Madrid PAU Music & Dance cheat sheet

Clef reading: treble clef fixes G4 on the second line from the bottom; bass clef fixes F3 on the fourth line; the C clef (alto on line 3, tenor on line 4) fixes middle C where it sits.

Interval quality rule: count diatonic steps for the number, then compare semitones with the major/perfect reference; one semitone less than major = minor, one less than perfect = diminished, one more than perfect = augmented.

Simple vs compound intervals: subtract 7 from the interval number and add 12 semitones per octave; a major 3rd (4 semitones) becomes a major 10th (16 semitones).

Triad construction: stack two thirds from the root; major = M3+m3 (4+3 semitones), minor = m3+M3 (3+4), diminished = m3+m3 (3+3), augmented = M3+M3 (4+4).

Seventh chords by semitone stack above root: dominant 7 = 4+3+3, major 7 = 4+3+4, minor 7 = 3+4+3, half-diminished = 3+3+4, fully diminished = 3+3+3.

Key signatures: order of sharps is F C G D A E B; order of flats is B E A D G C F; the last sharp is the leading tone of the key, the second-to-last flat names the major key.

Roman numeral function: I and vi are tonic, ii and IV subdominant/pre-dominant, V and vii° dominant; a cadence V–I is authentic, IV–I plagal, V–vi deceptive, and any cadence ending on V is imperfect or half.

Harmonic minor raises the 7th degree (leading tone); melodic minor raises 6th and 7th ascending and reverts to natural minor descending.

Modulation cues in a score: a new accidental not resolved as a chromatic passing tone, a pivot chord shared by both keys, and a cadence confirming the new tonic.

Medieval (c. 500–1400): Gregorian chant is monophonic and modal; organum adds a second voice; Ars nova (14th c.) introduces measured rhythm and the isorhythmic motet.

Renaissance (c. 1400–1600): imitative polyphony, modal harmony, a cappella vocal ideal; Josquin, Palestrina, and Tomás Luis de Victoria in Spain; the madrigal and villancico flourish.

Baroque (c. 1600–1750): continuo basso, terraced dynamics, major/minor tonality, ritornello form, fugue, and the concerto grosso; Bach, Handel, Vivaldi.

Classical (c. 1750–1820): sonata form with exposition–development–recapitulation, periodic phrasing, homophonic texture, the string quartet and symphony; Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.

Romantic (c. 1820–1900): expanded chromaticism, program music, the Lied, freer forms and larger orchestras; Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, and Spanish nationalists like Albéniz and Granados.

Twentieth century: Debussy's impressionism uses whole-tone and pentatonic scales; Stravinsky's primitivism uses irregular metre; the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern) uses twelve-tone serialism.

Spanish zarzuela develops in two phases: the baroque-era zarzuela (17th c.) and the revived género chico (late 19th c.) with one-act works like La verbena de la Paloma.

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) fuses Andalusian cante jondo with impressionism in Noches en los jardines de España and El amor brujo; El sombrero de tres picos uses neoclassical forms.

Interval recognition anchors: ascending perfect 4th = first two notes of the Wedding March; ascending perfect 5th = Star Wars theme; ascending major 6th = NBC chimes; tritone = 'Maria' from West Side Story.

Chord quality by sound: major triad sounds stable and bright; minor sounds darker; diminished sounds tense and unstable; augmented sounds suspended and unresolved.

Cadence listening: a strong V–I with both chords in root position is a perfect authentic cadence; if the melody ends on the third or fifth of I, it is imperfect.

Meter detection: count the recurring accent pattern; duple feels march-like, triple waltz-like, and irregular metres (5/8, 7/8) shift accents between groups of 2 and 3.

Texture identification: monophony = one line; homophony = melody plus chordal accompaniment; polyphony = independent simultaneous lines; heterophony = simultaneous variants of one melody.

Instrument timbre cues: oboe is nasal and reedy, clarinet is hollow and rounded, bassoon is dark and buzzy, horn is mellow and distant, trumpet is bright and penetrating.

