Tonic Triads

The first degree of the scale is also known as the tonic (or “doh”). A tonic triad is a
chord built up from the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees of the scale.
For example, here is the tonic triad in G minor:

It’s built on the tonic, G, with the 3rd degree of the scale, Bb, and the 5th, D.

The tonic triad is number one, because it’s built from the first degree of the scale. So,
in Roman numerals we say it is “I” or “i”. We use capital letters for major triads, and
lower-case letters for minor triads.

In lead sheets, you may see the chord symbol e.g. “Gm”, which stands for “G minor”.

Which Register?
It doesn’t matter which octave (or “register”) you write a triad in. Try to avoid using lots
of ledger lines though! Here are two triads in C major, in different octaves:

Inversions of the Triad

When the lowest note of the triad is the same as the chord’s name, we say that the
triad is in root position. The other two notes are each a 3rd higher than the note
below. Here are some examples of tonic triads in root position:
If we change the order of the notes of the triad, so that the middle note becomes
the lowest note, we say the triad is in first inversion. (“Inversion” means “turned
upside down”). Here are the same chords as above, but in their first inversions. The
other two notes in the triad are now a 3rd, and a 4th higher than the lowest note.

Important: When a chord is in an inversion, it is the lowest sounding note that we

need to look at. You cannot tell an inversion by looking at the higher notes – only the
lowest note (also called the “bass note”) counts.

When the top note from a root position triad is moved into the lowest position, the
chord is in second inversion. Here are the same chords, but in second inversion. The
intervals between the notes are now a 4th, and a 3rd.

Dominant Triads
The fifth degree of the scale is also known as the dominant (or “soh”).

A dominant triad is a chord built up from the 5 th, 7th and 2nd degrees of the scale.
For example, in the key of C major, the 5 th, 7th and 2nd degrees of the scale are G, B and
D:

These three notes make a triad of G major. We can label this chord as V (with a capital
V, which is the Roman numeral for 5), or simply as “G”, which means “G major”.
Remember that a triad of G major could also be called “chord I”. The Roman numeral
name for a chord depends on the key the music is in. G major is chord I in the key of G
major, but chord V in the key of C major:

In minor keys, we use the harmonic minor scale to build up the notes of the dominant
triad.

Here is the scale of A harmonic minor as an example:

The 5th, 7th and 2nd degrees of the scale are the notes E, G# and B, so the dominant triad
in the key of A minor is the triad of E major:

Because the 7th degree of the scale is raised up by a semitone in the harmonic minor
scale, you will always need to add an accidental on to the middle note of a dominant
triad, when it’s in a minor key.

Four-Part Chords
A triad is a kind of chord. Triads always have only three notes in them, but “chords”
can have any number of notes. One of the most common ways of writing chords is
in four parts. Usually the root (or lowest note) of the triad is doubled up an octave
higher, and added to the basic triad.

The top three notes of the chord can be written in any order. The lowest note of the
chord should be the root of the triad if the chord is in root position.
Here are some examples of a C major root position chord, written in different ways.
Notice that the lowest note is C in every case, but the order of the other three notes can
be different:

These four-part chords are written using a system called SATB, which stands for
“soprano, alto, tenor and bass”. In this system, the chord is written on a grand staff (like
a piano staff) with a treble and a bass clef stave joined together at the left with a
bracket or brace.

On the treble clef we write the top two notes of the chord. The topmost note is called
the “soprano” note, and the lower note is called the “alto” note. On the bass clef
stave the topmost note is the “tenor” note, and the lowest note is the “bass” note.
These four words can sometimes refer to the four main human singing voices, but they
also refer to the general position of a note within a chord, even if the notes are played
by instruments instead of voices.

When you write out a chord in SATB style, you need to pay attention to the stem
direction of the notes. Soprano and tenor notes are always written with the stems
pointing upwards, and alto and bass notes always have their stems pointing
downwards.

