Expression - Dynamic Signs

DYNAMIC SIGNS indicate volume, or how soft or loud the music should be played. Dynamic signs are also written in Italian. They are written below the staff.

The word piano in Italian means soft; the word forte means loud.

            The most commonly used dynamic signs are:

            Mezzo means moderately; issimo means very.

            Dynamic signs arranged in order from very soft to very loud, are: pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff.

A Gradual Change in Dynamics

Terms used to indicate gradual change in volume from soft to loud or loud to soft are: 

Expression - Slurs

A SLUR smoothly connects two or more notes of different pitches by a curved

line over or under the notes. There is no break in sound between pitches.

This is also referred to as LEGATO playing or singing.

On wind instruments (woodwind and brass), only the first note of a group of slurred notes should be tongued.

On string instruments, a slur indicates a group of notes to be played in one bow.

On keyboard instruments, slurs indicate when to lift the hands.

When all the note stems are in the same direction, the slur is written on the side opposite from that of the stems. When stem direction is mixed, the slur is written above the notes.

Harmony - Chords

 Harmony - when two or more notes are played or sung at the same time.

A chord is a group of three or more notes played at the same time. When a three-note chord consists of the root, the third and the fifth is called a triad.

A triad gets its name from the root of the chord (the note at the bottom).

Here are the triads on each scale degree of the C Major Scale

The most important triads of a major scale are built on the I, IV and V degrees. They are called primary triads or primary chords of the key. These chords contain all the tones of the major scale.

Here are the primary triads in the C Major Scale

Melody - Intervals

An interval is the distance between two (2) pitches.

To find an interval, count up from the bottom note like this:

This is an interval of a 5th.
Five (5) letters names starting from the bottom

There are two intervals that are not usually known by a number:

•      The interval between two identical notes is called unison (where both notes sound the same):

•    The interval of an eighth is called an octave or 8va. This interval is the distance between any note and the next note with the same letter name:

A harmonic interval is the distance between two (2) pitches which are played at the same time.

A melodic interval is the distance between two (2) pitches which are played one after the other.

When the interval is so close together, the second note is
placed very close to the side of the lower note,
just gently touching.

Drawing the Harmonic 2nd interval

Tip#1 Writing a Harmonic Second Interval on the staff:

• The note that has the lower pitch (sound) is written as the note on the left.
• The note that has the higher pitch is written on the right.

Tip #2 Writing a Harmonic Second Interval using Ledger Lines:

• If the lower line note is on a ledger line, the upper space note will share the same ledger line. The ledger line will be extended so that only one ledger line is used for the harmonic second interval.
• If the lower note is in the space, the ledger line for the upper line note does not need to extend across the top of the space note. It only needs to extend for the length of the line note itself.

Melodic range is the total distance between the highest note of a melody and the lowest note of the melody. We can describe ranges as high, medium, or low, as well as large or small. Each of these qualities adds something different to the expression of the tune.