Form mapping by ear: mark each new melodic idea with a letter (A, B, C); repeated returns of A indicate rondo (ABACA) or ternary (ABA); continuous development without return suggests through-composed.

Flamenco listening: cante jondo is deep and melismatic; compás of soleá and alegrías is 12-beat with accents shifting; bulerías is fast 12-beat; the guitar uses picado, rasgueado, and tremolo.

Laban effort factors: weight (strong/light), time (sustained/sudden), space (direct/indirect), flow (bound/free); combinations define movement qualities such as punch (strong, sudden, direct, bound).

Space harmony: the kinesphere is the personal bubble of reach; the dimensional cross uses up–down, left–right, front–back, and the diagonal planes generate the stable icosahedral scales.

Alignment principles: plumb line through ear, shoulder, greater trochanter, knee, and lateral malleolus; neutral pelvis maintains a slight lumbar curve, not a tucked or arched position.

Turnout originates at the hip joint (femoral external rotation), not the knees or feet; forced turnout from the feet risks knee and ankle injury.

Ballet positions: five positions of the feet; first, second, and third are ouvert (open), fourth and fifth croisé or effacé depending on orientation to the audience.

Movement canon: canon (one dancer follows another), mirroring (simultaneous opposite), unison (identical timing), and counterpoint (independent simultaneous phrases).

Dance notation: Benesh Movement Notation uses a five-line staff read from the dancer's viewpoint; Labanotation uses a vertical staff with symbols for direction, level, and body part.

Breath and phrasing: inhalation often marks preparation (plié, cambré), exhalation marks the release or extension; phrasing aligns movement peaks with musical accents.

Ballet origins: court ballet in Renaissance Italy and France; the Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581) is often treated as the first ballet de cour; Louis XIV founded the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661.

Romantic ballet (1830s–1870s): pointe work, tutus, and the supernatural; La Sylphide (1832) and Giselle (1841) define the era; the ballerina becomes the central figure.

Russian imperial era: Petipa and Ivanov created Sleeping Beauty (1890), The Nutcracker (1892), and Swan Lake (1895); the Imperial Ballet School trained Vaganova's predecessors.

Ballets Russes (1909–1929): Diaghilev, Nijinsky, and later Balanchine; The Rite of Spring (1913) caused a riot with its asymmetric rhythms and radical choreography.

Modern dance pioneers: Isadora Duncan (free movement, barefoot), Martha Graham (contraction and release), Doris Humphrey (fall and recovery), Merce Cunningham (chance procedures).

Spanish classical dance (danza española) blends escuela bolera technique with folk and flamenco elements; the escuela bolera uses castanets and eighteenth-century court steps.

Flamenco palos: soleá, seguiriya, alegrías, bulerías, tangos, and fandangos; the cuadro flamenco includes cante, toque, and baile with palmas and cajón.

Antonio Gades and Alicia Alonso brought Spanish and Cuban ballet to international prominence; Gades' film version of Bodas de sangre and his work with the Ballet Nacional de España are landmarks.

Madrid institutions: Teatro Real (opera house, reopened 1997), Auditorio Nacional de Música (home of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España), and the Ballet Nacional de España (founded 1978).

Teatro Real's programme spans opera, zarzuela, and dance seasons; the Teatro de la Zarzuela (founded 1856) is the dedicated zarzuela house.

Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid and the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música are the principal higher music institutions; the Conservatorio Superior de Danza María de Ávila covers dance.

Madrid's flamenco tablaos (Corral de la Morería, Casa Patas, Cardamomo) host live cante, toque, and baile; the city also hosts the Suma Flamenca festival.

Zarzuela structure: spoken dialogue interspersed with songs and choruses; the género chico (one-act) arose in late 19th-century Madrid with works like La Gran Vía (1886).

Spanish nationalism in music: Albéniz's Iberia, Granados' Goyescas, Falla's El amor brujo and El sombrero de tres picos, and Turina's Sinfonía sevillana draw on Andalusian and Castilian idioms.

Madrid's musical life: the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid (founded 1903) and the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid; the Festival de Otoño and Veranos de la Villa include music and dance programming.

