Posts Tagged ‘beginning’

Read Sheet Music

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Learning to read sheet music can seem daunting to some people, especially those with no prior musical background. Sheet music contains its own little language documented on paper. The key is to find a way to crack the code, read music, and be able to play or sing on the pitch of each note.

If you want to learn how to read music, then you have come to the right place. The following article contains a guide that will teach you how to read sheet music as well as lists resources you can use to learn more about music, in general.

The structure of sheet music. Sheet music is set up with a specific structure. The staff of the sheet music is made up of everything you will need to be able to read music. Depending on a variety of factors, the staff will tell you exactly what notes you will need to play. The first thing you need to do is be able to identify the staff.

• What is the staff? The staff is a set of five lines and four spaces. Each space and line has the name of a note. On the staff, you will find notes, a time signature, a clef sign, a key signature, and various markings that will affect the tempo and pitch of each note. All of these things work together to create the music that is played or sung.
• What are clefs and why do we use them? Based on what instrument you play – piano, guitar (acounstic or bass), violin, trombone, you name it – or what voice you sing (tenor, bass, alto, soprano, etc.) your music will be written in one of two clefs (treble clef & bass clef). These clefs are used to let you know what octave you are playing the notes in, as well as what notes will be played.
  • The treble clef - The treble clef is used for most musical voices including soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, and tenor. It is also used for the higher pitched instruments such as the alto clarinet, the B-Flat clarinet, the flute, oboe, violin and trumpet. The treble clef can be memorized by the following acronyms.

    Lines – Every Good Boy Does Fine

    Spaces – F A C E

  • The bass clef - The bass clef is used for the bass and baritone voices and lower instruments such as the tuba, trombone, and sousaphone. The bass clef was created because the notes for these lower instruments would be so low beneath the Treble Clef staff it would be very hard to write music that was easy for players to read.

    The bass clef notes can be memorized by:

    Lines -Good Boys Do Fine Always

    Spaces – All Cows Eat Grass

• The key signature: Some notes are flat, some are natural, and some are sharp. Which notes are sharp, flat, or natural will be marked either next to individual notes if they are played as such one or two times through a piece or in something called the key signature if they are played as such throughout the entire piece.

  The key signature is located directly to the right of the clef sign. Which notes are sharp or flat depend on scales and keys.The time signature: Near the beginning of the staff, there is a symbol marking, or a fraction. This tells how many notes per measure will be played. The staff is split up into measures. Each measure is separated by a vertical line. The standard key signature is 4/4 time. It is usually denoted by a large black C.

  Other common time signatures are 2/2 time (cut time), 2/4 time, 3/4 time, and 6/8 time. The time signature is written after the key signature, but before any notes on the staff.

2.

1. Notes, notes, and more notes. The fundamental structure of each pitch is denoted by a music note. There are plenty of things you need to know about a note before you can play or sing music. The most common things you will need to know is how long to hold each note, whether the note is sharp, natural, or flat, and what the name of each note is so it can be played.
   • Name that note: Notes have a letter name from A-G. Once a note gets to G, it starts over again at A. Notes from A to A, B to B, C to C, and so on denote one whole octave. Octaves can move up or down, and the standard singer has between two and four octaves their voice can sing comfortably.
   • Hold the note as long as you can! It would be difficult for an orchestra to make music together if they did not know how long to hold each note. Each instrument would go off on their own beat or melody, and nothing would come together properly. This is why it is so important you know what each note looks like and how long you are supposed to hold the note based on how they look.

     Whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes are common in sheet music. There are other types of notes though these are less common. The notes work together with the time signature to determine how many beats per measure should be held. The standard hold for each note is written with the time signature of 4/4 in mind. However, as time signatures change, how long you hold the note will change, as well.
2. All those funny symbols. There are many different symbols throughout sheet music. Every symbol is important. Based on what symbol you are looking at you may need to play notes or the musical piece in general faster or slower, bars should be repeated, notes should be held, or the music should get louder or quieter.
   • Tempo changes. The changes in tempo are denoted by a symbol for an Italian word
   • Volume changes. Changes in volume help to improve the mood of the piece. Not every piece of music is sung or played as loud as the person can sing. Changes in volume help to make the music more enjoyable and dramatic so works are not stagnant in tone. Here is a list of the following volume
     

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Techniques and Strategies for Practicing Piano

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Different amounts of practice time are required to learn piano at various ages and levels. Recommendations also depend on the student’s ambition and repertoire.

