Musictheory PDF

Notation: Pitch
##g#F#d#DD#SS#d#Mf#SSg#F
music notation is the art of
recording music in written form.
modern music notation is a product

of centuries of transformation...
and it is neither efficient nor intuitive!
the system of musical notation

we use is essentially a stylized
graph of pitch versus time.
&
pitch is the highness or

lowness of a sound.
the five lines on which notes

appear is called a staff.
pitch
pitch
for example, a flute has

a high pitch, while a tuba
has a low pitch.
time
a note is a
written representation
of a particular pitch.
notation is based on the piano keyboard;
lines and spaces on the staff represent
the white notes on the keyboard.
to display notes
outside the
staff, we use
shortened
staff lines
called
ledger lines.
& w
treble clef
alto clef
F g a b c d e F g a b c d e
the white notes on the keyboard
are labeled with letters from A to G.
B w
tenor clef
bass clef
To notate the
black notes
on the piano
keyboard, we use
accidentals,
which alter the
note by one or
two half steps.
a half step is
the distance
between two
adjacent keys
on the piano
keyboard,
regardless
of what color
the keys are.
#
n
b
middle c is the c that is closest to

the middle of the piano keyboard.
The double sharp raises the

note by two half steps.
The sharp raises the

note by one half step.
these symbols are placed to

the left of the note that they
affect, and they apply to all the
notes on that line or space
for the rest of the measure.
& b n # n
The natural cancels out

any previous accidental.
The flat lowers the

note by one half step.
F g a b c d e F g a b c d e
The double flat lowers
the note by two half steps.
two notes which have the same

pitch (for example, f sharp and
g flat) are called enharmonics.
tobyrush.blogspot.com . copyright 2009 toby w. rush. all rights reserved.
the clef determines what notes each staff

line corresponds to. the four modern
clefs are shown here; the note displayed
on each staff corresponds to middle c.
a rest is a period of
silence that a length
which corresponds to a
particular note.
q.
e + e +e
q.. =
ties are curved marks which connect

two notes together to create
a single, extended sound.
j j
=
j
= .
a tuplet is any non-standard division of a

note. these are usually written as a group
of notes delinated with a bracket and
a number showing the division being made.
3
for example, these arent

exactly quarter notes;
they are each a third as
long as a half note.
multiple dots can also be added,

each one adding half of the
previously added value.
e + e +e +x
q... =
e + e +e +x +x
to tie more than two notes together,

draw ties between each note; do not
use a single, extended tie.
most tuplets are simple divisions, like

the triplets to the left. but anything is
possible! chopin, for example, would
often go to town with these things.
wha... gah!
chopin, no!
down, boy!
e+ e
usually rests are

placed on the staff at a
particular vertical
position as shown here.
the augmentation dot is a dot placed to the

right of a notehead. though small, this dot
wields some serious power: it changes the
length of the note by 150%. In other words,
it makes the note half again as long!
one-hundredtwenty-eighth note
sixty-fourth note
one-hundredtwenty-eighth rest
note lengths in a piece

are indicated by the tempo
marking at the beginning
of a piece or section.
thirty-second rest
sixteenth rest
eighth rest
quarter rest
half rest
whole rest
double whole rest
in this chart, each successive type of note is half as long

as the note to its left. none of these notes has a standard
length; a half note in one piece may be the same length as
an eighth note in a different piece.
K
K
K
K
x x x
sixty-fourth rest
thirty-second note
sixteenth note
eighth note
quarter note
half note
whole note
double whole note
Notation: Rhythm
while pitch is pretty clearly notated on a

vertical axis, note length is indicated using a
somewhat arcane system involving
noteheads, stems and flags.
Notation: Meter
a fundamental feature of
most pieces of music is a
consistent rhythmic pulse.
this pulse is called the beat,
and a single pulse
is called a beat unit.
there are two types of beat units:

those containing two divisions,
called simple beat units...
q
E E
q.
E EE
...and those containing

three divisions,
called compound beat units.
in music, beats are organized into patterns of accented and unaccented beat units.
in fact, if you listen to a sequence of repeated notes, your brain will probably start to
perceive the notes as groups of two, three, or four, even if no accents are present!
Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q> Q Q Q Q> Q Q Q >Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q

the organization
of beat units
and measures in
a piece is called
meter. Meter is
described by two
numbers placed
at the beginning
of the piece:
the time signature.
6
8
simple meters are easy.

the top number
indicates the number
of beats in a measure.
the bottom number
indicates the type of
note which serves as
the beat unit.
compound meters are stupidly complicated.

the top number indicates the number
of divisions in a measure. to get the
number of beats, divide it by three.
the bottom number indicates the type of
note which serves as the division.
to get the beat unit, use the note that
is equal to three of these notes.
in a compound meter, the beat unit is
always a dotted note!
by looking at the top

number of the time signature,
you can tell two things about
the meter: whether its simple
or compound, and how many
beats are in a measure.
2
3
4
beats per measure
simple
2
3
4
6
9
12
barline
measure
3 QQQ QQQ
4
the code for the bottom note

is pretty easy: 4 refers to
a quarter note, 8 to an eighth
note, 16 to a sixteenth note,
and so on.
6 Q. Q. Q. Q.
8
in fact, wouldnt this be

an easier way to notate
compound meters?
sorry... the man says

you have to do it
the other way.
notes that have flags can

be grouped together by using
beams in place of flags.
compound
however, beaming is only used to group notes within beats.

for the most part, you shouldnt beam notes between beats,
nor should you tie notes within beats.
3
4
these groups are called measures,

and they are delineated with barlines.
The Major Scale
one of the reasons that a particular piece of

music sounds the way it does has to do with the
group of notes the composer decided to use.
#
3
.
&4
take this melody, for example...

lets first remove all the duplicate notes, regardless of which octave theyre in.
& 43
next, lets put the notes

in alphabetical order,
starting on the note
that the melody sounded
like it was centering on.

what we end up with
is the palette for
this particular piece...
there are actually many

different types of scales,
each with a different pattern
of whole steps and
half steps.
a half step is the
distance between
two adjacent keys
on the piano keyboard,
regardless of color.
like the board on which a painter holds

the bits of paint being used in the painting
being created.
in music, this palette is called
a scale. though we usually write
scales from low to high, the order is actually
unimportant; its the notes contained in the
scale that help make a piece sound
the way it does.
this particular
arrangement, where
half steps occur between
steps three and four and between steps seven and eight
(or between seven and one, since eight and one are the
same note), is called the major scale.
whole
step
whole
step
half
step
whole
step
whole
step
whole
step
half
step
a whole step is the

equivalent of
two half steps.
(this scale, by the way, is called the

g major scale, because it starts on g.)
knowing this formula, you can create a major scale on any note!
&
the f major scale
&
# #
#
the b major scale
& b b b b b b
the g flat major scale
b b
b
& b
the d flat major scale
but remember...
with
great power
comes great
responsibility!
if you start writing major

scales and pay attention to
the accidentals that occur,
you are going to start
noticing a pattern...
for example look at the flat

keys, starting with the key
that has one flat, all the
way through the key with
seven flats: the flats accrue
in a specific order.
same with the sharp keys!
Ab
B E A D
f c g
bb
B E
f c g d a
cb
B E A D G C F
b
n
c
so if you look for a key that
has only a d flat, you wont
find it: if a key has a d flat,
it must also have a b flat,
an e flat and an a flat!
since writing an entire piece in

c sharp major would have
been a sure-fire way to get
carpal tunnel syndrome with
all the sharps involved,
composers pretty quickly came
up with a way to simplify things:
key signatures.
a key signature is a group of
accidentals placed at the
beginning of every line of music,
just to the right of the clef,
that instructs the performer
to apply those accidentals to
every corresponding note in
the piece unless specified
otherwise.
for example, this key
signature indicates that
every f, c, and g in the
piece should be sharped,
regardless of octave!
oh, and another thing: the

accidentals have to be placed
in the correct order, and
they need to follow a
particular pattern of
placement that varies slightly
depending on the clef being used!
if you deviate from this, you, as
a composer, will be mocked!
tenor clef sharps! whats
your problem? you need to
conform!
c#
f c g d a e b
db
B E A D G
f c
eb
B E A
f c g d
f#
f c g d a e
gb
B E A D G C
ha ha... never!
Key Signatures
The Circle of Fifths
theorists find it convenient to

organize all the possible key signatures
into a chart that shows their relationship
to one another.
this chart, called the circle of fifths,

displays each key as a spoke on the circle,
beginning with c major at the top and
adding accidentals, one at a time, to the
key signatures around the perimeter.
B b 2b
Eb
3b
Ab
to determine the key

signature for a key, look to
see which spoke of the circle
its on to determine how many
flats or sharps it has, and
add accidentals to the key
signature appropriately.
4b
1#
as you move clockwise around the

circle, you add sharps to the key signature.
as you move counterclockwise around,
you add flats to the key signature.
2#
C#
Db
3#
beadgcf
#
when adding sharps,

use the reverse
of the order above.
4#
the keys down here line up

enharmonically... for example,
the key of d flat major will sound
just like the key of c sharp major.
7#
5b
when adding flats to

a key signature, add them
in this order:
for example,
e flat major
has three flats,
so it should
look like this:
notice how that

beadgcf pattern
pops up all over
the circle of
fifths?
weird!
6#
6b
F#
Gb
5#
7b
B
Cb
nooooo!
so could you
continue the
enharmonic
deal and have
the key of
f flat major?
yes, if you want
a double flat
in your
key signature:
F1b
well return to this chart

as we continue learning about
how composers use keys.
Diatonic Intervals
an interval is
the distance in pitch
between two notes.
&
specifically, we
count scale degrees,
but the easiest way to do it is
to count lines and spaces
on the staff.
when counting,
begin with the
bottom note as
one and count
until you reach
the top note.
5
4
3
when we are talking about

intervals we sometimes discuss
harmonic intervals and
melodic intervals.
&
harmonic
interval
melodic
interval
a harmonic interval is simply

two notes played simultaneously;
a melodic interval is one note
played after the other.
nt
ve
se
xt
si
ft
fi
fo
ir
th
se
thats latin for

one sound!
th
ur
nd
co
n
o
is
un
two notes on
the same line or
space is called
a unison.
this interval
is also a
seventh...
well discuss
how its
different
very soon!
h
this interval
is a seventh!
when counting
the lines and
spaces, we
can safely
ignore any
accidentals.
and thats latin

for eight!
the distance from

a note to the next
closest note with
the same letter name
is called an octave.
and when you swap the two notes

(move the lower note up by an octave
so it becomes the higher note),
that is called inverting the interval.
&
its helpful to remember

that seconds always invert
to sevenths, thirds to
sixths, and so forth...
the fact that each of
these pairs add up to nine
is known to theorists as
the rule of nines.
THE RULE
2nd
7th
3rd
6th
4th
5th
5th
4th
6th
3rd
7th
2nd
OF NINES
larger
intervals
smaller
intervals
ct
av
e
the most basic way which we

identify different intervals is
by counting the steps between
the two notes.
Perfect Intervals
the distance of an interval is the first part of its

name, but theres more: every interval has another
quality to it, which well call its inflection.
inflection is a bit harder to understand, partly because it depends on the type of interval.
so lets start by looking at unisons, fourths, fifths and octaves.
&
unisons and octaves

are the easiest to label: if the
two notes are the same (for
example, b flat and b flat),
then the inflection is perfect:
such an interval is called a
perfect unison or a
perfect octave.
&
&
wait...
why are the
b to f intervals
different?
fourths and fifths

require a little more explaining.
if you look at all the fourths and fifths you
can create using only the white notes on the
piano keyboard (in other words, using only notes
without accidentals):
each one is
perfect except
for those which
use f and b!
well, if you were to count the half-steps that make up

each interval, youd notice that all the other ones are
equal in size, but the b to f intervals are not: f to b is
a half-step larger than a perfect fourth, and b to f
is a half-step smaller than a perfect fifth.
which raises the question: if the interval is not perfect, than what is it?
& b
& #
A8
A5
&
A4
& b
A1
you can go further,

to doubly augmented and
doubly diminished intervals,
but... do you really want to?
A
P
d
augmented
perfect
diminished
& #
d5
&
d4
b
&
d8
and theres
no such thing as a
diminished unison...
just like two things

cant be negative two feet
away from each other!
an interval that is a half-step

smaller than perfect is called
a diminished interval.
an interval that is a half-step

larger than perfect is called
an augmented interval.
Imperfect Intervals
&
Weve talked about unisons, fourths, fifths

and octaves, but what about the rest? are
these other intervals somehow imperfect?
well, yes, but not because they are somehow inferior to perfect intervals...
seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths just work a little differently!
A
M
m
d
augmented
major
for one thing, the inflection for these intervals is never perfect;
it will be either major or minor. minor intervals are a half-step smaller
than major intervals. like perfect intervals, though, they can also be
augmented or diminished; augmented intervals are a half-step larger
than major, and diminished intervals are a half-step smaller than minor.
how do we know if an interval is major or minor? we can actually
use the major scale to find out. notice that, in the major scale,
intervals from the tonic up to another scale degree are major.
&
minor
major
second
major
third
major major
sixth seventh
likewise, intervals from the tonic down to another scale degree

are minor.
diminished
&
minor
second
minor
third
minor
sixth
minor
seventh
knowing this, when you are confronted with a second, third, sixth or seventh, you can
find its inflection by thinking about the key signature of the top and/or bottom note.
&
&
and this is a minor seventh

because b, bottom note, is in
the key of a major
(the top note).
if the top note is in the major key of the bottom note, the interval is major.
if the bottom note is in the major key of the top note, the interval is minor.
when the notes of the interval have accidentals, the associated key signatures can
be more complicated... so its easiest to temporarily ignore the accidentals,
determine the interval, and then add the accidentals back one at a time and
track how the interval changes!
poof!
&
f!
ack! what is
that? lets
first hide the
accidentals...
poo
b
&#
M6
e is in the
key of g, so
we know
this is a
major sixth.
b
&
m6
adding back
the flat makes
the interval
smaller, so
its now a
minor sixth...
b
&#
d6
adding back
the sharp
makes it even
smaller...
a diminished
sixth!
we know this is a major sixth

because d, the top note, is in
the key of f major
(the bottom note).
The Minor Scales

this key is defined
by a key signature
of no sharps and
flats, but also by
the fact that it
centers around c.
&
There are actually two things that define a key:

the key signature is the most obvious one, but
another important part of a key is the tonic...
the note around which the key centers.
but what if we change the tonic? what if we use the same notes for the key signature,
but change the note that the key is centered around?
if we center the key around the sixth scale degree of the major scale,
we get a new scale: the minor scale.
l
ra
u
t
r
na ino e
m cal
th
&
the whole step

here didnt have
the tension
they liked going
into the tonic!
the thing is, common practice period composers

werent all that crazy about this scale, because
it lacks something the major scale has:
a half-step from seven to one.
so heres what they did: they raised the leading-tone by a half-step with
an accidental. This gave them the tension they were looking for!
nic
o
rm r
ha inole
m ca
e
th
&
half
!
step
so, for melodies, they made another change:

they added another accidental to raise
the sixth scale degree by a half-step.
he
c
di
o
l
r
me ino e
m cal
t
&
N N
&
now we only
have whole steps
and half-steps!
now, remember... the reason we raised the leading tone in the first place was to create
tension from the seventh scale degree to tonic. but in a melody, if the seventh scale
degree is followed by the sixth scale degree, we dont need that tension, so we dont
need to raise the leading-tone at all.
the way we illustrate this is by differentiating between ascending melodic minor and
descending melodic minor; for descending melodic minor, we dont raise anything!
this scale is great for building chords, so we refer to it as the harmonic minor scale.
however, composers didnt use it for writing melodies, because it had a problem:
an augmented second between the sixth and seventh scale degrees.
Triads
secundal
harmony
tertial
harmony
quartal
harmony
quintal
harmony
chords built from

seconds form
tone clusters,
which are not
harmonic so much
as timbral.
chords built from

thirds (MORE
SPECifically, from
major thirds and
minor thirds)
form the basis of
most harmony in
the common
practice period.
chords built from

perfect fourths
create a different
sound, used in
compositions from
the early 1900s
and onward.
chords built from

perfect fifths
can be respelled as
quartal chords,
and as such they
do not create a
separate system of
harmony.
&
is the chord still tertial

if it is built from diminished
thirds or augmented thirds?
&
when we stack
the chord in
thirds within one octave,
we get what is called the
simple form of the chord.
lets get started

on tertial harmony
with the smallest
chord possible:
the triad.
a triad is defined as a three-note chord,

but in practice it is almost always used
to refer to tertial three-note chords.
d
e
th she
ni
mi riad
i
d
t
& b b
min 3rd
min 3rd
the lowest note in the chord

when the chord is in simple
form is called
the root. the
fifth
names of the
third
other notes
are based on
root
their interval
above the root.
d
e
th nte
me ad
g
i
au tr
e
th or
j
ma riad
t
a major third on top

a minor third on bottom
& b
no.
there are four ways to create a triad

using major and minor thirds:
e
th or
n
mi iad
tr
two minor thirds

stacked together
well, diminished thirds sound

just like major seconds, and
augmented thirds sound just
like perfect fourths, so...
maj 3rd
min 3rd
a minor third on top

a major third on bottom
&
min 3rd
maj 3rd
two major thirds

stacked together
& #
sextal harmony? septal harmony?

as with quintal harmony, these
are the same as tertial and
secundal harmony, respectively.
although a chord is technically any combination of notes

played simultaneously, in music theory we usually define
chords as the combination of three or more notes.
maj 3rd
maj 3rd
we label triads using their root (a c minor triad). the abbreviations shown above, which use
upper case, lower case, and symbols to show chord type, are called macro analysis.
Triads in Inversion
ladies and gentlemen, its
franz joseph haydn!
thank you for having me.

in this piece I use quite a
few triads.
haydn
heres one: it has the notes

# 3 j
g. its ajc major

& 8 c, e and
.
triad!
very. nice.
f
.
.
.
. see how
.
? # 38
thank
you.
the
notes
and not just
spread
are
out,
J
J
J
stacked in thirds? itsJ still
a triad, though.
.
. .
.
. .

# . .

& .J
this one is g, b, and d...

a g major
triad! but it sounds
p
f
j F
different,
. somehow. j
.
thats
because
. the third
. . of. the
? # ..
chord
is
in
the
bass...
when
that
happens,

we say
chord
is in first
inversion.
. the
J
J
J
J
.
& . J
first inversion? what is it
called when the root is in the
. chord .
bass,
like
the first
.
thats
called
we looked at?
position.
root
?#
J
J

J
J
#
b
& b ..
? b b ..
M
J
p
&
.
U
. .
.
J
j
.
f
. . . . n b
. b
thats right!
and each one
has its own
character.
its hard to believe that the

sound of the chord can change so
much just because of the
I know, right?
bass note.
its awesome.
..
.. n b b
so
M this one with
d, f, and
a n
M
#M
is a d minor
triad... in
#
#
J

J J J second
inversion!
J
J
F
p
n
the

? because

exactly!
fifth
is in the bass.

so the thing that makes a

triad root position, first inversion
or second inversion is simply
which note is in the bass?
..
haydn
..
..
ooh! lets
see em!
and hes brought a

movement from his 1767
sonata in g major.
Figured Bass
musical works written in the baroque era would often

include a part called the basso continuo which would
consist of a single bass clef melodic line with various
numbers and accidentals printed beneath the notes.
no, no, no... there wasnt an actual instrument called
a basso continuo! the part was played by two
instruments: a bass clef instrument like cello or
bassoon, and a keyboard instrument like a harpsichord.
in performances, the bass clef instrument would simply play
the given notes, but the keyboard player would improvise a
part based on the notes and the symbols below the part!
#
? ## #
#
so this...
6
Figure 1. The Basso Continuo
#6
#
#6
6
5
# j
& # #
#
could be played as this!

the numbers and symbols
printed below the basso
continuo part are called
the figured bass. So how
do you turn figured bass
into chords?
#6
6
5
6
5
#
J
J
#
? ## #
#
first of all, its important to know that the note given on the bass clef part is always
the bass note of the chord. and remember: the bass is not necessarily the root!
note that the intervals

are always diatonic.
dont worry about
inflection... just use
the notes from the
key signature!
? # # # www
#6
here, the sharp

applies to the
sixth above the
bass, so we add a
sharp to the g.
? # # www
? # # www
(5)
(3)
6
(3)
if there are
no numbers,
add a third and
a fifth above the
bass... you get a
root position triad!
? # # # www
#
here, there is no
number next to the
sharp, so we apply
it to the third above
the bass note.
by the time the classical period got

going, composers stopped including a
basso continuo part, and so figured
bass fell out of use... with only one
exception: music theory classes!
a six by itself
indicates a sixth
and a third above
the bass, which
creates a first
inversion triad!
? # # n www
n6
note that there is

a natural, not a flat,
next to the six...
if it were a flat, we
would write a c flat.
? # # ww
w
6
4
a six and a four

indicate a sixth
and a fourth
above the bass,
giving you a second
inversion triad!
lastly, accidentals are

applied to the interval
they appear with. if you
have an accidental by
itself, it applies to the
third above the bass.
dont overthink these:
if the composer wants
a note raised by a halfstep and its flatted in
the key signature, the
figured bass will have
a natural, not a sharp.
realizing figured bass (writing chords

given a figured bass line) makes for an
excellent exercise for students to learn
how to write in the common practice
period style!
wooo!
second, the numbers

represent intervals
above the bass, even
though some numbers
are usually left out.
Triads Within Tonality
now that were familiar with how

triads work, its time to put them
into the context of a key.
since writing music in a particular key means using the notes in that key signature,
it stands to reason that most of the chords will be built from those same notes!
submediant
chords which use notes from a particular key signature are said to be diatonic
to that key. diatonic means from the key. that means no accidentals!
we can quickly show all the diatonic triads in a particular key by writing a scale
in that key and building triads on each note, using only the notes in that key.
ii
iii
IV
Supertonic
mediant
subdominant
dominant
we refer to
these chords
with roman
numerals as
shown here.
notice how
chord type
is shown by
capitals or
lower case?
these chords are also

sometimes referred to by
their official names!
vi
vii
leading-tone
&
tonic
the diatonic triads in minor work the same way... since were dealing with chords, we
use the harmonic minor scale. however, its important to note that common practice
period composers raised the leading tone only over dominant function harmony:
the dominant and leading-tone triads!
&
same names
and roman
numerals...
different
capitalization!
ii
III
iv
VI
vii
this pattern of
major, minor and diminished
why is the sixth chord called the submediant?
triads is the same in every major key!
well, just as the mediant chord is halfway
the subdominant triad is always major,
between the tonic and dominant chords,
and the leading-tone triad is always
the submediant chord is halfway between the
diminished, whether youre in
tonic... and the subdominant a fifth below!
c major or f sharp major!
because the dominant and leading-tone triads both
have a strong tendency to resolve to tonic, we say they
have a dominant function. the subdominant and supertonic chords both tend to
resolve to the dominant, so we say they both have a subdominant function.
Introduction to Part-Writing
as we look ahead, were
confronted with an ugly truth:
there is a lot of music

in the history of the world
that is worth studying...
much more than we can

hope to cover in the span
of a few semesters.
since we cant cover it all, we have to choose a specific musical language to study in depth.
baroque
renaissance
classical
2000
1900
1800
1700
1500
1600
lets start by narrowing things down to the common practice period.
romantic
the common practice period is the music of the baroque,

classical and romantic eras in europe and america.
the name comes from the fact that most composers used
a common musical language during this time.
early 20th
century
contemporary
its especially worth

studying because
most of the pieces
commonly performed
in concert are
from this period...
st. thom
as chur
leipz
ig, germ
ch
any
but there is a ton of

common practice period music...
more than we can hope to cover. is there a
representative style we can sink our
academic teeth into?
...and the language

forms the basis for
the most popular
musical styles today.
four-voice chorale writing is a good style to study for several reasons:

a large percentage of
common practice period music
can be easily reduced to
four-voice counterpoint.
one of the changes to the catholic church

proposed by martin luther
was to allow members of
the congregation to
participate in the singing
of the liturgy.
of course, luther was
branded a heretic for
his proposals, and began
his own church in which
to implement his ideas.
luther
the cantatas of j.s. bach

provide us with a tremendous
amount of consistently-written
four-voice chorales.
more than two hundred years later, j.s. bach

was appointed musical
director at the st. thomas
church in leipzig, germany
and, in the spirit of luther,
wrote five years worth
of liturgical music.
each of these works,
called cantatas, were built
around a hymn melody
harmonized in four parts
for congregational singing.
j.s. ba
ch
by analyzing bachs cantatas, we can construct a set of rules for writing in

four-voice common practice period musical style, allowing us to study it in depth.
chorales have a fast

harmonic rhythm, allowing
for a larger number of
chords per exercise.
Part-Writing: The Vertical Rules

its wrong to think these were
rules for the composers...
they were just writing what
sounded good to them.
to best understand how

common practice period composers
wrote music, we are going to
learn how to write music using
their musical style.
&
nor should we treat these as rules

for writing music in general...
each style of writing has its
own set of patterns, and thus
its own rulebook. as a composer,
you get to write your own
rules for your own style!
so the patterns we see in their music,

the things they consistently did
or didnt do, are going to become
rules for us in our writing.
were going to start with the

vertical rules... that is, the rules
that pertain to building a single
chord in four-voice harmony.
soprano
first, the distance between

soprano and alto and between
alto and tenor must be an
octave or less.
alto
second, the voices must be kept in

their proper order; for example,
the tenor shouldnt be higher
than the alto. (Bach did this now
and then, but it was only when he
wanted to incorporate some special
melodic shapes.)
third, since we have four voices

and only three notes in a triad,
one of the notes should be
doubled. for triads in root
position, we typically double the
root of the chord unless forced
(by other rules) to do otherwise.
tenor
bass
lastly, each voice should

stay in its range. these
are conservative ranges
for modern singers, but
remember that bachs
chorales were really
written for amateurs:
the common people who
attended church in leipzig!
&
?
soprano
alto
tenor
bass
the tenor and bass can be as

far apart as you want!
Part-Writing: The Horizontal Rules

the supreme goal of part-writing is good voice leading...
making each individual voice part easy to sing by avoiding
awkward intervals or large leaps!
before we get to the specific dos and donts, lets take a look
at some important characteristics of four-voice part-writing:
in some cases, the voice
can simply stay on the same
note. This is called
keeping the common tone,
and its always cool!
note how each voice moves

as little as possible, going
to the nearest chord tone
in each subsequent chord!
its common for the bass to

move in the opposite direction
of the upper three voices.
this is called contrary motion
and it helps maintain
voice independence.
the bass line, since it provides

the foundation of the harmony
in each chord, tends to include
larger leaps than the other
three voices, but thats okay.
voice independence?
in counterpoint, it is important for each voice to

be independent; that is, no two voices should be
doing the exact same thing. if two (or more)
voices were moving in parallel, the richness
of the texture would be reduced.
as a result, common practice composers were
very consistent in avoiding two or more voices
that moved in parallel perfect octaves, parallel
perfect fifths, or parallel perfect unisons!
parallel
octaves!
parallel
fifths!
parallel
unisons!
there are also a few other

rules that apply to this style:
*
*
when you have the leading tone

in an outer voice (soprano or
bass) it must resolve to the
tonic in the next chord.
you may not move any voice
by an interval of an
augmented second
or an augmented fourth.
the good news:

you can avoid all three of
these by doing the following
whenever possible:
1. keep the common tone!
2. move to the
nearest chord tone!
3. use contrary motion!
four-voice harmony is a form of counterpoint,

which is the combination of more than one
melody played simultaneously. in counterpoint,
each voice is equally important; no voice is
given a role of accompaniment to another voice.
Part-Writing: Using Inversions

when common practice composers used inverted chords in
four-voice writing, they followed some general patterns
regarding which note of the chord should be doubled.
root position
first inversion
second inversion
the doubling of first inversion triads depends

on the type of the chord being written.
in root
position triads,
composers usually
doubled the root,
which is in the
in major first
inversion triads,
composers
doubled the
in minor first
inversion triads,
composers
doubled the
in diminished
first inversion
triads, they
doubled the
in second
inversion triads,
composers usually
doubled the fifth,
which is in the
bass
soprano
bass
bass
bass
of the chord.
of the chord.
or
of the chord.
of the chord.
soprano
of the chord.
heres another way to think of it: the only time you cant double the bass is
in first inversion major triads, where you should double the soprano instead.
okay, we know how to use inversions in four-part writing... but when can we use them?
the only rule regarding
root position triads
and first inversion triads
is that diminished triads are
always placed in first inversion.
vii6 6
ii
other than that, you can use

root position and first inversion
essentially whenever you want!
its second inversion triads that
have the big restrictions.
6
the passing 4 chord

is a chord placed in
second inversion
where the bass is
treated like a
passing tone.
F: I64
the pedal 4 chord

is a second inversion
chord where the
bass is treated like
a pedal tone.
F: I6
V64
if you write a
second inversion triad and
its not one of these three situations,
then you are not writing in the common
practice period style! the composers of
the style just didnt use these chords
willy-nilly.
F:
IV46
the cadential 4 chord

is a tonic triad in
second inversion
followed by a
root-position
dominant chord
at a cadence.
Part-Writing: Melodic Minor
so anyway,
after we got
him transposed
back to tonic, he
began to modulate
again, and...
XB
what seems to be
the problem, sir?
X
X
well, I thought Id transpose to

minor, you know, to surprise the
family... so I did, and then I raised
all my leading tones, because
Im a common practice period
progression, right?
okay, sure. so whats wrong?
ive got
augmented
seconds!
*gasp*
paging... dr. melodic minor!
doctor, what
can we do?
ooh... a major iv chord!
IV6
and for these
descending
augmented seconds,
were going to use
an unraised seventh!
and that
makes a
minor v
chord!
for this case of ascending augmented seconds,

I prescribe a raised sixth scale degree!
my
augmented
seconds...
theyre
cured!
all in a days work,

my good man.
now lets turn to
the unpleasant matter
of the bill.
cure your augmented seconds with melodic minor today!
attention! attention!
we need assistance
with a new patient
in emergency treatment
room 3b... stat!
in the common
practice period,
composers used
harmonic minor
by default. but
when augmented
seconds occurred,
they turned to a
hero for help:
melodic minor!
The Harmonic Cadences

A cadence is generally considered to be the
last two chords of a phrase, section or piece.
there are four types of cadences, each with
their own specific requirements and variations.
an authentic cadence consists of a dominant function chord (v or vii) moving to tonic.
to be considered a perfect authentic cadence,
a cadence must meet all of the following criteria:
*
*
*
*
it must use a v chord

(not a vii)
both chords must be
in root position
ct ic
fe nt
r e
pe th
au
the soprano must

end on the tonic
the soprano must
move by step
G: V
if the cadence
doesnt meet
all of those
criteria, its
considered to
be an
imperfect
authentic
cadence!
ct
fe tic
r n
pe he
im ut
a
G: vii6
ct
fe tic
r n
pe he
im ut
a
G: V64
a plagal cadence consists of a subdominant function chord (iv or ii) moving to tonic.
to be considered a perfect plagal cadence,
a cadence must meet all of the following criteria:
*
*
*
*
it must use a iv chord

