. It has never been the case that composers have restricted themselves to writing only what can be notated. To give you a modern day example, our notation system has recently been tweaked to take into account quarter-tones – divisions of note which are half a semitone. The music notation system is constantly evolving.

In the modern world, music theory sometimes gets a bad press because some people look at it as a set of rules. But this is misguided. Students learn about music theory so that they can discuss existing compositions, compose using similar techniques, or invent new ones – you can’t invent something new unless you know what’s been invented already. All the famous “Classical” composers broke conventions that had been laid down previously.

Music in the West is not only used to “entertain” and “impress” in my view. Although it certainly does do both of those things (and I think both are important culturally), it’s only a fraction of how music is really used in our lives. From the cradle, music is used to soothe babies. In schools, music is used to foster a sense of community (school songs, school choirs and orchestras, bands), it’s used in social occasions where young people meet and gives them something to talk about with each other. At all the important ceremonies in our lives, music enhances the occasion. Music is used in Christenings, marriages and funerals. People choose to listen to music when they feel strong emotions – sadness, joy, excitement, because it is mood-enhancing. Music is used in teaching. Music is used in healing – both formally in a music-therapy context, and more informally when you put on a dance song to cheer yourself up.

Going back to Reed’s assumption, “music theory is redundant”, let’s examine what life would be life if that were true. Without music theory (i.e. notation, and a musical vocabulary for analysis), we would not have any of the great composers from the West – music would have not developed much from that composed around 500 years ago. Without Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, the symphony orchestra as we know it would not exist, because it was a by-product of the pieces written by those composers. The rise in popularity of the clarinet would not have happened, because it was Mozart who introduced it as a regular member of the orchestra. Without the clarinet, it is unlikely that the saxophone would have been invented. There would be a great deal less music making in the community, as the wide-spread teaching of instruments would not be feasible without having instruction books using music notation. No doubt there would be more singing, to compensate. No matter whether we have music theory or not, people will continue to compose and perform music. Personally I think we can attribute our rich heritage of music in the West, (by which I mean all music from classical times to modern day) to the fact that we are a people who for many centuries have been inquisitive about music, who like to talk about it and analyse it, like to be innovative and like to educate ourselves.

For all these reasons, in my view, music theory is far from “redundant”, is actually an “essential” part of our culture.

The Strings

What are the main orchestral string instruments?

In the string section of a symphony orchestra you will normally find a number of violins, violas, cellos and a smaller number of double basses. These are the standard orchestral string instruments.

There are usually about 28 violin players in a symphony orchestra. Fourteen of them are “first violins” and twelve are “second violins”. One of the first violins has the job of “leader” of the orchestra, which is a position of responsibility. Usually the leader is the one who gets to play any solos!

Violas number about ten. The viola is slightly larger than the violin and produces a warmer, mellower tone. The viola isn’t often given solo melodies to play, but is more likely to be employed filling out the harmony.

In the following clip you can watch the violin and viola performing together as solo instruments, in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola. Here you can see how the two instruments compare in both size and sound. The soloists begin at about 2″20:

There will also be around ten cellos. Cellos are similar in construction to the violin and viola, but are much larger; so large in fact, that you have to sit down to play one. Cellos have a spike stuck in their underside, which sticks into the floor for support but allows the player a lot of flexibility. Cello players often have very emotional music to play, but also help fill in the inner harmony of a piece, as do the violas. One of the most famous cello players of all time was Jacqueline Du Pre (1945-1987). Watch her playing the first movement of Elgar’s Cello Concerto:

The violin, viola and cello comprise the “violin family”.

Finally, a big orchestra could have eight double basses. The double bass weighs about 10kg (20 pounds) and is about 6 feet (180cm) tall – as big as a man! The double bass is actually probably not directly related to the other three string instruments in this section – some historians think that it is related to the “viol” family, rather than the “violin” family, which dates back to the 15th century, because it is constructed in a slightly different way. The double bass is not often used as a solo instrument against the rest of the orchestra, as it can be difficult to hear. Here’s a double bass duo by Bottesini, the Finale of his Gran Duetto no.2:

What other string instruments are there?

In addition to the four main string instruments, you can occasionally find a part for the harp. The harp is very different from the other string instruments, because the player plucks the strings with the fingers instead of using a bow. Harps have around 47 strings, and can play a range of 6 and a half octaves.

Orchestral harps have seven pedals, which are used to adjust the pitch of all the strings simultaneously. Imagine a piano – if you run a finger quickly along the white notes, you’ll get a C major scale. The same thing is easily done on the harp by plucking the strings quickly. The player can change the scale produced (to any scale, major, minor or otherwise) by simply setting the foot pedals into the required positions.

When were string instruments invented?

