Key signatures are the flats or sharps you see after the clef and before the time

signature. The purpose

of the key signature, aside from telling you what key to play in, is to avoid writing too many accidentals.
For example, instead of writing Bb over and over again, the flat sign (b) is placed on the third line of the
Treble Clef indicating that B's need to be flatted.

The sharps or flats placed on the line or space in the key signature indicates that notes on that line or
space needs to be sharped or flatted.

Guitar Theory

Piano Lessons

It also indicates that all the other notes of the same letter, even if they are in other octaves, needs to be
sharped or flatted. Sometimes composers change the key signature throughout a piece of music.

Tip

Major Key - If the key signature has sharps, look at the position of the last sharp and raise it by a half-
step to get the key. For example, if the last sharp is E, raise it a half step which is F, the key is F sharp
major. When the key signature has flats, simply look at the second to the last flat and you get the key.
So for example A flat is the second to the last flat sign in the key signature, this means the music is in A
flat major. The exception to this rule is F major because it only has one flat and C major because it has
no flats or sharps.

Minor Key - Simply find the name of the key in major and lower it three half steps to get the minor key.
For example E flat major lowered three half steps will be C minor. A minor key that has the same key
signature as a major key is called a relative minor. For example E flat major and C minor both have 3
flats but C minor is three half steps lower than E flat major.

Keep in mind that there are only seven flats: B-E-A-D-G-C-F, and it is always in the same order in a key
signature. On the other hand, the order of sharps (F-C-G-D-A-E-B) is the order of flats (B-E-A-D-G-C-F)
backwards

For quick reference, look at this table of key signatures for both major and minor keys.
Musical texture refers to the number of layers, as well as the type of layers, used in a composition and
how these layers are related. Texture may be monophonic, polyphonic or homophonic.

Monophonic - Refers to a single melodic line. An example of this is the plainchant or plainsong; a form of
medieval church music that involves chanting. Plainchant doesn't use any instrumental accompaniment,
instead, it uses words that are sung

Moniot d'Arras was one of the composers who wrote monophonic songs. It was around the year 600
when Pope Gregory the Great (also known as Pope Gregory 1) wanted to compile all the different types
of chants into one collection. This compilation will later be known as Gregorian Chant. Listen to a music
sample of Gregorian chant.

Polyphonic - Refers to two or more melodic lines. An example of this is the French chanson, a polyphonic
song that was originally for 2 to 4 voices. Polyphony began when singers started improvising with
parallel melodies, with emphasis on fourth (ex. C to F) and fifth (ex. C to G) intervals. This marked the
start of polyphony, wherein several musical lines were combined. As singers continued experimenting
with melodies, polyphony became more elaborate and complex. Perotinus Magister is believed to be
one of the first composers to use polyphony in his compositions. Composer Guillaume de Machaut also
wrote polyphonic music. Listen to a music sample of polyphonic music.

Homophonic - Refers to a a main melody accompanied by chords.

A musician singing while accompanying himself with his guitar is an example of homophony.
During the Baroque period, music became homophonic, meaning it was based on one melody
with harmonic support coming from a keyboard player. Composers whose works have
homophonic texture include the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz and the "King of
Ragtime" Scott Joplin.

Texture Definition
Believe it or not, you hear texture in music all the time. Generally, we think of texture as being a
word reserved for describing tactile applications, like the shagginess of carpet or the fabric of your
favorite shirt, or for visual applications, like the thickness of paint on a canvas. However, we can
apply texture in an aural way as well. In music, texture refers to the interaction of melodies and
harmonies within a song. These parts can be instruments, singers, or a combination of both.
In general, the texture of music can be thin or thick, thin texture being music with few differing
musical parts and thick texture being music with many differing musical parts. We can think of
texture like a sandwich. The more ingredients you put on your sandwich, the more flavors you will
taste in one bite. A grilled cheese sandwich might represent a thin texture, while a sub sandwich with
ham, turkey, roast beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and spices could represent a thick
texture. Thin and thick textures are often woven throughout a song, and it is this weaving that helps
create intensity and drive or calm and relaxation within a piece of music.

Three Specific Types of Texture

When we want to describe music more precisely, we can refer to three specific
textures:monophony, polyphony, and homophony. The names of the textures were derived from
Latin, with the prefixes giving structural implications and the suffix '-phony', meaning 'to sound.' This
is not to be confused with the word 'phony,' meaning 'fake' or 'fraudulent.' Let's examine each to find
their similarities and differences.