(not a ii)
both chords must be
in root position
ct
e
l
f
r ga
e
p la
p
the soprano must

end on the tonic
the soprano must
keep the common tone
G: IV
if the cadence
doesnt meet
all of those
criteria, its
considered to
be an
imperfect
authentic
cadence!
ct
e
f
r al
pe ag
im pl
G: IV6
ct
e
f
r al
pe ag
im pl
I6
G: ii
a half cadence is any cadence that ends on the dominant chord (v).
a specific type of half cadence
is the phrygian cadence, which
must meet the following criteria:
**
*
*
ia
it occurs only in minor
f
al
ia
yg
ph
it uses a iv chord moving to v
yg
ph
the soprano and bass move

by step in contrary motion
the soprano and bass both

end on the fifth scale degree
e:
iv6
e: iv
a deceptive cadence is a cadence where the dominant chord (V) resolves to something
other than tonic... almost always the submediant chord (vi).
ve
pt
ce
really, its the psych-out cadence, in that

you expect it to resolve to tonic, but it doesnt.
G: V
vi
and, in fact, its more common to see this in

the middle of the phrase rather than the end...
where you might call it a cadence-like structure!
G: I
Diatonic Common Chord Modulation

modulation is the process of changing to a different key within a piece of music.
there are several different
ways to modulate; perhaps the
simplest is the unprepared
modulation, where the music
pauses and suddenly changes
key, often up a half-step.
common practice period composers,

however, preferred a particular type
of modulation that required a little
more planning: the diatonic common
chord modulation. as the name
suggests, this uses a chord which
is diatonic in both the outgoing key
and the new key.
hey... what is this

portrait doing here?
manilo
w
lets say were starting off in c major... here is a list of all the keys which
have chords in common with c major (the specific chords are highlighted):
F:
ii
iii
ii
iii
IV
IV
vi
vi
vii
a:
ii
vii
e:
III
iv
ii
III
ii
iv
vii
VI
vii
notice how these keys

are all close to one
another on the
circle of fifths.
keys which have

chords in common
like this are
called related keys.
D: I
VI
iii
IV
B b: I
ii
vi
vii
d:
ii
III
b:
to use this type of

modulation, a composer
would pivot the harmony
around the chord that
fit into both keys.
As theorists, we show
this pivot chord by
analyzing the chord in
both keys.
iii
C:
IV
ii
vi
iv
ii
VI
III
vii
iv
VI
vii
vii
vi
e: iv
VI
iv
note that the pivot

chord is always the
last chord that can
be analyzed in the
old key... the first
accidentals will always
occur in the chord
immediately following
the pivot chord!
G: I
Harmonic Progression
how did composers of the common

practice period decide which order
to put chords in? did they just throw
them down on paper haphazardly?
as a matter of fact, there are certain chord progressions that appear more
frequently, and there are others that are avoided pretty consistently. while
the choices were always based on what sounded good to the composer, as
theorists there is a pattern in their choices that we can use to easily remember
which chord progressions work and which ones dont.
to understand this pattern, we need to think in terms of root movements. a root movement
is the basic interval between the root of one chord and the root of the next chord. you
dont have to worry about the intervals inflection, just its distance and direction.
for example, to determine the root movement
here, we look at the root (not bass) of each
chord and figure the interval between them.
&
so heres the pattern: common practice

period composers generally used root
movements of up a second, down a
third, and down a fifth!
thats not say that they

never used other root
movements, but it didnt
happen very often.
sequences of chords that

dont follow this pattern
are called retrogressions,
and they are considered
unstylistic.
remember... since
inflection doesnt
matter, we can
ignore accidentals
when we figure the
root movements.
its down a seventh, but

since octaves dont matter,
we invert it to up a second.
so, for example, a g chord to an

e chord is down a third, but so is
g to e flat, and g sharp to e flat!
there are also four simple exceptions to this pattern:
ii
iii
vii6
and the leading-tone

triad must move to tonic.
C:
lets try it...

say you have
a supertonic
chord and
you are trying
to decide what
chord to use
to follow it.
any chord can

move to dominant,
vii I
or you can use the
first exception and
go to a tonic chord!
tonic can move

to any chord,
you can move

down a fifth to
a dominant chord...
&
you can move

down a third to
a leading-tone
chord...
any chord can

move to tonic,
you can move

up a second to
a mediant chord...
Non-Harmonic Tones
e
am
e
br
ab
h
ac
o
pr
io
ut
o
es
pl
te
ap
no
am
ex
passing
tone
pt
step
step
resolves by continuing in
the same direction as the
approach.
neighboring
tone
Nt
step
step
resolves by returning to
the note preceding the
non-harmonic tone.
appoggiatura
app
leap
step
resolves in opposite
direction from approach.
Escape tone
et
step
leap
resolves in opposite
direction from approach.
changing
tones
ct
any
step
two non-harmonic tones

on either side of the
note of resolution.
anticipation
ant
any
common
tone
a chord tone played

before the rest of
the chord arrives.
suspension
sus
common
tone
step
a note held over from

a previous chord and
resolved down.
retardation
ret
common
tone
step
a note held over from

a previous chord and
resolved up.
pedal tone
ped
common
tone
common
tone
a chord tone which

temporarily becomes
a non-harmonic tone.
suspensions are typically further identified

by number. The first number represents the
interval between the note of suspension and
the bass. The second number represents the
interval between the note of resolution and
the bass.
the exception to this rule is the 2-3 or
bass suspension, where the numbers
represent the intervals between the bass
(where the suspension occurs) and
whichever voice has the note which is a
second (not counting octaves) above
the bass.
7-6
sus
4-3
sus
2-3
(bass)
sus
9-8
sus
tio
via
a non-harmonic tone is a note that

doesnt fit into a chord. we classify
non-harmonic tones by how they are
approached and resolved!
Motivic Development
Ill tell you whats

going on: Im grumpy!
I bet archduke rudolph
20 gulden that I
could write
500 measures
of music this week and
so far Ive only
come up with
four stinkin notes!
were going to take a little break

from the usual stuff and... hey,
its ludwig van beethoven!
whats going on, maestro?
beetho
ven
& b
repetition
sequence
inversion
the simplest form of motivic

development: repeating a phrase
immediately gives you twice as
much music!
repeating a motive at a higher
or lower level pitch. as with
all of these, the intervals
dont have to match exactly.
rhythmic
metamorphosis
imitation
any change of the motives rhythm

(other than just changing the
tempo, as described above)
motive
motive
repetition
sequence sequence
inversion of original motive
bb
b
&
motive
.
bb . . n . . . .
& b
augmentation of original motive
metamorphosis of original motive
b
&bb
b
&bb
motive
so lets use
2/4 time instead!
imitation
aw, dang!
lets go
double or
nothing!
so, heh heh....

that gets us to 253
measures...
uh, yeah...
int. expansion
b
.
&bb
an echo effect between different voices

(between instruments in an ensemble, for
example, or between registers on the piano)
wait... we are in
4/4 time, right?
b
&b b
making the intervals within the

motive smaller (contraction) or
larger (expansion).
changing the speed of the motive

so it is played faster (diminution)
or slower (augmentation).
n #
bb b
J
J
&
J
flipping the motive upside-down:

if the original motive leaps
downward, an inversion will
leap upward.
interval contraction
interval expansion
diminution
augmentation
b
&bb
you sly fox...

506 measures!
woooot!
read it and
weep, rudy!
beetho
ven
original motive
hey, its cool, mr. b...

we can use these notes
as a motive, and create
a ton more music based
on them. watch!
Binary Form
when we talk about the form of a piece,

we are referring to the large-scale layout
of the piece... specifically, the arrangement
of sections of music, how and when they
are repeated, and what keys are being used.
010101110110111101110111001000010010000001011001011011110111010100100000011
A B
One of the simplest forms is

binary form, which consists of
two contrasting sections. we
refer to these two sections as
a and b.
the sections might be contrasting
in mood, tempo, key, or even in a
combination of these characteristics.
binary form
000010111001001100101001000000111001001100101011000010110110001101100011110
A B
V
baroque dance form
binary form is used in baroque dance

suites in a very specific way. In these
pieces, both sections are repeated.
the A section begins in the primary key
and modulates to the key of the
dominant, and the B section begins in
that key and modulates back to the
original key. performers of the time
would typically improvise ornamentation
when repeating each section.
010010000001101001011011100110001101110010011001010110010001101001011000100
baroque dance suites were written for varying instrumentation; many were written
for keyboard (usually harpsichord or clavichord), others were written for chamber
groups, and some were even written for full orchestra.
each movement of these suites would be written in the style of a particular baroque dance:
allemande, gavotte, bouree, courante, sarabande, louree, gigue, and others,
each of which had a specific character.
because baroque dance form is so common in baroque instrumental music, when
theorists and musicologists are talking about baroque music and say binary form,
they are actually referring to baroque dance form.
another somewhat rare variation of

binary form is rounded binary form,
where the A section returns after the
end of the b section. this reprise of
the a section, however, is shortened,
so we refer to it as a prime.
AB
rounded binary form
11011000111100100100000011001110110010101100101011010110111100100101110
Ternary Form
ternary form is a three-part form.

rather than using three completely
different sections, most pieces in
ternary form consist of two sections,
the first of which is reprised.
ABA
in ternary form, the a section appears

both at the beginning and at the end;
like binary form, the b section is
contrasting in character.
the reprised a section may be an exact
repeat of the first A, or it may be
slightly different, but the length of
the a sections should be similar.
ternary form
this is different from rounded binary, where the reprised a section (which we
called a prime) is significantly shorter than the first a section.
A B
Fine
minuet
the minuet and trio is a variation on

ternary form used for instrumental
music. instead of writing out the reprised
a section, the score will place the
instruction da capo al fine after the
b section, which means to return to the
beginning, play through the a section,
and end the piece.
Da capo
al Fine
trio
minuet & trio form
A B
trio
1st & 2nd

strains
IV
military march form
sousa
in the military march form, the a section is split into two

subsections, called the first strain and second strain.
the trio adds a flat (or removes a sharp) from the key
signature, modulating to the key of the subdominant.
most marches begin with a short fanfare, and repeat the
trio, placing a short, intensely dramatic passage between
repetitions called the dogfight or breakstrain.
(dogfight)
its worth mentioning that

there is a common form
that is descended from
minuet and trio form:
the military march form
favored by john philip
sousa and other american
march composers.
fanfare
this same form is commonly used in baroque and classical opera, where it is called
a da capo aria. In both minuet & trio and da capo aria, any repeats are ignored
when playing through the reprised a section.
Sonata Allegro Form

the form itself is based from
ternary form, in that the
first large section is reprised
at the end of the form,
sonata allegro form is a specific form

first used by early classical composers in
opening movements of multi-movement
works for solo, chamber or large groups.
it was eventually adopted by other composers

of the classical and early romantic eras.
A BA
exposition
first
theme
development
second
theme
I
minor
keys: i
development
of main themes
V
III
major
keys:
recapitulation
first
theme
second
theme
I
i
I
i
sonata allegro form

one of the most important features of sonata allegro form is the two primary themes
that make up the exposition. THese two themes will be constrasting in character and, at
least in the exposition, will be in different keys. in a major work, the second theme will
be in the key of the dominant; in a minor piece, the second theme will be in the relative
major. in the recapitulation, however, both themes are played in the tonic!
A BA
V
III
development
of main themes
addition of
others
recapitulation
first
theme
second
theme
I
i
I
i
sonata allegro form (with optional elements)

bear in mind that composers did what they wanted to... some of the greatest pieces written
in sonata allegro form feature places where the composer artfully broke these rules!
I
minor
keys: i
major
keys:
second
theme
codetta
first
theme
development
coda
exposition
transition
introduction
the diagram above shows the required elements of sonata form; in the diagram below,
several other elements, which are optionally included, are also shown.
Diatonic Seventh Chords

