Category: lectureNotes_musth4

Pitch-Class Sets Pitch-Class Sets are unordered collections of pitch-classes. Normal Form. The normal form of a pitch-class set is the most compressed way of writing the set in ascending pitch-class order. Compressed means traversing the shortest interval from first pitch-class to last, and placing smaller intervals first. Transposition. A pitch-class set can be transposed by…

These concepts are taken from Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory by Joseph Straus. Basic Concepts Octave Equivalence. Pitches separated by one or more octaves are regarded as equivalent. Pitch Class. Distinguishes between a specific pitch (a single note on a staff) and a pitch class (all the notes with the same letter name, in any octave).…

Some last minute tips heading into tomorrow’s midterm: The material will primarily come from chapters 2 – 6 (partial) of the Kostka. This includes scale formations, chords, melodic characteristics, harmony/voice leading/pitch-centric tonality, along with some rhythm and meter. In particular, study: Pitch class integer notation. Scales. Be able to write any of the modes (starting…

So, the piece is actually about ice skating — and Stravinsky’s Petroushka. From the Art of the States web  site: “Petroushskates was commissioned by the Da Capo Chamber Players and the New York State Council on the Arts to celebrate the group’s tenth anniversary at a concert sponsored by the Naumburg Foundation. In an attempt…

General Naming and Issues of Identification Some people avoid the word chords for non-tertian structures. For our purposes, we can use the terms chords, verticalities, and sonorities interchangeably. With all the chord types now possible, it can be difficult to properly identify the type, or construction, of any give chord. Musical context will be of…

Kostka categorizes scale formations according to the number of notes in the scale. For our purposes, you should keep track of the following (for each scale): The possibility of triads and seventh chords in the scale. What modes, if any, are possible with a given scale. How many transpositions of the scale are possible. For…

There’s an error in the first sample problem of the review sheet. To divide the octave equally with M2/d3 intervals, you need an extra measure. I’ve fixed it on the pdf. Test1Review.pdf (in iLocker) To check your answers, Test1ReviewSolved.pdf (in iLocker) Be sure to go over the review sheet, past homeworks, and lecture notes regarding…

subtitled, What I forgot to teach you about symmetrical divisions of the octave… The omnibus sequence is a special type of harmonic sequence. When the sequential unit moves by minor third a chromatic scale will occur in one voice, usually the bass. The omnibus sequence is different than a regular harmonic sequence, in that the…