When you write out a chord in four-parts, it’s also important to think about
the spacing between the parts. If the bass and tenor parts are written close together,
the chord can sound very “muddy” or indistinct. It is much better to write a wide space
between the bass and tenor, and place the upper parts closer together. A good rule-of-
thumb is kept the bass and tenor at least a 5 th apart, and to keep the upper parts no
more than one octave apart from the next note.
 a. is poor because the gap between the tenor and alto is more than one
octave, and the gap between bass and tenor is less than a 5 th.
b. is good because the gap between bass and tenor is wide, and the gap
between each pair of upper parts is narrow.
c. is poor because the gap between the tenor and alto is more than an octave.
d. is good because the gaps are spaced with the widest gap between the
lowest two parts.

The Perfect Cadence

The tonic and dominant triads (or chords) work together in special ways in music.
They are the two most important chords within music (in the Western world) because
they are the chords which let us understand what key a piece of music is in, and help
us to understand its structure.

Music is often organized into short “phrases” – these work a bit like sentences in
language. A phrase is a musical idea with a clear start and end point. Phrases can be
any length, but they are usually around 4 to 8 bars long.

Traditionally, the end of a phrase is always marked with something called a cadence. A
cadence is a sequence of two particular chords – one followed by the other. The most
common cadence is called the “perfect cadence”, and this is the only one you need to
recognize for Trinity grade 3 music theory. You can think of a perfect cadence as similar
to the “full stop” at the end of a sentence – it is a signal that the phrase has come to an
end. A perfect cadence uses chord V (dominant), followed by chord I (tonic).

Here are some examples of perfect cadences.

Key: G major. Chord V (D major) is followed immediately by chord I (G major).

Notice how the 7th degree of the scale, F#, (also called the “leading note”) rises up a
semitone to the tonic note G in the same part.
Key: E minor. Chord V (B major) is followed immediately by chord i (E minor). The
7th degree of the scale, D#, is followed by the tonic note E in the same part.

TRIPLETS
A “triplet” is a group of three notes played in the time of two.
To look at how triplets work, we’ll first look at a short rhythm in 3/4 time.

Remember that in 3/4 time, one crotchet (quarter note) beat can be divided into two
quavers (8th notes):

It can also be divided into four semiquavers (16th notes):

But, if we want to split the crotchet (quarter note) into three equal parts, we need to
use a triplet.

To show a triplet, we write the notes as three quavers (8ths) beamed (joined) together,
and we also write “3” on the beamed side of the notes.

Look and listen to this rhythm using triplets:

Triplets with other Note Values (ABRSM only)

NB for Trinity you only need to know about quaver/8th note triplets at this grade.

Triplets don’t always have to be quavers (8th notes) – we can make triplets out of notes
of any length. We can split a minim (half note) up into three equal notes by writing
triplet crotchets (quarter notes) , for example:

Crotchets (quarter notes) don’t have beams, of course, so we write crotchet triplets with
a square bracket, with the number 3 in the middle of the longest line.

Mixed Note Value Triplets

Triplets don’t always have to have three notes in them: the notes of the triplet just
need to add up to three of whatever value there would normally be two of.

In 4/4 time, for example, a crotchet (quarter note) is worth two quavers (8ths), or three
triplet quavers. This means you can make a triplet out of other note values, as long as
they also add up to three quavers overall. Here are some different ways one crotchet
beat can be split into triplets with different rhythms.

Adding Bar Lines with Triplets

Adding bar lines to music with triplets can look difficult at first glance, but don’t panic!
Remember that you are looking at three notes in the space of two, and that they are
grouped together in whole beats. Here’s an example:

Add the missing bar lines to this tune.

The time signature is 3/4, so each bar needs to have an equivalent of three crotchet
(quarter note) beats.

Each “3” symbol shows a triplet group. One triplet group is worth one crotchet. The
quavers (8th notes) beamed in twos are also worth one crotchet each.

Write a “1” under each group of notes which adds up to one crotchet. (You can write “2”
under the minim, and any other values which are necessary, of course!)

Then after each count of three (because this is 3/4 time), draw a bar line.

Adding Rests with Triplets

Here’s a melody which you need to add rests to, and the melody contains a triplet:
We can see that there is a triplet marked with a “3” above the beamed quavers (8th
notes), but there are only two notes written instead of three. The star (*) shows us
where the missing rest is supposed to go – in this case it’s in the middle of the triplet.