Byzantine "Lyra"

The violin family was developed in northern Italy in the 16th century. Some modifications were made in later years, but the instruments are essentially the same now as they were then. Violas and cellos were developed at the same time as the violin, as instrument makers were in deep experimentation with the basic form, trying to find the best way to construct their instruments. The violin shape was most likely based on older, Byzantine instruments, which were brought from Asia and the Middle East to Italy along the old Silk Route.

The question whether the double bass is a member of the violin family or the viol family is one which is still hotly debated. Double basses are different in three main ways:

• Their strings are tuned a perfect fourth apart, whereas all the other strings are tuned in fifths.
• The “shoulders” of the instrument are sloping, whereas the others are rounded.
• The proportions used to construct the instrument are different.

How do string instruments work?

Each instrument has four strings. The strings are practically the same length, but they are of different thicknesses. The thicker the string, the lower the note. The violin, for example, has its four strings tuned to the notes G below middle C, then D above that, then A, then the highest (thinnest) string is E.

Close up of violinist stopping a string

The note which is produced depends on how much length of string is allowed to vibrate. If the player lets the whole string vibrate, it will produce its lowest note. If the player puts a finger on the string (“stops” the string) , the part which is able to vibrate will be shorter, so a higher note is produced. For example, if the player puts a finger about 2cm along the string, the note one tone higher will sound (A, on the G string). Doing the same thing on the D string will produce the note E, and so on. String players have to place their fingers with great precision, or they will play out of tune. Unlike on the guitar, there are no “frets” (marked places) showing them where to press. This is one reason why beginner violinists sometimes sound rather unpleasant!

So, while the left hand is used to shorten the string as desired, the right hand is used to set the string in vibration. Most often, this is done with a bow.

What are “bowing techniques”?

Apart from simply drawing the bow back and forth across the strings (which is known as “arco“), the string player has a few other tricks they can pull off to create some wonderful effects. Some of these are:

Pizzicato - plucking the strings with the fingers (not strictly a “bowing” technique!) Watch the pizzicato technique in the clip of Bartok’s 4th String Quartet:

Spiccato - bouncing the bow on the string to make short, detached notes.

Col legno - using the wood of the bow (i.e. upside down!) Mahler uses this technique in the third movement of his first symphony. The clip should start a few seconds beforehand, the you can see the violinist using the bow col legno at 4:00:

That concludes the MyMusicTheory Guide to the Instruments of the Orchestra! Hope you enjoyed it!

The Percussion

Percussion instruments come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, are made of all kinds of materials and produce a hugely diverse range of sounds. What do they have in common? They all produce sound when they are struck.

What is the oldest percussion instrument?

Ancient Cymbals

Percussion instruments were probably the first type of musical instrument to be created. It doesn’t take too much imagination to find some objects lying around and to bang them together! As people began to develop the craft of music, they also put some effort into making the best-sounding instruments. Animal skins stretched over hollowed out wood made good drums, and when metalwork began, metal instruments soon followed.

While ancient instruments made from animal by-products or wood are less likely to survive over the centuries, metal instruments endure. The earliest cymbals originated in China around 3,000 years ago, for example! Cymbals are mentioned many times in the Bible. Gongs are also extremely old, and are first mentioned in Chinese literature in about 500AD.

Which percussion instruments are standard orchestral instruments?

In early classical orchestras (from the beginning of the 19th century), the only percussion instruments which were regularly used were the kettle drums, also known as timpani. A kettle drum has a large, round copper (or fibreglass) body, with a synthetic membrane skin stretched taut across the top.

Timpani

One kettle drum produces one tuned note. In an orchestra, there will normally be at least 2 or 3 drums, tuned to different notes. The timpanist hits a different drum to play a different note. The drums themselves can be tuned to different notes too, although this is usually only done before a piece is played, rather than during it. Kettle drums have pedals on them, which allow them to be tuned to a note within a range of a fifth. For example, an individual drum might have the range from C-G, and the player might tune it to D for a particular piece. (In very modern music, the player is sometimes asked to change the pitch of the drum mid-piece).

Apart from the timpani, other percussion instruments which were used more and more frequently in the symphony orchestra include the triangle, xylophone, glockenspiel, cymbals, tambourines and other types of drum. Percussion players often have to be able to play all the instruments of the percussion section, and they require a wide range of skills!

The triangle is perhaps the simplest of the percussion instruments. It’s simply a triangular piece of metal with a gap left at one corner. It’s struck with a metal striker and produces a high-pitched metallic tingling sound. Although it’s small, the triangle can always be overheard above the rest of the orchestra.

