A Day-Trip to Penny Lane - Hearing Note Values in Music

Hey Jude, Let's take the Long and Winding Road to Penny Lane where You Can Leave Your Hat On – it will be a Magical Mystery Tour Extraordinaire!
WHAT?

This weeks article takes us on a little retro, Day-Trip
So FOLLOW ME (see that little thing you can click over there on the right side of the page? Be daring, Be a darling - go for it!)

We are going to journey with everybody’s Favorite Fab 5 (that includes George Martin), The Beatles!
This trip to “Penny Lane” is towards a whole new destination of Music Theory for Rock Stars – This is all about applying the fun stuff that I prattle about as we listen to songs that we know and love.
So, C’mon,”Leave Your Hat On,” and let’s do a little “Day-Tripping” ( If you join me? I promise not to use any more song titles as sentences….)

Last we left off talking about the fancy names for music notes & what they mean. If you want to review click below
Explaining note values

Different Time Signatures

What does 4/4 mean?


Here is a quick review
We are looking at 4 types of notes –
Quarter notes, Half notes, Whole notes and Eighth notes
These terms refer to note values – the value of a note is the length of time it is played
A Whole note has 4 beats & we count it as One, Two, Three, Four
A Half note has 2 beats and we count it as One, Two
A Quarter note has One beat and we count it as One or One And
When counting an Eighth note it sounds for half the length of a Quarter note so it's the ONE or the AND - we hear this in relation to the length of the quarter note

I have taken these examples from the recordings on the Beatles album, "One"
QUARTER NOTES
“Penny Lane”
This song is in 4/4 so we will be counting 1,2,3,4
After the word, “Penny”
Listen to the Piano that enters on the word, “Lane”
The Piano is playing Quarter Notes
Count it as 1,2,3,4 Ta-Da! Quarter Notes!

"Hey Jude"
This song is also in 4/4 so once again count 1,2,3,4
After the first "Hey"
Listen to the piano that enters on the word, “Jude”
The piano is playing quarter notes
Count along 1,2,3,4 -1,2,3,4 - etc.... Ta-Da! Quarter Notes!
(this works until he sings the word, ‘remember’)
there’s a lot more examples of this in the Beatles so grab your Ipod and don’t be shy – find ‘em

A note about Pick-Up Notes…
A Pick Up Note is a Beat heard before we count one of the first measure.
Examples
*The word, “Penny” in “Penny Lane”
(we begin counting 1 on the word Lane)
*Same goes for the word, “Hey” in, “Hey Jude”
It is beat 4 of the prior imaginary measure that we do not actually hear.


HALF NOTES
“The Long and Winding Road”
It’s easier to count this in 2/4 as 1,2 – 1,2
After the intro line, “The Long and Winding Road” you hear strings enter on the lyrics LEADS to your door”
Count them - 1,2 – 1,2 Ta-Da! Half Notes!
Note: Listen to the higher pitched strings. After a few measures you will hear some other strings enter. These are moving more quickly. Listen to the sustained strings.
Also Listen to vocal oohs & aahs that move with the strings in the second verse, these are also half notes!

"Hey Jude"
Listen to the B section ("and any time you feel the pain...")
Those background oohs and aahs - count them - 1,2 - 1,2 -etc
those are serious half notes!

WHOLE NOTES
“The Magical Mystery Tour”
The opening lyric is, “Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour”
Listen to the first Roll UP – the word UP is held for 4 beats

So, while you're at it, take a listen to "Strawberry Fields Forever"
Listen to the underneath sounds, start with the trippy woodwind sound - count it! What do you hear?
The Beatles music is wonderful for hearing this stuff because of the masterful arranging. Note very often a lot of the brilliance does not begin on beat 1 …. But see if you can count it anyway!! Lots to be learned here for phrasing and production.

Now, let’s roll forward a few decades…
EIGHTH NOTES
Listen to the first bars of Dolly Parton's, "9-5"
This song is also in 4/4
Count it 1 and, 2 and, 3 and, 4 Ta-Da! 8th notes

Ah, Let's make this more fun than working 9-5
Check out Joe Cockers "You Can Leave Your Hat On"
This song is in 4/4
Listen to when that piano comes in
You Can count along 1,2,3,4 - 1,2,3,4 - 1,2,3,4 -etc....
Count it 1 and, 2 and, 3 and, 4 and Ta-Da! 8th notes!