Inadequate practice is the number one complaint piano teachers (and other music teachers) have about students. Without practice, frustration mounts as students simply don’t progress in their piano lessons. Arguments about and resistance to practice is one of the main reasons children stop music lessons.

Each instrument has different practice requirements because of the physical demands of playing it. Practice recommendations also depend on age, level, and ambition. The following recommendations are for students learning to play piano.

How Much Should a Child Practice Piano?

Many piano teachers suggest that the student’s lesson length be a preliminary rule of thumb for a daily practice goal. For example, a common recommendation is that a piano student taking half-hour lessons should practice half an hour a day; a student taking hour lessons should practice an hour a day.

This rule of thumb is most appropriate for the earlier levels. At more advanced levels, piano practice requirements can be much higher, depending on the student’s ambitions. For instance, an advanced high school student who intends to major in music at the college level might take an hour lesson a week, but may well practice two or three hours a day, or even more, depending on the level of commitment and the school to which the student is applying.

But these students are exceptional, and well into the self-motivated stage. For average students, matching the lesson time five days a week will give consistent and rewarding progress.

Every pianist, indeed, every musician, develops a series of possible practice strategies to deal with different types of mistakes and to learn difficult passages so they can be brought up to speed and played fluently.

Whether just beginning to learn to play the piano or an accomplished virtuoso, pianists should look at these strategies as part of their “toolbox.” If one doesn’t work, try another. Experience tells pianists which strategies are best for which problems, but quite frequently, a pianist will try a number of practice techniques to master a particularly stubborn passage.

Mechanical Strategies for Piano Practice

Mechanical strategies are those that teach the players’ hands where to go. They deal with issues such as finding the right notes, using the right fingers, and coordinating the hands. these strategies help develop piano technique.

• Play with hands apart. Practice one hand at a time if it makes musical sense to do so. Then play with hands together.
• Play in small sections: Practice the piece in small bits, one phrase at a time. Phrases are the equivalent of sentences in the grammar of music. They are sometimes less than a line of music long, and sometimes more, just like a sentence on this page is sometimes shorter than a line, and sometimes longer. Practicing in phrases makes more musical sense than practicing by the line.
• Combine all the elements in small phrases: Practice each phrase by playing one hand, then the other, then both together.
• Study the fingering. Fingering choices should always be deliberate and intentional. Pianists must remember that good fingering involves not only getting to the note in question, but getting to the next note, and the next after that. Issues of how to tackle a series of similar motifs that start on different notes also come into play, as well as issues of musicality, which can justify fingerings that at first may look awkward. Students who have not yet mastered fingering techniques should run any changes past a teacher.
• Break the music into even smaller chunks: Music can always be broken down into its component parts. If the phrase is too long, break it into two. Or practice a single measure. Identify the weak spots where mistakes are habitual, and practically those spots until the mistakes are eradicated.

Remember, piano mistakes don’t go away by starting at the beginning and trying again!

Rhythmic Strategies for Piano Practice

Rhythmic practice techniques force the player to do all the tasks in strict time, which raises the difficulty, and also makes it very obvious which parts of the piece need more work.

• Use the metronome: At its most basic, the metronome helps pianists keep a steady tempo. Metronomes can also be used to help a student work out technical elements by forcing the pianist to play in time and gradually raising the tempo. Playing with a metronome reveals any weak spots in the piece. Metronome practice is especially valuable for ensemble players.
• Vary the rhythm: An effective way to smooth out bumps in long technical runs of very fast notes is change the rhythm. For example, a stream of 16th notes cold be played as alternating dotted 16th and 32nd notes, and then the player can try the reverse and play the section as 32nd notes followed by dotted-16th notes.
• Addi beats. A difficult series of chords can be practiced by by inserting one or more beats of rests in between them, then gradually, getting rid of the extra beats.
• Change the tempo: Playing very slowly and very fast are also good practice techniques. Playing one hand much faster than the target tempo secures the muscle memory of the passages, which makes the piece easier to play with two hands. Playing slowly helps pianists make fingering and articulation choices that are conscious and deliberate.

