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# Group 2: identifying various different elements

Gershwin, ‘I got rhythm’

## Activity 1

What key is the melody in? (The asterisk signifies a missing rest, which you’ll be asked to identify in Activity 5.)

G minor
F major
B flat major

### Answer

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The two-flat key signature suggests either B flat major or its relative minor, G minor. There is no F♯, the leading note in G minor, and therefore B flat major seems more likely. F major is incorrect since it has a key signature of only one flat.

## Activity 2

What does the time signature of C with a vertical stroke through it mean?

There are four crotchet beats in the bar
There are two minim beats in the bar
There are two semibreve beats in the bar

### Answer

C with a vertical stroke through it is an alternative way of writing the time signature 2/2, where the lower figure 2 represents a minim beat and the upper figure specifies the number of beats in the bar, i.e. 2.

## Activity 3

Which degree of the scale is the F in the first bar?

submediant
dominant
subdominant

### Answer

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Since the melody is in B flat major with B♭ as the tonic, the F is the fifth note up from B♭ (B♭–C–D–E♭–F). It is therefore the dominant.

## Activity 4

What is the curved line above the two Cs in the second bar?

a tie
a slur

### Answer

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A tie joins consecutive notes that are the same, and is a rhythmic device. Its use here means that the first C, a quaver, is tied to the next C giving an overall time value of quaver plus minim.

## Activity 5

Which rest is required at the place marked with an asterisk?

dotted crotchet rest
crotchet rest
quaver rest

### Answer

Although the time signature has two minim beats, it is easier to work out the required rest by counting in crotchets. In bar 3, the first C tied to the second produces a dotted crotchet and this is followed by another dotted crotchet. The two dotted crotchets added together equal three crotchets. Therefore we need a crotchet rest to make up a total of four crotchets for the bar.

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OpenLearn - An introduction to music theory
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