music gcse

• Circle of 5ths


  • Each note is 5 notes above the last
  • C-G-D-A-E-B
  • Each time you go up you gain a sharp
  • C has no sharps
  • G has 1 sharp
  • D has 2 sharps
  • Etc etc
  • Starts at C not F
• F major


  1 sharp
• G major


  3 sharps
• A flat major


  4 flats
• Reverse circle of fifths

  1. C - F - B flat - E flat - A flat - D flat

  2. Each time you go up you get another flat
• Pedal


  A repeated note around which the harmony changes
• Triad names


  • Tonic i
  • Supertonic ii
  • Mediant iii
  • Subtonic IV
  • Dominant V
  • Subdominant vi
  • Leading tone vii
• Cadences


  • Imperfect: I - V
  • Perfect: V - I
  • Interrupted: V - VI
  • Plagal: IV - I
• Finding inversions


  1. Find the three notes in the triad

  2. Stack them so there is three spaces between each one

  3. Find the bottom note

  4. That is the root note, the key and the chord name
• Appoggiatura


  A melodic dissonance that is resolved by step
• Antecedent consequent


  Two phrases, one asks a question, one answers the other
• Hemiola


  When a time signature is momentarily interrupted and changes
• Imitation


  A type of counterpoint where musical material is shared between the parts
• Counterpoint


  Any two independent lines of melody
• Suspension


  A chord is played and one note is "suspended" which means it is also played in the next chord displacing a note that is either a tone or semitone away from it, and then that displaced note is played after the chord
• Circle of fifths


  A way of modulating chords by playing a chord and then its dominant and then playing that chords dominant etc etc
• Ternary form


  • A B A
  • A= Main piece section
  • B= Countering section
  • A= Return to normal
• Rounded binary form within ternary


  • A
  • B
  • Shortened A
• Sonata form


  • Exposition
  • Development
  • Recapitulation
  • Coda
• Exposition section


  • 1st subject usually in tonic key, 8-30 bars
  • 2nd subject usually in relative minor/major or dominant, 8-30 bars
  • Transition to help transition key, 8-10 bars
  • Codetta usually in dominant key, a few bars
• Development section


  • Explores exposition further
  • Both subjects in new themes/contexts
  • Quite short and brief in classical era, gets longer and more complex as eras progress
• Recapitulation section

  • 1st and 2nd subject in tonic key
  • Sometimes a transition as well
• Coda


  Closing passage of new material but generally has a sense of finality to it
• Finding key of transposed instrument


  See a 'C', hear the key
• Baroque era characteristics


  • Heavy ornamentation
  • Continuous flow
  • Polyphonic
  • Basso continuo
  • Expressive contrast
  • Focus on harmony
  • Use of Harpsichord
  • Fast movement
• Classical era characteristics


  • Simplicity
  • Accessibility
  • Contrasting moods
  • Singable
  • Homophonic
  • Graceful
  • Symphony
  • Concerto
  • String quartet
  • Short simple regular phrasing
• Romantic era characteristics


  • Highly emotional
  • Dynamic contrast
  • Awe of nature
  • The idealisation of women
  • Purity of childhood
  • Freedom
  • Individualism
  • Homophonic and Polyphonic
• 20th century music - Jazz


  • Rhythm section: Piano, Guitar and Bass
  • Rhythm: Swing, long short long short long with lots of triplets
  • Common instruments: Sax, Trumpet, trombone, piano, drums, bass
  • Notation and form: Lead sheet used, melody played largely as written with extemporisation, piano plays chords, bass player realises a bass line, form: HEAD - SOLOS (IMPROVISATION) - HEAD
  • Harmonies: Often formed by blues notes from the blues scales which may start on different notes but follow the same pattern
• Impressionism


  Chords used for their colour rather than harmonic progression, unusual scales and timbres, vague, fluid quality, unusual instrument combinations, non-functional harmony
• Minimalism


  Few melodic ideas, repetitive rhythms, staying within one or very few keys or chords, steady pulse with reiteration of phrases or motifs that change fractionally over time, uninterrupted texture made up from interlocking rhythmic patterns and pulses
• Neoclassicism


  Composers reimagine music of the past but in their own time, imitate aspects of the style and structures of the Classical period (or, sometimes, the Baroque period)
• Ostinato


  A continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm
• Sequence


  The restatement of a motif or longer melodic passage at a higher or lower pitch in the same voice
• Hemiola


  Momentary lapse into two time when the main time signature is three time
• Pedal


  A continuously played note or short bunch of notes around which the harmony changes
• Syncopation


  Notes played on the off beats
• Mozart Symphony 14 in G minor was composed in Vienna in 1788/99, right in the middle of the Classical era, a mature and refined Mozart piece due to it being near the end of his life
• Mozart Symphony 14 in G minor


  • Simple graceful melodies
  • Flutes, oboes, bassoons, french horn
  • Symphony in sonata form
  • Collection of movements (multiple pieces in one)
  • 4 movements
  • 1st is sonata proper
  • Two middle movements, first is usually minuet and trio and the other is a slow andante or a slow more free movement
  • 4th is a fast sonata form that could be adapted e.g not strict could have aspects of rondo
  • 1st subject in G minor at bar 6
  • Transition at bar 28/29
  • 2nd subject in B flat major at bar 44
  • Codetta in Bar 72 which corresponds to coda