Finally, if mistakes persist, change the practice strategy! The worst thing is to keep doing the same thing and making the same mistake. Try to go about the problem in a different way.

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MASTER OF MUSIC DEGREE

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

The purpose of Master of Music degree work is to hone performance skills and/or capabilities in
writing music or writing about music. There are five fields of study within the Master of Music
program: composition, conducting, musicology, performance, and performance and pedagogy.
Various options are available in conducting (choral conducting, choral conducting with voice,
orchestral conducting, and wind symphony/band conducting), in performance (harpsichord,
organ, piano, piano with accompanying and chamber music, string instruments [including guitar
and harp], voice, opera, voice with choral conducting, brass, woodwind, and percussion
instruments), and in performance and pedagogy (brass, piano, string instruments, voice and
woodwind instruments).
All plans of study for the Master of Music degree meet National Association of Schools of Music
recommendations: a minimum of 30 total semester hours, a minimum of 10 semester hours in an
NASM-approved major, and a minimum of 10 semester hours in other studies in music. The
performance and pedagogy programs are double majors; they meet the minimum requirements
for an NASM-defined major in both areas. Other options include a secondary emphasis of at
least eight semester hours. The Master of Music degree requires a minimum of thirty graduate
credit hours. Music courses applicable to this degree must be numbered 5000 or above.
Nonmusic courses must be taken at the 4000 level or above. The usual time for completion of
the master’s degree is two years. Degree work must be completed within four years of first
registration.
The required Introduction to Music Bibliography and Research and a three-hour course each in
musicology and music theory are intended to lend scholarly support to performance as well as to
strengthen competency for research. Introduction to Music Bibliography and Research should be
taken either the fall or spring semester of the first year. Students must be taking the second of, or
have completed, the required history and theory courses at qualifying examination time.
The Master of Music thesis consists of two projects, for two hours credit each; these projects
vary according to the emphasis. Specific requirements are listed for each field of study on the
degree-plan descriptions.
A minimal full-time course load is five hours of graduate-level work per semester; registration
for eight or more hours is expected. Students taking individual applied-music or composition
lessons must also carry at least one other course in that semester in order to show adequate
progress toward the degrees.
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS. The exams are given at the beginning of each semester;
exact dates are posted on the graduate bulletin board. Students should take the “prelims” at the
beginning of their first semester of study and complete the requirement by the end of the first
11/8/2004 td
year of study. The theory exam, approximately 1½ hours long, covers written theory and aural
perception. For some emphases, exams in analysis and counterpoint are also required. The
history exam, about two hours long, contains questions based largely on Western art music. The
exam in the major field is a written exam scheduled for a three-hour period. Candidates who fail
parts of the exams should retake those parts the following semester or take remedial course work,
on the advice of the evaluator. The preliminary exams must be passed completely before the
student may take the qualifying exam or complete the thesis projects.
QUALIFYING EXAMINATION. This exam, a written one, is taken after students are well into
their programs, normally the third semester of study or the semester or term before the one of
expected graduation. The exam is given on a Saturday at approximately the middle of each
semester or term; dates are posted on the graduate bulletin board. The exam is formulated by the
student’s advisory committee, which consists of the major advisor (or a substitute), another
professor from the major area, and a third professor from outside the major area. Questions in
the major take approximately three hours to answer; questions outside the major area take
approximately one hour to answer. Students should consult with their committee members about
preparation for the qualifying exam.
APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY. Before taking the comprehensive-final
oral examination, masters degree students should file an application for admission to candidacy.
On this form are listed all of the courses and other requirements for the degree. The student’s
committee chair and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies must approve the application
before it is sent to the Graduate School for approval. The application for admission to candidacy
must be filed at least ten weeks prior to the comprehensive-final exam.
COMPREHENSIVE-FINAL EXAMINATION. This exam, an oral one administered by the
student’s committee and taken in the final semester, is usually an hour in length and is based
upon the student’s course work, thesis projects, and work done on the qualifying exam. This
exam should be scheduled within a two-week period close to the end of each semester. Students
must arrange the time and place of the exam with their committee members and must notify the
Associate Dean three weeks in advance of the examination. The Dean’s office then notifies the
Graduate School to prepare the form on which the committee certifies the student for graduation.
Consult separate sheets for specific course requirements in each of the above specialty areas.
Further information on the Master of Music degree is found in both the Graduate School and
College of Music sections of the University Catalog as well as in the Graduate Studies in Music
Handbook.