The glockenspiel and xylophone are quite similar, but a xylophone is made of wood and a glock is made of metal. They are set out with a keyboard arranged in the same way as a piano. Another similar instrument is the marimba, which is like a xylophone with additional “resonators” which makes the sound much richer. Professional players can move with incredible speed on their instruments – sometimes so fast their mallets become a blur! Here’s a pretty amazing performance of Rimsky Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” arranged for marimba duet.

Cymbals are two metal discs which are struck together to produce a loud crashing noise. Since Mozart’s time, cymbals have been included in classical music where a loud, dramatic crash is needed. Tchaikovsky starts the final movement of his fourth symphony with a loud cymbal crash, and uses the cymbals heavily in this movement to create a feeling of drama and intensity.

Of course, you don’t have to bash cymbals together – you can hit one of them with a stick instead!

Tambourines are often found in classical music which is based on folk music or which has an Eastern or exotic feel to it. The tambourine has a stretched skin mounted on a round frame, with small metal discs attached to give an extra buzz to the sound. It was first used in the orchestra in the 18th century, most often in opera.

Apart from the timpani, the other types of drum which you might come across in a symphony orchestra are the snare drum and the bass drum.

The snare drum (also called a “side drum”) has a snappy sound and is used a lot in pieces which have a military theme or where a steady, dance-like beat is required. It was used in Ravel’s famous “Bolero”, for example.

The big bass drum has an important role in the orchestra. It often adds a deep feeling of drama, tension or impending doom, usually when a drum roll is performed, or it can be struck to add power. Verdi uses a bass drum in the “Dies Irae” from his famous “Requiem”. In this clip, the bass drum is clearly seen (and heard!) at about 22 seconds in.

Brass Instruments

What are the standard orchestral brass instruments?

In a modern orchestra, you can expect to find the trumpet, French horn, trombone and tuba. In earlier times, for example when Mozart was composing (1700′s), only two trumpets and two horns were used. As the decades passed, composers wanted bigger, bolder sounds from their orchestras, and more brass instruments were added. In Beethoven’s later works (around 1800) it’s normal to find an additional two or three trombones, and three or four horns. By Wagner’s time (mid 1800′s) we find three trumpets and perhaps a bass trumpet, four to eight horns, three trombones and perhaps a contrabass trombone and four tubas! That’s a lot of brass!

Sousaphone

Other brass instruments which we don’t normally find in a symphony orchestra are the euphonium, sousaphone and cornet. They work in the same way as the trumpet etc., but are more commonly found in brass bands or military ensembles. Saxophones can be made of brass, but they are not classed as brass instruments because they use a reed to produce sound. What brass instruments have in common is not the actual material they are made of, but how they produce sound.

How do brass instruments work?

Trumpet mouthpiece

All brass instruments work in the same basic way. If you take a length of tube and make the air inside it vibrate, you will get a musical note. Brass players purse their lips against a cone-shaped mouthpiece to put pressurized air from their mouth into the tube, in order to make the air vibrate.

The pitch of the note produced depends on how much air there is inside the tube. The bigger the tube, the lower the note. So, a long, fat tube will make lower notes than a short, narrow one. The tuba is the lowest of the orchestral brass instruments, and the length of its tube is about 18 feet (5.5 metres).

If the player purses his lips a bit tighter, the air will be pushed into the tube at a higher pressure. The vibrations inside the tube will change, and so will the note that is played. With each increase in pressure, the player can sound the next note available from the length of tube. But what notes are available?

The notes which can be played on a simple length of tube are restricted to those which are part of something called the harmonic series. The lowest possible note (i.e. the one with the minimum air pressure) is called the fundamental. For example, the fundamental of a trumpet is C below middle C.

The fundamental note usually sounds pretty awful however, so it is not often used.

The next available note is one octave higher – middle C on the trumpet. This is called the first “overtone”. The first overtone is a clean sounding note and can be used in performance.

The second overtone is one perfect 5th higher than the first overtone – G on the trumpet.

Each overtone is closer than the previous one. Normally a good player can produce notes up to the 6th or 7th overtones. The higher the overtone, the more pressure is needed from the player’s mouth, and it gets progressively more difficult (and painful!) to play as the higher overtones are reached. The following staff shows the 7 basic overtones available on the trumpet. The Bb is in brackets because it is slightly out of tune.

Obviously, with such a small selection of notes to choose from, it’s quite difficult to play a melody on one tube. To get round this, ingenious musical instrument makers have invented some ways to increase the range of each brass instrument. There are two basic methods:

• pistons or valves
• slides

Pistons

The trumpet and tuba use pistons, and the horn uses valves – but both work in the same way. The tube of the instrument is coiled and looped, then fitted with three pistons. When the player presses a piston down, an extra loop of tubing is opened up. This has the effect of lengthening the entire tube, which means that a new, lower, fundamental note with a new harmonic series is now available. By combining the three pistons in different ways, six additional fundamentals can be achieved – on the trumpet, the fundamentals produced by each combination of pistons are:

• no pistons (fundamental = C)
• 2nd piston (B)
• 1st piston (Bb)
• 1st and 2nd pistons together (A)
• 2nd and 3rd pistons together (Ab)
• 1st and 3rd pistons together (G)
• 1st, 2nd and 3rd pistons together (F#)

In the case of the trumpet, this enables the player to play all notes (including sharps and flats) from F# (below middle C) to the C two octaves above middle C.

The French horn often has a fourth valve – this has the effect of transposing all of the available pitches down by a perfect fourth, giving the horn a much wider range of notes than the trumpet.

Slides

The trombone uses a completely different method to extend the range of available notes. You’ve no doubt seen a trombone player in action – the trombonist slides the end of the instrument up and down as s/he plays. As the player pulls the end of the instrument out, the length of tubing becomes longer. This in turn changes the fundamental note of the tube, and therefore the notes which are available based on the harmonic series.

Are brass instruments made of brass?

Yes, but not always! Modern brass instruments are made of  ”yellow brass” which is made up of 70% copper and 30% zinc.

Some instruments are coated with lacquer. Gold and silver instruments are also available – at a cost!

The Yamaha trumpet pictured here is available from Musicroom.com.

Why are the trumpet and horn transposing instruments?

It’s helpful for a brass player to assume that the fundamental note of the instrument is C. That way, s/he can pick up any instrument of any size and the fingerings needed in order to play the higher notes will be the same. Trumpets actually come in all different sizes – you might find a trumpet in C, D, G or almost any key! The most common trumpet is in Bb – this means that when the player reads a note C, the actual note produced is a Bb. The trumpet in C is a bit smaller, and has a brighter tone.

The French horn, as mentioned above, sometimes has a transposing valve fitted. Basically this makes life easier for the player, who simply presses the valve down in order to extend the range of the instrument. Horns are usually in F, which means that an F is produced when the player reads a C. If the horn was not a transposing instrument, it would be a lot more complicated for horn players to read their music!

Woodwind Instruments

What are the standard orchestral woodwind instruments?

Flute, Oboe, Cor Anglais, Clarinet and Bassoon

In a symphony orchestra, there are four main woodwind instruments – the flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon. The flute is the highest in pitch, the bassoon is the lowest. The flute is usually silver-plated, while the oboe, clarinet and bassoon are usually made of wood. (Plastic instruments are also available, but most professional musicians choose wood because the sound is better.) Each of the woodwind instruments has a very distinct sound.

In addition to the main instruments, most large orchestras also have some other woodwind. The piccolo is a small flute and plays an octave higher. The piccolo can be very shrill, and although it’s the smallest instrument in the orchestra it can always be heard! The cor Anglais is similar to the oboe, but has a more mellow sound. The clarinet has a little sister, the Eb clarinet, which has a bright chirpy sound, and a big brother, the bass clarinet which is deep and reedy. The bassoon also has a big brother, the contrabassoon, which provides solid bass notes when needed.

The flute, oboe and bassoon have been around for many hundreds of years, although in a simpler form. They have been used in classical music since at least the 17th century. The clarinet, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer, and was first introduced into the orchestra by Mozart in the middle of the 18th century.

Other woodwind instruments which are not normally found in orchestras are the recorder, saxophone and bagpipes.

Why are some metal and plastic instruments called “woodwind”?

A Baroque flute player

In Bach’s time (around 1700 AD), woodwind instruments were very simple compared to the vast selection of technological wonders we have today, but the instruments used back then were the prototypes of our modern woodwind family. In Bach’s time, all woodwind instruments were made out of wood – hence the name! (Sometimes ivory instruments were also produced). Today, woodwind instruments can be manufactured out of wood, metal or plastic. The choice of material has an effect on the quality of sound made by the instrument, its weight and its cost.

What’s the difference between “wind” and “woodwind”?

The term “wind” instrument includes the woodwind family and the brass family, because they all use the players breath to produce sound. Brass instruments are a different family though, because they are/were never made of wood, and sound is produced with a metal funnel mouthpiece.

How do woodwind instruments work?

Woodwind instruments all produce sound in more or less the same way – the instrument is a hollowed out tube with a hole at the top. The player makes the column of air inside the instrument vibrate, and these vibrations create musical notes.

The pitch of the note depends on how long the tube is. Holes drilled along the length of the tube can be covered or uncovered by the player’s fingers, which has the effect of lengthening or shortening the tube. If all the holes are covered, the instrument will play its lowest note. As each hole is uncovered, the notes will rise in pitch. Once all the holes have been opened, higher notes can be reached if the player changes the air pressure as they play the fingering of lower notes. For example, on many woodwind instruments a note will change to the note one octave higher, if the air pressure is increased. On the clarinet, the note jumps up an octave and a fifth if the air pressure is increased.

