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TIPCODES MUSIC ON PAPER

Tipcode:

MOP-001

Here's the first line of Twinkle, Twinkle, showing you which key to play for each syllable.

MOP-002

The notes from one Do to the next, and the interval from one Do to the other: the octave.

MOP-003

The key to the left of each group of two black keys is a C. The key to the left of three black keys in an F.

MOP-004

If you play from one key to the next, you'll be playing half steps.

MOP-005

Here's Twinkle, Twinkle again, now showing the notes for each syllable.

MOP-006

The keys of the notes between the two staffs are shown in grey.

MOP-007

A bit of salsa: reading two staffs, playing dotted notes (page 36), ties (page 37), and syncopated notes (page 158).

MOP-008

This Tipcode plays the chords above as regular chords first (all notes at the same time), then note for note.

MOP-009

Four beats on a metronome, followed by the rhythm of the first bars of Baa Baa Black Sheep: four quarter notes, four eighth notes, and a half note.

MOP-010

Four beats on the metronome followed by one whole note, two half notes, four quarter notes, eight eighth notes and sixteen sixteenth notes.

MOP-011

The two dotted quarter notes last three beats, just like the dotted half note – but they don't sound the same, of course.

MOP-012

The last note of each bar continues in the next bar. Ties can do that. Dots can't.

MOP-013

Two sets of two bars of triplets on a snare drum.

MOP-014

Quarter-note triplets played against the steady beat of a metronome. The quarter-note triplet is a basic polyrhythmic pattern.

MOP-015

Sextuplets on a snare drum.

MOP-016

This is what quintuplets and septuplets sound like.

MOP-017

Twinkle, Twinkle in F. The first two notes on the second line sound too high. Tipcode MOP-018 plays the solution.

MOP-018

We've solved the problem of MOP- 017 by turning the two B notes into B-flats (B ). This is what the song is supposed to sound like!

MOP-019

The first sharp at the clef turns everyFofhepieceintoanF ;the second sharp raises all Cs.

MOP-020

A natural sign suspends the flats or sharps in that same bar and of that same pitch only.

MOP-021

The G⌗ and Ab sound the same pitch, but they're not the same notes. This melody demonstrates the difference.

MOP-022

Twinkle, Twinkle in D. The F notes sound too low. Sharps solve the problem.

MOP-023

This Tipcode plays the crescendo from the example on this page.

MOP-024

Metronome at 240 (prestissimo), 200 (presto), 168 (presto/allegro), 120 (allegro/moderato), 108 (moderato/andante), 76 (andante/ adagio), 60, and 40 (largo). Tip: 60 equals one beat per second; 240 means four beats per second.

MOP-025

Notes without and with accents.

MOP-026

A staccato note sounds shorter, but its duration doesn't change.

MOP-027

Letting go of one key after you've played the next...

MOP-028

A phrase with legato slurs and an accent.

MOP-029

Pizzicato: plucking the strings of a bowed instrument.

MOP-030

This Tipcode plays most of the ornaments in this chapter, from a trill on the piano to a fall on an electric guitar.

MOP-031

A-minor is the one minor scale that you can play with white keys only, from one A to the next.

MOP-032

Playing the white keys from F to F doesn't sound like a major scale. Lowering the B restores the correct order of Ws and Hs.

MOP-033

A-minor on piano.

MOP-034

This Tipcode demonstrates the difference between major and minor scales.

MOP-035

Listen to the eight basic intervals of the C major scale.

MOP-036

This Tipcode plays the perfect intervals...

MOP-037

... and here are the major intervals.

MOP-038

The intervals in a major scale: perfect and major when going up (low to high); perfect and minor when going down (high to low).

MOP-039

In the Middle Ages, the tritonus was known as 'the devil in music'.

MOP-040

The dissonant intervals:
• Minor
• Major
• Augmented
• Diminished

MOP-041

The consonant intervals:
• Perfect
• Minor
• Major

MOP-042

Tension and release.

MOP-043

Everybody knows this melody – and even if you don't, you can sing the last note.

MOP-044

The same melody without and with a leading note. The effect of the added sharp is quite obvious.

MOP-045

Melody in melodic minor. The B is raised with a natural sign; the C is raised with a sharp.

MOP-046

Same choice of notes, different character: F major and D minor.

MOP-047

This TIpcode demonstrates all non-diatonic scales in this chapter: chromatic, hexatonic, octatonic, pentatonic, a blues scale, and a gypsy scale.

MOP-048

When saxophone players read a C5, these are the concert pitches you will hear them play. The soprano sounds a whole step below C5, the alto a sixth. The tenor sounds a octave below the soprano, the baritone an octave below the alto.

MOP-049

Six beats to the bar, each bar clearly divided in two groups of three.

MOP-050

5/4 on drums, counted as 3+2.

MOP-051

The same melody played twice. First in straight eighths, as it's written; then in swing, the way it was intended.

MOP-052

3-2 and 2-3 claves, played on claves.

MOP-053

First, you'll hear three chords in their root positions (first column, page 178). Inverting G7, as shown in the second column, makes the sequence sound more musical – and it's easier to play, too.

MOP-054

This is what the bass line on this page sounds like, played on a guitar.

MOP-055

Here's the rock beat shown above. In the first four bars, the drummer plays the eighth cymbal notes on a closed hi-hat, switching to the ride cymbal for the final four bars.

MOP-056

This Tipcode clearly demonstrates the difference between 440 and 442Hz. It may be hard to hear the difference, until they’re played simultaneously!

MOP-057

A mesa di voce, performed by a classical soprano.

MOP-058

Here's what Twinkle, Twinkle on page 172 sounds like.

MOP-059

A more advanced rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, as shown on this page.

MOP-060

The four triads in the table above: major, minor, diminished, augmented.

MOP-061

Turning the B from a G7 chord into the bottom note.

MOP-062

Four syncopated notes in one bar. More examples of synopation can be heard in Tipcodes MOP-007 (salsa) and MOP-052 (the clave), and in funk, jazz, and other styles of music.

MOP-063

This is what the blues on the previous page 185 sounds like.