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Musicology PhD Program and Degree

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Courses — A total of 16 half-courses is required to receive the PhD. Fourteen courses are usually taken during the first two years. Historical musicology students must take two half-courses in ethnomusicology and two half-courses in either theory or composition. No more than one seminar in Medieval theory and/or one analysis course (157x, 157y, 158) can be counted toward the theory require ment. Ethnomusicology students are required to take at least two half-courses each in historical musicology and in offerings outside the department.Ethnomusicology students must also take at least two half-courses in music theory or composition. It is recommended that at least one theory seminar be in cross-cultural music theory. The choice of courses will be determined in consultation with the ethnomusicology advisor.

Theory and composition students do not have a set curriculum and should plan their course of study with their advisor.

Graduate students who have one or more incompletes will not be considered for depart ment summer grants.

Students may be allowed academic credit (normally no more than two half-courses) for work done in other graduate schools in the United States or abroad, subject to the evalua­tion by the department and acceptance by the Graduate School. Petitions may be submitted after the completion of one full year of grad uate work in the department.

Analysis/Tonal Writing — Competence and fluency in traditional harmony, counterpoint, strict composition, and analysis (including analysis of 20th-century music) are prereq uisites for taking the General Examination. Entering students will be given a placement test; students found to have deficiencies in these skills will be required to take Music B, or other pertinent courses. Work must be under taken in the first year of study.

Languages — Written language examina tions are given at specified times throughout the year. Reading knowledge of the following languages must be proved before taking the General Examination:

Historical musicology students must pass German and French or Italian.

Ethnomusicology students must pass a European research language and a second lan guage to be determined in consultation with the ethnomusicology advisor.

Theory students must pass German plus one other language (French, Italian, Latin).

Composition students must pass German, Italian or French unless an alternative language is approved in writing by the graduate advisor.

Historical musicology students and ethnomusicology students must pass a third language appropriate to the field of specializa tion after completing the General Examina tions and within one year of the approval of a dissertation proposal.

Requirements for languages not tested regularly within the department may be satis fied through special examination, or through presentation of other documentation at the discretion of the graduate advisor.

Advising — Advising in the department during the pre-generals period is primarily handled by the appropriate graduate advisors and faculty members in the various programs, with the director of graduate studies available for further advice. After successful completion of the general examination, students consult with individual faculty members on their proposed fields of concentration, and when a dissertation proposal has been completed it is presented to the faculty in that field of study. When the dissertation proposal has been approved by the faculty in the program, it is brought to the entire department for final approval, and a dissertation committee is set up for each student. The dissertation committee consists of an advisor and two readers. Any questions or concerns about advising in the department can be brought to the attention of the director of graduate studies or the chair.

Residency — Two full years are required at full tuition and two at reduced tuition. See The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Hand book for specific information about residency requirements.

Review — The progress of all graduate students is reviewed at the end of each year. In addition to adequate course work, there are special requirements for first- and second-year students. Every student must submit at least one paper written for a graduate course as part of the first-year review. In musicology, every first- and second-year student must write at least one seminar paper per term.

General Examinations — The General Examination consists of two parts: written and oral. The orals are taken within one or two weeks of passing the writtens. The exams are to be taken between May and December of the student’s second year. Both the written and the oral parts can be repeated, but no more than once. The format, which is significantly different for each program, is as follows:

Historical Musicology

For historical musicologists, the general test will have three main parts — written, analysis and oral. The written exam consists of essays and short answer questions related to six of eight topics chosen by the student. The two prepared topics not selected for the written exam will be presented in the oral exam. The open-book analysis exam will be given in the summer, at a mutually agreeable time around mid-July. This will be a take-home exam, distributed on a Friday, and returned on Monday, mid-afternoon. It consists of two pieces of music (chosen from a) before 1700, b) 18th or 19th century, or c) 20th century). Students will choose one topic on which they will make a ten-minute presentation in the oral examination. Students will choose a second topic on which they will prepare a syllabus for a 13-week graduate seminar on the subject. This syllabus will be presented in written form, and may be the subject of discussion in the oral examination.

