LEARNING RESOURCE

SPA - MUSIC

BASIC MUSIC THEORY

Grade 7 – Quarter 1
LEARNING RESOURCE for MUSIC

BASIC MUSIC THEORY

Grade 7, Quarter 1

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Published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts

Development Team of the Learning Resource

Writers: Dennesse Abigail F. Nadal

Asherine Joanne M. Roa
Editor: Jose S. Soliman, Jr.
Cover Illustrator: William Matawaran
Layout Artist: Arvin Manuel R. Villalon
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Tanya P. Lopez (PerfLab)

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 FOREWORD

Welcome to this Learning Resource for Music.

This Learning Resource was developed by experts from the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts as a reference to aid you in developing rich, meaningful, and
empowering learning in the creative fields. Every effort has been exerted to produce a
Self-Learning Learning Resource that incorporates the most fundamental elements and
principles of each discipline, while providing a spiraled, scaffolded, and multi-sensory
approach to allow you to explore your innate creativity while building discipline and rigor in
your chosen discipline.

Each lecture, activity, or reflection here is designed to be meaningful. Each one designed
to build from the previous one, and each one with the objective of building up for the next
skill or competence. We hope that you will find these activities challenging but
empowering, and that your potential as a Filipino artist and Creative is further enhanced
and inspired.

These Learning Resources take into consideration the various limitations and challenges
brought about by the current situation and provide you with the flexibility to manage content
and pace to your individual needs while maintaining standards for creativity, embodying
21st Century skills, and aspiring towards artistic excellence. Beyond compilations of dry
information, these Learning Resources seek to develop Higher Order Thinking Skills of
Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation.

If you are planning to use this Resource as a facilitator or teacher, you are expected to
guide and orient your learners in the proper and efficient use of this Learning Resource.
Most, if not all activities, will entail exploration, investigation, and experimentation, as such
it is imperative that you, as the facilitator, establish the guidelines which will allow your
students to be creative but within responsible, safe, and academically-sound limits. Your
guidance and mentorship is expected and encouraged throughout the learning process.

We look forward to your journey as an artist, MABUHAY!

 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Dear Readers,

In this Learning Resource, you will be learning about the rhythm in music and understand its uses.
Through this, we will discover ourselves in understanding the different content under this topic,
and from there, you’ll know the basics about the rhythm in music.

At the end of this Learning Resource, you will be able to:

1. create and perform various rhythmic patterns including, dotted notes and tied notes;
2. aurally identify the time signature used of a given piece;
3. Identify the different musical symbols for rhythm;
4. perform conducting patterns of the simple and compound time signature.

This Learning Resource may be used for, and is applicable to the following DepEd code:
SPA_MIM7-lllf-6

 TOPIC 1
BEAT

Whenever you hear the clock ticking or put your hands on your left chest and feel your heartbeat,
those are best examples of what we call a beat. In music, the beat is a steady and the basic unit
or regular pulse in music. The musicians count the notes that they are playing for them to synch
with each other. However, this is also associated the most with the drummers or other
percussionists because they are the ones that are focused on the beat. But in an orchestra, a
conductor is the one who controls the beat. This also supplies the underlying pattern of music.

Watch the video by clicking the link or scanning the QR code below to understand more of the
beat.

https://youtu.be/9DjoipqbkC8

Suggested Activity

Instructions: For you to practice the steady beat, follow the activity below.
1. Get an instrument available at your home or any materials that can pretend as an
instrument or can produce any sound, for you to play a steady beat. (e.g., pencil and
notebook, Tupperware, etc.,)
2. If there’s no available instrument or materials, you can just clap, snap, or even stamp.
3. Now, listen to any song and practice your steady beat.

One of the most essential elements in music that is very relevant to the beat is the rhythm. This
is the pattern of sound and silence in a song, and it also gives structure to any composition. To
understand the rhythm in music well, you need to know first the basics of it, such as the different
kinds of notes and rests, time signature (simple, duple, triple, quadruple, and compound meter,
and the conducting gestures.

 TOPIC 2
NOTES AND RESTS

Rhythm is the organized combination of sounds and silence, thus, the patterns of note values and
rests. But before proceeding to the duration of notes and rests, let us know first the different
components of notes that is shown below.

Since you already know the components of notes, let us now proceed on how long a musical
notes and rests should be. Note values are symbols in the language of music. It is the indication
of what notes to play and its duration. Rests are symbols of silence in music. Adding a dot after a
note or a rest will extend its the duration by half of its value. Below is the table of basic note
values and rests including the names and duration.

 Dotted Note Value Chart

As you can see in the dotted note value chart, the dots allow the notes and rests to be
lengthened in duration. But there is also another thing to remember that has the same function
with the dot, and this is what we called a tie. This is a curved line that connects two or more
pitches at the same time, and it also used to increase the duration of the notes and rests. See the
illustration below for better understanding.

Below is the rhythm pyramid for better understanding of the different kinds of notes and rests.

Suggested Activity for Kinds of Notes and Rests
Instruction: Add the note values to each other.

