MATSEC SEC Music cheat sheet

Solo performance assessment criteria: accuracy of pitch and rhythm, tonal quality, phrasing and expression, technical control, and stylistic awareness.

Ensemble performance requires balance (relative volume of parts), blend (timbre match), precision of ensemble (synchronisation), and responsiveness to other players.

Tempo markings: grave (very slow), largo (broad), adagio (slow), andante (walking), moderato (moderate), allegro (fast), vivace (lively), presto (very fast).

Dynamic markings: ppp (very soft), pp (very soft), p (soft), mp (moderately soft), mf (moderately loud), f (loud), ff (very loud), fff (very loud).

Articulation: staccato (detached), legato (smooth), accent (emphasis), marcato (strongly accented), tenuto (held full value), slur (smooth connection).

Phrase shaping: identify the climax note, apply a dynamic arch, and use agogic stress (longer duration) on the peak.

Breathing and bowing plans must be marked in the score before performance; unplanned breaths disrupt phrasing.

Intonation check: compare open strings or tuning notes; adjust sharp notes by lowering finger pressure and flat notes by raising.

Stagecraft: acknowledge the accompanist, tune before starting, maintain posture, and recover from errors without stopping.

Motif development techniques: repetition, sequence (up or down a step or third), inversion (mirror intervals), retrograde (backwards), augmentation (longer note values), diminution (shorter note values).

Binary form: A-B. Ternary form: A-B-A. Rondo: A-B-A-C-A. Strophic: same music for each verse. Through-composed: new music for each section.

Harmonic cadences: perfect (V-I, both root position, soprano ends on tonic), imperfect (V-I with inversion or soprano not on tonic), plagal (IV-I), interrupted (V-vi), half (ends on V).

Modulation: pivot chord (common to old and new key), direct modulation (abrupt), chromatic modulation (using altered chords), relative major/minor shift.

Voice leading rules: avoid parallel fifths and octaves, resolve leading notes upward, resolve sevenths downward, approach leaps by step where possible.

Orchestration: strings for sustained tone, woodwinds for colour and solos, brass for power and fanfare, percussion for rhythm and accent, harp/piano for arpeggios.

Texture types: monophonic (single line), homophonic (melody with accompaniment), polyphonic (independent lines), heterophonic (simultaneous variants).

Rhythmic devices: syncopation (accent off beat), ostinato (repeated pattern), hemiola (3 against 2), cross-rhythm, polyrhythm.

Transposition: instruments in B-flat sound a major second lower than written; instruments in F (horn) sound a perfect fifth lower; instruments in E-flat sound a major sixth lower.

Listening analysis framework: identify genre, forces, texture, tempo, metre, key, form, and stylistic period from aural cues.

Aural identification of instruments: flute (breathy, high), oboe (nasal, reedy), clarinet (hollow, wide range), bassoon (deep, reedy), trumpet (bright, penetrating), trombone (brassy, slide), violin (singing, bowed), cello (warm, low).

Texture recognition: monophonic (one line), homophonic (melody plus chords), polyphonic (overlapping independent lines), antiphonal (alternating groups).

Cadence recognition by ear: perfect (V-I, final), imperfect (V-I, weaker), plagal (IV-I, 'amen'), interrupted (V-vi, surprise), half (ends on V, unfinished).

Form recognition: binary (two sections), ternary (three), rondo (returning A), sonata (exposition-development-recapitulation), theme and variations.

Set work analysis: memorise composer, dates, genre, key structure, main themes, instrumentation, and historical context for each prescribed work.

Comparison questions: contrast two works by texture, instrumentation, harmony, melody, rhythm, dynamics, and context.

Aural dictation: interval recognition (major/minor 2nd, 3rd, perfect 4th, 5th, octave), chord quality (major, minor, diminished, augmented), and rhythmic clapping back.

Note values: breve (double whole), semibreve (whole), minim (half), crotchet (quarter), quaver (eighth), semiquaver (sixteenth), demisemiquaver (thirty-second).

Dotted note adds half the value; double dot adds three-quarters; tie joins same pitches; slur joins different pitches.

Time signatures: simple (2/4, 3/4, 4/4) beat divides into two; compound (6/8, 9/8, 12/8) beat divides into three; irregular (5/4, 7/8).

Key signatures: order of sharps F C G D A E B; order of flats B E A D G C F. Major key = last sharp up a semitone, or second-to-last flat.

Scale types: major (T T S T T T S), natural minor (T S T T S T T), harmonic minor (raised 7th), melodic minor (raised 6th and 7th ascending, natural descending).

Intervals: count letter names inclusively, then semitones. Major 3rd = 4 semitones, perfect 5th = 7 semitones, octave = 12 semitones.

Chord construction: major triad (root, major 3rd, perfect 5th), minor triad (root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th), diminished (minor 3rd, diminished 5th), augmented (major 3rd, augmented 5th).

Roman numeral analysis: I ii iii IV V vi vii° in major; i ii° III iv v VI VII in natural minor.

Transposition: to transpose up a major 2nd, add 2 sharps or remove 2 flats from the key signature and move each note up one step.

Medieval period (c.500-1400): plainchant, organum, modal harmony, anonymous composers, church dominance.

Renaissance (c.1400-1600): polyphony, imitation, madrigal, motet, mass; composers Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd.

Baroque (c.1600-1750): basso continuo, terraced dynamics, ornamentation, ritornello form, fugue; composers Bach, Handel, Vivaldi.

Classical (c.1750-1820): sonata form, balanced phrases, homophonic texture, symphony and string quartet; composers Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.

Romantic (c.1820-1900): expanded orchestra, chromatic harmony, programme music, nationalism, lieder; composers Schubert, Chopin, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky.

Twentieth century: impressionism (Debussy), expressionism (Schoenberg), neoclassicism (Stravinsky), minimalism (Reich), popular styles (jazz, rock).

Maltese musical heritage: folk singing (għana), traditional instruments, and the influence of the Catholic Church on sacred music.

World music contexts: Indian raga (melodic framework), Indonesian gamelan (metallophones, interlocking patterns), African drumming (polyrhythm), Latin American rhythms (clave).