The other notes in the triplet group are quavers (8ths); we’ve got two quavers but we
need three, so the rest must have the value of a quaver.

Here’s the finished answer, with the quaver rest in place:

Triplets Exercises
Point your mouse at the staves (tap on mobile devices) to reveal the answers.

1. Add the correct rests at the places marked * to make each bar complete.

2. Add the missing bar lines to these tunes. The first bar line is given in each case.
COMPOUND TIME SIGNATURES
TABLE OF NOTE NAMES UK V. USA

Simple Time Signatures

Up till now you have only learnt about simple time signatures. (Perhaps you didn’t
think they were very “simple” though!)
A simple time signature is one where:

 the top number in the time signature is 2, 3 or 4

 the main beat is divided into two
 the main beat is not a dotted note
 the bottom number of the time signature tells you what type of note is used
for the main beat
.

For example, in 4/4 the main beat is a crotchet. If we want to divide the crotchet, we
split it into two quavers:

In 2/2, the main beat is a minim. We can split each one into two crotchets:

And in 3/8, the main beat is a quaver. We can split each one into two semiquavers:

Compound Time Signatures

Compound time signatures are new for grade three theory. A compound time
signature is one where:

 the top number is 6, 9 or 12

 the main beat is divided into three
 the main beat is always a dotted note
 the bottom number shows you the division of the beat, not the main beat.
Here are the three compound time signatures you need to know for grade three theory:
6/8

The bottom number 8 tells us to count quavers, the top number tells us there should
be 6 in a bar. But the main beat is not quavers – because that would give us six beats
in the bar. (There are always, 2, 3 or 4 beats per bar, or an irregular number which
doesn’t divide into 2, 3 or 4, such as 7).

We need to work out what note value is equal to three of the notes in the time
signature: what are 3 quavers worth?

Three quavers = one dotted crotchet.

Each bar has two dotted crotchet beats.

In fact, the main beat in any /8 time is the dotted crotchet.

The quavers should always (whatever the time signature) be beamed to make complete
beats whenever possible:

This grouping is wrong, because the quavers are grouped to make three beats, instead
of two. (This grouping would be fine for 3/4 time, which has three beats per bar).

9/8

There are 9 quavers per bar.

Each group of three quavers makes one main beat, which is worth a dotted crotchet.

There are three dotted crotchet beats per bar.

Here you can see the dotted crotchet main beats, which are then each sub-divided into
three quavers. The quavers are beamed in threes, to make up one complete beat each.
12/8

There are 12 quavers per bar.

Each group of three quavers makes one main beat, which is worth a dotted crotchet.

There are four dotted crotchet beats per bar. The quavers are beamed to make it easy
to see that there are four beats per bar.

Remember! An undotted note is always split into two. A dotted note is always split into
three.

Duple, Triple and Quadruple Time

All the time signatures that we’ve learnt so far can be described
as duple, triple or quadruple.

These words refer to the number of main beats per bar.

In simple time, it’s very easy to work out – just look at the top number.

2=duple, 3=triple and 4=quadruple.

 2/2 and 2/4 are duple time

 3/2, 3/4 and 3/8 are triple time
 4/2 and 4/4 are quadruple time
In compound time, you need to count the number of main beats, or you can divide the
top number by 3.

 6/8 is duple time (2 dotted crotchets per bar)

 9/8 is triple time (3 dotted crotchets per bar)
 12/8 is quadruple time (4 dotted crotchets per bar)
Here’s all that information summarised in a table:

(Top Number) Duple Triple Quadruple

Simple 2 3 4
Compound 6 9 12

Time Signatures Exercises

Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.

(Questions marked * are for ABRSM candidates only)

Exercise 1

Describe each of these time signatures as

 Simple or Compound
 Duple, Triple or Quadruple
1. 3/8
2. 6/8
3. 9/8
4. 12/8
5. 2/4
6. 3/4
7. 4/4
8. 2/2
9. 3/2
10. 4/2*
Exercise 2

Complete the following (E.g. The time signature 3/4 means that there are three crotchet
(quarter note) beats per bar.)

