AP® Music Theory - Unit 2 Study Guide

Unit 2: Music Fundamentals II:

Minor Scales and Key Signatures, Melody, Timbre, and Texture

*Review*
➔​ The Major Scale
◆​ Reference the Circle of Fifths to determine the number of sharps or flats.
◆​ Scale Pattern: W W H W W W H (W = Whole Step; H = Half Step)
◆​ Solfege: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
◆​ Scale Degrees: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Minor Scales
➔​ Natural Minor
◆​ No accidentals are changed from the relative major’s key signature
◆​ Scale Pattern: W H W W H W W (W = Whole Step; H = Half Step)
◆​ Solfege: Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Te Do
◆​ Scale Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8
➔​ Harmonic Minor
◆​ Natural Minor Scale with seventh scale degree raised (becomes leading tone)
◆​ Scale Pattern: W H W W H m3 H
◆​ Solfege: Do Re Me Fa Sol Le Ti Do
◆​ Scale Degrees: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 8
◆​ David Bennett Piano - Songs That Use The Harmonic Minor Scale
➔​ Melodic Minor
◆​ Ascending: Natural Minor Scale with sixth and seventh scale degrees raised
◆​ Descending: Natural Minor Scale meaning that the sixth and seventh degrees are
no longer raised)
◆​ Scale Pattern (Ascending): W H W W W W H
◆​ Solfege (Ascending): Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
◆​ Solfege (Descending): Do Te Le Sol Fa Mi Re Do
◆​ Scale Degrees (Ascending): 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 8
◆​ David Bennett Piano - Songs That Use The Melodic Minor Scale
 ➔​ Minor Pentatonic Scale
◆​ 5-note minor scale (made of the 5 diatonic pitches)
◆​ Scale Pattern: m3 W W m3 W
◆​ Solfege: Do Mi Fa Sol Te Do
◆​ Scale Degrees 1 b3 4 5 b7 8

Key Relationships
➔​ Parallel Keys
◆​ Keys that share a tonic
◆​ One major and one minor
●​ Example: ‘D major’ and ‘d minor’ are parallel keys because they share the
same tonic (D)
➔​ Relative Keys
◆​ Keys that share a key signature (but have different tonics)
●​ Example: ‘C major’ and ‘a minor’ are relative keys (since they both don’t have
any sharps or flats)
➔​ Closely Related Keys
◆​ Keys that differ from each other by at most one sharp or one flat
◆​ Every key has 5 closely related keys

➔​ Distantly Related Keys

◆​ Any key that is not enharmonic, parallel, relative or closely-related
●​ Example: E minor and Bb major are distantly related keys
Other Scales
➔​ Chromatic Scale
◆​ 12 note scale (in other words, this scale covers all 12 available pitches)
◆​ Each note is a semitone away from each other
●​ Example: The C Chromatic Scale

➔​ Whole-Tone Scale
◆​ Each note in this scale is one whole note away.
●​ Example: The C Whole-Tone Scale

➔​ Pentatonic Scale
◆​ 5 note scale (for major pentatonic - the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th notes in a major
scale)
●​ Example: The C Pentatonic-Scale has the following notes: C, D, E, G, A
●​ For the minor pentatonic, see above under “Minor Scales”
Major Intervals
➔​ “Major” and “Perfect” are used to label an interval’s quality.
◆​ Seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths have a major quality.
◆​ Fourths, fifths, and eighths have perfect quality.
➔​ Major Second
◆​ Made up of two half steps
◆​ Example: C to D
➔​ Major Third
◆​ Made up of four half steps
◆​ Example: C to E
➔​ Perfect Fourth
◆​ Made up of five half steps
◆​ Example: C to F
➔​ Perfect Fifth
◆​ Made up of seven half steps
◆​ Example: C to G
➔​ Major Sixth
◆​ Made up of nine half steps
◆​ Example: C to A
➔​ Major Seventh
◆​ Made up of eleven half steps
◆​ Example: C to B
➔​ Perfect Eighth (Perfect Octave)
◆​ Made up of twelve half steps
◆​ Example: C to C

Minor Intervals
➔​ Minor intervals are one less half step than major intervals.
◆​ Example: C to E is a major third (4 half steps), making C to Eb is a minor third (3 half
steps).