Regional dances: jota (Aragón, Castilla), sardana (Cataluña), muiñeira (Galicia), zortziko (País Vasco), and sevillanas (Andalucía); each has characteristic metre and instrumentation.

Scale degree names: tonic (1), supertonic (2), mediant (3), subdominant (4), dominant (5), submediant (6), leading tone (7); the leading tone is a semitone below tonic in major and harmonic minor.

Circle of fifths: moving clockwise adds a sharp or removes a flat; C major has none, G has one sharp, D has two, and F has one flat, Bb has two.

Figured bass: 6 means first inversion, 6/4 means second inversion, 7 means root-position seventh chord, 6/5 means first inversion seventh, 4/3 second inversion, 4/2 third inversion.

Non-chord tones: passing (stepwise between two chord tones), neighbour (step away and back), suspension (held over then resolved down by step), and appoggiatura (approached by leap, resolved by step).

Phrase structure: antecedent–consequent periods balance a question phrase with an answering phrase; a period ends with a weaker cadence, the consequent with a stronger one.

Transposition: shift every pitch by the same interval; to transpose up a major 2nd, add two semitones and adjust the key signature by two sharps or two fewer flats.

Notation history: neumes (9th c.) give way to Guido d'Arezzo's staff; mensural notation (13th–16th c.) codifies rhythm; the printing press (Petrucci, 1501) spreads polyphony.

Opera history: Monteverdi's L'Orfeo (1607) is an early masterpiece; the da capo aria dominates Baroque opera seria; Gluck's reform (1762) simplifies the form.

Symphony development: the Mannheim school standardises the four-movement form; Beethoven expands it; the Romantic symphony grows to Mahler's scale.

Spanish Renaissance: Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, and Tomás Luis de Victoria lead the polyphonic school; Victoria's Requiem (1605) is a landmark.

Nationalist schools: Russia (Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov), Bohemia (Dvořák, Smetana), and Spain (Albéniz, Granados, Falla) draw on folk melody and rhythm.

Twelve-tone technique: Schoenberg's method orders all twelve pitch classes in a row; the row can be transposed, inverted, retrograded, and combined.

Rhythm dictation: notate the metre first, then mark the strong beats; place durations by comparing each note to the beat unit.

Melodic dictation: identify the key and first note, then trace the contour; check leaps against interval anchors.

Chord progression dictation: listen for the bass line first; I–IV–V–I and I–vi–IV–V are common templates.

Timbre families: strings (bowed, sustained), woodwinds (breathy, reedy), brass (brassy, bright), percussion (struck, resonant), and keyboards.

Dynamic and articulation cues: crescendo and diminuendo mark phrasing; staccato is detached, legato is smooth, and accent marks stress.

Flamenco compás: soleá and alegrías share a 12-beat cycle with accents on 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12; bulerías accelerates and uses palmas and cajón.

Ballet vocabulary: plié, tendu, dégagé, rond de jambe, frappé, développé, grand battement; each trains a specific joint action and alignment.

Pirouette mechanics: spot the head, maintain a vertical axis over the supporting leg, and use a strong plié preparation and a controlled finish.

Jump phases: plié (preparation), push (extension), flight (airborne), landing (absorption through plié); alignment must be maintained throughout.

Dance conditioning: core stability, ankle mobility, and hip external rotation strength reduce injury risk; overtraining without recovery is a common cause of strain.

Improvisation tools: vary level, direction, tempo, and body part; use imagery and breath to generate movement quality.

Choreographic devices: repetition, retrograde, inversion, augmentation, diminution, and fragmentation transform a movement motif.

Giselle (1841): music by Adolphe Adam, choreography by Coralli and Perrot; the Wilis in Act II define the Romantic ballet blanc.

Swan Lake (1895): Petipa and Ivanov, music by Tchaikovsky; the dual role of Odette/Odile tests technique and interpretation.

The Rite of Spring (1913): Stravinsky's score with Nijinsky's choreography; the irregular accents and shifting metre broke ballet conventions.

Graham technique: contraction and release of the torso, spiral, and floor work; the technique underpins American modern dance.

