A demisemiquaver is half the length of a semiquaver, so is worth and eighth of a beat. They can be grouped in fours or eights. Look at this video for more information:
Major keys with four sharps or flats.
The major keys that you have met so far are:
C major - no sharps or flats
G Major - 1 sharp F Major - 1 flat
D Major - 2 sharps B Flat Major - 2 flats
A Major - 3 sharps E Flat Major
For Grade 3 you need to study E Major (4 sharps) and A Flat Major (4 flats).
Watch this video for more information:
And this one:
And this one:
Ledger lines
In Grade 3 you use more than 2 ledger lines. Check out this video for more information:
Transposition
For Grade 3 you have to transpose notes up or down an octave. This will take one of 2 forms:
- Moving a melody down one octave from the treble clef to the bass clef.
- Moving a melody up one octave from the bass clef to the treble clef.
Be careful not to transpose by 2 octaves, or to just rewrite the melody at the same pitch.
Compound Time
In compound time the beats are divided into threes and the beats are always dotted beats eg. dotted crotchet beats.
The new time signatures for Grade 3 are:
6 = 2 dotted crotchet beats in a bar/compound duple
8
9 = 3 dotted crotchet beats in a bar/compound triple
8
12 = 4 dotted crotchet beats in a bar/compound quadruple
8
When a dotted crotchet is divided into quavers they are beamed together in threes.
Watch the following video and complete the exercises on pages 12 - 16 in the Grade 3 book:
Minor keys with four sharps or flats
In Grade 3 you need to know both the harmonic and the melodic forms of the minor scales.
Harmonic minors: the 7th note is raised when ascending and descending
Melodic minors: the 6th and 7th notes are raised when ascending, then lowered when descending.
Harmonic minor semitones fall between: 2-3, 5-6, 7-8, 8-7, 6-5, 3-2
Melodic minor semitones fall between: 2-3, 7-8, 6-5, 3-2
Watch the following videos and complete the exercises on pages 17 - 25 in the Grade 3 book:
