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Gràde
ABRSM

DSCOVering
Music Theory THE ABRSMGRADE1WORKBOOK

Supports
ABRSM
exams from
Simon Rushby 2020
2020

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CONTENTS

Introduction
The Basics: Rhythm & Pitch 1

Chapter 1: Rhythm (Part 1) 2

Time values (notes); bars and metre; time signatures

Chapter 2: Pitch (Part 1) 8

Notes in the treble clef; notes in the bass clef;

minims, crotchets and quavers on the stave

Chapter 3: Rhythm (Part 2) 13

The semiquaver; grouping notes; rests

Chapter 4: Pitch (Part 2) 19

Accidentals; semitones and tones

Chapter5: Rhythm (Part 3) 24

Ties; dotted notes; grouping dotted notes

Chapter 6: Scales 29
The scale of C major; the degrees of the scale;
tones and semitones in scales; the scales of G, D and F major

Chapter 7: Keys & Key Signatures 35

The keys of C, G, D and F major; key signatures

Chapter 8: Intervals 40
Intervals in C, G, D and F major

Chapter 9: Tonic Triads 44

The tonic triads of C, G, D and F major

Chapter 10: Terms & Signs 46

Chapter 11: Music in Context 51

Practice Exam Paper 55

Music examples are written by the author unless otherwise stated. Some music examples have been adapted to suit learning requirements.

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 INTRODUCTION
Learning music is like learning a language. Understanding how it is written down will help you in all
aspects of your music making, from performing and listening to composing and improvising.
Discovering Music Theory is a suite of ve workbooks, with answer books, that covers everything you need
to know and understand for ABRSM's Music Theory exams at Grades 1 to5. In addition, they provide lots
of ideas and opportunities to help you link music theory with your wider musical activity.
Discovering Music Theory: Grade 1 will help you to build the skills, knowledge and understanding required
for the ABRSM Grade 1 Music Theory exarm. Each chapter focuses on a particular area, corresponding
to the sections of the exam paper. Throughout the book, new topics are introduced with simple
explanations, followed by progressive and varied exercises. These exercises have been carefully written
to help you become familiar with the style and types of questions used in the exam. Some example
answers have been provided in orange to help you along the way.
Alongside the exercises, you'll nd plentyy of suggestions to help you apply your theory skills and link
them with your other musical activities. These are presented in different ways:

Overview of the knowledge, skils and understanding required for your exam
Did you know? Interesting additional information related to the knowledge required for your exam
Smart tip Hints and suggestions on how to approach a speci c exercise
Remember! Reminders of information covered earlier, and relevant to a speci c exercise
Theory in sound Ideas for how to link theory with what you have learnt with your playing.
singing and listening
Challenge! Extra tasks to challenge you and extend your learning
Your progress A chance to check your skills and progress at the end of each chapter

At the end of the book, you'll nd a practice exam paper. You can try each section of the paper as you
complete the work for that topic, or use it as revision once you've completed the whole book.
Further practice exam papers for each grade are available from ABRSM.

Note names
Notes have different names in different parts of the world. In this book we will use words such as
'semibreve' and 'minim', but you may be used to 'whole note' and 'half note.
The following will help you to convert the note names, if you need to:

semibreve minim crotchet quaver semiquaver

whole note half note quarter note 8th note 16th note

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We're going to start by exploring two very important elements of music: rhythm and pitch.

Rhythm
• Rhythm describes how notes of different durations (or time values) are organised over time.

•A pulse is a steady count, like a heartbeat. It provides the framework on which rhythms are built.

Tap: ♥

• The pulse is organised into groups of counts. These counts are known as beats.
Here, the pulse is arranged into groups of four beats:

Pulse:

Beats: 1 2 3 4 2 3 4

A time value shows how many counts a note lasts.

o semibreve: 4 counts
Here are three common time values:
minim: 2 counts

crotchet: 1 count

• Minims and crotchets are made up of a vertical line

called a stem joined to a notehead. Semibreves stem
notehead→
have a notehead but no stem.

Pitch
• Pitch describes how high or lowa note sounds.

•To show pitches, we place notes on a stave:

Notes can be placed on every line and in every space of the stave. Each line and each space
represents a different pitch.

The higher the note is placed on the stave, the higher its pitch.
HIGH

LOW

• All pitches are given a letter name between A and G in the alphabet.

The Basics: Rhythm & Pitch | 1

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 RHYTHM In this chapter you will learn about

1 (PART 1)
Time values (notes)
Bars and metre
Time signatures

Time values
Semibreve 4 counts
• Time values show how many counts a
note lasts. Four common time values are Minim 2 counts
semibreves, minims, crotchets and quavers.
Crotchet 1 count
• Pairs of quavers add up to one count.
They are joined together with a beam: Quaver ha count
Jbecomes

Exercise 1 Complete this table. Theory

in sound
Name of note Looks like Try clapping
How many counts?
different time
values while your
Semibreve 4 teacher or a friend
taps a steady
pulse. Count the
J pulse out loud as
you clap.

Crotchet

Exercise 2 Circle the correct answer for eachquestion.

a Which of these notes has the shortest duration?

Which of these notes has the longest duration?

Which of these lasts longer than a minim? crotchet quaver semibreve

d How many counts is worth? 2 counts 1 count 4 counts

e How many counts is d worth? 3 counts 2 counts 1 count

2 Discovering Music Theory: Grade 1

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 Exercise 3 Answer each musical 'sum' with one note. Smart tip
Use this note tree to
help you with your
musical maths.

+
J

+ +
e

+ +
Smart tip
Watch out for the subtraction
+
sumsinhand i
-

Bars and metre

• Rhythm is the arrangement of notes of different time values over a pulse.
•The pulse is organised into bars containing a certain number of counts, or
beats. This organisation is called metre.
• We use bar-lines to make it easy to see where each bar starts and ends.
• At Grade 1, we will explore bars containing two, three and four beats.

double bar-line Did you know?