1. The time signature 2/4 means that there are __________________ beats per
bar.
2. The time signature 3/2 means that there are ___________________ beats per
bar.
3. The time signature 12/8 means that there are _________________ beats per
bar.
 4. The time signature 3/8 means that there are __________________ beats per
bar.
5. The time signature 6/8 means that there are __________________ beats per
bar.
6. *The time signature 4/2 means that there are __________________ beats per
bar.
Exercise 3

Add the missing bar lines to these melodies, which all begin on the first beat of the bar.
Exercise 4

Add the time signature to each of these melodies.

*
RESTS
Here are the rests you need to know for the grade 3 music theory exam, in order of
length, starting with the longest:

semibreve – minim – crotchet – quaver – semiquaver – demisemiquaver*

Rests can also be dotted.

The semibreve rest is also used as a whole bar rest, even when the value is worth less
than four crotchets, for example in this 3/4 bar. It is placed in the centre of the bar.

The “whole bar” rest can be used in any time signature except for 4/2, where two
semibreve rests are needed for one bar’s silence.

Choosing the Right Rests

Although rests show silence, you still need to use the right rests according to the time
signature, because rests are written to make the main beats of the bar easy to
see.

 You will always need to start by working out the type and number of beats
per bar, according to the time signature. Also work out what the next sub-
division of the beat is.
E.g. 2/4 = two crotchets per bar, and each beat divides into 2 quavers, 6/8
= two dotted crotchets per bar, and each beat divides into 3 quavers.
 Then use rests worth one beat or two beats, but two-beat rests may only
be used on the strong beat of the bar. (In duple and triple time, this means
the first beat of the bar only, and in quadruple time it means the first and
third beats of the bar). You may also use the whole bar rest (see above).
  Don’t use dotted rests in simple time signatures (those with 2, 3 or 4 on
top), unless the rest is worth less than one beat.
 If the rest you need is worth less than one beat, use smaller rests to
complete the beat or sub-beat, before you do anything else.
 When completing a beat or a sub-beat, always put a longer note/rest before
a shorter one, and not the other way round.
Examples

Rests worth one or two beats, or a whole bar:

Examples a-e are correct. Example f is wrong, because the two-beat rest has been put
on the weak 2nd beat of the bar.

Examples a-c are correct. Example d is acceptable but used more rarely these days.
Example e is incorrect, because the shorter rest is before the longer one. Example f is
wrong, because we should use a rest worth one complete beat (a dotted crotchet).

Rests worth less than one beat

Examples a and b are correct. Example c is wrong, because the first crotchet beat must
be completed (with a quaver) before anything else, and we don’t use dotted rests in
simple time signatures. Example d is wrong, because the sub-beat (=quaver) should be
completed before anything else. Example e is wrong, because we don’t use dotted rests
in simple time signatures.

Examples a and b are correct. Example c is wrong, because the beat is balanced with a
shorter part before a longer part (quaver note + crotchet rest). Example d is wrong,
because a minim rest is never used in 6/8, as it is not worth one or two beats (it’s worth
one-and-a-third beats!) Example e is wrong, because we need to complete the sub-beat
first (to make a quaver). Example f is wrong, because we have a longer rest (crotchet)
after the shorter, first quaver sub-beat. Example g is wrong for many reasons!

Don’t forget that rests can also be included as part of triplets.

The first two beats have a minim rest – the minim rest is allowed because it falls on the
strong beat. The third beat is a triplet figure, with only two quavers. We need another
quaver here to complete the triplet. The rest is written inside the square triplet
brackets.

The first triplet figure is completed with a quaver rest. This makes up the first crotchet
beat. The second triplet figure is completed with a crotchet rest.

Adding Rests to a Melody

Let’s try to work out the correct rests for some melodies.

First, look at the time signature, and make a note of the number and type of beats
per bar.

Write in the rests, making sure that you complete main beats before anything else,
and that you don’t write long rests on weak beats.

Here’s an example:

 Bar 1: complete the first crotchet beat with one quaver.

 Bar 2: complete the first crotchet beat with a quaver rest, then write a
crotchet rest to complete the second beat of the bar. Use a minim rest for
beats 3 and 4 (ok because it falls on the strong 3rd beat).
 Bar 3: whole bar rest.
 Bar 4: finish the bar with a minim on the strong 3rd beat.
 Bar 5: crotchet rest to mark the first beat, quaver rest to complete the
triplet on the second beat.
Here’s the answer:
Rests Exercises
Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.

Add the correct rest(s) at the places marked * to make each bar complete.
INTERVALS

Interval Number
We can describe an interval by using a number. For example, this interval is a 5th,
because there are five letter names between the lowest and the highest:

G-A-B-C-D = 5 letter names

At this grade, the lowest note is always the tonic (keynote), or first degree of the scale.
(In later grades you’ll find that the lower note can be anything at all!) To find the
number of the interval, all you need to do is work out the degree of the scale.

D is the 5th degree of the scale of G major.

In the grade three music theory exam, you need to describe an interval with its number
and also its type. You also need to know all the intervals in the new key signatures for
this grade too, of course!

Interval Qualities
We will learn about three types of interval for grade three:

 Major intervals
 Minor intervals
 Perfect intervals
Major Keys
In a major key, all the intervals are either major or perfect. There are NO minor
intervals in a major key (when the lowest note is the tonic).

Here is the scale of C major, showing each interval type when the lowest note is the
tonic:
In all major scales, the unison, fourth, fifth and octave are PERFECT intervals. All the
other intervals are MAJOR.

Here are some examples of intervals from other major keys:

Minor Keys
In minor keys you will find major, perfect and also minor intervals. Minor intervals are
always one semitone smaller than the major interval with the same number.

Intervals are based on the harmonic minor scale, or the melodic minor scale. Don’t
forget that this means the 6th and 7th degrees of the scale are sometimes raised by a
semitone (half step)!

 Perfect intervals are the same in both major and minor keys: all unisons,
4ths, 5ths and octaves are perfect, whether the key is major or minor.
 The interval of a 2nd is major in both major and minor keys.
 In a minor key, the interval of 3rd is minor, whereas in a major key it
is major.
 The intervals of a 6th and 7th are major in major keys, but can be major
or minor in minor keys.
Here are the intervals built from the tonic of the G major and G minor scales:

The same pattern of major/minor/perfect intervals can be made from any tonic starting
note.

You can see that only three intervals are different, between the major and minor
versions of the scale – the 3rd, 6th and 7th.

Intervals at a Glance:

Number from Tonic Major Scale Type Minor Harmonic Type Minor Melodic Typ

Unison Perfect Perfect Perfect

 2nd Major Major Major

3rd Major Minor Minor

4th Perfect Perfect Perfect

5th Perfect Perfect Perfect

6th Major Minor Major or minor

7th Major Major Major or minor

Octave Perfect Perfect Perfect

Describing Intervals
You will probably get a question asking you to describe some intervals by giving
the type and number:

Type ………………
Number ……………

 Notice that they key is given to you – this interval is in G minor.

 The lowest note will always be the tonic.
Starting at the lower note, count how many letter names of notes there are up to the
higher one.

G-A-Bb = three notes.

This interval is a third. The key is minor, so it will be minor third (remember that 3rds
and 6ths above the tonic are minor intervals in minor keys).
Type: minor
Number: third

Intervals can be written vertically (“harmonic”) or horizontally (“melodic”).

Interval Quality Exercises

Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.

Exercise 2 – Describing Melodic Intervals

Describe each of these melodic intervals, giving the type and number (e.g. minor 3rd,
perfect 8ve). The keys are named and in case the lower note is the key note (tonic).

Exercise 3- Describing Intervals (Mixed)

Describe each of these intervals, giving the type and number (e.g. minor 3rd, perfect
8ve). Also say whether the interval is melodic or harmonic. The keys are named and
in each case the lower note is the key note (tonic).
Exercise 2 – Writing Harmonic Intervals
Above each of these notes, write a higher note to form the named harmonic interval.
The key is given.

