muup-audio
BASIC MUSIC THEORY CONCEPTS FOR MuUp
To use MuUp, a basic knowledge of music theory is extremely helpful. Some key concepts are explained below.
Beat
A beat is defined as the basic unit of time, or the pulse of the piece. It is often described as the rhythm listeners would tap their feet to while listening to music. It forms the basis of any musical piece, as the musician relies on this as their way of keeping with the rhythm.
Tempo
Tempo is the speed or pace of the entire piece of music. Changing the tempo of any piece usually leads to a change in the feeling of the piece. Generally, the faster a piece is, the more lively and happier it is meant to be, and vice versa. The tempo of any piece is measured in beats per minute, or bpm in short. A tempo of 60 bpm would indicate that the rhythm would go along as 1 beat a second.
Notes
A note in music is simply the sound we hear when a single wave of a particular frequency (or pitch) hits our ears. Generally, a few frequencies (12, in the Western music system) are specially denoted, being at appropriate intervals from each others.
Each of these 12 notes are repeated across a large range of frequencies, with a multiple of one frequency being the same note, just with a higher frequency. These repeated frequency notes are separated by what is termed as an octave. Commonly, there are 7 such octaves.
In the Western system of music, there are 7 notes termed as “naturals” denoted by alphabets - A, B, C, D, E, F and G, in that order. Each of them have a specific frequency, and thus octave, associated with them. For example, the note A of the 4th octave (A4) has a frequency of 440 Hz.
Apart from these 7 notes, there are an additional 5 notes termed as “accidentals”, with frequencies lying between two consecutive naturals. These are either classified as sharps or flats, depending on the reference note, and whether it is higher in frequency (sharp - #) or lower (flat - b) than the reference note. These accidentals are:
- C#, also called Db
- D#, also called Eb
- F#, also called Gb
- G#, also called Ab
- A#, also called Bb
Some additional names for notes are
- B#, also called C
- Cb, also called B
- E#, also called F
- Fb, also called E
Duration of notes
A note can be played for a specified duration of time, measured in beats, of course. The basic kinds of durations are:
- Semibreve - Also called a whole note, this signifies that the note is to be held for 4 beats.
- Minim - Also called a half note, this signifies that the note is to be held for half the time as the semibreve.
- Crotchet - Also called a 4th note, this signifies that the note is to be held for half the time as the minim.
- Quaver - Also called a 8th note, this signifies that the note is to be held for half the time as the crotchet.
and so on…
To play a note for 1.5 times the usual time, a dot is added to the right of the note, and this dot is called an augmented dot.
Bars/Measures
While writing sheet music, a grouping of notes according to a given total of beats is called a measure, or a bar. Bars are separated by bar lines.
Dynamics
To change the feeling provided by the same group of notes, dynamics are provided. Some different kinds of dynamics we can add are:
- Change in volume: Absolute volume of notes changes from the point of mention of the dynamic.
- Change in rate of volume: Volume of notes changes over a set of notes from one level to another.
- Change in duration of playing of note: Sometimes the note is to be held until it fades out, sometimes it needs to be cut short.
- Change in speed of playing: The tempo of the demarcated portion of notes varies as mentioned.
Proceed here to read up on some examples, or here to explore MuUp script writing.