What are they?
diatonic seventh chords are the
seventh chords you can create using
only the notes in a particular key.
remember:
we only
raise the
leading-tone
over
dominantfunction
harmony!
C: I7
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w
& www
w
www
w
www
w
&
ii7
i7
a:
www
w
www
w
ii7
www
w
iii7
IV7
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w
www # www
w w
III7
V7
iv7
V7
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w
vi7
www
w
vii7
www www
w #w
VI7
vii7
IV
vii
2
3
5
iii 7
pat. pending
&
the add-a-seventh-inator
in harmonic progressions, diatonic sevenths can

be used anywhere you can use a diatonic triad with the
same root.
vi7
ii7
V7
I7
in fact, these chords can

be approached and resolved
using any of the same three
root movements
as triads use.
With the diatonic seventh chords, we add a

fourth root movement: the common root.
However, this root movement can only be
used to increase tension, so going from
a seventh chord to a triad is avoided.
V7
there are eight possible types of

seventh chords in tertial harmony,
but the composers of the common
practice period only used five:
V7
however, it is okay to
approach the seventh
from below by a step
or a leap, or from above
by a step.
You must never approach
the seventh by a leap from
above!
bw
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e
th or
n
th
mi en
v
se
ed
h
e
th inis
h
m
i
t
-d en
lf ev
a
s
h
ed
h
e
th inis
h
m
di nt
ly eve
l
s
fu
b b b wwww
b b wwww
major 7th
above root
major triad
minor 7th
above root
major triad
minor 7th
above root
minor triad
minor 7th
above root
diminished triad
diminished 7th
above root
diminished triad
we use 07 for
half-diminished sevenths
and 07 for
fully diminished sevenths.
seventh chords have four notes, so doubling in four-part

harmony is not an issue... but if you need to use irregular
doubling, double the root and omit the fifth.
when using these chords in four-part writing in

fact, when you use any seventh chord in four-part
writing, you must always, always remember to...
the seventh of the chord
is most often approached
by the common tone.
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o
e
th min
h
r nt
jo ve
ma se
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w
V
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e
th or
j
th
ma ven
se
respect the seventh!
The seventh of the chord

is always resolved down
by step. always!
no, im serious. dont ever
resolve the seventh of a
seventh chord any other
way.
doing so will cause you
certain death!
Here they are

in major and
minor.
Remember, diatonic
means from the key.
so a diatonic chord is one
that only uses notes in
the key signature.
No accidentals!
The Dominant Seventh
The dominant seventh is the diatonic seventh

chord built on the fifth scale degree. we
already discussed diatonic seventh chords...
why give this one all this special attention?
but the primary reason

for spending a little extra
time with it is the fact that
there are a few things
that apply to it that dont
apply to the other diatonic
seventh chords.
for one thing, the

dominant seventh is,
by far, the most common
seventh chord used by
the composers of the
common practice period.
first, a note on terminology:

the terms major-minor seventh
and dominant seventh are not
interchangeable! Major-minor
seventh is the chords type, and
dominant seventh is the role
the chord plays in the context
of a particular key.
b www
w
its just a major-minor seventh...
&
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w
until its placed in a particular key!
&b
the reason these are often

confused is that in popular
and jazz theory, the term
dominant is used to label
the chord type as well as
the chords role.
the other important thing to know about the dominant seventh chord is that common practice
period composers would sometimes use some non-standard ways of resolving the seventh!
the
ornamental resolution
in this resolution, the seventh is still

resolved down by step, but it takes an
ornamental detour before getting there.
?#
seventh
resolution
ornament
V7
the ornament
can be any
shape or
length, but it
must resolve
to the note
down a step
from the
seventh of the
seventh chord.
Here, the resolution of the seventh is

delayed by moving to some other chord
(usually the subdominant) and having the
seventh of the chord hold out until the
dominant seventh returns.
seventh
V7
IV
V7
?#
resolution
the seventh still

needs to resolve
down by step by
whatever voice is
the last to have it.
#
&
?#
V7
transferred
to tenor
V56
If the bass voice gets it, he resolves it

immediately, ending the fun for everyone.
bass resolution
delayed resolution
this is the hot potato resolution: instead of

being resolved down by step in the same voice,
the seventh is passed to another voice in
another dominant seventh chord.
the
the
#
&
transferred resolution
after the V7
returns, the
voice that has
the seventh
should still
resolve it
appropriately!
in this resolution, the seventh of the chord

is still resolved down by step, but the note
it resolves to appears in the bass voice.
#
&
?#
seventh
V7
resolution
I6
the voice that

had the seventh
resolves up,
usually by step.
#
&
the
Extended Harmonies
b b www
b www
diminished triad
b b wwww
diminished diminished
seventh chord
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www
minor triad
major triad
b b b wwww
diminished minor
seventh chord
so far, weve talked about two

types of tertial chords: triads and
seventh chords. remember, tertial
chords are chords constructed
by stacking major and minor thirds!
now, there are four types of triads
and eight types of seventh chords,
even though common practice period
composers only used five of them.
augmented triad
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b wwww
minor minor
seventh chord
b ww
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w
major minor
seventh chord
minor major
seventh chord
# # wwww
# wwww
major major
seventh chord
augmented major
seventh chord
augmented augmented
seventh chord
so that makes for twelve chord types so far... but what if we keep going? what other chord
types can we make by stacking major and minor thirds? tertial chords with five, six and seven
notes are called ninth chords, eleventh chords and thirteenth chords respectively.
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minished
hed
ord
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b www
minished
hed
nished
chord
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r minor
hed
chord
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w
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b bb wwww
b bb wwww
b b bb wwww
b b b wwww
b b www
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the good news: common
minor
ninth chord
eleventh chord
b b www
R MINOR
MINISHED
chord
MINOR MINOR MINOR

DIMINISHED MINOR
thirteenth chord
R MINOR
MINISHED
chord
OR MAJOR
INOR
chord
minor minor minor

ninth chord
minor minor major

ninth chord
minor diminished
eleventh chord
minor perfect
eleventh chord
diminished minor
minor diminished
eleventh chord
diminished minor
minor perfect
eleventh chord
minor major major

ninth chord
ww
b b b wwww
diminished minor
major perfect
eleventh chord
extended harmonies used by

common practice period composers.
in fact, the v 11 and v 13 werent used
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romantic
b b the
b b wwww
much
b b b wwww era.
b b wwww
w
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w
major minor minor
perfect
eleventh chord
diminished
doubly-diminished
diminished
thirteenth chord
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diminished minor major

ninth chord
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w
w
www
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# # wwww
b b wwww
b wwww
b # wwww
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seriously:
these
are
the
only
w
w
w
w
w
minished
ed
nished
nished
chord
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diminished minor minor

ninth chord
practice period composers

only used these extended
as
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b www
harmonies
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b bb bb wwww
b bb wwww
chords
b
b b www
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w
w
w
ww
b www
major minor major

perfect
eleventh chord
b b www
diminished
thirteenth chord
major minor major

augmented
eleventh chord
b b www
minor
thirteenth chord
major major major

perfect
eleventh chord
b b www
minor diminished
diminished
thirteenth chord
major major major

augmented
eleventh chord
b b www
minor diminished minor
thirteenth chord
major major
augmented augmented
eleventh chord
b b www
minor perfect minor
thirteenth chord
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b ww
w
# www
when
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chords
b b bbnow,
b bb wwww
b b wwwwput these
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b www
b wwww
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b four-part
b
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b
b
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harmony,
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problem: they all have more than
four notes. So we have to make
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call:
b b bbthe
b bb wwww
b b wwww which
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b www
b www
b www
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we
cut
from
the
team?
w
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MAJOR MINOR MINOR

DIMINISHED MINOR
THIRTEENTH CHORD
MINOR MINOR MINOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MINOR MINOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
MINOR MINOR MINOR

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MINOR MINOR

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord
MINOR MINOR MAJOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MINOR MAJOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
MINOR MINOR MAJOR

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MINOR MAJOR

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord
www
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# www to keep
# # www the
# # wwwwroot
# # # wwww
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#we
#
#
#
#
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ww
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w it defines
w
w chord.
because
the
similarly, the third is what
makes the chord tertial.
AUGMENTED MAJOR MAJOR

PERFECT MAJOR
THIRTEENTH CHORD

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED MAJOR
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
MAJOR
thirteenth chord

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
MINOR MINOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MINOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
w
# # wwww
# ww
AUGMENTED MAJOR
AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
the seventh acts as a bridge

to the extended harmony,
preventing the chord from
coming across as two separate
harmonies played at the same time.
...to 124!
b b wwww
w
# www
b ww
minor major
augmented
ninth chord
major minor minor

ninth chord
# www
b b b www
w
b b bb wwww
w
#
& # wwww
# wwww
ww
ww
diminished minor
major augmented
eleventh chord
minor minor minor

diminished
eleventh chord
major major
augmented
doubly-augmented
eleventh chord
ww
b bb wwwww
augmented major
major perfect
eleventh chord
G: V9
minor perfect MAJOR
thirteenth chord
# # www
b b wwww
MINOR MINOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
# #b wwww
ww
w
b bb b wwww
b www
diminished MINOR MINOR

DIMINISHED DIMINISHED
thirteenth chord
b www
w
b www
MINOR MAJOR MINOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
# www
www
ww
w
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord
# www
AUGMENTED MAJOR
AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
w
b bb wwww
w
minor minor minor

perfect
eleventh chord
# www
# www
augmented major
major augmented
eleventh chord
b bb bb wwww
b www

DIMINISHED MINOR
thirteenth chord
seventh
MINOR MAJOR MAJOR

PERFECT MAJOR
THIRTEENTH CHORD
www
www
w
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR

PERFECT MAJOR
THIRTEENTH CHORD
# # www
# ww
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
THIRTEENTH CHORD
root
C: V13
# www
ww
major major major

ninth chord
www
b b www
minor minor major

perfect
eleventh chord
major major
augmented
ninth chord
minor minor major

augmented
eleventh chord
# ## wwwwG: V11# # wwww

ww
ww
augmented major
augmented augmented
eleventh chord
augmented major
augmented
doubly-augmented
eleventh chord
#
&
ww
# ww
w
# wwww
augmented
major major
ninth chord
w
b www
minor major major

perfect
eleventh chord
w
# # ## wwww
w
augmented augmented
augmented augmented
eleventh chord
w
# # wwww
augmented major
augmented
ninth chord
# # # wwww
w
##
augmented augmented
augmented
ninth chord
augmented
doubly-a
ninth
#
b
# # www
w
b www 13 b www
G: V
minor major major

augmented
eleventh chord
w
# # # wwww
w
augmented augmented
augmented
doubly-augmented
eleventh chord
minor major
augmented augmented
eleventh chord
w
# # wwww
w
augmented augmented
doubly-augmented
doubly-augmented
eleventh chord
minor
augm
doubly-a
elevent
##
what about a fifteenth chord?

try it: if you add another third
on top of a thirteenth, you
b ww areb wwjust doubling
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b www
the
b
w
b b www
w
www
b #b wwww13!
b b b wwww so btertial
b b bstops
harmony
at
ww
b b b www
b
w
w

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord
diminished MINOR MAJOR

PERFECT MINOR
thirteenth chord

PERFECT MAJOR
thirteenth chord

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
www
w
w
www
# wwww
# # wwww ninth,
finally,
the
# # wwww eleventh
# # # wwww
# #or
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b www thirteenth
b www
b www of the
b ww chord
b ww is what
b www
third# # w
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AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
MAJOR
thirteenth chord
www
ww
# b # www
& b www
major minor major

ninth chord
thirteenth
bw
&
ww
w
# www
# # # ww
MAJOR MINOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
b wwww
w
defines it as a ninth, eleventh

or thirteenth chord.
MINOR MAJOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
MINOR MAJOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
MINOR MAJOR AUGMENTED

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord

DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
# wwww
# # wwww
# wwww
# # # wwww
# # wwww
ww so how
ww do# you
w
w
wwin
w
w
put
these
w
w
w
w
w
four-part harmony?
omit the fifth and use only
w
w
w
w
www
the
# ## wwww
# # wwww ninth,
# ## wwww eleventh
# # wwww
# #or
# www
# ww thirteenth
# ww
ww as necessary.
ww
w
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
MAJOR MAJOR AUGMENTED

AUGMENTED MAJOR
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord

AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord

DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
AUGMENTED AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
TRIPLY-AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-AUGMENTED
thirteenth chord
oh, and if youre worried

about inversions: stop.
in the common practice
period, extended harmonies
are almost always found
in root position.
augmented
doubly-a
triply-au
elevent
##
bbb
diminished
AUGMENTED
thirteen
#
b
MINOR MAJO
DOUBLY-A
DOUBLY-A
thirteen
MAJOR MAJO
DOUBLY-A
DOUBLY-A
thirteen
#
#
suddenly the possibilities increase from twelve...
AUGMENTED
DOUBLY-A
TRIPLY-A
TRIPLY-A
thirteen
Altered Chords
up to this point, all the chords weve
been talking about have been built using
only the notes in the current key.
27
ic
n
o ro
t
a ch
di
(
d
now that weve covered all
e
the
possible diatonic chords in
r tertial
e
harmony, its time to open
lt
essentially, this means

no accidentals, with the
exception of the raised sixth
and seventh scale degrees
in minor, which we
consider to be
part of the key.
8
s
triad
tonic
nths
dia
seve
tonic
onies
dia
harm
nded
exte
15
88
well be covering
several categories
of altered chords,
each of which have
their own unique
rules for use.
BORROWED
CHORDS
however, there are

a few things that
they all have in
common!
first, every altered chord has to

have at least one accidental...
if it doesnt have any accidentals,
then by definition its a
diatonic chord!
b
& b n
b
& b
V/
V
diatonic
2
6
1
5
d
SECONDARY
DOMINANTS
#b
50ne
x
m t
il
e
Secondary
Subdominants
AUGMENTED
SIXTHS
second, altered chords can be easily used in place of their

diatonic counterparts. in other words, you can add some pizazz
to a composition by replacing a diatonic chord with an
altered chord
that has the
same root.
&c
?c
& b
?b
these altered chords add a

certain richness to the harmony
by using one or more notes
that are not in the key signature
and thus require accidentals.
NEAPOLITAN
ii
altered
the door to notes outside the key...
with few exceptions,

altered chords can use
the same basic root
movements that weve
been using.
like the diatonic sevenths,

however, the common root
should only increase tension...
dont move from an altered chord
to its diatonic counterpart.
IV6
IV
V7
b b
b VI
vi
avoid cross relations.

a cross relation occurs when a note
appears with two different accidentals
in two consecutive chords, in two
different voices.
lastly, when you use these chords

in part-writing, you should,
whenever possible, resolve the
altered notes in the direction
of their alteration.
so if a note has a flat, try to
resolve it down by step or by leap.
& b
ii65
b
?b
and we generally avoid doubling altered tones,

since doing so would tend to cause parallel octaves.
theory
ic
t
ma
Borrowed Chords
how does a composer decide which

altered notes to use? in a major key,
one possibility is using notes and chords
from the parallel minor.
altered chords use notes outside

the scale as a means of adding a
different color to the chord.
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nw
for example, the following chords are diatonic chords in c minor:
hey, minor!
Ill have them
back by tuesday
this time, I
promise!
&
c:
www
ii
www
w
www
ii7
III
&
C:
b www
ii
b wwww
b b www
bIII
ii7
and, in fact, these six chords

are the six most commonly used
borrowed chords in the common
practice period. (One of them, the
major triad on the lowered mediant,
or flat three, was not used much
by composers before
the romantic era.)
all the usual part-writing rules apply to these
chords. for example:
ii
the borrowed supertonic is a

diminished triad, and is therefore
always used in first inversion.
the borrowed seventh chords

can be used in any inversion, but the
seventh must be approached
and resolved properly.
b III
bVI
iv
vii7
VI
but if we use them in a major key, they require accidentals and are
therefore altered chords. we call these borrowed chords because they
are borrowed from the parallel minor.
some theorists
refer to the use
of these chords as
mode mixture.
www
www
ii7 7
vii
its usually best to resolve altered

notes in the direction of their
alteration, but doing so in the two
altered root chords wont work.
the leading-tone fully diminished

seventh is the king of dominant
function. dont even think of
resolving it to anything but tonic!
vii
b www
Nw
b b www
b www
bVI
iv
vii7
two of these chords,

the flat three and flat six,
have altered tones as roots.
we place a full-sized flat symbol
before the roman numeral itself
to indicate this altered root.
wait... why? since we

double the root,
moving both roots
the same direction
can often result in
parallel octaves.
& b
bVI
? b
b
5
8
bVI
its more important to

avoid parallelism than
to resolve the notes
a certain way, so this
use of contrary
motion is better.
? b
b
& b
theres another chord that is often

erroneously called a borrowed chord:
used in minor, taken from the parallel
major. its the picardy third: a tonic
chord with a raised third used as the
final chord
# U
w
of the piece.
bb
named for
24th-century
explorer
jean-luc
picard!*
# w
&
j j
U
? b b n w
w
*Nope.
g:
V7
i VI ii6 V
borrowed?
why call them
that when major
never brings
them back?
bbb
The Neapolitan Six

in addition to the altered root borrowed chords,
there is another altered root chord that fits well
with the borrowed chords, even though it is not
actually borrowed from the parallel minor.
b
w
& b ww
C:
The Neapolitan six chord, since it is

built on a form of the supertonic,
has some characteristics of a
subdominant function chord
in that it often resolves toward a
dominant function. in fact, it is very
common to see the neapolitan chord
resolve to a dominant seventh in
third inversion, or to a cadential
six-four chord.
& b b
?
C:
N6
V24
b
b
N6
I46
(even though the neapolitan chord

has a lot in common with other
subdominant function chords, it is
most often referred to as part of
a larger group of chords called
predominants, and the label of
subdominant function is generally
limited to the subdominant and
supertonic chords and their
variants.)
*****
there are a couple of interesting

things about this chord. one is
the fact that it is almost
exclusively used in first inversion.
seriously! although this
chord is extremely common
in the common practice
period, there are very few
examples of it used in
root position.
second inversion is
even rarer.
the second interesting thing about

the chord is its name: you might expect
it to be called a flat two, in keeping
with the other altered root chords.
but, in fact, this is the first of a few chords
that have special names. This particular one
is called the neapolitan chord.
neapolitan means from naples,
referring to the city of naples,
italy. the chord isnt actually
from naples, though; it was
just associated with the operas
written by neapolitan composers
like alessandro scarlatti.
Naples
scarla
tti
funny thing is, this chord was used pretty

commonly before scarlattis time, in
compositions far from the courts of italy.
its also worth noting that although nearly
every theorist and theory textbook calls the
chord a neapolitan sixth chord, it is more
properly called a neapolitan six chord. thats
because in the rare situations where it is used
in root position, it is simply called the neapolitan
chord, and when it is found in second inversion,
its called the neapolitan six-four.
since we dont pronounce I6 as one sixth,
we shouldnt say Neapolitan sixth for N6!
that chord is a
major triad
built on the
lowered second
scale degree.
since its not a borrowed

chord, this chord can be used
in both major and minor.
Secondary Dominants
there is a duality at the heart of common
practice period harmonic progression.
like the ancient conflict of jedi and
sith, it consists of forces that,
at one level, work against each
other... but at another, higher
level, work together, creating
energy that drives all else.
that duality, of course, is the relationship

of dominant function and tonic.
dominant harmony typifies tension
in the common practice period, and
the tonic represents release.
its simplest form, the authentic
cadence, has been ubiquitous
in western music for centuries.
the progression of dominant

moving to tonic is so strong, it
would be nice to be able to use
it to provide motion to chords
other than tonic.
but thats crazy talk, though,

isnt it? I mean, how could we
control that magic and make it
obey our compositional whim?
the answer, of course, is with secondary dominants.

lets say we wanted to
approach this vi chord.
&
vi
we could use one of the usual

diatonic chords, the tonic, the
subdominant, the mediant... but
what if were looking for a bit
more tension and release?
what if we wanted to use

that dominant-tonic magic?
&
vi
if we pretend for a moment that the chord were resolving to is a tonic chord, what would
the corresponding dominant chord be? altered, yes, but were not afraid of those anymore:
&
a: V
&
V
a
while we might have once called this a

short modulation, it is really more like
borrowing another keys dominant chord.
if we think of the V chord in the key
as the primary dominant, V chords of
related keys are secondary dominants.
&
C:
#
V
vi
vi
now, were not just limited to the v chord:

there are five chords with a dominant function!
V V7 vii vii7 vii7

dominant function chords
V V7 vii vii7 vii7

x x x x
x
the secondary dominants
in major keys, the x above can be any

diatonic chord other than tonic (obviously)
or the leading-tone triad. why? because
a diminished triad has a hard time acting
like a temporary tonic chord.
in minor keys, the composers generally
only used secondary dominants
of iv and of V.
these chords often resolve to the

chord under the slash, but they can
actually be approached and resolved
using the basic root movements!
1
5
the basic
root movements
rock!
yes. yes they do.
that gives us
a huge list of
possibilities!
Augmented Sixth Chords

like that moment of incredible tension just
before the hero finally kisses the leading
lady, the half-step is the go-to interval
for creating tension in music of the common
practice period. it drives the entire style!
if one half-step can create such strong tension, how

about two half-steps sounding simultaneously? Lets
get creative here for a minute to find a cool new way
to approach a diatonic chord. in this case, well use them to approach the dominant triad.
...and approach that
octave with a half step
below the top note,
first, well start with

