Page Overview:

Review: Pitches and Barlines

We learned last week that pitches are written using the letters a–g, and rests are written with the letter z. Uppercase letters are in the fourth octave, while lowercase letters are in the fifth octave. Octaves can be further raised using apostrophes (') or lowered using commas (,). Accidentals are written using carets for sharps (^), underscores for flats (_) and equal signs for natural (=).

Octave signs are written after the pitch while accidentals are written before.

Barlines are written using a vertical line (|) and SoundCells supports a few kinds like double barlines (||), ending double barlines (|]) and repeat signs (:|)

What follows is a short ABC excerpt demonstrating different ways of writing notes and barlines.

C D A B | D, E, F, G, | _c ^d ^a' ^g'' |]

New ABC Notation

This week, we covered how to notate durations and add a few headers to describe key properties of a musical score. (This example can be found under the Example ABC Excerpts as “Zelda’s Theme”):

K: G
M: 3/4
L: 1/4
| B2 d | A2 G1/2 A1/2 | B2 d | A3 | B2 d | a2 g | d2 c1/2 B1/2 | A3 |]

Durations

Durations in ABC are expressed using numbers and fractions written at the end of a note. For example, writing C2 doubles the note’s duration while C1/2 halves the note’s duration.

You may even write complex durations like C1/3 to express triplets or how about C5/7?

Duration Shorthand

If a fraction begins with a 1, you may omit the numerator. /2 is equivalent to 1/2. Additional slashes by themselves halve a duration.

Here are three ways of expressing the same duration. (They all do the same thing, so you are welcome to write what is most comfortable to you!)

  • A1/4
  • A/4
  • A//

Example excerpt using multiple durations:

A B c d | A1/2 B1/2 c1/2 d1/2 A/2 B/2 c/ d/ | A4/3 B4/3 c4/3 |]

Headers

Up to this point, we have been been writing notes before providing any other information about the score. This is because SoundCells incorporates some defaults - For example, the time signature we have used to date is 4/4, the key is in C major, and the default note duration is a quarter note. However, music can be in many different meters and

Headers describe properties of music written below them. Headers must be written on their own line. This week we learned how to indicate a key signature, time signature, and note duration. For example, the following snippet is in Bb, 2/4, with an eighth note base duration:

K: Bb
M: 2/4
L: 1/8
D D C2 | B,2 z2 |]

Key Signature

Key Signatures use the letter K followed by a key. Weirdly enough, flats and sharps are written b and # respectively, and not carets and underscores like notes.

Key signatures affect the sharps and flats of notes. For example, in the following excerpt, the note B will be a B-flat because in the key of F there is one flat:

K: F
F G A B

For a B-natural, you would need to notate a natural sign:

K: F
F G A =B

You may indicate a minor key by writing a lowercase m at the end of the key for minor.

Example Key Signatures:

K: Ab
K: Bm
K: C#m

Time Signature

Time signatures use the letter M, and are written as fractions.

Example Time Signatures:

M: 4/4
M: 6/8
M: 5/4

Base Note Duration

The base note duration is a unique property of ABC that specifies the duration of notes.

For example, copy and paste the following excerpt into SoundCells and notice how even though none of the notes have a duration, the second measure contains eighth notes.

L: 1/4
A B c d |
L: 1/8
A B c d A B c d ||

Durations written on notes are multiplied agains the base duration. If a base duration is an eighth note, (L: 1/8), and a note has a number 2 after it, (C2) it will be a quarter note. The following two measures are equivalent:

L: 1/4
A B c d |
L: 1/8
A2 B2 c2 d2 ||

New Keyboard Commands

We learned about question mark or “tell-me” commands that describe the current note or measure based on the position of the cursor.

  • ? then n = current note
  • ? then m = current measure

Note that “tell-me” commands currently do not work if you are a VoiceOver user and have changed the Code Editor setting to Text Editor.

Challenges to Try On Your Own

Each week there will be three categories of challenges for you to work on your own.

  • Notation Challenges require you to incorporate new ABC syntax we covered that week.
  • Composition Challenges are prompts for composing new music. Think of these not as big artistic efforts, but as etudes, short studies for practicing ABC.
  • Remix Challenges are opportunities to edit existing work and make something new or surprising.

Notation Challenges

  1. Notate a one-octave scale starting at middle C. Then change the key to C minor using a header without altering any of the notes.

  2. Copy and paste the following excerpt into SoundCells. Add a duration to one or more notes in each measure to make it complete. (There are an infinite number of right answers!) 
    M: 4/4
L: 1/4
A A A |
A A A A A A |
A A A A A |]
  3. Copy and paste the following excerpt into SoundCells. The change the time signature from 4/4 to 3/4 and reposition the barlines so that all the measures are complete. 
    M: 4/4
D3 E | F G A F | C/ D/ E/ F/ G2 ||

Composition Challenges

  1. Compose a new melody using notes, durations, barlines, and at least one header.

  2. Compose a 12-tone row or three-measure composition that uses all 12 chromatic pitches (or use last week’s row). (Or use a row composed last week.) Then, add durations such that no two consecutive notes have the same duration.

Remix Challenges

  1. Choose any melody that you or another student composed last week. First, experiment by changing the headers without changing any notes. Then add durations to give the excerpt some rhythm.