F# minor
a)

Exercise – Writing Melodic Intervals

After each of these notes, write a higher note to form the named melodic interval. The
key is given.
TRANSPOSITION

Transpose at the Octave

Transpose means “write in another place”. Transposed music can be written in a
different clef, different key, or different octave, or any combination of these! But you
won’t have to transpose music into another key at grade 3 – that comes later. At this
grade, you need to understand transposition between clefs and/or at the octave.

“At the octave” means that the music is transposed either up eight notes
or down eight notes. For example, we can transpose this C:

down an octave (8 notes), to this C:

Between Clefs
This means that we change the clef used – from treble to bass or the other way round.
For example, we can transpose the same C:

down an octave AND put it into the bass clef:

C4
Middle C is known as C4. The C above it is C5, and the C below it is C3. You don’t need
to know these terms for your grade three music theory exam, but it’s a really useful
way of referring to notes by octave, when you are talking about them, so it’s worth
learning!

Transposition Examples
Here is the scale of C major in the treble clef, transposed at the octave and to the
bass clef:

Here’s a short melody transposed at the octave and to the treble clef:

In the online ABRSM grade 3 exam, you will normally be asked to check through some
transposed notes and say whether or not they are correct, as well as comparing music
written in different clefs and octaves. Here is a typical exam question:

Whatever the type of question, you will need to work out the exact pitch of the notes
relative to middle C (C4).

Transposition Exercises
Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.

Exercise 1 – Transposing Up an Octave

Transpose these melodies up an octave, using the treble clef as shown.
a)

b)

Exercise 2 – Transposing Down an Octave

Write out these melodies an octave lower using the bass clef as shown.
a)

b)
RHTHYM REWRITING

What is Rewriting?
We can rewrite a melody using different value notes, without changing the rhythm. For
example, here’s a rhythm in 3/4:

And here’s the same rhythm in 3/2:

The rhythm itself hasn’t changed – only the type of note used as the main beat has
changed.

The time signature changes – but only the lower number. This is because we have
kept the same number of beats per bar (3), and we have only changed the type of
beat from a crotchet (quarter note) in the first example, to a minim (half note) in the
second example.

A minim (half note) is worth two crotchets (quarters), so all the notes in the second
example are twice the value of those in the first one. The notes in the first example
are half the value.

Rhythms written at twice the value use slower note values.

Be careful! If we write a rhythm in notes of half the value, we double the bottom
number. If we write a rhythm in notes of twice the value, we halve the bottom number.
This might seem a little strange at first!

Table of Time Signatures

For the grade three ABRSM exam, you only need to know about these time signatures
for this question:

Twice the Value Original Time Signature Half the Value

3/4 3/8 –

2/2 2/4 –

3/2 3/4 3/8

 4/2 4/4 –

– 2/2 2/4

– 3/2 3/4

– 4/2 4/4

(Compound time signatures will not come up in this part of the exam.)

Table of Note Durations

Twice the Value Original Note Half the Value

Dotted notes don’t need any special treatment. Just copy the dot over to the new note
value.

Table of Rest Durations

Twice the Value Original Rest Half the Value
 –

Typical ABRSM Grade 3 Exam questions

You will be asked the select the answer which shows a correctly re-written rhythm. Here
is an example:

 Check the time signatures.

 On a piece of rough paper, draw a table showing the new note values you’ll need. (For

example, if the rewriting is at half the value, write => . Use this for reference as you do the
question – it will help to avoid mistakes.
 Check each note/rest against your table.
 Look carefully at the details such as dots, number of beams, triplet
numbers, ties and also check the pitch of the notes has not changed.

Rhythm Rewriting Exercises

Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.
Exercise 1 – Rewriting at Twice the Value
Write out these melodies in notes and rests of twice the value. Remember to put in
the new time signature.
a)

b)

Exercise 2 – Rewriting at Half the Value

Write out these melodies in notes and rests of half the value. Remember to put in the
new time signature.
a)
b)

ERRORS IN WRITING
In the Trinity Grade 3 Music Theory Exam, you might be given a short piece of music
with about 5 deliberate mistakes in it. You need to rewrite the whole melody correctly
on the given stave.

In the ABRSM Grade 3 Music Theory Exam, you will need to pay attention to notation
when selecting your answers. Often an answer is incorrect because the notation is
incorrect.