Ethnomusicology

The written test for ethnomusicologists is divided into three sections: one on ethno­musicology theory and method, a second from two areas of world music, a third on interdisciplinary problems. The analysis test includes two examples, one from the student’s major area (i.e., North Indian music, Swedish music, etc.) and a second from the Western art music tradition. The oral examination in ethnomusicology focuses on the special field or area chosen by the student, but may include questions about general ethnomusicology not necessarily related to topics covered in seminars. The remainder of the examination focuses on questions posed in the written examination.

Theory

The examination consists of four different parts: 1. A preliminary oral examination on repertoire and analysis (“single sheets”), lasting 30 mins, with 1 hr preparation time, usually taken at the beginning of the summer. 2. Four written exams of 3 hrs each: (a) systematic theories, (b) history of music theory, (c + d) two examinations in special fields relevant to dissertation research. 3. Analytical essays on two musical works from different periods (take-home paper over 4 days). 4. A two-hour oral examination will allow discussion on the written work and may broaden to engage a variety of related issues in music theory.

Composition

For composers, a written analysis is to be completed in three days at the end of the spring term of the second year of graduate study. It consists of a piece or set of pieces that should be analyzed by the student in the allotted time period. Students are also required to write an original composition of 7-10 minutes length with an imposed instrumenta tion, to be submitted by August 15. The oral examination is based on an in-depth discus sion of three major works that are assigned in the late spring of the second year of graduate study, plus an analytical presentation of the student’s original composition.

Teaching

Beginning in the third year, graduate students in good standing are eligible for teaching fellowships. Most teaching fellows devote 2/5 TIME to teaching.

Additional third-year requirements — The third year is primarily devoted to developing a dissertation proposal and the beginning of work on the dissertation. All students will complete their required courses; in most cases, that will mean two half-courses, the topics of which may be assigned by the faculty as a result of the General Examination. Musicology students will begin their third language (to be completed within one year of the approval of a dissertation proposal).

Dissertation — Within the academic year in which the General Examination is passed, the PhD candidate is expected to develop a proposal for a dissertation, which should be a major original contribution to the field. The proposal must be submitted for approval to the department, which is responsible for assigning the student a committee consisting of a dissertation advisor and two other faculty members. Normally, the complete disserta tion must be submitted within five years after passing the General Examination, and satisfactory progress must be demonstrated every year in order that the student remain in good standing. If the dissertation is submitted thereafter the department is not obligated to accept it. The formal requirements for the dissertation are set forth in The Form of the PhD Dissertation, provided by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The depart ment requires one bound copy for the Music Library, in addition to the two copies required for the Registrar.

Colloquium — Musicology and theory students, after the approval of their disserta tion proposal, will participate in the doctoral colloquium until the dissertation is accepted. Exceptions are made for traveling scholars researching outside of Harvard.

Course Information

In general, for all students, 100-level courses should be taken as supplemental to the grad­uate program, and should not be the major portion of the student’s coursework. The students should discuss their intentions with the graduate advisor. Students are encouraged to pursue course offerings in performance.

Graduate credit will automatically be given to composition students for any of the following 100-level courses: Music 157x and y, 160, 165r, 167r. In order to receive graduate credit, permission to take any addi tional half-courses at the 100-level must be granted by the graduate advisor before taking the course.

For theory students, the following courses will count as “in their secondary area”; in composition, 166r, 167r, up to a total of two terms in all, 261r, 262r, 264, 270, and 272; in musicology, courses numbered 201 through 219 or any 100-level course which has been specifically designated as satisfying this requirement in a given term by both the graduate advisors in musicology and the graduate advisor in theory. Theory students intending to count graduate credit (toward the 16 half-course credits) for any 100-level course should obtain written authorization to do so from the graduate theory advisor prior to taking the course.

