tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54167960692353199262011-11-27T15:25:06.918-08:00Online music theory lessons.Komponisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08492290483197763454noreply@blogger.comBlogger401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5416796069235319926.post-74573166684601015052020-02-25T01:07:00.000-08:002008-06-29T01:18:34.693-07:00

If you came to this website then you probably want to learn something about music theory. You may be an absolute beginner or you may already know a lot of music theory already and want to learn some more advanced topics. In either case understand that learning music theory is one of the more beneficial things a musician can do and I hope you will continue the process.Why study music theory?

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Polychords are chords constructed from two or more separate chords. Composers and improvisers use polychords as a resource for rich and complex sounds in their music. Polychords frequently occur in jazz and modern classical music.Examples of Polychords:C Major/E-flat Major:D Major/B-flat minor: C Augmented/G7 Augmented:C Major/F-sharp Major Polychord - "Petrushka Chord":This chord was used by

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The chords every piano and keyboard player should know are the basic Major, minor, Augmented, and diminished chords, and seventh chords. These are the most common chords and are relatively easy to play. These chords are shown with the root note C. Other root notes are possible by transposing these chords. For example, a C Major chord (C, E, G) can be transposed to D. This will result in a D Major

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The easiest chords to play on the guitar are the Major, Minor and Seventh chords in open voicings. These chords use open strings and no more than three fingers, and they don't go into the higher positions of the guitar. The ease in playing these chords makes them the best for beginners to learn. This article will show them in two different ways: fretboard diagrams, and tablature (Tab).A quick

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In music, Transposition occurs when we take a group of notes and move that group up or down by a certain interval. For example, if we take a C Major chord (the notes C, E, and G) and transpose them up by a Major second we then have a D Major chord (the, notes D, F-sharp, and A).The step by step process by which we transposed a C Major chord up by a Major second to become a D Major chord is as

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(You may want to read the articles about Scales, the Major Scale, or Key Signatures first.)There are 12 different Major Scales: One with no sharps or flats, 4 with sharps, 4 with flats, and 3 with either sharps or flats depending upon enharmonic spelling.Major Scales with no sharps or flats: C MajorMajor Scales with sharps: D, E, G, AMajor Scales with flats: E-flat, F, A-flat, B-flatEnharmonic

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(You may want to review intervals, chord symbols and chord roots before reading this page or watching the video.)The video demonstrates some of the most common chords: Major, minor, Augmented, diminished, and various seventh chords.Major -------- root - M3 - P5minor -------- root - m3 - P5diminished - root - m3 - d5Augmented - root - M3 - A5Maj7 ---------- root - M3 - P5 - M77 ----------------

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If we have a minor chord in first inversion the interval between the bass note and the root of the chord is a Major sixth.If we then raise the tonic note (by an augmented unison), the interval between the bass note and root note becomes an augmented sixth. A chord with this interval of an augmented sixth is called an Augmented Sixth Chord. The three basic types of Augmented sixth chords:An

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Most chords are constructed from major or minor thirds. Quartal chords are chords that are constructed from fourths. Quintal chords are constructed from fifths.Quartal Chords: Quintal Chords:Quartal and Quintal chords have a suspended un-anchored sound to them that differs form regular chords. This quality makes Quartal and Quintal chords very useful in a composer's chord vocabulary.The French

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If we label our musical materials, ideas or sections with the letters of the alphabet we can show how musical forms are created.Any single section of music, consisting of phrases or other musical sections, we can call A. This musical section can be repeated to create an AA form.If we instead chose to add a new section, B, we would have the musical form AB. This would be two contrasting musical

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Melody is the horizontal line of pitch and rhythm. Melody stands out in the foreground of music whereas harmony and accompaniment are usually background elements. Examples of Melody:

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Musical Dynamics indicate the loudness of music. We use the Italian terms piano and forte to indicate soft and loud. They are usually abbreviated p and f.We can also add the word mezzo (m) to p and f to create mp (mezzo-piano) and mf (mezzo-forte). Mezzo-piano (mp) is moderately soft and mezzo-forte (mf) is moderately loud.More than one p or f indicates a softer or louder dynamic, such as pp or

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The chords of the Major and Minor scales can be indicated by roman numerals.Major chord: I, II, III, etc. Minor chord: i, ii, iii, etc. Augmented chord: I+, II+, III+, etc. Diminished chord: vi°, vii°, etc. Half-diminished chord: viiØ7, etc. Extended chords: ii7, V9, V13, etc.Altered tones or chords: #iv, ii#7 Chords of the Major Scale: Chords of the Natural minor scale: Chords of the Harmonic

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Chord Roots:The Root of any chord will be the note which corresponds to the letter name of the chord. For example, the Root of a DM7 chord is D.Chord Inversion:If the root of a chord is not in the bass (the lowest note in a chord voicing) then that chord is said to be an Inverted Chord. For example, starting form lowest to highest, if you have the notes E, G and C you have an inverted C Major

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There are various Chord Symbols that can be combined to indicate many different types of chords.Basic Chord Symbols:Letter Name (e.g., C) = Major chordm = minor chord+ = Augmented chordo = diminished chord Seventh Chords:7 = minor seventhM7 = Major seventhØ = half-diminished chordo7 = diminished seventh chordExtended Chords:9 = Ninth chord11 = Eleventh chord13 = Thirteenth chordAltered Tones:b5 =

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Extended Chords are chords extended past seventh chords.If we stack a third upon any seventh chord we now have a Ninth Chord. If we stack a third upon any ninth chord we now have an Eleventh Chord. Finally, if we stack a third upon any eleventh chord we now have a Thirteenth Chord.Examples of Extended Chords:Learn about Basic Chords and Seventh ChordsLearn about Chord Symbols

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Chords are notes played simultaneously. The most commonly used chords are constructed from stacked thirds. Chords can also be constructed from seconds, fourths or fifths but these types of chords are less common.Basic chords:Seventh Chords:If we stack another third onto any of the basic chords we now have Seventh Chords.From left to right the names of these chords are: Major-Major seventh,

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A Mode is a type of scale created by establishing a new tonic within a preexisting scale.Example:The C Major scale has these notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B ,C.The Tonic in the C Major scale is C.If we establish a new tonic on one of the notes other than C, for instance D, we now have a Mode.The new mode on D has these notes: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D.This is the Dorian mode.New modes may be created the

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Key Signatures tell us what notes are sharp or flat in a scale. When we say we are in the Key of F Major we are saying that we are using the notes of the F Major scale. The Key Signature for the Key of F Major would be one flat, because there is one flat in the F Major scale.Any single Key Signature symbol will identify both a Major and (Natural) Minor scale, for example C Major and A (natural)

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The notes of Major and Minor scales have specific names, called Scale Degrees. They have both a number and a name.The Scale Degree numbers are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7The names of the Scale Degrees are:TonicSupertonicMediantSubdominantDominantSubmediantLeading ToneThe Scale Degrees have these names for a reason. The names relate to their function and to their position to each other on the scale, for

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Repeat Signs tell us to repeat a certain section of music during performance. A Repeat Sign looks like a double bar with two dots by it. In the above music you see the repeat sign after the music. This tells us to repeat all of the music you have just played. When you encounter the repeat sign the second time you ignore the repeat sign and keep playing. Sometimes there are instructions to repeat

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Measures are groupings of notes, usually grouped by meter. Bar Lines show us where one measure ends and another begins.There are different types of Bar Lines, each with a different functionA Single Bar Line is the normal Bar Line, it tells us where the measures are:A Double Bar Line shows there is there is a major change in the music, such as a new musical section or new time signature:A "Final"

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Time Signatures tell us what the meter is and what note values comprise the beat. Time signatures are written as two numbers, with one number above the other.The top number tells us how many beats there are in a measure; this is also the meter. The bottom number tells us what note values comprise the beat.In the above example the top number is 3: This tells us that there are 3 beats in a measure.

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Meter is the grouping of beat patterns. Certain beats are stressed more than others in music and this causes the beats to fall into perceptible patterns. These patterns almost always come in twos or threes.Fundamental Meter Groupings:These meters are the most basic meters. Almost all of the other meters are some combination of these two.Duple: [1 - 2], [1 - 2], [1 - 2], [1 - 2], etc.Triple: [1 -

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Rests are silences in music. They have duration but no pitch.Here is an example of a rest in some music:

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Duration is how long a note or rest is to be played. Notes and rests have fractional durations.A Half-note is half as long as a Whole-note, a Quarter-note is a quarter as long as a Whole-note and half as long as a Half-note, and so forth. Each duration will have its own symbol.Note Durations: Rests work the same way, just with different symbols.-Rest Durations:Dotted Notes:A Dot after a note