Monophony
Monophony is the thinnest of the three textures, with only one musical part in a song. The prefix
'mono' means 'one,' like a monocle or monorail, so it's easy to remember. In monophony, there are
no background singers or instruments. Historically, monophony was the first texture. During the
Medieval period, this was the only texture of music accepted by the church, as harmony was
considered the work of the devil.
The most well-known type of Medieval monophony is Gregorian chant. If you listen carefully, you
can hear that, although there are multiple singers, they are all singing the same pitches in rhythm
together. This is monophony because there is only a single line of music with no accompaniment.
Another example is at the beginning of Beethoven's 'Fifth Symphony.' All violins, violas, cellos, and
basses are playing the same tones and the same rhythms. You might have noticed that the violins
are playing at a higher frequency than the cellos or basses, but because they are playing the same
pitch, it is still considered monophony. Finally, you can often hear monophony at the beginning of
sporting events, where soloists will sing the national anthem without background instruments.

Polyphony
Eventually, singing the same thing as everyone else all the time became boring.
Thus,polyphony was born. You probably know that 'poly' means 'many,' like a polygon has many
sides, and since we know 'phony' means 'to sound,' we can immediately deduce a basic meaning of
'many sounds at the same time.' More specifically, polyphony is heard when two or more
independent melodies are sung or played simultaneously. In polyphony, the pitches and rhythms of
each musical part are different from one another. Because of this, we can say that polyphony is a
much thicker texture than monophony.
Think of a round, like 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat.' If you and your friend are singing the song as a
round, you are singing two different parts at the same time. Many times, an instance of polyphony is
achieved through singing, though it can occur between two or more instruments as well. This
happens most often in orchestral or band music. A very common example often heard at wedding
ceremonies is Pachelbel's 'Canon.' Part of the beauty of the song is the interplay between the four
simultaneous melodies.

Many classical trios and quartets also play with a polyphonic texture, at least some of the time. In
Beethoven's 'String Quartet,' we hear the violin, viola, and cello playing individual yet complementary
parts. More current examples include The Beach Boys, who often combine multiple melodies in the
vocal parts of their songs, and in pop song divas who feel the need to improvise over the chorus of
the song while the main melody continues along with her.
In music, texture is the overall quality of sound of a piece, most often indicated by the
number of voices in the music and by the relationship between these voices (see types
of texture below). A piece's texture may be further described using terms such as "thick"
and "light," "rough" or "smooth." For example, Aaron Copland's more popular pieces are
described as having an "open" texture. The perceived texture of a piece can be affected
by the number and character of parts playing at once, the timbre of the instruments or
voices playing these parts and theharmony, tempo, and rhythms used. The possibilities
of hearing a solo melody, a few simultaneous melodies, or chords supporting a melody
create a musical texture which acts as a partnership in a harmonious and cooperative
accord within a musical composition. No entity has a purpose of existing in isolation;
each entity has a give and take with other entities and contributes towards an overall
harmony and cooperation.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Traditional types of texture

 2 Contemporary types of textures
 3 Other types of textures
 4 Importance of texture
 5 Orchestration &
Instrumentation
 6 Electronic Media
 7 References
 8 External links
 9 Credits

Traditional types of texture

In musicology, particularly in the fields of music history and music analysis, some
common terms for different types of texture are:

 Monophonic - one melodic voice without harmonic accompaniment (although rhythmic

accompaniment may be present). When more than one instrument or voice performs the
single melodic line, the result would be a larger and richer sounding monophonic texture.
An example of a fuller sounding melodic line sung by a chorus is the "Hallelujah Chorus"
by George Frederic Handel.
 Polyphonic - multiple melodic voices which are to some extent independent from one
another. When several equal melodic lines strive for attention, the added dimensions with
the diverse lines create an excitement that heightens musical expectations. An example
of polyphony can be heard when jazz musicians improvise melodies simultaneously.
 Homophonic - multiple voices where one voice, the melody, stands out prominently and
the other voices form a background or subordinate position with an harmonic
accompaniment. At times the accompaniment may be very distinctive; however, its role is
there to help support the melody. An example of homophony are hymns wherein the
melody is usually in the top line and the lower lines blend or harmonize the top line. If all
the parts have the same (or nearly the same) rhythm, then the homophonic texture can
also be described as homorhythmic.
 Heterophonic - a musical texture in which the voices are different in character, moving in
contrasting rhythms. The voices may play a single melody with simultaneous variations in
that melody, or they may play substantially different melodies. (Heterophony can be
considered a sub-category of polyphony, or an embellished/"ragged" form of monophony,
or some mixture of the two). (Hanning,

scale theory
What is a scale? The easiest way to explain scales is like a collection of notes that of a

musical reason have been grouped together. The benefit of knowing scales in music is that

you know how to orient yourself among notes. This will among other things give you a

foundation for improvising – notes in a particular scale always sound good played together

– and composing.

You don't have to read notes to be able to learn scales (but it is always good to be acquainted

with reading notes). Neither do you have to know a lot of chords, but if you already know some chords

the scales will be much easier to relate to and subsequently memorize. And by knowing scales you will
be able to learn chord easier - chords derive from scales.

Fundamentals

In many cases a scale consists of seven notes – this is the case of the major and minor scales. The
scales are also octave-repeating which means the pattern of notes is the same regardless if you play a
scale on the left, the middle or the right side of the keyboard.
On a full scale piano, there is a total of 88 keys, but there are only twelve different notes which are
repeated from low to high tones, from the base to the treble.

In the illustration above, you can see twelve tones that make one octave and these notes also form

a Chromatic Scale). One important thing is that C# is sometimes written Db and D# is sometimes

written Eb and so on. These are called enharmonic notes and how they are written depends on

the key they belong to. The symbols after the letter (accidentals) are known as sharps and flats. C# is

spelled "C sharp" and Db is spelled "D flat". This is of course only theory, but is nevertheless good to
know about.

Let's take the G major scale as an example:

The notes are G - A - B - C - D - E - F# - G.

Let's now look at the F major scale:

The notes are F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F.

We have seen two different scales where we use sharps (#) and flats (b). The rule that decides if the

note israised or lowered depends on the intervals between notes in the scale. In the examples above

F# is a raised F and Bb is a lowered B.

On some occasions you may observe two sharps or flats in adjunction to a described note in a piano
score. These are called double-sharps and double-flats. The reason these are used needs a theoretical

explanation. Let us take the key of D# as an example, this key includes both D# and D, but to make it
functional in a score with a key signature it should be D# and C## otherwise you would be lured to

play a D# instead of a D.

The same thing sometimes occurs when the notes of scales or chords are written out. For example,

the C# Major Scale could correctly be written: C#, D#, F, F#, G#, A#, B#, C#. Notice that B# is

written instead of C. B# is not existing in reality and the note should be played as a C. (On

Pianoscales.org C is sometimes written instead of B## anyway to avoid confusing. There is many

beginners using the sites and things like B## would clearly confuse some of these and in the
overviews the formally correct notes are presented below.)

Changing keys and scales

Music pieces are written in a certain key, like Brandenburg Concerto No 1 in F Major by J.S. Bach. It

would be feasible to re-arrange this concerto to another key, like for example D Major. It would still be
the same to a large extent, but the timbre would be different.

Tonality

Most songs start and end with the same tone which is the first note, or tonic, in the scale. Then you

play notes from a scale you could hear that the music seems to gravitate towards the first note, it is
like some tension is left until you have reached that first note. This phenomenon is called tonality.

Scale degrees

There is also something called scale degrees that refers to the relations of every particular note in the

scale in a general basis. These have roman numbers as you can see below:

Tonic (I) – the first note of a scale that the scale is based upon, sometimes called the root.

Super tonic (II) — second scale degree, one step above the tonic.

Mediant (III) — third scale degree with a position halfway between the tonic and the dominant.

Subdominant (IV) — fourth scale degree, a fifth below the tonic and next to the dominant.

Dominant (V) — fifth scale degree

Submediant (VI) — sixth scale degree and sometimes called supermediant.

Subtonic (VII) — seventh scale degree which is also referred to as leading tone because it musically
"leads" back to the tonic.
Why should you learn these terms? One great thing about knowing them is that you can

have a better understanding of scales and chords in an abstract way. For one of many

reasons, this will help you in transposing music to another key and give you hints while you

are composing music.

To show a concrete example: in blues you very often use the tonic (I), subdominant (IV) and the

dominant (V). This can, for example, be a chord progression and by knowing this theoretical
relationship you can play blues in all keys by using the same intervals.

Intervals

Intervals in music describe the distance between two notes. The most common intervals that you

should be familiar with are: prime, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and octave. See these

intervals illustrated below:

Intervals can also be used to describe the structure of a scale category. For example, the Major

Scale can be written like: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and the Natural Minor can be written like: 1, 2, b3, 4, 5,
b6, b7, referring to the intervals.

Steps

Another way to describe the structure of a scale is with the word steps which refer to the distance

between notes. The most often used terms are half steps and whole steps. Between C and C# there is

one half step and between C and D there is one whole step.

In the scale overviews on this site you will see "semi-notes" (equivalent to half steps) and "formulas"

used also to describe the scales. It is mainly the same thing only described in different ways. For the

Major Scale this will look like: 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 (semi-notes) and Whole, Whole, Half, Whole,
Whole, Whole, Half (formula).