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Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading Skills

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Children exposed to a multi-year programme of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a study published in the journal Psychology of Music.

According to authors Joseph M Piro and Camilo Ortiz from Long Island University, USA, data from this study will help to clarify the role of music study on cognition and shed light on the question of the potential of music to enhance school performance in language and literacy.
Studying children the two US elementary schools, one of which routinely trained children in music and one that did not, Piro and Ortiz aimed to investigate the hypothesis that children who have received keyboard instruction as part of a music curriculum increasing in difficulty over successive years would demonstrate significantly better performance on measures of vocabulary and verbal sequencing than students who did not receive keyboard instruction.
Several studies have reported positive associations between music education and increased abilities in non-musical (eg, linguistic, mathematical, and spatial) domains in children. The authors say there are similarities in the way that individuals interpret music and language and “because neural response to music is a widely distributed system within the brain…. it would not be unreasonable to expect that some processing networks for music and language behaviors, namely reading, located in both hemispheres of the brain would overlap.”
The aim of this study was to look at two specific reading subskills – vocabulary and verbal sequencing – which, according to the authors, are “are cornerstone components in the continuum of literacy development and a window into the subsequent successful acquisition of proficient reading and language skills such as decoding and reading comprehension.”
Using a quasi-experimental design, the investigators selected second-grade children from two school sites located in the same geographic vicinity and with similar demographic characteristics, to ensure the two groups of children were as similar as possible apart from their music experience.
Children in the intervention school (n=46) studied piano formally for a period of three consecutive years as part of a comprehensive instructional intervention program. Children attending the control school (n=57) received no formal musical training on any musical instrument and had never taken music lessons as part of their general school curriculum or in private study. Both schools followed comprehensive balanced literacy programmes that integrate skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening.
All participants were individually tested to assess their reading skills at the start and close of a standard 10-month school year using the Structure of Intellect (SOI) measure.
Results analysed at the end of the year showed that the music-learning group had significantly better vocabulary and verbal sequencing scores than did the non-music-learning control group. This finding, conclude the authors, provides evidence to support the increasingly common practice of “educators incorporating a variety of approaches, including music, in their teaching practice in continuing efforts to improve reading achievement in children”.
However, further interpretation of the results revealed some complexity within the overall outcomes. An interesting observation was that when the study began, the music-learning group had already experienced two years of piano lessons yet their reading scores were nearly identical to the control group at the start of the experiment.
So, ask the authors, “If the children receiving piano instruction already had two years of music involvement, why did they not significantly outscore the musically naïve students on both measures at the outset?” Addressing previous findings showing that music instruction has been demonstrated to exert cortical changes in certain cognitive areas such as spatial-temporal performance fairly quickly, Piro and Ortiz propose three factors to explain the lack of evidence of early benefit for music in the present study.
First, children were tested for their baseline reading skills at the beginning of the school year, after an extended holiday period. Perhaps the absence of any music instruction during a lengthy summer recess may have reversed any earlier temporary cortical reorganization experienced by students in the music group, a finding reported in other related research. Another explanation could be that the duration of music study required to improve reading and associated skills is fairly long, so the initial two years were not sufficient.
A third explanation involves the specific developmental time period during which children were receiving the tuition. During the course of their third year of music lessons, the music-learning group was in second grade and approaching the age of seven. There is evidence that there are significant spurts of brain growth and gray matter distribution around this developmental period and, coupled with the increased complexity of the study matter in this year, brain changes that promote reading skills may have been more likely to accrue at this time than in the earlier two years.
“All of this adds a compelling layer of meaning to the experimental outcomes, perhaps signalling that decisions on ‘when’ to teach are at least as important as ‘what’ to teach when probing differential neural pathways and investigating their associative cognitive substrates,” note the authors.
“Study of how music may also assist cognitive development will help education practitioners go beyond the sometimes hazy and ill-defined ‘music makes you smarter’ claims and provide careful and credible instructional approaches that use the rich and complex conceptual structure of music and its transfer to other cognitive areas,” they conclude.

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