Bar Double bar-lines are used at
the end of sections of music.

4
Beats: 1 2 3 4 ↑1 2 3

bar-line

Chapter 1: Rhythm (Part 1) | 3

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Smart tip
The following rhythms are made up of bars
containing two, three or four beats.

Exercise 4 Mark the beats in the following rhythms by adding numbers.

Beats: 1 2

b J

Beats:

Beats:

Beats:

Challenge!
Can you change the order of the notes in Exercise4 b to create your own three-bar rhythm?
Write it down below, then see if you or your teacher can clap it while you count "1, 2, 3' to the beat.

Rhythm:

Beats: 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3

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 Time signatures:
A time signature tells us how many beats there are
in each bar. At Grade 1 we will encounter the time 1

signatures used for music containing two, three or

four beats in a bar.

• The top number of the time signature shows you the

number of beats in each bar.
1 2 3

• The bottom number shows you what the time value

of the beat is. At Grade 1, this number is always '4',
2 3 4
which means that the beat is always measured in
crotchets().

Exercise 5 Circle TRUE OrFALSE for each of these statements about time signatures.

a The top number tells you how many beats there are in each bar. TRUE FALSE

The bottom number tells you how many bars there are in each piece. TRUE FALSE

tells you there are three crotchet beats in each bar. TRUE FALSE

d The time signature is written at the end of a piece of music. TRUE FALSE

e The number 4 at the bottom tells you to count in crotchet beats. TRUE FALSE

Common time: c Theory in sound

is sometimescalledcommontime. Try clapping the rhythms in
Exercises 4 and 6 while you
When you see C at the start of a ,
count or tap the beat.
piece, this means there are four d
beatsin abar,just as there are in .

Smart tip
Note that quavers are normally beamed together as follows:

2JJJT
However,do not beamacross beats 2 and 3 in :

Chapter 1: Rhythm (Part 1) |5

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 Exercise 6 Complete the time signature for each of these rhythms.

1 J lo

Exercise 7 Addonenoteateachplacemarked to complete each bar.

Beats: 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
2

J 1
Beats: 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 2 3

Beats: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

Beat: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

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 pid you know? Remember!
The time signature appears at the start of a piece of In all these time signatures,
music. You will only see another time signature if the
number of beats in each bar changes.
=1beat

Exercise 8 Add the missingbar-lines to each oftheserhythms.The rst bar-line in a isgiven.

J
J J J J

J J

J J

J J J J

Test your progress

How many new musical terms (e.g. 'bar') can you remember? Write them here:

WonlLoy bi
Draw as many new time values and time signatures as you can here:

Chapter 1: Rhythm (Part 1) | 7

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2 PITCH In this chapter you will learnabous
Notes in the trebleclef
Notes in the basscef
(PART 1) Minims, crotchets and quavers on thestaye

Notes in the treble clef:

• Notes can be placed on all the lines and in all the spaces of the stave. The higher the note is
placed on the stave, the higher its pitch.
•A special symbol called a clef is placed at the beginning of the stave. The pitch of each line
and space on the stave is determined by the clef used.

• The treble clef is used mostly to show notes from middle C (the C
nearest the middle of a piano keyboard) upwards. It is also called the
4 Gline
G clef because it circles the line on the stave used for the note G.
It looks like a very elaborate G!

• MiddleC sits on its own line, just below the stave. This is called a ledger line.

Middle C on a ledger line

D E F G A B C D E F G

Exercise 1 Tick (v) the higher note of each of the pairs.

a de

Exercise 2 Write the name of each note in the boxes. Did you know?
In the treble clef, the four notes
in the spaces between the lines
spell FACE.

F A C E

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 Exercise 3 Write the words spelt by the notes in these examples.

AD D

Notes in the bass clef:

•The bass clef is used mostly to show notes from middle C
downwards. It is also called the F clef because it starts on the
line on the stave used for the note F and has two little dots
either side of this line.
•Middle C, which is above the stave in the bass clef, again has its own ledger line.
You also need to know D above middle C in the bass clef, which sits above a ledger line.

D and middle C
use ledger lines

D C B A G F E D C B A G F

Exercise 4 Write the name of each of thesenotes.

Did youknow? Theory in sound

In the bass clef, the four notes in the spaces can be Trysinging the notes A CEG to
remernbered using the phrase All Cows Eat Grass. the phrase 'All cows eat grass' to
hear how they sound.

A C G

Chapter 2: Pitch (Part 1) | 9

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 Exercise 5 Write the words spelt by the notes in Challenge!
these examples. Can you nd any other musical words
Write one on this stave.
a

i Notes in both clefs

It's now possible to show all the notes on the bass and treble
staves, rising up from low F to high G.

middle C

Can you see how the notes in the bass and treble clefs relate
to each other? Middle C falls exactly between the two clefs.

Exercise 6 Write the name of each of thesenotes.Rememberto check the clefs carefully.

a
G

Whichnoteishigher:d or f? Whichnoteislower: c or h?

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 Exercise 7 Tick (v) the correctclefneededtomakeeachofthesenamednotes.

a b

00
E G D middle C

600
A D B E

9:O 9:O

Notes with stems

Notes other than semibreves have stems attached to their
stem
noteheads. The length of the stem is always the same, but its notehead →
position depends on where the note is placed on the stave.

• If the note is below the middle line, the stem

middleline
should go up from the right-hand side:
.........

• If the note is above the middle line, the stem

middleline
should go down from the left-hand side:
**********

• Notes on the middle line can have stems

middleline
going in either direction:

Exercise 8 Tick(V) or cross (X) each box to show whether stems havebeenadded
correctly or incorrectly to each note.