Bigger instruments, like the bassoon, produce lower notes.

How do reed instruments work?

Clarinet with single reed

The clarinet, oboe, bassoon, cor Anglais and saxophone are all reed instruments. The clarinet and saxophone are single reed instruments, whereas the oboe, bassoon and cor Anglais use a double reed.

On a single reed instrument, the reed is attached to the mouthpiece so that it is joined firmly at the bottom, but a slight gap remains right at the tip, which goes into the player’s mouth. When the player breaths into the instrument, the tip of the reed is forced against the mouthpiece, momentarily closing the tube completely.

Bassoon Reed

However, as soon as it touches the mouthpiece, it bounces back again. This motion is repeated at breakneck speed, all the time that the player is breathing into the instrument. The constant opening/closing of the tube sets up the vibration of air which produces the musical notes we hear.

On a double reed instrument, two thin reeds are tightly bound together at their bases, with a small gap between them.

The air column is set in motion in more or less the same way as with single reed instruments, except that instead of one reed bouncing against the mouthpiece, the two reeds bounce against each other.

Why do woodwind instruments have metal keys?

In order for the notes to sound in tune, the holes in a woodwind instrument need to be placed with great accuracy. In some cases, this means that a hole has to be drilled in a place where the fingers could not possibly reach. Keys are added to the instrument in the place where the players fingers would naturally fall, then a mechanism is attached from the key to the hole. In this way, holes can be opened up anywhere on the instrument.

Old Flute with only 2 Keys

In the past, keys were not used on woodwind instruments at all. If you have a descant recorder, you have a specimen of the historical design of woodwind instruments! With a recorder (and old flutes), the players had to use intricate “cross fingerings” to be able to play in tune, and some notes were not possible to play at all. Gradually, musical instrument makers began to add keys, so that more notes would become available to use. Over time, the entire flute and oboe became covered in keys, making their tunings perfect and all notes possible. Instrument makers in different countries developed different patterns of keys, so if you buy a German clarinet you might need to learn a different set of fingerings than you need for an English one!

Large keys on modern flute

With very large instruments like the bassoon or bass clarinet, keys are needed over every hole because the holes are too far apart for anyone with normal sized hands to reach.

The flute has keys over every hole because the holes themselves are a lot bigger than a fingertip. The large holes improve the sound of the instrument, but can only be closed by large sized key. Older flutes have fewer keys on them, and tend to have a “narrower” sound than modern flutes.

Why do woodwind instruments come apart?

For practical reasons, most woodwind instruments are made in at least two parts. A flute, for example, has a mouthpiece, which slots into the left-hand joint, which slots into the right-hand joint. The clarinet usually comes split into five parts. This has several benefits:

• 

  Clarinet in its Case

  if one part of the instrument splits or cracks, a new joint can be bought instead of a whole new instrument

• the instrument can be fine tuned (made slightly sharper or flatter) with some small adjustments to how it is put together
• the instrument can be put away in a small, rectangular box, which is much easier for carrying
• the individual parts of the instrument can be easily cleaned. Woodwind instruments have a nasty habit of harbouring bacteria from the player’s mouth, so easy access to clean inside them is essential.

Why are clarinets “transposing” instruments?

As we mentioned above, the length of the tube effects the pitch of the notes. When a standard flute or oboe is made, it’s just the right size for an adult to hold and play, and the lowest note also happens to be middle C, which is quite convenient. If you put the three fingers of the left hand down on a flute, oboe or descant recorder, you’ll get the note G – you don’t have to learn new fingerings for each instrument. If you increase the air pressure, you’ll get the G an octave higher. This means it’s really easy for woodwind players to be versatile with other instruments.

With the standard size clarinet however, if you put the same three fingers down, you will produce the note Bb, and if you blow harder, you’ll get an F. This makes life rather complicated. In order to make things a bit easier, the higher note is simply renamed as “G”, even though it’s not really a G. If a composer wants the clarinet player to sound the note “F”, he simply writes the note “G” on the stave instead. The clarinet player puts three fingers down, as the “across the board” fingering for G, and the note F is produced by his instrument. This can be quite hard work for the composer of course, who has to do all the brain work. However, once the piece is written, it is easy for any player to pick it up and produce the right notes. Clarinets transpose, so that clarinet players don’t need to! The standard clarinet is a “clarinet in Bb“, because if you play a written C, the note Bb sounds.

Clarinets have an awful lot of keys on them, partly because of the fact that they don’t “overblow” at the octave like flutes and oboes. One side effect of this is that it happens to be a bit awkward to play in keys with lots of sharps. To overcome this, a slightly longer clarinet is made – the clarinet in A. As you can probably work out, if you play a written C, the note A is produced. The clarinet in A is only a few millimetres longer than a clarinet in Bb, but it makes a big difference to the clarinet player – music is hardly ever written in keys with lots of flats or sharps! If a piece of music is in B major (5 sharps), the clarinet part will be in D major (2 sharps) for clarinet in A. If a piece is written in Db major (5 flats), the clarinet part will be written in Eb major (3 flats) for clarinet in Bb. Most professional clarinet players own a “pair” of matched clarinets, one in A and one in Bb.

Which is the easiest / most difficult woodwind instrument to learn?

Recorder

The recorder is by far the easiest instrument for children to get started on. It’s cheap, lightweight and not complicated to play. Producing a note is easy, although producing a note which sounds nice is more of a challenge!

The clarinet and flute are the next easiest to learn. The fingerings learnt on the recorder can be easily transferred to these instruments with some small adjustments. However, they are much bigger, heavier instruments and producing the note takes more effort and technique. The flute or clarinet are best started after the age or 9 or 10.

Bassoon

The oboe is quite a difficult instrument to play. Producing a note usually takes some time to achieve, and a new player can feel a bit disheartened when they have owned their instrument for some days and still not managed to get a note out of it!

The bassoon is also difficult to get a note out of, and is also very heavy to transport.

Standard Orchestral Instruments

If you’ve ever taken an ABRSM music theory exam, you’ve probably come across the expression “standard orchestral instrument” a few times. Have you ever wondered why some musical instruments fit into this category but others don’t? Who decides which instruments are “standard”?

The term “standard orchestral instruments” is actually only used for convenience, so that we can easily refer to the most common, most widely played and recognised instruments with one phrase. There are thousands of instruments worldwide, but it’s useful to be able to group them together in various ways, to make it easier to talk about them.

When we use the term “standard orchestral instruments”, we are often referring to what is known as the “Classical Orchestra” – the groupings of instruments most often used in a symphony orchestra from the beginning of the 19th century. The classical orchestra was originally composed of:

• 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons (woodwind instruments)
• 2 or 4 French horns, 2 trumpets (brass instruments)
• 2 timpani or “kettle drums” (percussion instruments)
• 12 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos and 2 double basses (string instruments)

This was quite a small group of musicians. Towards the end of the 19th century, most composers were choosing to use a bigger orchestra:

• 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons
• 2 or 4 French horns, 2 trumpets and  up to 3 trombones, sometimes a tuba
• 3 timpani (kettle drums) and various other drums, triangles, xylophone or tambourines
• 26 violins, 10 violas, 8 cellos and 6 double basses

Violin

Up to ABRSM grade five music theory, these are the only instruments you need to know about. However, if you go on to take grade six, or in fact if you just like listening to music, you’ll be aware that orchestras often have lots of other instruments in them. As a rule of thumb, the later the orchestra, the larger it is!

By the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th century, it became fashionable for composers to add in smaller or larger versions of some woodwind instruments, in order to increase the sound produced by these sections or for their individual special sound effects. (The string section had already been expanded by increasing the number of players.) Some of these instruments became so commonly used, that they were accepted into the “standard orchestral instruments” club. We can usefully call this group the “extended standard orchestral instruments”.  The instruments which were added are:

• piccolo (small flute)
• cor Anglais (modified oboe)
• bass clarinet (big clarinet)
• contrabassoon (big bassoon)

Non-Standard Orchestral Instruments

Contrabass clarinet

Other instruments were and are used in orchestras, but have remained as “outsiders” – for various reasons. Some instruments, for example the wood block, have such a unique sound that composers don’t want to use them all the time. Other instruments are very costly to make, which means there are very few players – composers may avoid them for practical reasons.

The contrabass clarinet, for example, is enormous, and would cost you around $32,000 to buy new!

Each of the standard woodwind instruments now has a whole range of brothers and sisters of different sizes. They can be great fun for the specialist, and some bands are organised for the full range of flutes, or clarinets etc. You will not often find them in a symphony orchestra however!

Non-Orchestral Instruments

Some instruments are hardly ever used in symphony orchestras but are common elsewhere. Orchestras, just like musical styles, evolve over time, and the instruments in a  symphony orchestra fit the type of music written for them. The “symphony” orchestra is not the only type of orchestra, and “orchestras” are not the only kind of big musical groupings. Other types of bands contain other instruments, and play a different style of music.

• 

  Double Bass

  The Concert Band or Concert Orchestra usually plays more light-hearted, popular music than  a symphony orchestra. Concert bands play film music, TV themes, well-known songs in instrumental arrangements and easy-listening pieces. Concert bands often have no string section, but may use the double bass. They usually include saxophones, more brass than a symphony orchestra and a larger number of clarinets and flutes. There’s also often a drum kit providing a steady beat in the background.

