Tonality and intervals

Hello, welcome to today's lesson entitled "Tonality and Intervals." My name is Mr. Norris. I'm gonna take you through today as we explore some of the different ways that composers use different types of tonality and also look at how we can identify intervals by ear. Our outcome is that I can describe and identify the different types of tonality and can identify intervals in context. Some keywords. Diatonic, this is music which uses only notes that are based in the key. So, for example, only notes that are in the key of C major or in F minor. Atonal, this is music which has no key or tonic note. Modal, this is music based on modes, which are a type of scale, different from major and minor scales. We'll look more at that later on. Chromatic, this is music that uses notes from outside of the key. And finally, microtonal. This is music that includes notes between the 12 Western semitones. These small intervals are called microtones. The first part of today's lesson then is looking at understanding tonality. Diatonic tonality is the most common type in most Western music. If a piece of music is diatonic, it means that all of the notes fall within the key that the piece is in. So if a piece is in C major and the music only uses notes from within that key, we would say it's diatonic. So in this case, if it was in C major, there'd be no sharps and no flats. This applies to both major and minor keys. So if a piece is in G minor and it only uses notes from within the key and scales of G minor, we would also call it diatonic. When music uses notes from outside of the key, we describe this as chromatic. We're gonna compare these three examples in the key of D major. Only two of them are diatonic, so only two of them use only notes from within the key and one of them is chromatic. So can you identify which example uses some chromatic notes? Let's have a listen to all three clips. Here's the first one. (lively piano music) Now the second one. (lively piano music) And now the third one. (lively piano music) So hopefully you identified there that the second one had some chromatic notes in it. Let's listen to that one again. Try and notice how there are a few notes in it that sound a little bit more harmonically interesting and sound like they come from outside of the key. Here's the second one, the chromatic one. (lively piano music) And it's still in that key of D major but we've got those different notes adding more color and interest to the harmony. And this is quite common for chromatic music. It's always still based in a key. That's really important to understand about chromatic music. It's not that it lacks a key. Let's listen to this clip of some jazz. And this uses a conventional chord sequence in the key of C major, but it makes the harmony and the melody more interesting with chromatic notes and that's really typical of this style actually. Pause my video and have a listen to this. See if you can pick out some of the chromatic notes. In Western classical music, the Romantic period in particular saw increasing use of chromatic notes as composers looked for ways to create evocative imagery and emotionally complex music and chromatic notes really suit more intense emotions. This example illustrates a typical use of chromatic notes in the key of C# major. Pause my video, have a listen and try and notice how the chromatic notes add real interest and color to the harmony. When there's no key and therefore no tonic note or home note, we would call this atonal, so that means without tonic, rather than chromatic. So chromatic music still has a key but uses notes from outside it. Atonal music has no key and no tonic note. We're gonna listen to these two piano solos. One of them is in a key and it uses chromatic notes. The other has no key or tonic note, so it's therefore atonal. Listen to them both. See if you can work out which is which. Pause my video and do that now. Well done with that one if you identified that the first one was atonal and the second one chromatic. The second one feels like it's in a key, like it could resolve, finish on a home cord, a tonic cord, whereas the first one is totally different. It lacks any key in the traditional sense. So Sam and Andeep are discussing what they've learned about tonality so far. Sam says, "If music has a key, it can only be diatonic." Andeep says, "A piece of music can have a key, but use notes from outside of it." Who's correct? Let's pause my video and have a think. And in this case, Andeep is correct. A piece of music can have a key but use notes from outside of it and this would be chromatic music. Let's check your understanding. If a piece is in C major and uses notes from outside of that key, what would we describe it as? Have a quick think. And the correct answer here is we describe it as chromatic. If a piece is in C major and does not use notes from outside that key, what would we describe it as? I'll give you a few seconds again. And here the answer is diatonic. So if it only uses notes from inside the key, it is diatonic. What music has no key? So what's the word for music that has no key? I'll give you a few seconds to remember this one. And here the correct answer is atonal music has no key. That's where there's no tonic note and no home note or chord. Now, modal music is a type of tonality based on modes, and this is a type of scale, just slightly different to understand from major and minor scales. There are seven different types of mode and here are three examples. First one there is called a dorian mode, and that's an E dorian because it's starting on the note E. Let's see what that sounds like. (lively piano music) So the dorian mode sounds quite close to a minor scale, but there's some subtle differences in some of the notes that mean it's not exactly the same as a minor scale. The second example we've got there is the lydian mode, and that's in E lydian mode because it starts on the note E. Let's see what that one sounds like and have a think about what it sounds similar to in terms of major and minor scales. (lively piano music) So the lydian mode is very close to a major scale, but again, there's some slight changes, in particular, the fourth note of the mode that's different from a major scale, which means it has a slightly different color and character. And then finally, let's