Chapter 2: Pitch (Part 1) | 11

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 Challenge!
Rewrite the following notes, correcting the positions of any incorrect stems. Can you name the notes?

Quavers on the stave

• The stems of single quavers follow the same rules as those for
crotchets and minims.
• The tails of single quavers always attach to the end of the stem, and
they are always on the right of the stem.
• When quavers are in pairs, their stems always go in the same
direction - even if the notes are on different sides of the middle line.
This makes it easier to join them together.

Exercise 9 Tick (v) or cross (X ) each box to show whether these single quavers and pairs of
quavers have been written correctly or incorrectly.

Test your progress

Write a note on every line and space of the stave below, using a mixture of time values.
Can you name the pitch of each note in the treble and bass clefs?

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RHYTHM Inthischapteryou
T
Grouping
will
hesemiquaver
learnabout
notes 3

(PART 2) Rests

Thesemiquaver:
•The semiquaver is the shortest time value we will meet at
Grade 1. Semiquavers have two tails.

• There are four semiquavers in a crotchet, and two

semiquavers in a quaver.

•Semiquaversareoftenbeamedingroupsoffour: dd

Exercise 1 Circle TRUE or FALSE for each statement.

a has the same duration as TRUE FALSE

D lasts longer than TRUE FALSE

lasts
lasts longer than TRUE FALSE

has the same duration as d TRUE FALSE

dJand each last for one crotchet beat TRUE FALSE

Exercise 2 Answer each musical 'sum' with one note. Theory in sound
Practise tapping semiquavers
while someone else claps a
+
steady crotchet beat.

+ +

Chapter 3: Rhythm (Part 2) | 13

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 Challenge!
Match each rhythm with the correct time signature by drawing lines.

D
c

Grouping notes
• We use beams to group quavers and semiquavers together to
help us see the beats more easily.
• Notes are often beamed together to make one full beat.

Smart tip
When beaming quavers with semiquavers,
make sure they are part of the same beat.

Exercise 3 Number the beats and then complete the time signature for each melody.

Beats: 1 2 1 2 1 2 Beats:

Beats:

d
Beats: Beats:

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 Exercise 4 Numberthe beatsandthen tick (V) onebox foreachquestionto show
which bar is grouped correctly.

Beats: 1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

b
Beats:
|

Beats:

d
Beats:

Theory in sound Challenge!

Try clapping the rhythms in Rewrite this rhythm so that all the quavers and semiquavers
Exercise 4. You will nd that are grouped into beats using beams.
the ones beamed correctly are
easiest to read, because you
can see the beats clearly.

ob Chapter 3: Rhythm (Part 2) | 15

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 Rests
Silences during music need to be counted, just like notes. We use rests to do this.

Here are the most common rests:

Semibreve rest It is worth 4 beats, or a whole bar, of silence.

Minim rest It is worth 2 beats of silence.

Crotchet rest It is worth 1 beat of silence.

Quaver rest It is worth a ½ beat of silence.

Semiquaver rest It is worth a % beat of silence.

Notice that the semibreve rest hangs down from the fourth line up on the stave,
while the minim rest sits up on the third line.

Exercise 5 Completethistable.

Name of note Note looks like Rest looks like How many beats?

Semibreve 4

Quaver

Exercise 6 Tick (V) or cross (X) each box to show whether bars add up to the correct
or incorrect number of beats.

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 Exercise 7 Number the beats and then complete the time signature for each melody.

a
Beats: Beats:

Beats: Beats:

Exercise 8 Add one rest at each place marked to complete each melody.

Challenge!
Write out Exercise 8 a and 8 b on the staves below, but this time add a note instead of a rest in the gaps.
Make sure your stems are in the correct positions, and beam quavers and semiquavers within a beat.

Chapter 3: Rhythm (Part 2) | 17

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 Exercise 9 Add the three missingbar-lines to each of these melodies.

Smart tip
Marking the beat numbers above or below the music
will help you to work out where the bar-lines go.

Test your progress

Write down the rests and the equivalent notes in these boxes.
Write them in orde, from shortest to longest.

Now write down three more rhythms containing quavers and semiquavers,
each grouped into one crotchet beat.

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 Semitones and tones
(PART 2)

Accidentals
Signs called accidentals are used to change the pitch ofa note.
The three main accidentals are the sharp (#), the at (b) and the natural (4).

• When a sharp (#) is written in front of a

sounds higher than
note it makes the note sound higher.
• When a at ()is written in front of a note
bo sounds lower than
it makes the note sound lower.
• A natural (:) changes a note with a sharp
= sounds the same as
or at back to its normal pitch.

The distance by which these accidentals change the pitch is called a semitone.
We will learn more about semitones on page 22.

Accidentals always go in front of a note and must be written so that the stave line
or space goes through the middle of the accidental.

Exercise 1 Write the name of each of these notes.

Smart tip
Make sure you check
the clef carefully.

b
d
F2

te

Chapter 4: Pitch (Part 2) | 19

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fl
fl
fl
 Exercise 2 Tick (v) thehighernoteofeachofthesepairs.

o bo

Exercise 3 Tick (V) the lowernote ofeachofthesepairs.

o to

More on accidentals
• An accidental changes all the notes of
a
the same pitch in a bar. Inexample a
both Fs are played as F#.
F# F:
• An accidental applies only to notes on
the same line or in the same space. In
example b, the rst and third notesare
F#, but the high F at the end of the bar is
F# F#
an Fh because it is at a different pitch. It F(4)
would need its own # sign if we wanted it
to be F#.

• An accidental applies only within the

same bar and is cancelled by the bar-line.
B
B

In example c the Bbis cancelled at the

end of the rst bar.