 TOPIC 3
SIMPLE, DUPLE, AND TRIPLE QUADRUPLE

Staff is the most important tool in music and to understand what simple, duple, and triple
quadruple means, it is important to know the different part of it and its function.

Staff – it has 4 spaces and 4 lines. This is where the notes and rests are placed.

Bar line - this is the division between a

measure.

Measure - measurement of time that contains a

specified number of beats in time signature.

measur
eeee
Time Signature – it indicates the type of
notes and rests to be measured.

Now that it is clear to you the different parts of a musical staff, let us now proceed on how meter
is used in music.

Many pieces of music have a pattern of strong and weak beats. The beats stay steady but some
of it has weight on it. This pattern in music is what we called the meter because it is the number
or beats per measure and how the beats are divided. The common pattern for this is strong –
weak -strong – weak. Now, the meter is also relevant to what we call time signature, wherein the
bottom number in it corresponds the type of note to a single beat. Duple, triple, and quadruple
represent the number of beats per measure. Below are examples of rhythmic patterns in simple
duple and triple quadruple.

Suggested Activity for Simple, Duple, and Triple Quadruple

Instruction: Listen to the song samples given below. You may scan the QR code or simply copy
the link. Identify the correct meter of each song.

Song Title QR code/ Link Answer

Lupang Hinirang

https://youtu.be/-FUBJY6nco0
Itik Itik

https://youtu.be/Ca5IpeCTCcE
Pandanggo sa Ilaw

https://youtu.be/hVdmjt08V0g
Leron Leron Sinta

https://youtu.be/firHRhLsprc

 TOPIC 4
COMPOUND METER

Beats in compound meter are divided into three. If the top of the simple time signature indicates
the numbers of beat per measure and the bottom of it indicates the value of the note in each beat,
in compound meter the bottom number of it indicates into what notes corresponds to a single
division of beat. It is the feeling of subdividing the beat into three equal durations. Like in simple
meters, it is also expressed with time signature. Below is the rhythmic pattern of a compound
meter that is usually used in common songs.

If you can see in the above example of compound meter, each measure has ‘6’ eighth notes. In
other words, to find the number of beats per measure, one must divide the top number by three.
Composers are not limited to simple beat division of a given meter; thus, they can also borrow
from the beat division of simple and compound meter.

Listen to one of the most popular Christmas song entitled, “Silent Night”. Observe the rhythm by
listening carefully. What do you think is the time signature of it? How do you feel when you listen
to the song? You may scan the QR code or copy the link given below.

https://youtu.be/nmioEzAZCVc

The following are examples of rhythmic patterns that use other compound meters. These are also
divided into three equal durations.

Suggested Activity for Compound Meter

Instruction: Look for 5 songs that employs compound meter.

1. ______________________
2. ______________________
3. ______________________
4. ______________________
5. ______________________

 TOPIC 5
CONDUCTING GESTURES

Meter can be expressed through body movement. There are different patterns which represents
the beats of 2, 3 and 4. These are commonly used by conductors in leading a choir, orchestra, or
a group of musicians. The illustration below represents the basic gestures for the right hand of
the conductor and can be mirrored by the left hand.

Duple Triple

Quadruple

There’s also a conducting gesture for compound meter. Below is an example illustration in
conducting a compound meter. As you can see, it is similar in the above illustration, but in this
case, it is subdivided.

Conductors’ duties are to unify the performers, set the tempo and shape the sound of the
musicians. They also act as a guide of the choir and orchestra. Communication is non-verbal
during performance, but when it comes to rehearsal, a conductor can give verbal directions to the
musicians as to how music should be played or sung. Communication is also the most important
tool in conducting. Therefore, there are some recommended tips for beginning conductors
because it is important that beginners should know first the basic of conducting.

For Starting Position:

1. Your upper arms must be away from your body, and it should slightly in front.
2. For your forearms, they must be parallel to the ground.
3. Your hands should come in and should line up with your armpits.

As a beginner, you should remember these three steps in to maintain good posture as a
conductor. The best tips to practice your conducting skills is to face on the mirror and observe
yourself. You may also watch the video on YouTube for your reference by scanning the QR code
or copying the link below.

https://youtu.be/vN71sdayRkA

Suggested Activity for Conducting Gestures

Instructions: Give at least one song for each time signature. Listen to each song that you chose
on YouTube and try to conduct it in front of the mirror. Observe your conducting posture, make
sure that you are following the tips discussed above.

1. 2
4

2. 3
4

3. 4
4

4. 6
8

REFERENCES

WATCH
• The Basic of Conducting https://youtu.be/vN71sdayRkA
• Silent Night, O Holy Night https://youtu.be/nmioEzAZCVc
• Lupang Hinirang https://youtu.be/-FUBJY6nco0
• Itik Itik https://youtu.be/Ca5IpeCTCcE
• Pandanggo sa Ilaw https://youtu.be/hVdmjt08V0g
• Leron Leron Sinta https://youtu.be/firHRhLsprc
• Beat and Rhythm Explained https://youtu.be/9DjoipqbkC8

APPLICATIONS/SOFTWARES:
MuseScore: Free music composition and notation software
Canva.com