The kinds of mistake you need to look for include:

 Wrongly placed clef

 Wrongly placed sharps/flats in the key signature
 Upside down time signature
 Symbols, (e.g. pause mark) on the wrong side of a note
 Accidentals placed on the wrong side of the note
 Accidentals placed on the wrong line/space
 Stems pointing in the wrong direction
The following passage contains five deliberate mistakes. Can you find them all?

The five mistakes in this passage are:

 The clef is in the wrong position (the curly middle bit needs to circle the G
line)
 The time signature is upside down
  In bar 1, the sharp is on the space for A, instead of on the line for B.
 In bar 2, the quaver G should have its stem pointing upwards (because it’s
below the middle line of the stave).
 In bar 4, the pause symbol is upside down. (Pauses are written that way up
if they are written under the stave.
If you are going to re-write the music with the errors corrected, here are some tips:

 Find all the mistakes BEFORE you start writing out the melody!
 Write the notes directly underneath the originals, so that you don’t run out
of space.
 Use a ruler to draw note stems and beams.
Here is the same melody, rewritten with the mistakes corrected:

Spotting Errors Exercises

Hover your mouse over the questions (tap on mobiles) to reveal the answers.

Each passage below contains 4 deliberate mistakes. Rewrite the melody correctly on
the given stave.

a)

b)
c)

GRADE 3 MUSICAL TERMS

For Grade Three Music Theory, you have to know all the foreign musical terms and
symbols which are listed for Grades One and Two, plus the new terms listed on this
page.

agitato agitated

andantino faster or slower than andante (at a walking pace)

animato animated, lively

ben well

con with

energico energetic

forza force

giocoso merry

leggiero light or nimble

maestoso majestically

marcato, marc. emphatic, accented

pesante heavy

prestissimo as fast as possible

prima, primo first

risoluto bold, strong

scherzando, scherzoso playful, joking

semplice simple, plain

sempre always

sforzando/sforzato (sf, sfz) forced/accented

simile (sim.) in the same way

sostenuto sustained

subito suddenly

tranquillo calm

triste, tristamente sad, sorrowful

MELODIC MINOR SCALE
Melodic minor scales are a bit more complicated than other scales, because they have
one pattern on the way up, but another on the way down.

On the way up (ascending), the pattern is:

T – S – T – T- T – T – S

but on the way down the pattern is:

T–T–S–T–T–S–T

As you can see, the descending scale is not just a back-to-front ascending scale, (as it
was in the harmonic scale).

The top end of the melodic scale uses a completely different pattern. The very top note
will always be the tonic (keynote) of the scale, but the two notes just below it are the
ones which change, depending on which direction you’re going in.

Here’s A minor melodic, ascending and descending. Click the play button and
concentrate on the notes in red- they’re the ones which change on the way down.

Let’s see how E minor melodic and D minor melodic look:

E Minor Melodic:

D Minor Melodic:

Degrees of Minor Melodic Scales

Minor melodic scales are different on the way down. So what happens to the degrees
of the scale? Let’s take a look.

We’ll look more closely at one of our new scales, E minor melodic. First we’ll write out
the ascending scale, then add the degrees of the scale under each note:

Look at the top end of the scale: C# is the 6th and D# is the 7th degree of the scale.

Now we’ll write out the descending form of E melodic minor, also known as “E natural
minor”, and add in the numbers:

In E minor melodic, there is no D#, only D natural, and no C#, only C natural.

This doesn’t make any difference to the degree of the scale.

So, we can say that the 6th degree of the scale of E minor melodic is C natural or C
sharp.

Did you know?

Just in case you were wondering, in music theory the words “harmonic” and “melodic”
can be used to describe intervals as well as scales– but when we use them to talk
about intervals they have a different meaning.

The notes from the harmonic minor scales are the ones we most often use for
making harmony (chords), whereas the notes from the melodic minor scales are the
ones we most often use for making melody (tunes). Pieces of music in a minor key
normally use the notes from both scales.

It’s correct to say “melodic minor scale” and “minor melodic scale”. It doesn’t matter
which way round! The same goes for harmonic scales.