Tuesday, January 08, 2008 Orchestra Mid-Term Exam Study Materials 2007-08

1. 
   You should be studying and practicing for your Final Exam. You need to:
   

• 
  Performance Exam (50%) – Record Suzuki or other pre-approved solo
  
  • 
    Concert Strings: 1 page
    
  • 
    String Ensemble & Symphony Strings: 2 pages
    
  • 
    Record MP3 format
    
  • 
    Smartmusic or Live Accompaniment
    
  • 
    Save your recording to: your School “S number”, home hard drive or memory stick.
    
  • 
    Attach recording to your Smartmusic
    

• 
  Written Exam (50%) - Know Basics about the pieces you have played in orchestra this year.
  
  • 
    Names and composers of your practice binder repertoire
    
  • 
    Type of piece, i.e. Serenade, Overture, Symphony, etc.
    
  • 
    Compositional characteristics of each piece, i.e. fugue, chorale, prominent key, prominent tempo marking, prominent instrumentation, etc.
    
  • 
    Be familiar with the handout covering practice binder literature.
    
  • 
    Study Program note handout
    
• 
  Intervals/Scales & Key Signatures:
  
  • 
    Visit: musictheory.net & emusictheory.com for tutorials and exercises.
    
  • 
    Intervals:
    
    • 
      Concert Strings: Major and Perfect intervals
      
    • 
      SE & SS: Major, minor and Perfect
      
    • 
      Study the Interval Help study sheet
      
  • 
    Identify key signatures (Concert Strings: major; SE & SS: major and minor) up to 4 sharps or 4 flats
    
  • 
    Scales: Be able to identify scales and terms listed on Understanding Scales study sheet
    
• 
  Know how to describe our orchestra tuning procedure
  
• 
  Be able to define the instrumental terms found on your Common Vocabulary study sheet.
  

• 
  Steps & Accidentals
  
• 
  The Major Scale
  
• 
  Key Signatures
  
• 
  Generic Intervals
  
• 
  Specific Intervals
  

• 
  Key Trainer: (click settings and choose only the keys you are interested in quizzing. Use toggle button if it helps you.
  
• 
  Interval Trainer: (Turn off Aug & Dim button, and also double accidentals)
  

• 
  Key Signatures (click settings and choose:
  
  • 
    the number of 3’s and b’s
    
  • 
    major and/or minor
    
  • 
    relative minor or not
    

• 
  Identify intervals on staff
  
• 
  No accidentals on starting note
  
• 
  Interval types: Major and Perfect
  
• 
  Interval direction: both ascending and descending
  
• 
  Intervals: Select all
  

Half-step = closest pitch above or below a given pitch

Whole-step = two adjacent half-steps

Step and a half = one and ½ steps or 3 half-steps.

The interval of a whole-step is most often spelled as a major 2^nd, i.e. C-D or Ab-Bb

The interval of a step and a half is spelled as an augmented 2^nd or also a minor 3^rd, i.e. augmented 2^nd - C-D#; minor third – C-Eb.

Other interval spellings will be discussed in a later study sheet.

i.e. C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C

or C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C
IMPORTANT – The chromatic scale is a scale of 12 half-steps.

All other scales of our western music heritage are constructed from less than 12 tones and contain a mixture of half-steps, whole-steps or wider intervals.
Note that the United States generally uses 7 alphabet letters, A-G. Europe uses 7 solfege syllables - do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do instead of our 7 alphabet letters, i.e. C = do, D = re, etc.
Since we have 12 tones possible and only 7 letters are used, we use accidentals to indicate notes that are raised or lowered. These notes fit between the 7 alphabet letters. The piano keyboard provides a wonderful visual of the chromatic scale. The white keys are the unaltered alphabet letters and the black keys are the raised or lowered accidentals.
Look closely at the chromatic scales given above. Do you see that there are two sets of alphabet letters that do not have an accidental (# or b) placed between them?
Acoustic properties divide the octave unevenly into 7 strong pitches and 5 secondary pitches instead evenly (6 strong and 6 secondary). Therefore, two sets of strong pitches sit side-by-side as half-steps. These two pairs, B-C and E-F are called natural half-steps or half-steps created without the use of accidentals.
Now you have the tools to recognize and create scale patterns found in the music we perform.
Familiar scales listed in their order of scale degrees:
Each scale is illustrated in its simplest key. Key is identified by the octave tones (strongest frequency center that all scale notes revolve around).
Pentatonic – any 5 note scale

Irish/Scottish/Folk/Oriental/Native American are cultures that have a considerable repertoire of pentatonic music.

