Music Theory Lesson #1 with FretlessOnly

[kiramdear]

I'm pleased to introduce the first of a series of lessons by forum member FretlessOnly. Enjoy! This has been moved over from another thread to begin the series and subsequent lessons will appear in this section, numbered consecutively for your convenience. I now pass you over to John:


Lesson #1: Terms, etc., Using the Key of C Major as an Example

Tonality = the key in which a composition or a portion of a composition is written. For now, C Major (CMAJ) will suffice.

Scale degree = a specific note in a scale, designated by Arabic numerals. In the key of CMAJ (from lower notes to higher notes), c, d, e, f, g, a, b, c'; the first c is the 1st scale degree, d the 2nd, e the 3rd, etc., up through b, the 7th scale degree. The c' above the lower c is the octave.

Interval = the distance between two notes. For example, in CMAJ:
c to d is an interval of a Major Second
c to e is a Major Third
c to f is a Perfect Fourth
c to g is a Perfect Fifth
c to a is a Major Sixth
c to b is a Major Seventh
c to c' is a Perfect Octave
Diatonic = inherent to one tonality or key; the notes of the CMAJ scale above are diatonic to CMAJ.

Chord = a simultaneously-sounded combination of three or more notes. The basic formula of a chord is scale degrees 1, 3, and 5. A 7 is often added. Notice the pattern: every other scale degree forms the basis of a simple chord. Other scale degrees can be added, but we will get to that later. In CMAJ, a chord can be built on each scale degree of the tonality (key) of CMAJ. Chords within a key, or DIATONIC to a key, are designated with Roman Numerals.

So, the first chord in the key of CMAJ (the I (roman numeral one) chord, we call it) is built on the 1st scale degree, which is c. Using the 1st, 3rd and 5th scale degrees, we get c,e,g. This is the simplest form of the CMAJ chord. If we add the nest scale degree in the formula to the chord, the 7th degree, we get c,e,g,b. This is designated as a CMAJOR7th chord. The 7th is always specified because it can function in different ways. More later on that, too.

Root = the note on which a chord is based and named. Often, the lowest note of a chord is the root, but it doesn't have to be. You may strive to break this western convention after a few of these lessons. More later.

Hit me with questions! Tempo and note durations (meter) next.

[8mileshigher]

John -- when you say "Perfect" Fourth and Fifth, would I be corect in assuming that "Perfect" means neither flat nor sharp in the tone interval ?

[sloop_john_b]

John -- when you say "Perfect" Fourth and Fifth, would I be corect in assuming that "Perfect" means neither flat nor sharp in the tone interval ?

A perfect fourth would be the fourth interval from the tonic in either a major key or minor key (ex, C-F), ditto for a perfect fifth (ex, C-G). Fourths and fifths are very rarely altered in music, with the main exceptions being augmented 4th/diminished 5th, aka a tritone (ex, C-F# or Gb..."diabolos in musica"! ooooh!), and augmented 5th, most often found in jazz (ex, G7+5 would be G-B-D#-F).

[sloop_john_b]

Great introduction John! I'll be looking at this thread with great interest and would be happy to field any and all questions alongside you.

[FretlessOnly]

John -- when you say "Perfect" Fourth and Fifth, would I be corect in assuming that "Perfect" means neither flat nor sharp in the tone interval ?

A perfect fourth would be the fourth interval from the tonic in either a major key or minor key (ex, C-F), ditto for a perfect fifth (ex, C-G). Fourths and fifths are very rarely altered in music, with the main exceptions being augmented 4th/diminished 5th, aka a tritone (ex, C-F# or Gb..."diabolos in musica"! ooooh!), and augmented 5th, most often found in jazz (ex, G7+5 would be G-B-D#-F).

True all that, but I'd like to avoid jumping miles ahead at this point. There's plenty to digest in the introductory material without throwing tritones and whatnot in already. I am trying to take this in a slow and methodical fashion to avoid people losing interest and/or becoming frustrated. Being inspired, I'll likely get to more complex chord construction soon enough.

8mileshigher: "Perfect" does not just mean not sharped or flatted, althought that is true. But notice that a major 2nd, major 3rd, etc. interval are not flatted or sharped either. The difference between the notation "perfect" and "major" is that if you reduce a perfcet interval by a half-step (i.e., one fret), it becomes diminished. If you reduce a Major interval by a half-step, it becomes minor. Not a minor key, a minor interval. But that gets us ahead of ourselves, which often can't be helped. It also takes us outside of the key/tonality of CMAJ, and I'm trying to stick there for a while to introduce subjects in a consistent context.