•To cancel an accidental within a bar, we

write a natural (:) in front of a note. In d
example d, the F#at the start of the bar F# Fa

becomes an F4 at the end of the bar.

20 Discovering Music Theory: Grade 1

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 Exercise 4 Writethenamesofthenotesmarked in
these melodies. Smart tip
Watch out for any
accidentals that last
throughout the bar.

F#

Did you know?

A natural can also be used as a reminder to cancel
an accidental that was in the previous bar. It isn't
essential, but you will often see something like this:

Challenge!
Can you rewrite these notes in order of pitch, from lowest to highest?

o e-
e-

obo Chapter 4: Pitch (Part 2) | 21

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 L
FN

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R
5 HYTHM
In this chapter you will learnabout
Ties
Dotted notes
(PART 3) Grouping dotted notes

Ties
A tie is a curved line that joins neighbouring notes of the same pitch.

Notes joined by a tie are played as one note lasting the length of the tied notes added together.
For example, two crotchets tied together will sound like one minim:

sounds like d

Ties are useful when you want to join together notes across a bar-line,
or across the middle beats of a bar in .

Exercise 1 Write the total number of crotchet beats for each of these tied notes.

a 1% beat(s)
b beat(s)

c beat(s) d beat(s)

beat(s) beat(s)

Exercise 2 Add one note in each box to show the total value of the tied notes.

=
J

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 Writing ties
• Ties are placed above or below the notes they join, depending
on where the notes are positioned on the stave.
• Notes below the middle line have ties below the noteheads.
• Notes above the middle line have ties above the noteheads.

Exercise 3 Join the boxed notes with ties and number the beats.

1 2
3 1 2 3

e
ADotted notes
Instead of ijoining notes with a tie to make a longer note, it is sometimes possible to place
a dot after a note. A dot adds on half the time value of the note.

Dotted minim: 3 counts

Dotted crotchet:
1%
countsJ
Dotted quaver: % count

Exercise 4 Rewrite these tied notes as a dotted note of the same duration.

- -

eb Chapter 5: Rhythm (Part 3) 25

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 Exercise 5 Add a dot to one note in each melody to make the bars add up to the
correct number of beats.

Exercise 6 Answereachmusical'sum' with onenote. Theory,

in sound

a +
Clap a rhythm
from Exercise 5
while counting the

b + + beat. You could ask

someone to count
the beat for you,
. +

Exercise 7 Rewrite these notes in order, from longest to shortest. Smart tip
The dots for notes on
lines should be placed in
the space above the note:

Challenge!
Try writing your own rhythm in the space below. Include a time signature at the start,
and make sure you include at least one tie, one dotted note and one rest!

26 | Discovering Music Theory: Grade 1

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 Grouping dotted notes
We've learnt that quavers and semiquavers can be beamed together
=1beat
so that they are grouped into beats. The same is true of dotted notes:
you will often see a dotted quaver joined to a single semiquaver. =1 beat

Smart tip Remember!

In the next exercise, notes that are A dot adds on half the time value
beamed together add up to one beat. of the note.

Exercise 8 Add the time signature to each of thesebars.

d
Exercise 9 Tick(V) one box for eachquestionto showwhich baris groupedcorrectly.

Chapter 5: Rhythm (Part 3) | 27

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 Exercise 10 Add the three missing bar-lines to each of these melodies.

Challenge!
Can you rewrite this rhythm, grouping the notes into crotchet beats?

Your progress
Congratulations! You've completed all the work for Grade 1 on Rhythm.
Turn to page 55 to try some practice exam questions.

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 In this chapter you will learn about

SCALES
The scale of C major
The degrees of the scale
Tones and semitones in scales
The scales of G, D and F major
6
The scale of C major
Did you know?
•A scale is a 'ladder' of notes that move in step. It can
You can play a C major
go up (ascending) or come down (descending).
scale by playing up or down
• The scale of a key contains all of the notes that belong in the white notes on a piano,
that key. We will learn more about keys in Chapter 7. starting and ending on C.

•Cmajor is a useful scale to learn rst because it has no

sharps or ats. Here is the scale of C major, ascending,
written in the treble clef:

C D E G A B C

Exercise 1 Add one semibreve at each place marked to complete these scales of C major.

Cmajor, descending

Cmajor, ascending

Smart tip Theory in sound

Make sure there is one Play, sing or listen to a major scale
note on every line and and get to know how it sounds. You
in every space between could also listen to 'Do-Re-Mi from
the rst and last notes The Sound of Music, by Rodgers and
of the scale. Hammerstein.

Chapter 6: Scales 29

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 The degrees of the scale
• The notes in a scale are known as degrees.

• The rst and last notes of an ascending or descending major scale are the
same (though they are at different pitches) and are the most important.
They are called the tonic or key note.

• All the degrees in a scale are numbered in relation to the tonic, which
is the 1st and 8th degree. In the scale of C major, the note D is the 2nd
degree, E is the 3rd, and so on.

•Remember that in a descending scale, the degrees will count backwards!

Ascending(goingup) → + Descending
(goingdown)
Degrees: Tonic (1st) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Tonic (8th)

Theory in sound
Sing the scale of C major, ascending, to
the numbers 1 to 8 (starting with 1").
Can you also sing it backwards, starting
with the top note (8) and going down?

Exercise 2 Add the named degree of the scale of C major. The tonic, C, is given each time.

a
Tonic 4th Tonic 6th

Tonic 2nd Tonic 7th

Tonic 5th Tonic 3rd

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 Tones and semitones in scales
Here are the notes of the C major scale,
•The distance between each note in a major
shown on a piano keyboard:
scale is either a tone or a semitone.