SIXTEENTH NOTES in the very same song…
Listen After he "turns out all the lights" that little riff?
Count them 1 E and A, 2 E and A, 3 E and A

Now we have day-tripped to Penny Lane and back. Suspicious minds are talking. Let’s turn out all the lights for this week. Til Next Time!
Love and Music, Meredith

The Value of a Note? And Pizza!

So for the past few weeks we have been talking about
What is a Time Signature? read here
Explaining Different Time Signatures read here

Now that we are brilliant and we know all of that? We can have even More Fun and talk about Note Values. This doesn't mean that some notes are more valuable than others! Instead, a note value refers to the duration of a note - the length of time we play the note (same as the length of time we hear the note) This has nothing to do with pitch. This is all about knowing How long to play each note when it appears in sheet music or charts.

Let's start with looking at a Pizza (because that is one of my favorite foods) Stick with me here if you want the trick on how Pizza can help you to read music!

So we have a circle - it looks like a pizza!


Let's say... if we cut the pizza into four pieces

The WHOLE Pizza will feed 4 people
HALF of the pizza will feed 2 people
A QUARTER of the pizza will feed 1 person
An EIGHTH of the pizza will feed the family dog
(he's tiny and shouldn't be eating pizza anyway!)

A WHOLE NOTE has 4 beats The Whole Pizza feeds 4 people
we count it as 1,2,3,4

A HALF NOTE has 2 beats Half of a Pizza feeds 2 people
we count it as 1,2

A QUARTER NOTE has 1 beat One Quarter of a Pizza feeds 1 person
we count it as 1 or 1 AND

AN EIGHTH NOTE is half of one beat
Logical for the dog to eat Half as much pizza as one person
2 eighth notes count as 1 AND - the same length as One quarter note
1 eighth note counts as Either One or And - the length of Half of a quarter note

Also,
A Whole note looks like a circle or a pizza :)
A Half note looks like half a pizza
A Quarter note is the same as a half note but filled in
An Eighth note looks like a Quarter note, but with a tail
(remember I said it feeds the dog, well that's also because it has a tail!!)

picture courtesy of start-playing-guitar.com

And I didn't mention a 16th note - which has the duration of half of an 8th note
(it's such a small piece of pizza it might only feed a mouse Note the 16th it has a 2 tiny tails)

Another perspective brings us back to math class, but I'll bring it on just to make sure all bases are covered

There is a relationship between the notes
As we multiply by 2 - the duration of the note gets cut in half

1 Whole
multiply by 2
1/2 Half
multiply by 2
1/4 Quarter
multiply by 2
1/8
multiply by 2
1/16
multiply by 2
(some music gets as fast as 32nd or 64th notes! but you get the point)


I personally think Pizza is More Fun!
Next week we will delve into fabulous music examples so that we can hear these notes in action -
Til Then
Love and Music
Meredith

Different Time Signatures

Last week we discussed the meaning of 4/4 and defined the fancy word, Time Signature.
If you missed it? Read Here before moving on
Very simply, in written music, 4/4 (four, four) is a time signature which means a symbol that tells us how many beats are in a measure of music.
This post explains other time signatures like 2/4, 3/4, 6/8, etc...

Let's get started! It's time to break it down and understand that silly fraction!!
We'll use 4/4 as an example because we already know what that means.
We know that in 4/4 we count 4 beats for each measure - 1,2,3,4

THE TOP NUMBER TELLS US HOW MANY BEATS WE HAVE IN A MEASURE
ex: 4/4, the top number is 4 - we have 4 beats in a measure & we count each measure as 1,2,3,4 Easy!
So, take a guess, how many beats do we have in
3/4 - 3 beats - 1,2,3
2/4 - 2 beats - 1,2
6/8 - 1,2,3,4,5,6
Not even close to as tricky as 2nd grade math

NOW, THE BOTTOM NUMBER TELLS US WHAT TYPE OF NOTE COUNTS AS ONE BEAT.
It's easiest if we look at them as simple fractions & substitute 1 for the top note
We generally work with the most basic notes here- quarter note, eighth note or half-note
(will delve into that more deeply next week)

Read these fractions as though you were reading measurements for cooking.
1/4 = one fourth is the same thing as one quarter of a cup
When you see a FOUR on the bottom, a quarter note equals one beat

1/8 = one eighth is the same thing as one eighth of a cup
When you see an EIGHT on the bottom, an eighth note equals one beat