Pitch name = Do – Re – Mi –Sol – La – Do

also spelled as - C - D - E - G - A - C

interval pattern = W W 1½ W 1½

Scale degree = 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th 6^th 8ve

Pitch name = Do – Re – Mi – Fi – Si – Li– Do

also spelled as - C - D - E - F# - G# - A# - C

C# - D# - F – G – A – B – C#

interval pattern = W W W W W W

**Major (our most common scale)

Scale degree = 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th 6^th 7^th 8^th

Pitch name = Do – Re – Mi – Fa – Sol – La – Ti – Do

also spelled as - C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

interval pattern = W W h W W W h
In order to construct a major scale, all one has to remember is that all intervals are whole steps except 3-4 and 7-8, which are half-steps. This interval pattern happens in all major scales – NO EXCEPTIONS!
There are three types of minor scales. We begin with Natural Minor since it contains no accidentals.
1. Natural minor scale (7 note scale = hepatonic)
Scale degree = 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th 6^th 7^th 8^th

Pitch name = La – Ti – Do – Re – Mi – Fa – Sol – La

also spelled as - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A

interval pattern = W h W W h W W

Scale degree = 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th 6^th 7^th 8^th

Pitch name = La – Ti – Do – Re – Mi – Fa – Si – La

also spelled as - A - B - C - D - E - F - G# - A

interval pattern = W h W W h 1½ h
This scale contains three pairs of half steps and one augmented second. It sounds “Oriental” (Snake Charmer) in color.
3. Melodic minor (Natural minor with 6^th and 7^th scale degrees raised while ascending and lowered back to natural minor when descending.) Example is ascending.

Scale degree = 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 4^th 5^th 6^th 7^th 8^th

Pitch name = La – Ti – Do – Re – Mi – Fi – Si – La

also spelled as - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G# - A

interval pattern = W h W W W W h
By beginning on different scale degrees without the addition of accidentals, the pattern of Whole and Half-steps is rotated. The placement of the two sets of half-steps are moved to different scale degrees resulting in less familiar scales or modes.
C – C or Do – Do = Ionian or what we call Major

D - D or Re to Re = Dorian

E – E or Mi to Me = Phrygian

F – F or Fa – Fa = Lydian

G –G or Sol – Sol = Mixolydian

A – A or La – La = Aeolian or what we call Natural Minor

B – B or Ti – Ti = Locrian (rarely seen in music literature)

Interval (distance from one pitch to another) Help Sheet
Minor 2^nd = 1 half step

Major 2^nd = 2 half steps or 1 whole step

Minor 3^rd = 3 half steps or 1 ½ whole steps

Major 3^rd = 4 half steps or 2 whole steps

Perfect 4^th = 5 half steps or 2 ½ whole steps

Tritone = 6 half steps or 3 whole steps

Perfect 5^th = 7 half steps or 3 ½ whole steps

Minor 6^th = 8 half steps or 4 whole steps

Major 6^th = 9 half steps or 4 ½ whole steps

Minor 7^th = 10 half steps or 5 whole steps

Major 7^th = 11 half steps or 5 ½ whole steps

Perfect 8^th = 12 half steps or 6 whole steps

Major intervals invert to Minor

Perfect invert to Perfect

Diminished invert to Augmented

Augmented invert to Diminished
Interval inversions add up to 9. i.e.
P1 + P8 = 9

m2 + M7 = 9

M2 + m7 = 9

m3 + M6 = 9

M3 + m6 = 9

P4 + P5 = 9

d4 + A5 = 9 or A5 + d4 = 9 (Tritone)

{We will cover other diminished and augmented intervals later!}

m6 + M3 = 9

M6 + m3 = 9

m7 + M2 = 9

M7 + m2 = 9

P8 + P1 = 9

Intervals of a major scale (distance from tonic note to other note):