• The pattern of tones and semitones is the

same for all major scales.
• The distance between the 3rd and 4th
degrees and the 7th and 8th degrees is Degrees

a semitone. Notes BeaaEe

LILJJJUJLJ
• The distance between all other consecutive Tones/Semitones
TTSTTTS
degrees is a tone.

Exercise 3 Write TorS aboveeachbracket(r ) to show whether the distance between

the notes is a tone (T) or a semitone (S).

Smart tip
Write the degree number of each note to help you
work out the pattern of tones and semitones.

Challenge!
Can you write the scale of C major, descending, in the bass clef? Try writing it in crotchets
or minims, making sure your stems are in the correct position.

Now write the scale of C major, ascending, in the treble clef.

Chapter 6: Scales | 31

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 The scalesof G major,D majorand F major
•The scales of G, D and F major all follow the same pattern of tones and semitones as Cmajor.

• An F# is required in G major, to make the pattern of tones and semitones correct. Without
an F#, there would be a semitone between the 6th and 7th degrees, not the 7th and 8thdegrees

• In D major, two accidentals - F# and C# - are needed to keep the same pattern of
tones and semitones.
• In F major, we need a Bb to keep the semitone between the 3rd and 4th degrees.

G major scale, ascending

Degrees: Tonic (1st) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Tonic (8th)

T T S T T T S

D major scale, ascending

Degrees: Tonic (1st) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Tonic (8th)

JL
T T S T T

F major scale, ascending

Degrees: Tonic (1st) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Tonic (8th)

JL JL
T T S T T S

Exercise 4 Writethenameofeachscaleandtick () eitherascendingordescending.

a
Scale: ascending descending

be
Scale: ascending descending

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Exercise 5 Add accidentals where needed to makethese
scales correct. Remember!
G major has F#
D major has F# and C#
F major has Bb
Gmajor,descending

a
Fmajor, descending

b
D major, ascending

e-

Exercise 6 Circle the correctanswerfor eachquestion.

a Which note is the 5th degree of G major? avuo D

scun
T0C io A

b Which note is the 3rd degree of D major? C# Ft F

Which note is the 7th degree of F major? B G E

d Which degree of Fmajor is this? be 5th 4th 3rd

e Which degree of D major is this? 2nd 3rd 7th

Which degree of G major is this?

A 6th 4th 2nd

Chapter6: Scales| 33

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 Exercise 7 Show the semitones in each of these scales by
drawingbrackets (r )over two pairs of Smart tip
notes. The rst semitone is given. Start by working out the degrees
of the scale. Can you remember
which degrees are separated by
semitones?
F major, descending

a
G major, ascending

D major, ascending

o
Theory in sound
Try playing one of the major scales you've
learnt without its sharp or at notes. You will
hear that it doesn't sound like a major scale!

Test your progress

Practise writing two of the scales we've explored in this chapter, using
either the treble or the bass clef. Mark the degree numbers above and add
brackets below to show the semitones.

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 KEYS &
7
In this chapter you will learn about

KEY SIGNATURES The keys of C, G, D and F major

Key signatures

Keys
In Chapter 6, we learnt about the scales of C, G, D and F major. Remember!
C major has no sharps or ats
Each of these scales contains all the notes that belong in that
G major has one sharp
key. If you look, for example, at the scales of C major and
D major has two sharps
G major, you will see that their keys contain mostly the same F major has one at
notes. There are two differences:
•The key of G major has F# instead of F.

•The two keys have different tonics (key notes).

A melody that is written in a particular key uses notes from the
Scale of that key.

Exercise 1 Name the key of each of these melodies.

a
Key: major

Key: major

Key: major

d
Key: major

Chapter 7: Keys & Key Signatures 35

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fl
fl
 Exercise 2 Circle the notes that need an accidental to create a melody in each named key.

G major

F major

D major

Key signatures
•A key signature tells us the key of a piece of music by showing which notes will be sharpened
or attened. It is written at the start of the stave, after the clef and before the time signature.
• Using a key signature means we don't have to keep writing accidentals for the sharps and ats
in that key.
•A sharp or at in a key signature applies to every note of that name, wherever it is on the stave.

Cmajor has no sharp or at notes, so

there is nothing in its key signature.

***..

G major has one sharp in its key signature.

This tells us that every F should be played as F#.

D major has two sharps in its key signature.

This tells us that every F and C should be played as F# and C#.

F major has one at in its key signature.

This tells us that every B should be played as Bb.

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fl
fl
fl
fl
fl
 G major melody

Ft F#

D major melody

F# C# F# C C#

Did you know? Smart tip

The clef and the key signature are written Key signatures look different in the
at the start of every stave, unlike the time treble and bass clefs. This is because
signature which is written only once, at the the sharps and ats are placed next
beginning of the music. to the notes to which they apply.

Exercise 3 Tick (V) one box to show the correctly written keysignature for the namedkeys.

D major

F major

Exercise 4 Name the major keys that havethese keysignatures.

Key: major Key: major Key: major Key: major

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 Theory in sound
Have you played or sung a piece with any of these key
signatures? Play it again and then play the scale in the
same key. Can you hear the similarity?

Exercise 5 Add the key signature needed to make each of these scales correct.
D major

G major

F major

G major

Exercise 6 Name the key of each of these melodies and then name the degree of the scale for each
note marked

a
Key: major

Key: major

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 More on accidentals
Accidentals are sometimes still needed in music with a key signature. This happens when the
music uses a note that does not belong to the key it is written in.
Here is a melody in the key of F major. It uses two notes that don't belong to this key: G# and Ba.
Because these notes are not in the key of F major, accidentals have to be added to the music.

G# B(1)

Remember!
. Accidentals last until the end of the ba, unless they are cancelled by another accidental.
•Accidentals apply only to notes of the same pitch within the same bar.

Exercise 7 Nameeachnote marked.

F2

Your progress
LONgratulations! You've completed all the work for Grade 1 on Scales, Keys & Key Signatures.
Turn to the Practice Exam Paper on page 55 if you'd like to try some sample exam questions.

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8INTERVAS
In this chapter you will learnabow
Intervals in C, G, D and Fmaior

Intervals
• An interval measures the difference in pitch between two notes.

• We can use the degrees of the scale to measure the intervals between the tonic of a key and
every other note in that key. Here are the intervals above the tonic in C major:

L L
Degrees: 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 1 8

Interval: 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th/8ve

Did you know?

We can use the term octave (8ve) or 8th
to describe the interval from C to C.

Exercise 1 write the missing numbers to identify these intervals above the tonic.

F major

2nd 5th 8ve

G major

b
3rd 4th 6th

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 Exercise 2 Write one note after each tonic to form the named interval. The key is D major.

D major

-O-

2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8ve

Theory in sound Smart tip

Sing or play (or ask someone to play) some of the intervals In Exercises 2 and 3, your
written above. Try to get used to how they sound- some note should be higher than
intervals sound relaxing and others sound quite tense. the given note.

Exercise 3 Write one note after each tonic to form the named interval.
Remember to add accidentals where they are needed.

Cmajor D major

6th 3rd 5th

8ve 4th 3rd
F major G major

7th 6th 2nd 3rd 8ve 7th

Did you know?

Intervals can be written in two ways. Sometimes they will be
written one note after the other, as in a melody, and sometimes
they will be written one note above the other, as a chord. In the
Grade 1 exam, intervals are written one note after the other. e

L
8 3rd
3rd

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 Exercise 4 Write the missingnumbersto identify these intervalsabove the tonic.

Cmajor G major

a e-
4th

F major D major

bo

Exercise 5 Tick () oneboxtoshowthecorrectnumberofeachinterval.

F major
4th 5th 7th
bo 3rd

a
Cmajor
3rd 6th 8ve 2nd

G major
6th 4th 2nd 7th

D major
6th 5th 3rd 4th

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 Exercise 6 ldentifytheintervalsmarkedbybrackets( 1) in these melodies.
The rst note of every interval is the tonic.

Smart tip
Count up the scale from the bottom note of the interval until you
get to the top note. The number you reach tells you the interval.

3rd

Challenge!
Canyou rewrite some of the intervals from Exercises 4 and 5 as 'chords' (with one note above the other)?
You'll need to add the correct clef, key signature and time signature at the start.

Your progress
Cor
ongratulations! You've completed all the work for Grade 1 on Intervals.
nto tnePracticeExam Paper on page 55 if you'd like to try some sampleexam questions.

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9 TONIC
TRIADS
Tonic triads
In this chapter you will learn about
The tonic triads of
C, G, D and F major

i A tonic triad is a chord made up

Tonic (1st) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

of three notes:
•The 1st degree of the scale
(the tonic) ******

The 3rd degree of the scale

• The 5th degree of the scale.

Exercise 1 Circle the correct key for each tonic triad. Smart tip
• The tonic is the lowest note.

a G major D major Fmajor • The 3rd degree is in the middle.

• The 5th degree is the highest note.
•Each note is separated by the
interval of a 3rd.
D major Cmajor G major

Did you know?

Cmajor F major G major
The tonic triad of D has an F#
because the 3rd degree of D major
scale is F# not F.

D major C major F major

Exercise 2 Tick (V) one box to show which of these is the tonic triad of D major.

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 Exercise 3 Add one note to complete each triad, with the tonic as the lowest note.

Smart tip
The notes of a tonic triad include the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees of the scale. This
may mean you need to add an accidental if a key signature hasn't been used.

8 b
8
Cmajor Fmajor G major

8
Cmajor F major D major

Exercise 4 Name the key of each tonic triad.

b
Key: major Key: major Key: major

Challenge!
Match up each tonic triad with the correct key by drawing lines.

#
G major D major Cmajor F major

Your progress
Congratulations! You've completed all the work for Grade 1 on Tonic Triads.
lurn to the Practice Exam Paper on page 55 if you'd like to try some sample exam questions.

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 In this chapter you will learnab

10 TERMS
&SIGNS The musical terms andsignsth
you need to know forGrax

Terms and signs: dynamics

• As we know, notes on the stave tell us which pitches to play and how long to play themfor
They give us all the information we need to play the pitches and rhythms in a piece ofmusit

•However, notes on their own do not tell us how loudly or how quickly to play, or whatother
kinds of expression should be included. Terms and signs are used to add this important
information to the music.

All the terms you need to know for Grade 1 are in ltalian, and some of them have
abbreviations and/or signs. The following terms tell us how loud or quiet to play
the music - they are called dynamics.

Italian term Meaning

fortissimo
) very loud (-issimo means 'very)
forte (f) loud

mezzo forte (ngf) moderately loud

pianissimo (pp) very quiet
piano (p) quiet
mezzo piano (mp) moderately quiet
crescendo (cresc.) gradually getting louder
decrescendo (decresc.) gradually getting quieter
diminuendo (dim.) gradually getting quieter

Notice that decrescendo and diminuendo mean the same thing.

Did you know? Theory in

• Mezzo means 'half' in Italian, so mezzo forte literally sound
means 'half loud'!. Find examples of
these ltalian termstor
• You might be interested to know how the piano got its name.
dynamics in yourmusc
Its full name is pianoforte, which means 'quiet and loud'. It was
so named because it was the rst keyboard instrument of its Can you play/sing
each passage ot
type that could play both quietly and loudly, depending on how
music as directed?
forcefully the player pressed the keys.

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Exercise 1 Tick (V) one box for each question.

a What is the Italian word for 'very loud'? pianissimo forte fortissimo

moderately very quiet moderately

b What does mezzo piano mean?
loud quiet

very quiet quiet moderately

Whatdoes p mean?
quiet

What does dim. mean?

gradually gradually quiet
getting getting
louder quieter

e What ltalian word does mf stand for? mezzo forte forte fortissimo

What is the Italian word for

forte crescendo diminuendo
'gradually getting louder'?

Tempo
Here are the terms you need to know that describe tempo - the speed of the music.

Italian term Meaning

allegro quick
allegretto fairly quick
moderato at a moderate speed

andante at a medium speed

adagio slow

accelerando (accel.) gradually getting quicker

rallentando (rall.) gradually getting slower
ritardando (ritard. or rit.) gradually getting slower
a tempo in time (resume the original speed)

Did you know?

Terms describing tempo
Allegro
are often written in bold
at the start of a piece or
section of music.

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 Exercise 2 Tick () oneboxforeach
question.

a What is the Italian word for 'quick"? adagio andante allegro

b What does andante mean? slow at a medium

speed
quick

C What does rit. mean? gradually gradually slow

getting quicker getting slower

d What does adagio mean? slow fairly quick quick

e What Italian word means

allegro rallentando accelerando
'gradually getting quicker?

f What Italian word is used for

fairly quick'?
allegro allegretto moderato

What does a tempo mean? time get quicker in time

More Italian terms

Italian term Meaning

cantabile in a singing style

da capo (D.C.) repeat from the beginning

dolce Sweet

ne the end (al ne ='up to the end')

legato smoothly
staccato (stacc.) detached

Exercise 3 Tick (V) oneboxforeachquestion.

a What is the ltalian word for 'sweetly'? ne legato dolce

b Whatdoescantabilemean? smoothly in a singing style sweetly

c Whatdoesstacc.mean? detached accent loud

repeat from play in

d If you seeD.C.what shouldyou do? stop playing
the beginning time

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 Signs

Italian sign Meaning

gradually getting louder (the sign for crescendo)
gradually getting quieter (the sign fordescrescendoor diminuendo)
accent the note (play with emphasis)

slur; perform smoothly

tie; hold for the value of both notes

staccato; detached

pause on the note or rest

metronome mark; here the number '60' tells us play at a tempo of
60 crotchet beats in a minute

repeat the section between the two signs.

(If the rst sign is missing, repeat from the beginning.)

Did you know?

It is easy to confuse a slur sign with a tie. Slurs can be found over two different
notes, or over a group of notes, while ties link together two or more notes of
the same pitch. Can you nd examples of ties in this book?

Challenge!
Add some terms and signs of your choice to this melody.

Can you describe how the melody should be played, based on the terms and signs you've added?

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 Exercise 4 Tick () oneboxforeach
question.
andante means: mf means: cantabile means:

slow quiet in a singing style

at a medium speed moderately quiet at a medium speed

quick moderately loud smoothly

gradually getting quicker loud gradually getting quieter

means: =96means: adagio means:

legato; smoothly 96 crotchet notes quick

staccato; detached 96 crotchet beats at a medium speed

accent the note 96 crotchets in the melody slow

legato; detached 96 crotchet beats in a minute smoothly

dim. means: means: ne means:

gradually getting quicker repeat mark in time

gradually getting slower the end repeat from thebeginning

gradually getting quieter double bar-line smoothly

gradually getting louder perform an octave higher the end

For further practice and to test your knowledge, try the ABRSM Terms and Signs quiz, at
tinyurl.com/abrsm-ternsandsignsquiz

Your progress
Congratulations! You've completed all the work for Grade 1 on Terms & Signs.
Turn to the Practice Exam Paper on page 55 if you'd like to try some sample exam questions.

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MUSIC IN
CONTEXT 11
Putting it all together
The last question of the Grade 1 exam is a Music in Context question, in which you vwill be asked
some questions about the things you can see in a passage of music. Al of the questions will be
about topics covered in this book.

Exercise 1 study this melody and then answer the questions that follow.

Offenbach
Andante 3

mf
6 7 8

Tick () thecorrectkeyofthismelody.gabsnt
G major D major F major
Cmajor

b Tick () the barnumberthatcontainsanaccidental.

t
bar 1 bar 3 bar5 bar7

Complete the following two sentences by ticking one box for each.

The longest note in the melody is a ...

dotted crotchet minim dotted minim semibreve

The highest note in the melody is ... osadt foogmsl sil

D F F#
D#

d Circle TRUE or FALSE for each statement.

TRUE FALSE
The melody should be played very loudly.

TRUE FALSE
The notes in bar 1 are tied.

The melody should be played at a medium speed. TRUE FALSE

The note in bar 4 should be held for three beats. TRUE FALSE

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 Exercise 2 Study this melody and then answer the questions that follow.

1
Allegro 3 Schubert

etc.

a Tick () the barnumberthatcontainsadottedquaver.

bar 2 bar 4 bar 6 bar 8

Tick (V) the word that best describes how the notes in bar 4 should be played.

cantabile dolce legato staccato

This melody is in the key of C major. Tick (V) the degree of the scale of ..

i) the rst note of the melody. 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

ii) the last note of the melody. 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

d Give the number of the bar that contains the only rest in the melody. Bar:

e Tick () oneboxtocompletethissentence:
The tempo of the melody is ..

quick at a medium speed fairly quick slow

Circle TRUE or FALSE for each statement.

The melody is written in the treble clef. TRUE FALSE

The rst note of bar 1 should be played with an accent. TRUE FALSE

All the quavers should be played staccato. TRUE FALSE

All the notes in bar 6 should be played loudly. TRUE FALSE

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Exercise 3 Study this melody and then answer the questions that follow.