1/2 = one half is the same thing as one half of a cup
When you see a TWO on the bottom, a half note equals one beat


Now! combine them
In 4/4 = There are four beats in a measure and a quarter note equals 1 beat
In 3/4 = There are 3 beats in a measure and a quarter note equals 1 beat
In 2/4 = There are 2 beats in a measure and a quarter note equals 1 beat
In 6/8 = there are 6 beats in a measure and an eighth note equals 1 beat

Those are our most common Time Signatures
One more thing sometimes we will see a capital C instead of a fraction
This means Common Time. The most common time signature is 4/4
So a Capital C means the same thing as 4/4
AND
Sometimes, that Capital C will be written with a line through it.
This means Cut Time. Regular C means 4/4 - Cut Time cuts the 4/4 in half which means 2/2. The notes are still written in 4/4, but your count 1,2 instead of 1,2,3,4. This makes the music move more quickly.

Occasionally in music (usually classical or jazz) we will see more complex things like
4/2 = There are 4 beats in a measure and a half note gets one beat
12/8 = There are 12 beats in a measure and an eighth note gets one beat
5/4 = There are 5 beats in a measure and a quarter note has one beat
Whatever the fraction, the same rules apply!!

Here is a lovely pic of the time signatures we have been discussing

courtesy of piano.about.com


Next week, we will delve a bit more into the aural part of this concept by discussing beats = quarter, eighth, half and counting them so we can hear the time signatures in the context of written music & specific songs
Fun Stuff!
Have a beautiful day!
meredith

What Does Four Four Mean?

This question was asked by Andy so I feel it is important to address. It’s important for me to address any question You have about music theory! So if you got one? Bring it on! ask here

WHAT DOES FOUR FOUR mean?
It means a piece of wood that is four feet by four feet – wrong topic oops!
In music Four, Four is what we call a Time Signature. Yeah, that’s a big music word with a very simple definition!

In simple terms it refers to the beat of the music. Listen to any song with drums and bass. Tap your foot to the rhythm section (drums & bass). That is called 'keeping time'

More Specifically, a Time Signature is simply the word for the SIGN placed at the beginning of a written piece of music. It is information for the musician about the pulse and rhythm of song. It is the SIGN that tells us how to play the song in TIME
Neat huh?

It looks like a fraction, ex: 4/4. (we say this as Four,Four)

A piece of music is divided into what we call measures. If you have ever seen a piece of written music - it sorta looks like a brick wall. In a wall, each brick is finite space. Similarly, each measure is finite space with a line on either side. (these lines are called bar lines)
Unlike a brick wall, each of the finite spaces in a piece of music has pretty music notes inside of it. A brick just has clay (not as exciting).

The Time Signature tells you how many beats/pulses are in each measure

Four, Four written as 4/4 is a time signature that tells us how many beats are in each measure. In 4/4 there are 4 beats per measure
Count 'em 1,2,3,4 - 1,2,3,4 - etc and so on


NEXT WEEK?
More fun with fractions (please don't have flashbacks to your second grade math teacher!) I promise it will be fun! We are going to take them apart and Make them Rock!
Til then? Listen to a piece of music, tap your foot, count 1,2,3,4 and say, "Hey I'm cool! This song is in 4/4 and I know what that means."

Well, most of the time...
If you find yourself counting 1,2 or 1,2,3 (like a waltz) THAT song is in 2/4 or 3/4

And I promise to explain why next week
Til Then keep tapping and listening. Hey! it might even make you a better dancer
XO
Meredith

Co-Writing With Yourself

Last week I mentioned Hawk Wolinski and touched upon the importance of reading music.
More Here
I say Hey! If it's good enough for a Grammy Winning producer who has worked with greats like Prince, Michael Jackson, Chaka-Khan, & Quincy Jones, maybe it's not such a bad idea after all!  More on that another time…. 

Today? I wanted to talk about Hawks unique approach to songwriting called
Co-Writing with Yourself  What? Doesn't Co-writing MEAN writing with Another person??!?  
Yes, perhaps this seems confusing at first because co-writing does mean writing with someone else!
So, let's start with the idea that a lot of songwriters record while writing so that they can capture ideas/melodies/chords that emerge while they are creating. Then what happens is often they might only use pieces of these ideas for the song they are working on that day. Or sometimes a song won't emerge from that particular writing session. Lesson #1 - It is SO important to capture the thoughts and melodies that emerge during your work session. (Trust me, you won't remember most of them later...)