• 
  Northern Region/All-State Scale and Solo Packet
  

• 
  Strictly Strings book 3 (school binder only)
  
• 
  Bach: 371 Chorales (school binder only)
  
• 
  Hofelt: The Gift
  
• 
  Holst: St. Paul’s Suite
  
• 
  Nelhybel: Danza
  
• 
  Washburn: Queen Noor Suite
  

• 
  Bach: The Art of the Fugue
  

• 
  Clark: String Music of the Baroque Era
  

• 
  Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F major
  
• 
  Boccherini: 9 Quartets
  
• 
  Schubert: String Quartet no. 13 in A minor
  
• 
  Walker: Traveling Songs for String Quartet
  

• 
  Bloch: Concerto Grosso
  
• 
  Dvorak: Serenade, op. 22
  
• 
  Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, New World
  
• 
  Hovhaness: Celestial Fantasy
  
• 
  Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor
  
• 
  Stravinsky: Danse Infernale
  
• 
  Stravinsky: Berceuse and Finale
  
• 
  Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
  

• 
  Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 (violas, cellos and bass)
  
• 
  Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors
  
• 
  Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 Violins in D, op. 3 no. 1
  
• 
  Wagner: Siegfried-Idyll
  

The scenario for Firebird, as adapted by Fokine, follows an old Russian folk tale. The Tsarevitch, Prince Ivan, is hunting the elusive Firebird, and during the night he wanders into a magical garden. As he walks through the garden he sees the Firebird, a beautiful bird with dazzling plumage. Ivan captures the Firebird, but agrees to let her go free, after taking one of her feathers as a trophy. At sunrise, Ivan meets thirteen princesses, who have come into the garden to dance and play with golden apples from the garden's orchard. Ivan learns that the garden belongs to the evil magician-king Kaschei, who has enchanted the princesses, and who has the ability to turn his enemies into stone. Ivan Tsarevich falls in love with one of the princesses. The prince vows to enter Kaschei's castle and free his beloved. As soon as he opens the castle gate, however, Kaschei and his crew of demons appear and capture Ivan in a furious battle (Infernal Dance). The Firebird suddenly appears and distracts Kaschei's monsters by dancing wildly among them. The Firebird reveals to Ivan the secret of Kaschei's immortality: an egg that contains Kaschei's soul. Ivan smashes the egg, and Kaschei immediately dies; and with him all of his enchantments. The Firebird dances a lovely Lullaby, gradually bringing to life all of the knights that Katschei had frozen. The ballet closes with a triumphant Final Hymn, and rejoicing by the prince and his princess.

In the summer of 1909 the ballet impresario Serge Diaghilev telegraphed Stravinsky in St. Petersburg with a commission for an original ballet score, based on a scenario by choreographer Michael Fokine. It was first performed in Paris on June 25, 1910. The Firebird remained one of Stravinsky's favorite pieces throughout his life, and he frequently programmed it in his appearances as a conductor--in a 1961 interview, he noted that he had conducted Firebird over a thousand times!

The “Arpeggione” was a guitar-like instrument tuned the same as a guitar, but held between the knees and played with a bow. Invented in 1821 by the Viennese guitar maker Johann Georg Stauffer, it was originally called “Guitarre d’amour,” but soon dubbed “Arpeggione” because it lent itself so well to arpeggio playing. However, its peculiar guitar-like body made adequate performance on it very awkward; especially in loud passages it was very difficult to keep the bow on one string only. But the instrument possessed a warm sound quality, and it was this attribute which Schubert exploited in the sonata which he wrote for it in 1824. The arpeggione soon became obsolete and transcriptions of this sonata now exist for cello, violin or viola.

The drama begins in the first bar with its throbbing bass line and an accompanying figure on second violin above which the first violin enters with a melancholy theme. After a brief silence a secondary theme is heard on second violin, but it is the first theme with its numerous imaginative transformations and modulations which dominates.

Dirge is full of bitonality with the lower strings often a half step off in key. The Pastorale sections of the third movement have an impressionistic use of tone color, likely Debussy’s influence, with exposed sections requiring sensitive playing skills. The fugue requires a more baroque playing style. However, the dynamic contrasts are quite dramatic and more romantic in nature.