Music Fundamentals A Balanced Approach

Theory Trainer

Exercise 4c Draw half steps and whole steps above or below a given note.

Exercise 11—Class Exercise

Label the bracketed notes: whole step (WS) or half step (HS). The first two are done for you.

1. “Weeping Willow” (S. Joplin)


2. “Sha Lee Hung Ba,” Chinese pentatonic folk melody from Xinjiang Province (pronounced “Shin-jee-ang”)

A few students may accompany the song with the following rhythm using drums (stems down in the music)
and clapping (stems up). Orstudents may improvise their own rhythms.

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ACCIDENTALS

HS WS

Vocabulary note

CHINESE PENTATONIC MELODIES

Below are the notes used in “Sha Lee Hung Ba.” Label the bracketed pairs of notes as whole steps (WS) or half steps (HS). What

is unusal about this pentatonic scale? Notice the relatively wide range of this piece, which is not uncommon in Chinese folk songs.

The words of the title are nonsensical; the lyrics describe the market places along the Silk Road, an important trading route dating

back thousands of years.