J= 54 Handel
3 4 5

pdolce

etc.

p
Tick () thesentencethatiscorrect.

At the beginning, the music should be played quietly and in a singing style.

At the beginning, the music should be played moderately quietly and sweetly.

At the beginning, the music should be played quietly and sweetly.

b CircleTRUEorFALSE.

This piece has a G major key signature. TRUE FALSE

c Tick (v) the bar that applies toeachofthesestatements.

This bar contains the key note, or tonic. bar 1 bar 2 bar6 bar&

This bar contains two Ds. bar 2 bar 3 bar 4 bar 7

This bar contains a crescendo. bar 4 bar 5 bar 6 bar

This bar contains a dotted minim. bar 1 bar 4 bar 7 bar

d Complete the following sentences by ticking one box for each.

Bar 4 has the same rhythm as ... bar bar 5 bar 2 bar 6

Slurs are used in .. bars 1 & 2 bar2 bars 2 &7 bar 1

Congratulations!
You've completed all the work for ABRSM Grade 1 Music Theory Ifyou haven'talready done so,
test your knowledge and understanding with the ABRSM Practice Exam Paper ohpage 55.

Chapter 11: Music in Context | 53

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Grade

Total marks (out of 75):

1

Practice
Exam Paper
ABRSM Grade 1

Practice Exam Paper | 55

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 1 Rhythm

1.1 Circle the correct time signature for each of these bars. (3)

1.2 Add the one missing bar-line to each of these ve melodies. (5)

(b)

(c)

1.3 Tick () one box toanswereachquestion. (2)

(a) How many minims are there in a semibreve? 2 4

60
(b) How many semiquavers are there in a dotted crotchet? 4 s 6

1.4 Tick (V) one box to show which bar is grouped correctly. (1)

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15Tick (V) orcrOss
cross (X) each box to show whether the rests are correct or incorrect.
(X) ea (3)

..Tick () oneboxXwhich shows the four notes written in order from the longest value to the shortest. (1)

2 Pitch

2.1 Tick (v) one box to show the correct name of each note. (7)

bo
(b)

A# G# F# C# A (G B Ab

(e)

C A B G F# C# C A G Bb

D E G B

2 Tick () the higher note ofeach of the pairs ofnotes. (4)

(a) oo (6)

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2.3 Tick (v) the correct clef needed to make each of these named notes.
(4
(c) (d)
(a) (b)
to A B
C Ft

0 0 0 0 9

3 Keys and Scales

3.1 Tick (v) one box to show the correctly written key signature of D major.

3.2 Tick (V) one box to show the correctly written key signature of F major. (1)

3.3 Tick () three boxes to show which notes need an accidental to create a melody in the key ofG major. 3)

(2)
3.4 Tick () two boxes to show the two pairs of notes in this scale which are a semitone apart.

L L

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3.5CircleTRUE or FALSE for each statement. (4

(a There is one sharp in the key signature of F maior TRUE FALSE

K There are no sharps or tlats in the key signature of C maior TRUE FALSE

This is the 5th degree of the scale of G major TRUE FALSE

This is the 1st degree of the scale of C major TRUE FALSE

4 Tick (v) one box to show the correctly written scale of F major descending. (1)

be

rms andSigns

(1)
3.7 Circle TRUE or FALSE.

Tolnol
This is the scale of D major, descending, with key signature TRUE FALSE

(2)
3.8Cross (X) the two incorrect notes in the following scale.

G major, ascending

to

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4 Intervals

4l For each example, write one note to form the named interval.
S)
TOur note should be higher than the given note. The key is Cmajor.

(a)
(c) 9
-
Cb)

6th 3rd 2nd

(d) (e)

4th 7th

4.2 lick () one box to show the correct number of each interval. The key is F major. (S

(a) (c) E
5th 7th 8th/8ve 5th 6th 7th 8th/8ve 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

D
(G)

3rd 4th 5th 6th 4th 5th 6th 7th

5 Tonic Triads

5.1 Circle TRUE or FALSE for each statement. (3)

(a) This is the tonic triad of C major FALSE

TRUE

(b) This is the tonic triad of G major FALSE

TRUE

(c) This is the tonic triad of D major FALSE

TRUE

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 one missing note to complete each triad, with the tonic as the lowest note. (3)
5.2Add one
Use accidentals if necessary.

(a
8
Fmajor Cmajor
(c)

G major

s3Circlethe correct key for each tonic triad (4)

C major F major G major D major

(a)

(b)
F major D major Cmajor G major

G major C major D major F major

(4) F major G major Cmajor D major

6 Terms and Signs

Tick () onebox for each term/sign.

Andante means: Fine means: Ameans:

slow smoothly pause on the note or rest

quick repeat from the beginning accent the note

at a medium speed the end gradually getting slower

in a singing style in time staccato: detached

ffmeans: means:

moderately loud tie: detached

loud tie: hold for the value of

both notes
very loud slur: detached

very quiet slur: perform smoothly

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7 Music in Context

Look at this melody and then answer the questions that folloW.

Allegro
2

mp cresc. mf

f mf dim. mp

7.1 Circle TRUE or FALSE.

(0)

The melody gets gradually louder towards the end TRUE FALSE

I.2 Tick () the bar number that contains all the notes of the tonic triad of F major. (1)

bar 1
bar 3 bar 5 bar 8

7.3 Complete the following three sentences by ticking one box for each. 3)

(a) The longest note in the melody is a ...

minim semibreve crotchet dotted minim

(b) Bar 3 has the same pitches as ..

bar5 bar6 bar7 bar8

(c) The letter name of the lowest note in the melody is...

D FO

End ofexam
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