Now you understand pitch on a grand orchestral scale. We turn to the smallest intervals in western music the tones and semitones. The letters of the alphabet are separated by tones and semitones. E to F is a semitone. Twice a semitone is a tone. F to G is a tone. The alphabet is not … Read more
Soprano instruments lend themselves to melody, light harmony and colour. Tenor instruments too play melody. Bass sometimes plays melody. It takes a skillful arranger to write an effective and appropriate bass melody. Bass is the band’s tonal foundation. If an inappropriate move is made the building comes tumbling down. To study bass we must be … Read more
Though we know the stave as five horizontal lines it originated as eleven. The 11 line stave is called the grand stave. Pitch ascends through the lines and spaces of the grand stave. Our five line stave is easier to read than the grand stave. But to reduce our stave to five lines we need … Read more