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The Beat is the regularly occurring pattern of rhythmic stresses in music. When we count, tap or clap along with music we are experiencing the Beat. Try tapping your finger along with different types of music and see what happens.Tempo is the speed of the Beat, usually expressed in Beats Per Minute (BPM). For example, at 120 BPM there will be 120 beats in one minute. Tempo can also be expressed

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The Octatonic Scale is a scale that has eight notes and is constructed from alternating half-steps (H) and whole-steps (W).H-W-H-W-H-W-H-WHere is an example of a Octatonic Scale starting on D:Learn about more Scales

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A Whole-Tone Scale is a scale made entirely of whole-steps and has only six notes.The pattern for a whole-tone scale is easy to remember because it consists only of whole-steps (W):W-W-W-W-W-WA whole-tone scale starting on D-flat:Learn about more Scales

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Pentatonic Scales are scales that have five notes. There are many possible Pentatonic scales but the most common ones are the "Major" Pentatonic and the "Minor" Pentatonic.The "Major" Pentatonic scale has this interval pattern:M2-M2-m3-M2-m3The "Minor" Pentatonic scale has this interval pattern:m3-M2-M2-m3-M2If you play only the black keys of a keyboard you are playing a pentatonic scale.Learn

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(You may want to read an introduction to scales first.)There are three types of Minor Scales: Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor.Natural MinorThe Natural Minor scale has the following pattern of half-steps (H) and whole-steps (W):W-H-W-W-H-W-WHere is a Natural Minor scale starting on F: Harmonic MinorThe Harmonic Minor scale has the following pattern of half-steps, whole-steps and

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A Major Scale is a scale that has the following pattern of whole-steps (W) and half-steps (H):W-W-H-W-W-W-HHere is a Major scale starting on E:Learn about more ScalesAll 12 Major Scales

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Scales are collections of notes arranged in patterns of half-steps, whole-steps, or other intervals. Composers and improvisers use scales as pitch resources in their music. They choose specific scales and choose notes from those scales to form melodies and harmonies in their music.An example of a scale is a Major Scale. A major scale has the following arrangement of half-steps (H) and whole-steps

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A Chromatic Scale is a scale that is made of only half-steps (H):H-H-H-H-H-H, etc.The Chromatic Scale starting on D is: D, D-sharp, E, F, F-sharp, G, G-sharp, A, A-sharp, B, C, C-sharp, D. (If we choose to go down the scale we use flats instead: D, D-flat, C, B, B-flat, A, A-flat, G, G-flat, F, E, E-flat, D).Learn about more Scales

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Intervals are the distances between two notes. Each interval will have a number - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. These numbers are the distance between two notes, based upon counting the lines and spaces on the staff.For example, if we count lines and spaces, starting from C and ending on G, we count: C,D,E,F,G = 1,2,3,4,5, Therefore, the interval from C to G is a fifth (5th).We can also keep counting

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When a Sharp or Flat is added to a note it raises or lowers the note by a Half-step. For example, if we have the note C and we add a sharp to it the note now becomes C-sharp. If we have the note E and we add a flat to it the note now becomes E-flat.Here are some examples of sharps and flats on the staff:Naturals are notes without sharps or flats: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. For example the note D

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The Keyboard is arranged so that the pitch goes left to right, low to high. The keys on keyboard instruments are arranged in a reoccurring pattern. The black keys are arranged in groups of two and three between the white keys.This pattern continues up and down the keyboard.The note names of the white keys are:This key pattern repeats on the keyboard so that the note names of the white keys keep

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Tablature (commonly abbreviated as Tab) is way of notating music that differs from standard notation. Tablature is most commonly used for fretted stringed instruments. It shows a player where to put their fingers whereas standard notation shows what pitches to play. The focus of this article will be guitar Tablature, although the concepts of Tablature apply to all fretted instruments.The

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(You might want to read about the Staff before you read about the Alto and Tenor Clefs.)The Alto and Tenor Clefs have two curves that meet in the center. The line on the staff where these curves meet is the note C. These clefs are also called C Clefs for this reason.The Alto Clef is positioned on the middle line. This line becomes the note C. (This note is also Middle C.) The note names in Alto

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Music is most commonly notated using the Staff (and tablature.) The staff consists of five horizontal lines on which musical notes lie. The lines and the spaces between the lines represent different pitches. Lower pitches are lower on the staff and higher pitches are higher on the staff.With the blank staff we can't yet tell what notes to play. We use Clefs to tell us which notes correspond to

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