Studying for the midterm

The most important point to remember when taking the Orchestra Midterm is to read all directions before starting the exam. Each question will be worth 2 points unless otherwise noted.

Here is an overview of what will be on the test:

• Performance: Midterm piece (Fire on the Mountain or Bill Cheatham)
• Listening: This will include knowing what instruments are playing, the tempo and time signature of the piece. 
• Performance knowledge: Know the composers and histories behind the pieces we played at the Holiday Spectrum concert.  The pieces include Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson (originally for The Boston Pops), Mountain Spring by Dean Marshall (for Barrage) and Hallelujah Chorus from "The Messiah" by George Frederick Handel.  Also know about folk music and fiddle performance techniques
• In folk music, many different types of ornamentation can be used, including finger slides and rapid string crossings.
• Most fiddle tunes are learned by rote (by ear).
• The beginning of a fiddle tune is called the kick-off.  The end is called the tag.
• Music Theory: You will find examples from the worksheets you completed in class on the exam. 
• You will need to know the order of the sharps and flats. ("Fat Cats Go Down And Eat Bagels" and "BEAD Greatest Common Factor") 
• Period 4 will need to know about MAJOR KEYS.  Period 1 orchestra will need to understand MINOR KEYS (see below).  You may need to know how to write out scales.
• You will need to know how to read time signatures.
• You will need to know how to count rhythms.  
• Composition: There will be a short melody to compose using certain instructions. You will need to know time signatures, key signatures and note values for this portion.

If you need assistance on TIME SIGNATURES, review this blog post.  Exercise worksheets are also available at this blog post.  Remember this: 
The bottom number refers to the type of note that gets the beat. These would be:

1=whole note
2=half note
4=quarter note
8=eighth note
16=sixteenth note

To determine what type of note gets the beat, you have to look at the measure and determine what is the most common note. Always start by trying to count quarter note beats (lower number will be 4), as these are the most common. If quarters work, stick with quarters!

If the total number of quarter beats in the bar isn’t a whole number, try counting the eighth notes (lower number will be 8) instead. For example, if there is one quarter note and one eighth note, then you are in 3/8.


If there are no eighth notes (or smaller notes) in the measure, you could count half notes instead (lower number will be 2).

If you need assistance with KEY SIGNATURES, review this blog post.  

FOR PERIOD 1:  For minor keys, remember that the RELATIVE minor is a minor third below the major key.  For example, the relative minor of C Major is A minor.  Drawing the three houses may help you.

There are three types of minors: natural, harmonic and melodic.  

• In natural minor, the scale is played as written with only the sharps or flats in the key signature.
• In harmonic minor, the 7th note of the scale is raised a half step.  For example, in D minor, C is natural in the key signature (B-flat, same as F Major), but raised to C# in harmonic minor.  
• In melodic minor, the 6th and 7th steps of the scales are raised a half step when going up.  On the the way down, the 6th and 7th steps are lowered.  For example, in E melodic minor, the scale would look like this: