The Mythical Unicorn by Dennis Alexander and Martha Mier

Anacrusis

Meter

Sometimes called upbeats or pickup notes; a note or series of notes that precede and give stress to the first downbeat of a piece.

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Blocked Intervals Accompaniment

Accompaniment Patterns

An accompaniment that uses a variety of blocked intervals with a relatively equal rate of occurrence.

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Dotted Half Notes

Rhythm

Half notes whose lengths are increased by half; equal to three quarter notes.

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Fermatas

Rhythm

Indications placed above or below notes instructing the player to hold those notes longer than their original notated length.

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Flat

Notes and Notation

A sign placed in front of a note that lowers its pitch by a half step.

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G Minor Five Finger Scale

Scales and Hand Positions

A simple scale that contains the first five notes of the G Minor scale.

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Half Notes

Rhythm

Notes whose lengths are equal to one half the value of a whole note.

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Legato

Expression

A type of articulation indicating the player to play smoothly and seamlessly, with the notes slightly overlapped.

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Melody Between Hands

Texture

A simple melody line shared by both the right hand and the left hand.

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Mezzo Forte

Expression

A simple melody line shared by both the right hand and the left hand.

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Octave Higher or Octave Lower

Notes and Notation

Symbols that indicate playing a note or range of notes either an octave higher or lower than notated.

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Quarter Notes

Rhythm

Notes whose lengths are equal to one-fourth the value of a whole note.

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Ritardando

Meter

An Italian term meaning "delaying"; an indication instructing the player to decrease speed, often gradually.

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Sustain Pedal

Expression

Also called the damper pedal, it is the rightmost pedal on the piano and used to sustain notes by moving the dampers away from the strings.

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Ties

Rhythm

Symbols indicating that two notes are to be played as one with the value equal to their sum.

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The Mythical Unicorn

Dennis Alexander
Martha Mier

Video

Elements

Anacrusis

Blocked Intervals Accompaniment

Dotted Half Notes

Fermatas

Flat

G Minor Five Finger Scale

Half Notes

Legato

Melody Between Hands

Mezzo Forte

Octave Higher or Octave Lower

Quarter Notes

Ritardando

Sustain Pedal

Ties

Details