The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

Exercise 4-1
Label the following major key signatures.
53
Exercise 4-2
Label the following minor key signatures.
Exercise 4-3
Create the indicated major key signatures.

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Part 1:
Tones
Exercise 4-4
Create the indicated minor key signatures.
54
Exercise 4-5
Using the initial key signature as a guide, label each note in the following example.
Exercise 4-6
Determine what key signature you could use to write this melody without accidentals, and enter that key sig-
nature at the beginning of the staff.
Exercise 4-7
Determine what key signature you could use to write this melody without accidentals, and enter that key sig-
nature at the beginning of the staff.
Exercise 4-8
Following the circle of fifths, add the appropriate number of flats to each successive major key signature, and
then label each key signature.

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You don’t have to be a drummer to feel the beat. This section shows you how to
notate any type of rhythm, from simple whole notes to sixteenth note syncopa-
tions. You’ll also learn all about time signatures, tempo, and dynamics—as well
as how to navigate your way through a piece of music.
2
Part
Rhythms

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5
Note Values and 
Basic Notation
In This Chapter
◆
Grouping beats into measures
◆
Understanding whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes and rests
◆
Using dotted notes and ties
◆
Dividing beats into triplets
Lesson 4, Track 27
Part 1 of this book covered how to work with pitch—but that’s only half of the
music theory that you need to know. In this chapter we’ll deal with the other
half of the equation, which is how you work with 
time
—which, in music, is
called 
rhythm.
Rhythm is what drives the music forward and gives it its beat. To learn rhythm,
you have to learn about note values. This type of music notation isn’t that hard,
really. All you need to learn is a little basic math and how to count—up to four.
Before we start, however, let’s lay down some ground rules for this chapter.
While a lot of songs are written with four beats to a measure—one, two, three,
four—that isn’t a universal. Some very popular songs only have three beats to a
measure. (Think “My Favorite Things,” from 
The Sound of Music
.) And other
tunes, especially in the jazz and classical genres, have 
more
than four beats per
measure.
To make it easier to learn the basics, in this chapter we’re only going to address
four-beat measures—what we call 
4/4 time
. All the other types of beats—three,
five, seven, whatever—will be covered in Chapter 6.
And 
that’s
why I said you only have to know how to count to four!
Chapter

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