the doubled root of a
V chord...
#
b
&
&
#
& b
...and a half step above

the bottom note...
...and, finally, add the

tonic as the third note.
the result is a new chord, one we call the augmented sixth chord,
after the interval created by the top and bottom notes.
italian
augmented sixth.
if we add the
second scale
degree instead
of doubling the
tonic, we get the
french
augmented sixth.
and if we
replace the
second scale
degree with the
lowered third
scale degree,
we get the
german
augmented sixth.
# www
& b w
It.6
# www
&b w
Fr.6
b b # wwww
&
Ger.6
however, they also often

approach tonic chords
in second inversion,
which also contain a
doubled fifth scale degree.
&
Fr.6
on b2
? b
& #
? b
b
Ger.6
I46
rarely, augmented sixth chords

are found transposed down
a perfect fifth, analyzed as
on flat two, and used to
approach a tonic chord in
root position.
and, finally, when resolving

the german augmented sixth
chord to a dominant triad,
you might find yourself
writing parallel fifths...
but its perfectly okay!
mozart did it all the time!
&
b b
Ger.6
if we just use
three notes
and double the
tonic, we get the
augmented sixth chords are predominant chords,

meaning they are used to approach dominant chords.
they are usually used to approach dominant triads,
not dominant sevenths, because of the doubled
roots present in dominant triads.
Altered
and
Enharmonic
Modulation
w
& b
F: I
IV
V
C: I
ww
Altered common chord modulation

is easy: remember diatonic common
chord modulation, where we used a
chord that was diatonic in both
the old and new keys?
& b
altered common chord modulation

is the same thing, only using the
pivot chord as an altered chord
in either the old key, the new key,
or both.
F: I
IV
V
E: b VI
# n www
# n #
V
Now, in both diatonic modulation and altered modulation, we have one chord that plays two
different roles, one for each key. But the chord type doesnt change... if it was a major
chord in the old key, its still a major chord in the new key.
...but what if the chord type did change?

this technique is
so well, odd that
there are only
two specific ways
to do it.
in enharmonic modulation, we respell a chord

enharmonically so the chord type itself
is different in the old and new keys.
beethoven
did!
D b : V7
we can take advantage of this and use it

as a pivot chord... where it acts like a
german augmented sixth in one key
but like a V7 (or a V7/x secondary dominant)
in the other key!
&
bbbb
? bb b
bb
n
n
n n
n
V7
D b : IV6
C: Ger.6
note that the pivot chord above is

approached like a dominant seventh,
but resolved like an
augmented sixth chord!
&
b b wwww
&
b b wwww
a56
&
b b wwww
c7
meaning that a fully diminished

leading tone seventh chord
can be a pivot chord into
three other possible keys:
#
&
G: I
#
&
G: I
#
&
G: I
which can be
respelled as
vii7
vii7
E: vii65
which can be
respelled as
vii7
vii7
vii7
b
D : vii34
which can be
respelled as
vii7
b
B : vii42
#
I
n b b
I
b n
I
C: Ger.6
b bb wwww
respell
&
b b # wwww
fully diminished seventh chords are

cool for a lot of reasons, and one of
them is that they are equidistant chords:
inverting a fully diminshed seventh
yields another root-position fully
dimished seventh chord.
invert
ever notice that the german

augmented sixth chord is just like
a major-minor seventh chord
with the seventh respelled
enharmonically?
Secondary Subdominants
after learning about secondary dominants,
you might wonder if its possible to extend the
concept to other chords.
for example, if we can use a dominant function chord
from a related key, what about a subdominant function
chord from a related key, like IV of V?
well, the answer is yes, and the chords that result are called secondary subdominants.
but before we talk about them, you need to understand a few things.
first of all, the very existence of
these chords is debatable.
second, the only place
we find chords that
we can call secondary
subdominants is in the
music of thex
romantic era.x
what one theorist might call

a secondary subdominant:
& b #
7
C: C: ii
V
V42
V
V6
iv
IV iv
V
another might call a

short modulation.
& b # n
G: ii7
V42
I6
C: V6
Lastly, since these chords are already

pushing the limits of tonality, composers
would only use secondary subdominants
from closely related keys. In
other words, secondary subdominants
should only be of IV and of V.
keeping these things in mind, lets look at the possibilities:

what are all the subdominant function chords weve encountered?
next, the diatonic
seventh chords:
ii IV
ii7 IV7
ii
IV
and, lastly, a few

borrowed chords:
so a secondary subdominant can

have any subdominant function
chord above the slash, and
a IV or V below the slash.
however, the most commonly
found secondary subdominants
are those that use the halfdiminished supertonic seventh.
to approach these chords,

use any of the basic root
movements.
which are awesome.
ii ii7 iv
ii
the most common way to resolve

secondary subdominants is to
the corresponding secondary
dominant.
ii7
V7
first, there are

the diatonic triads:
baroque
renaissance
classical
weve already mentioned a few chords

that were specific to the romantic era:
dominant eleventh and
13
thirteenth chords,
the flat three borrowed chord,
and secondary subdominants.
bIII
romantic
2000
early 20th
century
contemporary
however, the music of the romantic

era employed some interesting
techniques that set it apart from
the baroque and classical eras...
the music of the baroque, classical

and romantic eras share a consistent use
of harmony and counterpoint, enough to cause
theorists and historians to group them together
as the Common Practice Period.
V11
1900
1800
1700
1500
1600
Romantic Era Techniques
ii
IV
...and foreshadow some of

the big changes coming in
the twentieth century!
ii
V
iv
IV
& #
? b
b
another technique that is unique to the romantic era is

the resolution of an augmented sixth chord to a
dominant seventh chord rather than a dominant triad,
causing the interval of the augmented sixth to resolve
obliquely instead of moving outward to the octave.
V7
Ger.6
finally, romantic era composers would sometimes use a particular type of chord
progression that had the effect of suspending tonality for a portion of the
piece. By temporarily removing the feeling of being in a certain key, the composer
could easily modulate to a distant key!
if you think of
tonality like
being in a
room...
this technique is called

third relations because it
involves moving by root
movements of a major or
minor third without respect
to key signature.
...
t
ar hird
of e l
r
f ike ela
in the tur tion
t
fo he gra ning s
r
r
v
a oo ity
bit m
...
for example...
& b
F: I
IV
...which obscures any

sense of key we had...
& b # # #
F #M
b b
E bM
...here, were just moving

down by Major thirds...
DM
b n
Bb M
#
#
#
# n
B: I
IV
*whump*
and then we land

in b major!
...and then turning

the gravity back
on ... but in a
different
direction!
here, were
in F major...
The Modern Modes
modern?
wait, isnt this stuff, like,
100 years old?
yes, but we only call them modern because we need to differentiate between a bunch of
unrelated things across music history that, ever so inconveniently, use the same names!
the modern
modes names
came from the
various keys
used in medieval
church music
hildeg
v. willi
ams
and those
used the same
names as scale
tunings discussed
by plato in
380 bc!
which were, in
turn, named in
honor of the
lute ranges used
in later ancient
greek music
aristox
ard
plato
enus
and, to make matters worse, each of these things use the names to represent different
concepts! fortunately, right now, were only worried about the modern modes.
one of the primary characteristics of
these english modalists is that they
tended to avoid the strong tensions
of the common practice period...
for example, they avoided chords
that used a tritone... and avoided
raising the leading tone in minor keys!
tain
bri
these modes are used a lot...

especially in folk music. as for
standard western repertoire,
they are first prominently featured
in the post-romantic music
of the early twentieth century
british isles.
so what are they?

well, remember when we created the natural minor scale by starting with a major scale,
but using the sixth note of the scale as the tonic? it gave us a new pattern of whole steps
and half steps... a new scale.
&
minor
keeping the same key signature,

we use this note as our new tonic!

& major
in fact, these are two of the seven modern modes:

major is the ionian mode, and natural minor is the aeolian mode.
by starting on the other notes of the major scale, we get the other five modes.
B to B the locrian mode
F to F: the lydian mode
E to E: the phrygian mode
D to D: the dorian mode
&
c ionian
& b
c mixolydian
major + lowered 7th
& #
major + raised 4th
c lydian
G to G: the mixolydian mode
a more effective
method of keeping
the modes straight
involves memorizing
each modes
color tone:
the scale degree
that makes it
unique from the
major or minor
scale with the
same tonic.
the modes here all share

the same key signature...
they are related, like
c major and a minor!
&
a aeolian
&
minor + raised 6th
a dorian
& b
minor + lowered 2nd
a phrygian
&
because it has
a diminished tonic,
locrian is a theoretical
mode... its not used
in actual practice.
Species Counterpoint: Melody
and really, to be
fair, these are
good guidelines
for any melody...
its just that fux
is a little more
strict about it.
before we start combining melodies, we need

to understand what constitutes a good melody
in the system of species counterpoint.
in general, melodies should be primarily stepwise, with a single,

definite high point or low point. effective melodies tend to progress slowly toward
the high or low point and then move back toward the starting pitch.
high point
&w
oh, and dont repeat notes like this.

contrapuntal melodies need to be
interesting, not boring.
as you can see above, occasional leaps are okay...
but they come with a bunch of restrictions.
first, leaps should be no larger than a perfect fifth, with two exceptions: leaping by a
perfect octave, and leaping upward by a minor sixth. dont do these very often, though!
w w
second, for heavens sake, avoid the tritone! this interval (an augmented
fourth or diminished fifth) was actually considered evil to musicians of
the time and was called the diabolus in musica... the devil in music!
leaping by a tritone is bad, but its also

important to avoid the tritone in other
ways... for example, this pattern, where
a tritone is outlined in the melodic line,
would be considered inappropriate.
&w
tritone
third, leaps of a perfect fourth need to be preceded or followed by stepwise motion

in the opposite direction, to counterbalance the leap. and if a leap is larger than a
perfect fourth, it needs to be counterbalanced both before and after!
m2
P4
This perfect fourth is counterbalanced

by the step that occurs before the leap.
&w
P4
This perfect fourth is surrounded by steps,

but they arent in the opposite direction.
&w
m2
P5
M2
This perfect fifth is counterbalanced

by steps on both sides of the leap.
&w
P5
This perfect fifth has steps on both sides,

but the first one isnt in the opposite direction.
lastly, dont write more than two leaps in a row, and when you do, they need to outline a
major or minor triad. no diminished triads... they have tritones in them!
evil!
&w
Species Counterpoint: Species I

first species counterpoint is the most rhythmically simple type of counterpoint:
both voices have the exact same rhythm. as a result, its all about the intervals!
and that takes us to the first rule:
only use consonant intervals.
and its
important
to know
that to the
sixteenth7
century
ear, the
perfect
fourth
was also
no sevenths! dissonant!
&
&
w
2
w
?
no seconds!
w
w
& w
&
w
-3?
w
voice overlap:
top note is lower
than bottom note
was previously
& w
3
w
?
w
4
its how
rock stars
do it!
no fourths!
next rule: voices cant cross or overlap.

voice crossing:
top note is lower
than bottom note
see how the

number of the
interval is written
in between the two
voices? you should
do that too.
and then: thirds and sixths are fine, but

no more than three in a row.
to much consonance, and

the natives get restless.
w
6
&
?w
6
w
6
w
6
woooooo
the next rules have to do with perfect intervals (P1, P5, and P8... remember, P4 is
dissonant!), which play important roles and require some special treatment.
because they are such a strong sonority which can stop the counterpoint in its tracks,
unisons can only be used on the first or last notes of an exercise.
& w
? w
these are called

parallel fifths...
and theyre
just awful!
in fact, approaching perfect intervals with both

voices moving in the same direction is bad, even
if its from an imperfect interval.
plus, its also not okay to approach a perfect
interval with leaps in both voices!
so its easiest to remember what you can do:
approach perfect intervals using contrary motion,
with at least one voice moving by step.
& w
? w
8
w
w
5
& w
? w
6
w
w
8
& w
w1
?
first note:
no problem
w
3
w
w
w3
w
w1
w
w3
in the middle:
no way
in fact, each exercise must begin

and end with a perfect interval
with the tonic in the lower voice.
for these exercises, youll be
writing a melody above or below
an already-written melody, called
a cantus firmus.
the cantus firmus will always start
and end on the tonic note...
so if you are writing counterpoint
below the cantus firmus, you cant
start with a perfect fifth,
because youre lower voice wont
be the tonic. Youll have to start
with a unison or octave instead!
all perfect intervals must be approached with

care in order to preserve voice independence.
first of all, never repeat a perfect interval!
Species Counterpoint: Species II

&C
second species
counterpoint adds a
touch more
complexity:
there are two notes
against every one in
the cantus firmus.
?C w
fortunately, that doesnt make it twice as difficult: in fact, most of the previous rules
still apply without any changes.
there are only a few exceptions:

previous
rule:
new
rule:
leaps are still fine, but dont leap to a new high point on a downbeat.
no leaps
larger than
a perfect
fifth*
&C
?C w
the a in the third measure

is a new high point for
the line, so leaping to it
on the downbeat is bad.
*excepting, of course, ascending minor sixths andperfect octaves, but you already knew that.
only use
consonant
intervals.
still true... for downbeats. for the

unaccented beats, dissonant intervals
are fine, as long as they happen as
passing tones: notes that fill in a
third created by surrounding notes.
&C
?C w
6
10
oh, and notice how dissonant intervals

have their numbers circled? its what the cool theorists do.
approach
perfect
intervals
using
contrary
motion
with at least
one voice
moving
by step.
&C
?C w
8
w3
unisons can be used on unaccented

notes... just be careful about
crossing or overlapping voices!
this rule still applies: if you use a perfect interval on a downbeat,

you need to use contrary motion from the immediately preceding
notes, and at least one voice must move by step.
&C
?C w
8
10
w
8
however, you must also be careful not

to have the same perfect interval on
two successive downbeats. This is
called parallel perfect intervals
and its going to be a no-no for a
good long time.
(in fact, its also not okay to have parallel perfect intervals from
the unaccented beat to the downbeat, but if you are approaching
with contrary motion, that wouldnt happen anyway.)
not too bad, is it? yeah! bring on third species!
unisons
can only
be used
on the
first and
last notes.
Species Counterpoint: Species III
have guessed,
species,
as you might
third
involves four notes against one.
&C
?C w
first: dont leap more than once

in the same direction.
&
and, compared to the other

species, its easy peasy!
in fact, the differences can be
summed up into four rules.
SECOND: all intervals larger than a third,
including perfect fourths, must be

counterbalanced by steps on
both sides.
&
third: as before, the third note of the measure (which corresponds to the off-beat
in species two) can be dissonant, but only if it is a passing tone.
as for the second and fourth notes, they can also be dissonant, as long
as they are passing tones or neighboring tones.
&C
?C w
8
a neighboring tone is a note approached by step,

which resolves back to the note it came from.
whoa... so what do we talk about now? we have almost half a page...
the double neighbor tone

involves an upper neighbor
and a lower neighbor played
one after another, then
returning to the note that
approached it.
&C
?C w
3
can be
dissonant!
the nota cambiata (or

changing tone) follows
the pattern of a step down,
a third down, then
two steps up. the middle note
of this five-note figure
must be consonant.
can be
dissonant!
&C
?C
w8
must be
consonant!
w6
well,
okay...
how about two special figures that work well with third species?
Hey, its
kids!
Sparky the music theory dog!

Q:
Dear Sparky:
I understand that were supposed to beam rhythms to show the organization of
beats in the measure, but is there an easy way to beam complex rhythms?
--A.Y., Owatonna, MN
A: WOOF!*
notes should be beamed in groups that illustrate the

meter. for simple rhythms, this is pretty easy to do;
simply group any notes that can be beamed (eighth notes and smaller) into
groups that are equal to the beat unit of the current meter.
*translation:
& 43 J J J J J J
& 43
for complex rhythms, however, things can get complicated... when a rhythm includes things
like syncopations or other off-beat figures, illustrating the meter may involve dividing
notes across beat units with ties. fortunately, there is a step-by-step system for correctly
beaming these complicated rhythms!
for example, lets
take this rhythm,
which is written
without beaming.
& 44 J .
step 1:
find the smallest note value used, and fill a complete measure with this type of
note, beamed in groups that are equal to a beat unit in the current meter.
step 2:
add ties between individual notes to recreate the original rhythm. make sure that
each tied group corresponds to a note in the rhythm you started with!
& 44
yes, i know it
looks weird...
but were not
done yet!
& 44
4 .
4J
original rhythm:
step 3:
dont
touch!
find every group of two or more notes that are both tied together and
beamed together, and replace them with a single note of equivalent value.
if you have notes

that are tied or
beamed, but not
both, then leave
them alone!

J J
hands
off!
& 44 .
yes...
simplify it!
a correctly beamed rhythm may include ties, but it will

very clearly show the beats in the measure... which, in
turn, makes it easier for the performer to read!
DOING STUFF THE SPARKY WAY IS ALWAYS FUN!
Hey, its
kids!

Q:
Dear Sparky:
Since we are supposed to use different approaches for identifying perfect and
imperfect intervals, can you summarize them all into one system?
--I.M., Staten Island, NY
A: WOOF!*
the following chart shows an approach for identifying

any interval. a similar approach can be used when you
need to write a particular interval above or below a given note: first, add
a note above or below the given note at the correct distance, then follow
steps 2 through 4 of this chart to identify it. Then, if necessary, alter the
note you added with an accidental to create the interval called for.
*translation:
b
&#
&
poof!
cover up all accidentals.
f!
poo
STEP 1:
STEP 2:
STEP 3:
count the bottom

note as one, and
continue until you
reach the top note.
determine the distance of the interval

by counting lines and spaces.
determine the inflection of the interval

currently shown as follows:
if it is a
unison or octave:
if it is a
fourth or fifth:
if it is a
second, third,
sixth or seventh:
the interval shown

is a
if the interval uses

the notes f and b,
it is either an
if the top note is

in the major key of
the bottom note,
the interval is
perfect unison
or
perfect octave.
really.
it just is.
STEP 4:
augmented fourth
major.
or a
diminished fifth.
otherwise, the
interval is
perfect.
add the original accidentals back,

one at a time, and track how the
interval changes inflection.
remember: accidentals can never affect

the distance of an interval... distance is
determined solely by the number of
lines and spaces between the two notes!
if the bottom note is

in the major key of
the top note,
the interval is
minor.
&
b
&#
This method may seem complicated at first,

but as you use it, youll internalize it and
become faster... so get out there and
identify some intervals!
Hey, its
kids!

Q:
Dear Sparky:
Can you elaborate on why suspensions are identified by numbers? Also, what
should one watch out for when writing suspensions in four-part harmony?
--S.S., Detroit, MI
A: WOOF!*
when analyzing suspensions, it is important to identify

both the note of suspension (the non-harmonic tone
itself) and the note of resolution (the note that comes right after the
non-harmonic tone in the same voice).
*translation:
this a is the
note of suspension...
it doesnt belong in
this g major triad.
C: IV
V6
it resolves to
this g, which does
fit in the chord.
its the note of
resolution!
when writing an example which

includes a suspension, it is very
often useful to begin by writing
the chord that is going to contain
the suspension, then adding the
suspension, and finishing by writing
the chord of approach.
in almost every case,

the suspension is
then labeled using
two intervals: the
interval between the
note of suspension
and the bass, and the
interval between the
note of resolution
and the bass.
this is
a 7th!
C: IV
V6
this is
a 6th!
...so its a
7-6 suspension!
this is
a 3rd!
this is
a 2nd!
C: vi
the only exception to this

is the 2-3 suspension, where
the suspension occurs in the
bass. for this one, we look
at the interval between the
notes of suspension and
resolution and the nearest
chord tone, whichever voice
it may be in.
...so its a
2-3 suspension!
for the 4-3 suspension

and 2-3 suspension, you
need a chord with a
third above the bass...
which means you can
use anything except a
second inversion triad.
I6
I
for the 9-8 suspension,

the suspension resolves
to an octave above the
bass... thats easy, since
any chord can include
an octave.
for the 7-6 suspension,

the suspension resolves
to an sixth above the
bass. that means you
cant use a chord in
root position, because
they have a fifth and a
third above the bass.
you need a first or
second inversion triad!
I6
I46
I6
I I46
the real trick, though, is to plan ahead... if you are planning to write a particular type
of suspension, you need to think about the interval that needs to be present in the
chord that includes your suspension.

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Notation: Pitch

modern music notation is a product

the system of musical notation

pitch is the highness or

the five lines on which notes

for example, a flute has

middle c is the c that is closest to

The double sharp raises the

The sharp raises the

these symbols are placed to

The natural cancels out

The flat lowers the

two notes which have the same

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the clef determines what notes each staff

ties are curved marks which connect

a tuplet is any non-standard division of a

for example, these arent

multiple dots can also be added,

to tie more than two notes together,

most tuplets are simple divisions, like

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usually rests are

the augmentation dot is a dot placed to the

note lengths in a piece

double whole rest

in this chart, each successive type of note is half as long

double whole note

while pitch is pretty clearly notated on a

there are two types of beat units:

...and those containing

Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q> Q Q Q Q> Q Q Q >Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q

simple meters are easy.

compound meters are stupidly complicated.

by looking at the top

beats per measure

the code for the bottom note

in fact, wouldnt this be

sorry... the man says

notes that have flags can

however, beaming is only used to group notes within beats.

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these groups are called measures,

The Major Scale

one of the reasons that a particular piece of

take this melody, for example...

next, lets put the notes

there are actually many

like the board on which a painter holds

a whole step is the

(this scale, by the way, is called the

the f major scale

the b major scale

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if you start writing major

for example look at the flat

since writing an entire piece in

oh, and another thing: the

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The Circle of Fifths