look at the locrian mode. This is quite an unusual one that isn't used very often. That's an E locrian we can see there, again because it starts on E. That sounds like this. (lively piano music) So there's some quite unusual intervals in that one that give it a very different color and character from major and minor scales. And those are just three of the seven types of modes that are used. Now, many traditional musical styles around the world are modal. This includes many examples of folk music, as well as early religious music in the West. So before major and minor tonality was used in the West, modes were what music was based on. Now, this clip is modal, so it doesn't quite sound like it's in a normal major or minor key. Pause my video and have a listen and try and notice how it sounds slightly different from normal major and minor keys. Now let's listen to these two clips. I'd like you to try and identify which is modal and which is diatonic. So which one is in a key and uses notes only from that major or minor key. Here's the first clip. (lively piano music) And here's the second one. So which one's modal and which is diatonic? (dramatic piano music) And well done there if you identified that the first was diatonic and the second was modal. The mode that was used there was the dorian mode, which is that one that's similar to a minor scale but not quite the same. Now microtonality uses notes that fall between the 12 semitones of the Western scale. An octave in Western music is normally divided into 12 equal semitones. So if you think about an octave on a piano, there are 12 notes in an octave. There's that octave there. There are 12 chromatic notes. And those are our semitones that almost all of the music we write is based on. Microtonal music uses notes that are in between the semitones. So as an example, some Arabic music divides the octave into 24 quarter tone. These includes quarter tone flats and quarter tone sharps, and you can see the slightly different symbols there. So now we're gonna compare the 12 semitone scale to the 24-note scale with microtones. Try and notice the difference in terms of the sound. So these are the 12 semitones. (lively piano music) And then this is the 24 microtones. (lively piano music) And as we can see there, those microtones are totally different to the semitones that most Western music is based on. Let's check your understanding. What are microtones? I'll give you a few seconds to come up with an answer. And the correct answer here is microtones are notes between the semitones or intervals that are smaller than a semitone. You might have given examples of quarter tone flats, or quarter tone sharps. Many musical traditions in Asia and in the Middle East use microtones. This clip from Indonesia, from a style of music called Gamelan, uses different notes from Western music and includes some microtones. And to Western-trained musicians who are used to the 12 semitones of the octave, microtones might sound at first sort of out of tune and that's because we're trained in such a way that we're very used to the 12 semitones that all Western music is built on. So when we hear those microtones, they sound quite unusual and quite strange. Have a listen to this clip and see if you can pick out some of those microtones, some of those intervals and pitches that sound slightly different from the 12 semitones. Pause my video and have a listen. Let's check your understanding. Which type of tonality uses only notes from within a key? Is it diatonic, chromatic, atonal, or microtonal? I'll give you a few seconds. The correct answer here is diatonic music uses only notes from within a key. So to summarize, the main types of tonality are diatonic, which uses notes only from within a key, chromatic, which uses some notes from outside the key, atonal, which has no key and no tonic note, and modal, which uses notes from one of the modes, which are scales that sound slightly different from major or minor scales. And then we've also got microtonal music that uses notes in between Western semitones. So, for example, quarter tones, quarter tone flats or quarter tone sharps. For task A, identify the tonality of each clip. Choose from diatonic major, diatonic minor, chromatic, atonal, modal and microtone. So pause my video, listen closely and give this your best shot. Let's review this task then. So the first clip was atonal, it had no key. The second one was diatonic and it was in a major key. Third one was modal, so that was based on one of the modes. The fourth was chromatic, so it did have a key, but it used some notes from outside that key. And then the final one was diatonic minor. So it was in a minor key and used only notes from within that key. Well done if you got those correct. The second part of today's lesson is looking at identifying intervals in context. An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes. Can you think of any examples of small and large intervals? Just take a few seconds. So some examples of small intervals are semitones, seconds or we might have used the word tones, thirds and fourths. And fifths, sixth, sevenths and octaves are all large intervals, and there are some larger intervals you might have been able to name there as well. The first step to identify an interval is to approximate its size, is it large or small? Have a listen to these two. Which of these is a large interval and which is a small interval? Here's the first one. (lively piano music) So having a think, is that a small or a large interval? I'll play you it one more time. (lively piano music) And now the second example. Is this a small or a large interval. (lively piano music) Hear it one more time. (lively piano music) Okay, and in those examples, the first one was a small one, it was a second or a tone, and the second one was a large interval, it was a seventh. And if we notice a large interval and we're trying to work out what interval it is, we can then rule out all the smaller intervals, like tones and semitones and vice versa. What interval is shown here? Is it a semitone, a fourth or a major seventh? I'll give you a few seconds to work it out. And the correct answer here is it's a fourth. Well done if you correctly identified that. We can use reference songs to help us precisely identify an interval. The way we do it is we