This section introduces students to the basics of music notation, including rhythm, pitch, and expressive markings. Students also learn to construct and identify rudimentary harmonies, including intervals (two-note chords), triads (three-note chords), and seventh chords (four-note chords).

Prerequisites

This section assumes no familiarity with Western musical notation. Each chapter in the Fundamentals section assumes familiarity with all previous chapters; for that reason, it is recommended that chapters are studied in order.

Organization

In the section’s first chapter, Introduction to Western Musical Notation, students are encouraged to think about the ways in which they might write down (or notate) their favorite song or composition. The next six chapters (Notation of Notes, Clefs, and Ledger Lines through Other Aspects of Notation) focus upon the notation of pitch and the expressive and stylistic conventions of Western musical notation.

Next, students are introduced to the conventions of Western rhythmic notation in the subsequent four chapters (Rhythmic and Rest Values through Other Rhythmic Essentials). Pitch is then revisited, beginning with the spelling and identification of scales, key signatures, the diatonic modes, and the chromatic collection (in Major Scales, Scale Degrees, and Key Signatures through Introduction to Diatonic Modes and the Chromatic “Scale”).

A chapter on the basics of sight-singing and dictation appears after the modal introduction, because it presumes knowledge of all previous chapters (The Basics of Sight-singing and Dictation). This chapter can be used as a stand-alone chapter in an aural skills class, or can be used within the context of a music theory or fundamentals course. Finally, the construction of harmonies is explored, from two-note intervals through four-note seventh chords (in Intervals through Seventh Chords).

It is a conscientious choice that the Triads and Seventh Chords chapters do not include inversion or figured bass. This is a separate topic (Inversion and Figured Bass). This chapter, along with Roman Numerals and SATB Chord Construction and Texture, can be used as introductions to part-writing, counterpoint, music appreciation, or music history courses.

Audience

The Fundamentals section is designed for a wide audience, including high-school students (and those taking AP music theory), collegiate non-music majors (and musical theater majors), and collegiate music majors.