Fundamentals of Music Theory

Question: In the system of written Western musical notation, five lines drawn horizontally across a sheet of music are known collectively as:

Answer: The staff (or stave) in Western musical notation is represented in written form by a series of five horizontal lines with four spaces in between.

Question: The position of a single sound within the complete range of sound is known as:

Answer: In music, the position of a single sound within the complete range of sound is known as pitch. Sounds are higher or lower in pitch according to the frequency of vibration of the sound waves producing them.

Question: Which of the following is the name assigned to the symbol at the beginning of the staff that is used to determine the pitch of a particular line?

Answer: The clef, positioned at the beginning of the staff, serves as a reference for all notes of the staff. Three clef symbols are used today: the treble, the bass, and the C clef, stylized forms of the letters G, F, and C, respectively.

Question: Which scale is the only major scale that does not use sharps or flats?

Answer: The C major scale includes the following sequence of notes: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. None of the notes are sharp or flat.

Question: Which of the following is the term used to describe a small line that extends the musical staff above or below and that is drawn parallel to the staff across a notehead and sometimes across the note stem?

Answer: A ledger line, drawn parallel to the staff through a notehead and sometimes above or below it, is used to notate pitches that are higher or lower than the lines and spaces of the staff.

Question: On a staff, a notehead is represented by which of the following shapes?

Answer: In musical notation a notehead is oval in shape and may be empty or filled. It can be associated with any of various other structures, examples including a stem, a flag at the top of the stem, and a beam connecting two or more stems.

Question: The smallest musical interval (the distance between two adjacent notes) is known as:

Answer: A semitone, or half step, is the smallest musical interval. Examples are C to C^# and F to F^#.

Question: A heptatonic scale consisting of five whole tones and two semitones represents which type of scale?

Answer: A diatonic scale contains five whole tones (T, or whole steps) and two semitones (S, or half steps), with the semitones distanced from one another by either three or two whole tones. An example is the C major scale, which follows the pattern T-T-S-T-T-T-S.