• The Brass Band has a wide range of brass instruments, including cornets, fluglehorns and euphoniums plus percussion. Brass bands play similar styles of music to concert bands, but they sound different due to the lack of woodwind. One of the oldest brass bands in the world is the UK based Black Dyke Mills Band. Here’s a recording of them playing an arrangement of Dvorak’s Carnival Overture:

• 

  Bagpipes

  The Military Band is similar to the brass band, but also can also include clarinets, flutes, piccolo or even bagpipes. Military bands tend mainly to play military style marches.

• The Jazz Band usually includes saxophones, trumpets, clarinets, percussion, double basses or bass guitars, and may also include a keyboard instrument.

Other Instruments

Some other instruments are very common, but are not normal members of large mixed instrumental groups.

• The piano is a great solo instrument. It sometimes features with a large band, but is not usually a regular member of it. The main reason is probably partly due to the fact that pianos are very difficult to move. Modern bands like jazz bands and pop bands get round this by using digital pianos or keyboards.
• The recorder (fipple flute) is often the first instrument learnt by children. It was more popular in Medieval and Baroque times for serious music – these days it’s often considered to be a child’s toy. Having said that, there are some professional recorder players around. Listen to this performance of Telleman’s “Fantasie” played on the treble recorder:

• The Guitar is possibly the most popular instrument in the world. The acoustic (i.e. not electric) guitar is a very quiet instrument and it’s difficult to hear it against a background of many other instruments without special microphones. There is plenty of classical music written for solo acoustic guitar. The electric guitar is suited to pop, rock and jazz music.

Coming Next…

The next post in the series will take a look at the woodwind section of the symphony orchestra in more detail. Subscribe to the blog by RSS or Facebook to make sure you don’t miss it!

The exams are fast approaching! Many of you will be taking your grade five music theory this weekend or the following Wednesday.

We’ve put together a list of ten last minute tips for you, to help you sail through your exam!

1. Make sure you are comfortable. Wear layers that you can take off if it’s too warm in the room. Visit the bathroom before you go in! Make sure you are not hungry or thirsty before you start.
2. Take at least two pencils with you, sharpened beforehand. Test your pencils to make sure they are soft enough to colour in note heads neatly, and that they are easy to rub out. Also take an eraser and a ruler. (The centre will provide rough paper for jotting down notes.)
3. Make sure you can easily see what time it is, and know how long you have left.
4. Glance through the exam paper and do the easy questions first. This means you have guaranteed points. If you start with the difficult questions it is harder to divide up your time, and you may even run out of time before you get to the easy questions.
5. Read the instructions for each question slowly and carefully. It’s easy to assume, for example, that you should write an ascending scale, whereas the question actually asks for a descending one. It will only take 1 or 2 seconds more to read the question but could save you valuable time in the long run.
6. Be as neat as you can. If the examiner can’t read what you’ve written, you won’t get credit for it.
7. If you get stuck, move on to a different question. Don’t waste time scratching your head. Go back to troublesome questions when you’ve finished.
8. Don’t leave any questions unanswered. If in doubt, guess! There is always a chance you will be right!
9. Don’t lose easy marks in the composition question (grade five+) – make sure you’ve added tempo, dynamics and some articulation/phrasing to your piece. Don’t forget to write out the words if you choose the composing for voice question.
10. Try to leave yourself enough time to be able to check through your answers. This really is essential. Almost everybody finds they have made a silly error or forgotten to answer something, when they check through. Even better, check more than once!

If you haven’t done so already, try our free online practice exam for you level (grades 1-5 available). Go the mymusictheory site and click on the grade you’re taking, choose “Exercises”, then click on “Practice Exam” – it’s the last one on the list.

Good luck to everyone taking an exam – do leave a comment to let us know how you got on!

What is Music Theory?

Sometimes when I tell people what I teach, they look at me slightly blankly and then ask (if they are brave!) “but what IS music theory?”

Music theory is the subject which examines how musical pieces are built. Nobody knows when human beings began making music – but it was probably tens of thousands of years ago. As soon as people invented a method of writing down the music they were making (a system called musical notation), just a few hundred years ago, other people have been picking apart those compositions, to see exactly how they were built. Back in the day they didn’t ask “what is music theory?”; they were probably asking “how come this piece sounds so great?!” or “what is it about this piece of music which makes it so memorable?” or even “why does this piece sound rubbish?!”

I have often heard people with a very negative view about learning music theory. Lots of people say things like “if you learn music theory you’ll stop being creative” or “music isn’t about rules it’s about emotion” or “music theory is difficult/boring/pointless”. I think these people are missing the point. When we study music theory we are not making a list of rules and telling musicians to abide by them. Music theory is descriptive not prescriptive, which is just a posh way of saying

music theory describes how people create music (it’s descriptive)

music theory doesn’t tell you how you have to write your own music (it’s not prescriptive).

