Assignment 3
There are three components to this assignment.1. Read
Read this chapter on pitch notation and the keyboard before class on
Thursday and come with any questions.
2. Create
Compose an original staff-lines mnemonic (see below) before class on Thursday).
3. Write
Complete the exercises in the handout (PDF if you did not get a copy) as best you can before Thursday’s class. This means you should:
- Look over and attempt all sections.
- Complete as much as you can but use pencil.
- Come with your questions about anything you don’t understand.
- You have until Tuesday to submit it, but by then I will expect you to ace it 😇 because you will have asked all your questions already.
Write your own staff mnemonic
The textbook chapter gives the best-known traditional mnemonics for the note names of the lines of the treble and bass clefs. While not overtly misogynistic, both mnemonics mention “Boys” (in a positive light) and say nothing about “Girls”. If this were a one-off, that’d be one thing, but it’s part of a pervasive pattern or mnemonics that favor maleness or postulate traditional feminine roles:
etc. So:
- Father Charles Goes Down and Ends Battle (music: order of sharps in key signatures)
- King Philip Came Over For Good Soup (biology: the Linnaean classification system)
- My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Potatoes (astronomy: order of the planets)
Come up with your own “backronym” mnemonic(s) for the treble and/or bass clef lines (EGBDF, GBDFA) and enter in the form below before our next class.
Many alternative mnemonics have been proposed, but none has truly caught on. Your mnemonic should serve its purpose—i.e. it must be memorable. It could also be funny. We will have a vote and the authors of the most popular mnemonics will be rewarded.