sing the interval back to ourselves, then compare it to the references. And there are many different examples of reference songs you can use, and you might have some that you prefer to use, but this list here are all quite good examples to use if you know the melodies. Have a listen to this interval. Can you identify it? (lively piano music) Have another listen, sing it back to yourself and see if you can compare it to those reference songs. (lively piano music) Pause my video, see if you can work out that interval. So that one was a fifth. See if you can pick out the fifth in the trumpet melody in this clip. So now rather than just listening to two notes in isolation, I'm gonna try and pick them out in context. Listen for that same interval in the trumpet. Pause my video and have a listen. Now, pause my video again and have a listen to the fifth on its own. Did you correctly identify this one? Now, this is a descending octave. I'd like you to listen to it, then sing it back to yourself. Once you've sung it back to yourself, then try to flip the notes. So rather than it being a descending octave, flip it so that it is ascending with the low note first. Here's the descending octave. (lively piano music) So sing that back to yourself. I'll play you it again. (lively piano music) Really try and embed that interval in your voice. I'll play it one more time. (lively piano music) So now see if you can flip it so that rather than going from high to low, it goes from low to high with the same interval. Just pause my video while you do that. And now we're gonna try and pick that out in context. So listen to this vocal melody. Which word in the vocal melody uses that exact interval? Pause my video and have a listen. And really well done there if you identified that it was the word somewhere that uses an ascending octave. So we're getting used to picking these intervals out in context, it just takes lots of practice. It's quite a hard skill, but the more you do it, the more you try and pick out intervals in songs or melodies, the better you will get at it. It can also be useful to identify intervals in parts other than the melody. Picking out the bass intervals can help us when working out chord sequences and cadences. Let's have a listen to this example. What interval does the bass play in every bar here? Here we go. (lively music) Let's hear the bass part on its own and see if we can pick out the interval now. (lively bass music) And well done then if you identified that that's playing a fourth. To identify intervals in parts other than the melody, we sometimes need to zoom in and try and isolate that part in our heads, which means sort of blocking out the other parts and we're just focusing in on that one part. In this trio, the flute plays the melody and the cello plays the bassline. The middle part is played by the marimba, which repeats the same interval over and over. What is that interval? So see if you can pick out the marimba. Try and block out the other parts and work out what that interval is. And even if you're not 100% sure, try and narrow it down to one or two intervals. Here we go. (lively music) So it's tricky picking out intervals in middle parts, but really well done if you identified that it's playing a third, and in that case, it's playing a minor third. So really well done if you managed to narrow it down to that. Let's check your understanding. What interval is this? Is it a semitone, tone, third or fourth? Here we go. (lively piano music) I'll play you it two more times. Remember to sing it back to yourself. Try and work it out using those methods. (lively piano music) And for the final time. (lively piano music) And then pause my video to try working out the answer. And the correct answer here is that's a tone or a major second. Well done if you got that. Which of these is a reference song for a fourth? The start of "Happy Birthday," "Oh When the saints," Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or "Here Comes the Bride." I'll give you a few seconds to work out the one for a fourth. And the correct answer here is "Here Comes the Bride." (instructor humming "Here Comes the Bride") That's our fourth there. It's a really good reference song to use. For Task B, you listen to each clip and answer the questions. For example one, we're gonna answer questions one and two. What is the first interval played by the piano? And is it an ascending or descending interval? For example two, answer questions three and four. What is the interval on the word hero and eagle? And is it an ascending or descending interval? For example three, I'd like to try and pick out what interval can be heard repeating in the bass and electric guitar parts. So pause my video, have a go at questions one, two, three, four and five and give these your best shot. Okay, let's review this task. So for example one, the interval was a fifth and it was ascending. For example two, the interval was a minor third and it was descending. Very well done if you managed to answer some of those correct. Then for example three, it was an octave that was repeating in the bass and electric guitar parts playing the riff. And that's quite a popular interval to use in rock guitar riffs. So you might come across that in lots of different examples in the style. Well done if you correctly answered some of those questions. And hopefully now you feel like you're better equipped to identify some intervals in context rather than just when they're isolated. Let's review today's lesson. Tonality determines the notes that are used in a piece of music. Lots of Western music is diatonic or chromatic, while many traditional styles around the world are modal. Atonal music has no key and microtonal music uses notes from in between the semitones. Identifying intervals allows musicians to work out musical ideas by ear. And the simplest way to do this is by comparing intervals to reference songs. So that's the end of today's lesson. Thank you very much for taking part, and hopefully now you feel a bit better equipped to identify different tonalities that you hear in music around you. For identifying intervals, the key is just to keep practicing, get lots of mileage in developing these skills and you will get better and more proficient at it as you go. Thanks for taking part and I'll see you in another lesson.