Then let's assume that you have archived your work via the recording or at least via notes. Time passes and you forget all about that work tape. It gets buried in the midst of life and other projects

Then a week, a month, a year later, when you dig up that same recording, you hear the words and melodies with fresh ears. It's like, "Hey I never heard that before! That sounds pretty good" Suddenly you are spinning with new creativity from discarded material from another session. You forget that YOU are the one who actually wrote it, and
IT FEELS LIKE Another person has walked into the room and is presenting all these new (and perhaps even fabulous...) ideas! What a wonderful co-writer that person is :)
But guess what? They all originally came from YOU. But it sounded like a different person because the you heard it differently the second time around.
What a marvelous way to add a whole new level to your songwriting process....
It's a tip that's definitely worth checking out.

ENJOY! And Write On with your Beautiful & Brilliant Creative self (but not on the walls, couch, or kitchen fridge – oops! My friend's 5 year old did that last week…)

Why Bother Reading Music?

Ok, so I didn't make up this title because I think Everyone should read music or because I happen to teach that little skill...
Rather than bore the reader with, do re mi's and a,b,c's? I want to share a fascinating experience that I had last week with a Grammy-Winning producer. Now you ask, how do those things even relate to each other? Gimmee a second I'll get there!

Here's the scoop:
Every Monday evening I go to Blair School of Music, (NOT because I am a nerd & I like school… maybe that's part of the reason) BUT really because I am taking an amazing class called the Blair Hit Songwriters Series hosted by the delightful and de-lovely (couldn’t not contain the Cole Porter reference) Deanna Walker. Each week a different fabulous songwriter, publisher, industry exec joins us to talk about their careers, answer questions, critique songs & there are even opportunities to pitch to publishers! This Class runs every fall and spring at Blair, & I say, the 2 hours each week is time well spent. It has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about the process of songwriting from the perspective of successful writers, tools for the muse, advice on succeeding in this mad hatter industry and to hear some famous hits played live by the actual writers! blah, blah, you get the point. If you're interested you can check it out here

Last week we were joined by a Grammy-Winning Writer/Producer named Hawk Wolinski (some of his credits include a little lady called Chaka Khan, a guy named Michael Jackson, this brilliant producer dude, Quincy Jones oh and Prince!!)
First I must say, What a Fireball, he was entertaining and shared bucket loads of information from the moment he walked in. It was fabulous!

How does this tie into Music Theory?
I want to first mention that he discussed a lot of varied styles of music including...
References to some great jazz cats like Coltrane and his approach to creating melody.
(a-hem...) Some of those Broadway writers I have mentioned (perhaps even endlessly expounded upon?) in previous posts.
I'm too cool for Broadway
Brilliance and Bawdy of Broadway Lyrics
Send In the Clowns

And even, one of most favorite people, J.S.Bach and how he orchestrated music. Amazing how the Baroque era (that's the 1700's?!?) is still making it's mark today? By the way, when I heard Quincy Jones speak last year, he mentioned a lot of classical cats as well...
It's fascinating to me how all of this stuff has influenced a successful, innovative, writer, & his arranging/process as an R&B producer. See, I don't make this stuff up because I like to talk about Music Theory!
It's important to take in knowledge from all Genres and to delve into understanding music.
Why? because it helps you to be a better writer and musician :)

Oh, one last thing...
At the end of the class Deanna asked him, “If there was something you would have done differently in your career, what would it be?” His answer, “I would have learned to read music sooner...” 'Nuf said (albeit he also mentioned watching his Business of Music more carefully)

Hmmm... I think next week? I'll share some his writing tricks. So stick around, I promise fun and fabulous-ness for all

What is the Circle of 5ths ? Part #3 - The 1,2,3 of figuring out Sharps

OK .... So we left off with our high-tech GPS device which helped us to navigate the Circle of 5ths.
We already understand:
How many flats and sharps exist in each key
IF you don't already know that?
Please read "What is the Circle of 5ths
Part 1, "The Key to Flats & Sharps" here
Part 2, "Navigating the Circle" Here


Let's continue our journey into the world of sharps after a quick review of our last adventure
G Major: 1 sharp
D Major: 2 sharps
A Major: 3 sharps
E Major: 4 sharps
B Major: 5 sharps
F# Major: 6 sharps
**Note Once again we are only talking about Major Keys here**

Now how do we figure out which sharps exist in each key?
Simple as 1, 2, 3!!!