So who and what is music theory for?

Knowing about music theory is useful for three types of musician – the composer, the performer and the listener. The chances are you fall into at least one of these categories if you are reading this article. (Some would argue that a listener is not a kind of musician, I would disagree but I’ll defend my view in another post!) Let’s begin by asking what is music theory for the listener…

What is Music Theory for The Listener?

There are two types of listening – active and the passive. A lot of the time we listen passively – we put music on and then do something else (hoover, play computer games, read and so on). In those circumstances we are not really listening, we are just aware that there is music in the background. But when we listen actively, we are giving the music our full attention.

The more you know about music theory, the more you will appreciate the music you are actively listening to. That is not to say that you can’t enjoy music if you don’t know music theory, of course. But when you are able to identify certain elements of the music, you appreciate it more. What sort of elements am I talking about? It’s almost an infinite list.

• At the basic level, you would be able to identify what instrument(s) was playing, whether the music was fast or slow, major or minor.
• At an intermediate level, you would be able to detect a probable time signature (how many beats in the bar), whether the music changes key or not, whether certain snatches of melody or rhythm are reused in the piece or possibly what some of the underlying harmonies (chords) are.
• At an advanced level you’d be able to do all that plus you’d be able to identify some chord progressions with fancy names (Italian 6th?), name a likely composer based on the instruments , the harmonies and the rhythms used, and compare and contrast the piece to others from similar or different time periods.

Why would you want to do that? Well, the most fundamental reason really is that it’s enjoyable! Most people like knowing about stuff - whether it is about the rules of football, how to get to level 387 of World of Warcraft or how to speak Swahili. Learning about things makes you feel clever, and there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s also immensely satisfying to be able to say to yourself “I like this piece of music because XYZ” rather than to admit you like something but you don’t know why.

What is Music Theory for The Performer?

For the performer, a sound knowledge of music theory is essential. If you perform but don’t compose, you must be performing music written by others. To do this, you need to be able to read and interpret what they have written down.

For classical musicians, this means understanding musical notation in depth, being able to interpret the foreign words and strange symbols on the musical page, and also having an appreciation of the styles of music written through the ages so that the black dots can be transformed into beautiful sound.

Knowing what the theory behind the music is also helps when it comes to memorizing music. If you can remember that bars 17-32 are the same as bars 1-16 but in the dominant key, you will be able to remember how to play them with a lot less effort than learning them from scratch. If you look at bar 67 and instantly recognise the scale of Db major starting on the supertonic, you will be able to play it without thinking about it. Knowing about music theory helps to divide the music up into workable sections.

Knowing about music theory with a historical context will make your performances more authentic. Knowing about the music theory of the 19th century doesn’t mean you have to perform everything authentically though, of course – but you would at least have the choice and would be able to make an informed comment about how other people interpret the same music.

For the non-classical performer, it’s just as useful to know what music theory is all about. Even if all you do is read chords from sheet music, if you know how those chords work in the whole scheme of things, you will become a more flexible musician. If you get yourself a new singer in the band who needs everything transposed down a minor third to fit his voice, you’ll be able to do it without a problem.

What is Music Theory for the Composer?

Knowing about music theory for the composer is like having a super-deluxe tool box for the builder. If you don’t know much about music theory you can still compose, and you can even make a good job of it. But imagine if you knew some secret techniques like how to invert a chord to change its flavour, or how to twist a melody out for an extra two bars to increase the tension, or how to change the time signature in the middle of a piece to surprise the listener and create a totally unique rhythm… What is music theory? It’s power. It’s like having a magic wand. You don’t have to use the wand, but when you’re in the mood you can wave it and maybe produce something sensational.

What is Music Theory? Music Theory is Knowing About…

• Instruments: their names, their range, their colour of sound, their history…
• Types of Music: from the Jig to the Symphony, the Rhapsody to the Mass…
• Musical Form: How pieces are organised whether it be Verse-Chorus-Verse or Exposition-Development-Recapitulation…
• Tonality: Major, minor or something in between; scales, arpeggios and intervals between notes…
• Harmony: How chords work to accompany a tune, why certain chords sound great when placed next to each other, why Mozart used different chords to Fats Domino…
• Counterpoint: How several melodies can be woven together simultaneously to produce coherent music…
• Rhythm: time signatures, note values, syncopation, what works for dancing, what doesn’t…
• Notation: how we write our music down today, how they used to do it in the past,  which bits are more open to interpretation…
• Acoustics: how sound is produced, why choirs sound awesome in churches but not in the open air…

And you should always remember, that Music came first, then theory!