What does "SATB" mean?

For those who haven't grown up around choral music or in church, the term "SATB" might look like some strange code or an abbreviation for some government agency.

But all it means is: S=soprano  A=alto  T=tenor  B=bass. In choral music there is a line of music for each part -- a line for the sopranos, a line of music for the altos, a line for the tenors, and a line for the basses.

The sopranos, of course, are the highest vocalists of the four, so their part usually is the melody -- the tune of the piece -- and is written in the treble clef. Right below the soprano line is the alto line, also in the treble clef, but lower than the soprano line.

In the bass clef the tenor part is on top, and the bass part on the bottom, in keeping with the vocal range of each type of singer.

If you look in a hymnbook (not the more contemporary chorus books) you will see there are 4 parts almost always all the way through the song. Those 4 parts are for the four vocal ranges we just mentioned: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.

Piano players just starting out often play out of a hymn book just like it is written -- the trouble is, it was not written for a piano player, but for 4 different ranges of singers. That's why pianists need to learn what chord is represented by each stack of notes, from the bass up to the soprano, so they can then fill in and create a larger sound than they ever could just playing the singers parts.


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What is a "Soprano"?

The term soprano is one of many vocal range classifications; it refers to the highest of all vocal ranges. To be considered a soprano, a vocalist's range must fall from middle C to a thirteenth above it -- though many soprano singers have ranges the extend far above that. It's generally a category reserved for females, though some males singing in a falsetto can be called soprano. Soprano singing is sometimes considered to be the most difficult and impressive type; whether or not that's actually true, the vocal quality found in a soprano is unlike that of any other classification.

Soprano vocal ranges can be further divided into several different categories. The specificity of these soprano categories is based entirely on the type of music being sung. In typical choral ensembles, a limited number of soprano categories is used; in fact, many choral ensembles will only use one, labeled simply as soprano. But in some cases, where vocal parts require further harmony, choral arrangements will utilize two categories: soprano I and soprano II. Soprano I is the basic soprano part, the part that would be present as simply soprano in a choral ensemble with just one part. Soprano II, also known as mezzo-soprano, is a bit lower than Soprano I, falling somewhere between an alto and a soprano.

Opera, however, is an entirely different ball game where soprano singers are concerned. Operas often contain no less than five soprano parts, all working on the subtle differences between vocal ranges. The highest of these categories is the dramatic soprano, or lead soprano, which is the voice that is typically associated with traditional opera. It's a type of soprano with an incredibly flexible range, one that extends far above the common soprano voice; for this reason, dramatic soprano singers are usually given the lead roles in operas. This type of soprano is so astronomical in range that it, supposedly, can break glass on the best of days; myth or not, that story clearly illustrates the sheer vocal abilities of a dramatic soprano, abilities that take years to hone.



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What is an "Alto"?

The term alto is one of many vocal range classifications; it refers to the second highest possible vocal range. Just lower than a soprano, an alto range will typically fall from the E or F below middle C to the C or D an octave above it; it's the voice that falls between a tenor and a low, or mezzo, soprano. Alto singers are typically female, but it's entirely possible for a male to fall into the alto category. One a female, it's a voice rich and deep, one that is easily able to convey any sort of emotion. Though the soprano voice is highly coveted in opera and choral singing, the alto voice is very favorable in rock music or other types of popular composition. Karen Carpenter and Toni Braxton represent the allure of such a voice; they are two of the most famous alto singers in popular music.

Alto singers are often known for carrying the weight of the upper register in a choral ensemble. Though the soprano voice is responsible for the majority of a song's melody, the alto voice is what fills out the chord, creating the harmonies absolutely essential to a song's functioning. It's the kind of voice that sometimes goes unnoticed in a choral ensemble (most people hearing a piece for the first time seek out the primary melody), but one that holds the song together; without the alto voice, a piece would feel unfinished, nowhere near as full. As a result, most alto singers have a heightened sense of harmonic vocalizing; it's not uncommon for an alto to naturally sing a lower harmony to any piece of music put in front of them. This is a trait desirable in almost any musical group responsible for writing its own songs; the ability to harmonize and harmonize well is the very basis of an alto singer's craft.

What is "Figured Bass"? I, IV, V7, etc.

Figured bass is a type of notation that uses numbers to denote certain intervals or chords. It was used extensively during the classical period and is still taught in college music theory courses today.

 It can be viewed as a sort of musical shorthand; only the bass note is shown on the staff, and the numbers written underneath indicate the general idea of what should be played. Figured bass is very similar to Baroque era's basso continuo, a type of minimal notation given to accompanists. The accompanists working with the basso continuo or figured bass knew the basic structure of the song but had to rely on improvisation to complete the entire piece. Improvisation is important here because figured bass only indicates the song's harmony; the rest is decided by each musician, depending on the style and tone of the music and the other instruments involved.

The figured bass notation is based solely on the bass line. The bass note is shown on the staff, as usual, but underneath are a series of numbers. These numbers in figured bass notation denote the intervals with which the chord is to be played; any accidentals are written next to the numbers. For instance, if an F is shown on the staff with a four and six underneath it, the figured bass notation is telling the musician to play an F chord with notes a fourth and sixth above the F. And if that four, for example, is shown with a flat sign, the figured bass is telling the musician to play the fourth a half step down.

If the chord contains a third or a fifth, however, these numbers are often omitted from the figured bass. A third and fifth with any bass note creates a triad; the sheer commonality of triads led those using figured bass to get rid of the numbers and simply assume their presence. Likewise, if only one number is present underneath the bass note, figured bass assumes the missing note to be a third.

Even the bass notes themselves are sometimes left out of the figured bass notation to keep the shorthand truly short. If a bass note repeats itself for several bars, only the first instance of the note will be shown in the figured bass; after that, the only thing to denote the chord will be the series of numbers. Until it changes, the bass note here is completely assumed.

What is a Ballad?

In the world of jazz, a ballad is a slower piece, sometimes very slow, where the soloist often falls way behind the beat to make a point, and then at some point catches up. Some of the great jazz ballad singers were June Christi, Sara Vaughn, Billie Holliday, Shirley Horn, Nancy Wilson, Nina Simone, Diana Shuur, Anita O'Day, Diana Krall, and of course the incomparable Ella. They sang many other styles as well, but in my book, nobody sang ballads like these gals.

Outside of jazz ballads are an increasingly common musical concept in modern popular music. They're generally thought of as slow, highly melodic songs that tell of some sort of heartbreak; there's even a whole CD dedicated to power ballads, the result of heavier rock bands taking it down a few notches to tell about love gained or lost. But true ballads, in the strictest sense of the word, are far more complicated than just taking a song's tempo down by a few beats per minute. True ballads date back to way before heavy metal or modern folk music. True ballads are an integral part of historical folklore.

Ballads are songs that tell a story, like poetry or folk stories set to music. The stories told in ballads tend to be well-known and oft-repeated and often incorporate tall tales. Increasingly, however, ballads have been adapted to the plight of the everyman; ballads are the peoples' music and will always tell about the people of that particular time.

Ballads are distinguishable from other types of songs by a few important characteristics. The lyrics in ballads tend to focus far more on action than reaction and will usually be sung in the third person, like many literary folk stories. Ballads also tend to focus on the song's lyrical (as opposed to instrumental) qualities; since a ballad is focused so heavily on the story being told, it's vital that the lyrics get first billing. Because of this, the lyrics tend to be simple and easy to repeat. The chorus, especially, must be memorable; it was designed specifically to be sung in unison by the audience, many of who will have only heard it once. This memorable quality is vital also because ballads, in the truest sense of the word, will almost always have been passed down from generation to generation. The ballads will certainly evolve over time, but the basic elements of story will remain in tact.

Because true ballads tell folk stories, it's not surprising that ballads have remained a large part of the folk music genre. But even in that most integrity-based area of music, ballads haven't always maintained their essential elements. The notion of ballads, just like the ballads themselves, has evolved so much over time that the ballads of today barely resemble those of the original criteria. Still, despite their differences, they are still considered ballads -- just in a much looser form (consider the modern ballad "American Pie"). Power ballads, on the other hand, can hardly be called ballads, even by those who allow the word to be very loosely interpreted. Power ballads rarely fit any of the criteria of original ballads, other than the frequently found subject of a lover scorned. No matter how slow, melodic or heartbreaking certain songs are, they can't always be called ballads; a catchy chorus does not always a ballad make.

Acoustic Pianos

The term acoustic piano is a fancy, more descriptive way of referring to a normal piano. It's typically only called an acoustic piano when being mentioned in conjunction with digital or electronic pianos; without those barriers, the acoustic piano needs no distinction. It is, simply, a piano. It comes in various forms, some better than others, and is usually considered a part of the percussion section; an acoustic piano has the potential to drive the rhythm just as effectively as the drums.

One of the most startling facts for a music-loving child to learn is that an acoustic piano is actually a string instrument; growing accustomed to violins and cellos as rote for the string section, it seems so unlikely to us as children that an acoustic piano could fall in that category. An acoustic piano produces sound by a series of strings stretched on a frame; the strings on a grand acoustic piano are stretched horizontally, producing a thick sound, while the strings on an upright acoustic piano are stretched vertically, tending to make the sound more tinny. The keys on an acoustic piano are attached to tiny hammers; when triggered by pressing a key, these hammers hit a string and produce that familiar acoustic piano sound.

An acoustic piano consists of a large wooden frame enclosing the strings and pedal mechanics and a keyboard which is used to actually play the instrument. The keyboard generally has 88 keys (though sometimes less or more, depending on the manufacturer), each of which corresponds to a specific pitch; these pitches are named after the first seven letters of the alphabet and retain that name regardless of the octave. The 88 keys on an acoustic piano hold roughly seven octaves with the lowest octave starting to the left; the white keys represent the seven natural notes of a diatonic scale, and the black keys function as the accidentals.

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Improvisation: Creating a New Melody & More

Improvisation (also known as improvising) is the act of making something up as you go along -- an act with which we all have a little experience. Remember playing House or Doctor as a child, letting the game go wherever your mind would take you? That was improvisation. No rules, no boundaries, just the limitless potential of your imagination.

Similarly, musical improvisation is the act of creating a new version of a song while performing it, a technique found most often in jazz and fusion (but can be traced back to renowned classical improvisers like Handel and Bach). Of course, it's a little more complicated than an imaginative children's game. Though improvisation is a highly creative and flexible technique, it requires great skill on the part of the musician. A musician involved in an improvisation must have a detailed knowledge of chord structure and complicated scales and modes. The musician must also have an intuitive ability to structure a song on the fly; great improvisation thrives on its ability to sound not improvised but rather wholly composed. That illusion, the ability of a song to seem anything but spontaneously made up, is part of improvisation's allure.



There are two basic forms of improvisation: structured improvisation and free improvisation. Structured improvisation, though a contradiction in terms, is the most common of the two. In this form, musicians will use a pre-determined series of chord changes, usually held down by the rhythm section, as the song's base. The lead instruments in the improvisation (also pre-determined) then have the freedom to create new melodies from these pre-determined chords. The flexibility of this improvisation form is dependent on the flexibility of the chord changes, and the musicians involved must be able to play exactly what they hear in their heads, as some complicated changes may not allow for large deviations.



Free improvisation, on the other hand, is far more like a game of House or Doctor -- it has no rules. Instead of focusing on harmony or melody, free improvisation focuses on the feeling and texture of the music and the way the instruments complement each other. This form tends to be far more experimental and rarely adheres to one style or genre or music -- it is, quite simply, what it is. Notable musicians who play have used free improvisation include Lennie Tristano, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane, among others.





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Intervals: The Distance Between Any Two Notes

__Intervals

Intervals are deceptively easy little things. To define them, they sound extremely rudimentary: intervals are simply the distance between two notes or pitches. Play a note on your piano. Now play another one. The distance between those two notes is the interval. Upon closer inspection, however, we see that intervals are far more complex than that. There exist several different types of intervals, all of which can be altered in a number of ways, and understanding the nature of these changes is at the very core of a solid music theory education.

Intervals are defined or named by two characteristics: the interval's number and the interval's quality. The interval's number describes the number of staff positions that sit within the intervals: a second, a third, etc. For example, the interval number for a C and an F would be a fourth because there are four notes between those two (including the C and the F themselves). Likewise, a C and an E would be a third, a C and a D would be a second, and so on.

The interval's quality is a bit more complicated. Interval quality describes the specific type of the intervals in addition to the number; intervals can be perfect, major, minor, augmented, or diminished. But not every interval can be of every quality. While all intervals can be augmented or diminished (by adding or subtracting a half step, respectively), only unisons, fourths, fifths and octaves can be perfect; a perfect fourth is five half steps, a perfect fifth is seven, and a perfect unison is zero (since a unison represents the same two notes). Similarly, only second, third, sixth, and seventh intervals can be major or minor; like augmenting or diminishing, this is achieved by adding or subtracting a half step from the intervals.

But be careful. Since major and minor intervals are created by altering the intervals by a half step, augmenting and diminishing works a little differently here. Instead of simply adding or subtracting a half step, augmented intervals (in this case) are a half step more than the interval's major, and diminished intervals are a half step less than the interval's minor. Let's consider third intervals, for example. Major third intervals are four half steps and minor third intervals are three; in a fourth interval, that half step down that creates the minor would create the diminished. But for these intervals we have to go a half step below that, making a diminished third two half steps (which actually creates major second intervals, but that's a story for another time).
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