Let's start with G (oh my those last 3 sentences rhymed unintentionally!!)
First Recall your musical alphabet A, B, C, D, E, F, G - G means GO back to A

1. Look at the Key Name
ex: G Major
2. What note comes before it in the alphabet ?
ex: Key of G
ex: F comes before G in the alphabet
3. Add a sharp
+ Key of G
+ F comes before G
+ Add a Sharp: F#
WHAT IS THE SHARP IN THE KEY OF G ? F# !!!!!
Simple as 1,2,3

Our next key in the circle is D ( 5 steps away from G = G, A, B, C, D)
We know that D has 2 sharps
1. Look at the Key Name ANSWER IS D MAJOR
2. What letter comes before D in the alphabet? ANSWER IS C
3. Add a sharp ANSWER IS C#

But Wait you said that D had TWO sharps?!?!
Well, remember I also said that sharp guy was a party fellow?
He travels from Bar to Bar and picks up Friends everywhere he goes!
In other words, as we travel clockwise from Key to Key,
For each progressive key we add our new sharp to the previous ones

EX: so we already learned that
The key of G has 1 sharp - F#
The key of D has 2 sharps - F# and C#
F# is already there from the previous key and now we add C#

Let's continue
Our next key after D is .... (count on your GPS)
So, thumb on D
Pointer finger on E
Middle finger on F
Ring finger on G
Pinky on A
VOILA! you have now determined your next key which is the key of A!

Let's go back to our 1,2,3 of figuring out the sharps
1. Look at the Key name: ANSWER IS A MAJOR
2. What letter comes before A in the alphabet ? ANSWER IS G
REMEMBER IN THE MUSICAL ALPHABET AFTER G WE GO BACK TO A
(this is the only instance where you have to remember something beyond the alphabet you learned in kindergarten - pretty simple because in that alphabet nothing comes before A, so just now commit to memory:
G comes before A, G comes before A, G comes before A)
3. Add a sharp - THE ANSWER IS G#
4. A Major has 3 sharps - Our new one is G# plus F# & C# because we've already picked them up from the last 2 keys.

NEXT
1. Look at the Key Name ANSWER IS E MAJOR
2. What letter comes before E in the alphabet? ANSWER IS D
3. Add a sharp ANSWER IS D#
4. E major has 4 sharps - D# plus the 3 from the previous keys: F#, C#, G#, D#

NEXT
1. Look at the Key Name ANSWER IS B MAJOR
2. What letter comes before B in the alphabet? ANSWER IS A
3. Add a sharp ANSWER IS A#
4. B major has 5 sharps - A# plus the 4 from the previous keys: F#, C#, G#, D#, A#

NEXT
1. Look at the Key Name ANSWER IS F# MAJOR
(because F has already been sharped in the circle he stays that way)
2. What letter comes before F in the alphabet? ANSWER IS E
3. Add a sharp ANSWER IS E#
4. F# major has 6 sharps - E# plus the 5 from the previous keys: F#,C#,G#,D#,A#,E#

I will leave C# to YOU!

Now, here's another tip - or perhaps a trend to notice...
Look at your sharps as they line up
F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#
Holy Genius of Music Theory!!!! There's another pattern here...
Can you see it? Hint: GPS Hint: Circle of 5ths
Give up?
THERE IS A 5TH BETWEEN EACH SHARP AS WE ADD THEM! Check it out
So, thumb on F
Pointer finger on G
Middle finger on A
Ring finger on B
Pinky on C
Get it! the relationship between F and C is a 5th (and the same goes for all of the other sharps we are adding) What another nifty way to figure it out

EX: We already know that G has one sharp which is F and that A has 3 sharps
To figure out the sharps in A you can travel the circle Starting at F# to C# to G#
Magical!!


Now, for homework
1. Take a minute NOW to write out the sharps in each key using the 1,2,3 method
PLEASE close this screen and do it without looking. Then you can double check it here!
2. Tape it to your bathroom mirror and review it as you brush your teeth each morn and evening
3. Play through each key on your instrument
4. APPLY IT in the next tune you're writing, the next chart you look at, hear it as you play.

Have Fun!!! and as always, drop a line back with any questions!!
Contact@meredithblis.com