Augmented Intervals
➔​ Augmented intervals are one more half step than perfect intervals/major intervals.
◆​ Example: C to F is a perfect fourth (5 half steps), making C to F# an augmented
fourth (6 half steps).
Diminished Intervals
➔​ Diminished Intervals are one less half step than perfect intervals/minor intervals.
◆​ Example: C to G is a perfect fifth (7 half steps), making C to Gb a diminished fifth (6
half steps).

Interval Inversions
➔​ Inverting intervals is reversing the positions of the two notes (i.e. raise the lower note an
octave OR lower the upper note an octave).

◆​ The lower note (F) on the minor third was raised an octave and now becomes the
higher note for the major 6th.
◆​ How to name and identify Inverted Interval(s):
●​ The general name of the interval and the inversion always add up to 9.
●​ The specific name will always be the “opposite” (major becomes minor, minor
becomes major, augmented becomes diminished, diminished becomes
augmented; perfect intervals retain their perfect quality when inverted).
○​ Major 3rd → Minor 6th
○​ Augmented 2nd → Diminished 7th
○​ Minor 7th → Major 2nd
○​ Double Augmented 4th → Double Diminished 5th
○​ Perfect 4th → Perfect 5th
Compound Intervals
➔​ Any interval that is larger than an octave is a compound interval.

Transposing Instruments
➔​ Transposing instruments are instruments that have different notated pitches from the
actual pitches that are played.
◆​ Examples of these instruments are a Bb Clarinet and a Bb Trumpet. This means
that when they read a note and play the note, the sound of the note will play
differently. If they read and play a C, a Bb sound will come out.
◆​ The AP Music Theory exam may have musical scores that contain instrumental
parts that need to be converted from the notated pitches to the actual sounding
pitches. This will help before analyzing the piece for the exam.

Timbre
➔​ The quality of the sound based on how the sound is produced.
◆​ Example: The sound of an acoustic guitar vs. an electric guitar.

Rhythmic Devices: Rhythmic devices are often used to “spice up” a musical piece by sometimes
breaking rhythm rules. Some examples include:
◆​ Syncopation: an accent on weak beats
◆​ Cross-Rhythm (or Poly-Rhythm): at least two rhythmic patterns happening at the same
time
◆​ Hemiola: any arrangement of rhythm & meter in a 3 to 2 ratio
Melodic Features
Contour: the shape of the melody overall.

➔​ Melodic Movement
◆​ Relationship between the pitch and the pitches before or after it.
●​ Conjunct: moving in stepwise motion.
●​ Disjunct: moving in leaps or skips.
➔​ Range
◆​ Distance between the lowest and the highest notes.
●​ Narrow: less than an octave.
●​ Medium: about an octave.
●​ Wise: more than an octave.

Melodic Transposition
For the sight-singing portion of the AP Music Theory exam, the piece that is provided can be
transposed to a range that is more comfortable for you. Some tips for how to make sure that
you are transposing correctly:
➔​ Label the solfege of the piece. Choose a key that is comfortable for you. Use the solfege of
the piece to find the respective notes in the new key.
➔​ Label the scale degrees of the piece. Choose a key that is comfortable for you. Use the
scale degrees of the piece to find the respective notes in the new key.
Texture: Texture is the way the harmonies, melodies, rhythms and timbres are used together
within a piece of music. There are four common texture types:

➔​ Monophonic Texture:
◆​ Has only one melody line.
◆​ If multiple instruments play the same melody, they are playing in unison.
◆​ Example: Pop Goes the Weasel (monophonic as long as it is performed without
chordal accompaniment).

➔​ Polyphonic Texture:
◆​ Has at least two melody lines.
◆​ Example: Pachelbel’s Canon in D

➔​ Homophonic Texture:
◆​ Has one melody line with accompaniment
◆​ Accompaniment can come in various forms such as chords or bass
◆​ Example: Richard Wagner’s Bridal Chorus
➔​ Heterophonic Texture:
◆​ Two or more parts that are elaborating/embellishing the same melody - the voices
are often improvising around the tune.
◆​ Common in Eastern European folk songs, jazz, gamelan music.
◆​ Example: Cantata BWV 80 by J. S. Bach