But you bring up a point that we will have to get sooner or later: the concept of flats and sharps and the two main ways they are applied. For now, I will say this: in certain keys, the note Bb is not considered a "flatted"note in terms of a scale degree. Sure, it is a Bb in terms of concert pitch, but it is a natural fourth in the key of FMAJ, so in the context of FMAJ, Bb is not a flatted note in terms of an interval of a perfect fourth in FMAJ. See, it gets a bit more complex quickly, and I want to bring everyone along with me. And now I'm in FMAJ, but I couldn't help it!

[8mileshigher]

The difference between the notation "perfect" and "major" is that if you reduce a perfcet interval by a half-step (i.e., one fret), it becomes diminished. If you reduce a Major interval by a half-step, it becomes minor. Not a minor key, a minor interval. But that gets us ahead of ourselves, which often can't be helped.

Thanks Fretless.... i think I am following the essence here of your explanation ....
Regards

[ozover50]

Excellent, John...... I'm going to be keeping my eye on this one!!

I've tried many times to come to understand all this mumbo jumbo but lost either interest or time.

Maybe if you keep it simple and take it slow I might just come to grips with it all...... finally!!

Thanks in anticipation.

H

[FretlessOnly]

The difference between the notation "perfect" and "major" is that if you reduce a perfcet interval by a half-step (i.e., one fret), it becomes diminished. If you reduce a Major interval by a half-step, it becomes minor. Not a minor key, a minor interval. But that gets us ahead of ourselves, which often can't be helped.

Thanks Fretless.... i think I am following the essence here of your explanation ....
Regards

Let me add one more thing to this, in an attempt to clarify the concepts of flatted and sharped.

All of the intervals that are based on the notes in the CMAJ scale, and indeed in any Major scale, are not flatted or sharped in terms of the tone interval. So this is true even in keys other than CMAJ, including keys that have sharps or flats in their key signature. We'll deal with that shortly. The main point is that the intervals that are built using only notes from a particular Major key are not considered to contain notes that are sharped or flatted RELATIVE TO WHERE THEY LIE IN THE SCALE OF EACH MAJOR KEY.

Althought I know what you meant, as an aside, hereon out, "tone interval" will not be used, because it is actually redundant and a bit misleading. The term "interval" only relates to the difference between two pitches (notes of certain frequency), and "tones" has a connotation of the quality of the sound: is it a bright tone or a mellow tone?, for example. So, we will use very strict definitions, and this is one of the fundamental concepts in music theory - every term means something very specific. Over time, we'll re-visit these terms. I don't want to sound like a drill seargent here, but it is important to use the correct term for what is being discussed; this reduces confusion between concepts.

[cjj]

Ooh, I think this is going to be a great series! I took several years of music theory in college, but that was in more of a classical bent than rock & roll. It was also about 30 years ago...

Thanks for putting the effort into posting this!

[melibreits]

Oh, this is a cool thread! I'm going to have to check in more often--I have always wished I knew and understood music theory better--but will need to sit down and study this with guitar in hand so I can bridge the gap between brain and fingers....

[FretlessOnly]

Seems as though there is some really positve feedback so far. That's great, and thanks for the feedback. I'll try to build things up slowly, and feel free to ask away with questions. Once I get the basics down, I'll try to use song structure for some examples to make this more interesting. #2 is already up, by the way.

[doctorwho]

Link to Lesson 2: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=392292

[jdogric12]

Well done, Mr. Martin, neat stuff. makes me wish I was 18 again sitting in classrooms all day instead of working!!!

[ajish4]

AS usual, I'm WAY WAY behind....

I REALLY can use some theory, but I'm as DENSE as they come...so, I'll start here and trail behind...

Thanks John, I never took lessons, but I'm finding MORE AND MORE how much I really need this!

ESPECIALLY Jazz, AGAIN! Just asked to play a gig of all "show tunes" here I'm thinking.....Phantom, CATS, like an idiot, I said SURE....come to find out they are all 1930's and 1940's SHOW TUNES....JAZZ! CENSORED!.....I sure do have my hands full now....