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- This basic music theory guide looks at fundamental concepts musicians use to understand, analyze, and create music. What is Music Theory? Music theory is a practice musicians use to understand and communicate the language of music. Musical theory examines the fundamentals of music. It also provides a system to interpret musical compositions.
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- Music Notes
- Music Scales
- Music Keys
- Chords – The Basics
- Chords – Scales & Progressions
- It’S Your Turn
What is the musical alphabet?
Music is made using the musical alphabet, these are: A B C D E F G.
Natural and flat/sharp keys
Understanding the layout of notes is best represented using a piano/keyboard. White keys on a piano are known as ‘natural’ notes of the alphabet, and the black keys on a piano are the ‘flat/sharp’ notes. And as we can see B to C and E to F don’t have a black key between them. When we play the notes we can hear that the pitch gets higher as we move up the keyboard, and lower as we go down.
Music intervals
A music interval is the distance between each note in terms of pitch, which is measured in semitones (aka half step) and whole tones (aka whole step – equivalent to 2 semitones/2 half steps). So for example the distance between D and D#/Eb is a semitone, same with the distance between E and F. The distance between D and E is a whole tone. Music intervals helps us to distinguish music scales and prefixes attached to a chord. Note:We discuss music scales and chord prefixes later in this post.
What is a music scale?
A music scale is a set of notes within an octave. The type of music scale is determined by the music intervals between each note.
Types of music scales
There are several types of music scales, however we are going to go through the two most common ones used in Western music. These are major and minor (natural) scales.
Scale degrees
Each note in a scale, regardless of if it’s part of a major or minor scale, has a name attached to it which relates to its position and function in the scale. These are: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant and leading tone/subtonic. Tonic (1st note) and dominant (5thnote) are perceived to be important in any given scale. Let’s go into more detail for each one: 1. 1st note – Tonic 1.1. The tonic note is the tonal center of the key you are playing in – it’s the beginni...
What is a key signature?
A key signature tells you what and how many notes in a scale are sharp (#) and flat (b). The image below shows how many sharps and flats are in each major scale. You can memorize the order of adding sharps to a key signature with a mnemonic such as: 1. Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle (sharps) 2. F# C# G# D# A# E# B# This means: 1. G major would contain F# 2. D major would contain F# and C# 3. A major would contain F#, C# and G# 4. And so on… You can do the same with adding flat notes...
Circle Of Fifths
The ‘Circle of Fifths’ is a geometrical representation of the relationships between the 12 keys of music. It is a handy tool to help you remember relative keys and how many sharps (#) / flats (b) are in certain key signatures. The outer ring are your major keys, along with how many sharps (#) or flats (b) present, and the inner ring is the major keys relative natural minor.
What are chords in music?
Chords are two or more harmonic notes played simultaneously. But what do I mean by harmonic notes? Harmonic notes in music theory are notes that move between sounds of consonant (relaxed) or dissonant (tense). Notes played in harmony sounds pleasing to the ear, however we can also use them to create tension and unease. The most common chords in music are built using three notes. Let’s go through the different types of chords and how they are built.
What types of chords are there?
Chords are named and defined by their root note, and their prefix. The prefix is defined by the intervals used in between each note in the chord. Let’s crack down on the details.
Triad chords ‘circle of thirds’
A triad is a three note chord that is built on the ‘circle of thirds.’ The circle of thirds applies to major and minor scales, and is built by entering the major or minor scale in a 1, 3, 5, 7, 2, 4 and 6 format. Each number corresponds to its position in the scale. Our example below is A major. We now build chords by using the three notes in sequence clockwise to each other. From our example above: 1. A chord you’d use A-C#-E 2. B chord you’d use B-D-F# 3. C# chord you’d use C#-E-G# 4. Etc....
Chords and scales
There is a formula to find out what notes create a major, minor or diminished chord in any given scale. The formula for finding the prefixes for chords in a given scale is as follows:
Chord progressions
A chord progression is a series of chords played in a sequence. The chords in a progression represent different harmonic functions, similar to the scale degrees. It takes your listener on a journey, making them feel the ups and downs, and feel the tension build and release. The tonic chord (using the 1st note in the scale) always provides stability to a piece of music, and is usually the first chord used in a progression. It is often referred back to, and is ended with. Think of it as a ‘home...
There we have it! A beginner’s guide to understanding the basics of music theory. It’s a lot to learn to begin with, and it can be daunting remembering a lot of new information.
- The Basics of Music Theory. Let's start with the bare fundamentals before delving into the complexity. The study of music theory examines how music functions.
- The Musical Alphabet. Music has its own set of letters, just like the English language. Seven notes make up the musical alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The foundational notes of all music are those that repeat in a cycle.
- Understanding Scales. Scales are the foundational building blocks of music. They provide the raw materials from which melodies and harmonies are created, and they play a fundamental role in shaping the mood and character of a piece of music.
- Notes, Octaves, and Pitch. In the world of music theory, understanding notes, octaves, and pitch is fundamental. These concepts are the very building blocks of melodies and harmonies, and they play a crucial role in how we perceive and create music.
As someone who never received a formal education on music theory, I'm here to teach what I believe to be the most important concepts a beginner should learn. I strongly believe in the concept...
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To simplify it and make sense of all the jargon, we’ve got a big list of all our music theory lessons to guide you through each topic. Rhythm. What Is Rhythm? A Complete Guide; Types Of Musical Notes You Need To Know; The Music Note Tree (Or Pyramid) Dotted Notes: How Do They Work? Tied Notes: What Are They? The Different Types Of Rests In Music
Oct 6, 2023 · What is Music Theory? Music theory is the study of the fundamental elements that construct and govern the language of music, including notes, scales, chords, rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. It serves as a set of rules and guidelines that musicians use to create, analyze, and interpret music.
What are the basics of music theory? You need a structured approach to learning music theory. The first step is understanding the fundamentals: The major scale is the building block of most Western music. It’s a collection of seven notes that create a specific pattern of intervals.