Cunningham technique: chance procedures, spine articulation, and independence of body parts; collaborations with John Cage.

Escuela bolera: eighteenth-century Spanish classical dance with castanets, bolero steps, and courtly elegance; it influenced later Spanish dance.

Teatro Real: inaugurated 1850, closed 1925, reopened 1997; it hosts opera, zarzuela, and dance and runs a young artists' programme.

Teatro de la Zarzuela: opened 1856; it stages the Spanish lyric repertoire, including género chico works and modern revivals.

Ballet Nacional de España: founded 1978, it performs Spanish classical, folk, and flamenco-based works; Antonio Gades directed it in the late 1970s.

Suma Flamenca: Madrid's annual flamenco festival, held since 2006, with cante, toque, and baile across city venues.

Madrid conservatoires: Real Conservatorio Superior de Música (founded 1830) and Conservatorio Superior de Danza María de Ávila train performers and teachers.

Regional dance forms: jota (Aragón), sardana (Cataluña), muiñeira (Galicia), zortziko (País Vasco), and sevillanas (Andalucía) each have distinct metre and instrumentation.

Intervals, triads, and seventh chords are built from semitone counts; memorise the semitone stacks to identify any chord quickly.

Key signatures follow the order of sharps (F C G D A E B) and flats (B E A D G C F); the last sharp is the leading tone.

Roman numerals describe harmonic function; cadence types are authentic, plagal, deceptive, and half.

Figured bass numbers indicate inversion: 6, 6/4, 7, 6/5, 4/3, and 4/2.

Non-chord tones (passing, neighbour, suspension, appoggiatura) decorate the harmonic framework.

Medieval chant and organum give way to Renaissance imitative polyphony and then Baroque tonality and continuo.

Classical sonata form and the symphony are followed by Romantic expansion and twentieth-century modernism.

Spanish schools: Victoria in the Renaissance, zarzuela in the 19th century, and Albéniz, Granados, and Falla in the nationalist era.

Opera evolves from Monteverdi through opera seria to Gluck's reform and the Romantic grand opera.

Nationalist schools draw on folk melody and rhythm across Russia, Bohemia, and Spain.

Use interval anchors (Wedding March for P4, Star Wars for P5) to identify melodic intervals by ear.

Identify texture (monophony, homophony, polyphony, heterophony) and form (binary, ternary, rondo) from listening maps.

Cadence strength depends on root position and the melody's final note; a perfect authentic cadence ends on the tonic in the soprano.

Flamenco compás uses a 12-beat cycle with shifting accents; bulerías is fast and soleá is slow and deep.

Instrument timbre cues (oboe nasal, clarinet hollow, horn mellow) help identify orchestration.

Laban effort factors (weight, time, space, flow) describe movement quality; the kinesphere is the personal reach space.

Alignment follows a plumb line through ear, shoulder, hip, knee, and ankle; turnout comes from the hip.

Ballet vocabulary and jump phases (plié, push, flight, landing) structure technique class.

Choreographic devices (repetition, retrograde, inversion) transform motifs.

Dance notation systems (Benesh, Labanotation) record movement for reconstruction.

Romantic ballet (La Sylphide, Giselle) centres on pointe work and the supernatural ballerina.

Petipa and Ivanov codify the Russian imperial classics (Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Swan Lake).

Ballets Russes (1909–1929) and The Rite of Spring break ballet conventions.

Modern dance pioneers (Duncan, Graham, Humphrey, Cunningham) redefine movement and technique.

Spanish classical dance and flamenco repertoire (escuela bolera, soleá, alegrías) complete the Spanish tradition.

Teatro Real (reopened 1997) and Teatro de la Zarzuela (1856) anchor Madrid's lyric stage.

Ballet Nacional de España (1978) performs Spanish classical, folk, and flamenco-based works.

Suma Flamenca and Madrid's tablaos sustain the city's flamenco scene.

Madrid conservatoires train musicians and dancers; the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música dates from 1830.

Regional dances (jota, sardana, muiñeira, zortziko, sevillanas) reflect Spain's diverse traditions.