I posted this originally at Pokerealm to a less than stellar reception. This forum seems a bit more artsy, in a not so gay way, so I figured it couldn't hurt.
I figure everyone that will look at this has the potential to learn something and you wouldn't be here if you weren't into music anyway so yea. Kinda spur of the moment so it won't be incredibly well organized, bear with and I'll do what I can when I can.
BASICS
-Melody
A melody is really any sequence of pitches, that's it. Well, what's pitch, some of you may be asking? Pitch, technically, is the frequency at which the sound vibrates (sound is actually the result of vibrations in air moving away from the epicenter, since our atmosphere is enclosed and there is limited space, reaching our eardrums [sound technically does not exist without someone to perceive it, and perceptions of such sound may vary, as with color and sight]). The pitches of Western music are A,B,C,D,E,F,G and repeating (there is a limited pitch that humans can hear but I forget it and it's irrelevant, it would only make me look smart and wouldn't help you all that much). The reason these repeat has to do with the frequency they vibrate at, with each octave (next tone of the same letter value, for example high C over middle C) doubling in hertz. So the "standard" A, known as A440, is 440 hertz, with the next octave A being 880 and the previous being 220, and so on.
Within that one octave, there are twelve half steps of equal division. Starting from A, they would be...
A, A#/Bb,C,D,D#/Eb,E,F,F#/Gb,G,G#/Ab,A,etc...
# is standard notation for a "sharp" note, raising it one half step, b means "flat", lowering it one half step, both are subjective to each other, hence A#=Bb, D#=Eb etc. Also, notice that between every note there is a half step, with the exceptions of B to C and E to F. Consequently, B#=C and E#=F, you get the idea. The placement of half steps is VERY important to remember!
PS anyone with a piano or keyboard has an easy map of pitch placement.
-Scales
Standard Western melody is based on modes, the two most common modes, Ionian and Aeolian (as in Aeolus hehe), more commonly known as major and minor scales, respectively. All modes are actually derived from a formula that bases it on interval relationships. Let's look at a C major scale to begin with. For those if you with no knowledge C major is the Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do that you probably know from grade school.
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Here's a good rule to remember-what's true of the key of C major is true for all other major scales. So, looking back, we can see that all steps besides 3to4 and 7to8 are whole steps. Therefore, Any major scale can be derived by starting on your tonic (the note the scale is named after, C is the tonic for C major/minor etc), and proceeding in whole steps except for steps 3to4 and 7to8. Let's try it with another scale.....F will do.
(1)tonic F-(2)whole step to G-(3)whole step to A-(4)HALF step to Bb-(5)whole step to C-(6)whole step to D-(7)whole step to E-(8)half step to F
Simple enough. Notice also how I used to term Bb rather than A# on step 4, that is because in a scale, it is not musically "legal" to use two of the same letter value. This is known as a Diatonic half step. Diatonic means on the scale, or "from the tonic" to be literal, the opposite being Chromatic, which refers to the grand scale. That seems like i iddn't word it so well, so again, Diatonic refers to a specific scale, Chromatic refers to every possible note, not taking scale into account. Is that understandable?
Minor Scales and Interval relationships next.
Now on to
-Minor Scales
As we now know, all scales are derived from a formula. So uhh, here's the minor scale formula! We'll start with A minor, the easiest.
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Notice how it is all natural notes, no sharps or flats just like C major? A Minor is the relative minor scale to C major. This goes into modulation and the Circle of Fifths which is a few posts away, the important thing to know for now is that all scales are related, the details of which you'll see when it applies. Try to find the half step placements........................................ .................................................
If you answered that the half steps are between step 2 and 3, and steps 5 and 6, you were correct and are probably catching on easily enough. Let's try it with another minor scale (Aeolian mode when you're at a party talking about music and being cool), how about D minor, probably my personal favorite scale. "The saddest of all keys" according to Spinal Tap.
(1)tonic D-(2)whole step to E-(3)HALF step to F-(4)whole step to G-(5)whole step to A-(6) half step to Bb (diatonic remember?)-(7) whole step to C-(8) whole step to D
gj, practice this formula, write down all the scales you want for help
Another way of doing a minor scale is simply starting a major scale from the sixth step and going from there with the same setup. This is why A minor is relative key to C major, the note A being the sixth note of the C maj scale.
Notice how the smallest change in half step placement so decidedly changes the entire mood of the scale. This steup is known as the Natural Minor scale, which is the true Aeolian mode, when we get into harmony you may notice that the natural minor presents problems harmonizing, so throughout the ages people have come up with "manmade scales", the harmonic minor and the melodic minor.
The harmonic minor is the same, but with a step 7 raised one chromatic half step. So A harmonic minor is A-B-C-D-E-F-G#-A.
-Interval relationships-consonance and dissonance
This section is kind of hard to just get into, I don't really know where to start. Although this is a bit too general, intervals and chords (for this section just intervals) that sound as if they are more pleasant, conclusive,stable, are consonant. Dissonant intervals and chords sound as if they are left unresolved, tense, wanting to move towards stability. For instance, the rising action in many larger, more epic pieces involves mostly dissonance. The love song with a happy ending is typically consonant. I hate being on the spot to give examples. Why these are perceived this way by 99% of people I have no idea. Let's go back to our A minor scale and look for dissonance and consonance.
A-tonic, neither consonant nor dissonant, the interval matters not the note
B-interval known as a "second", typically very dissonant
C-third, rather consonant
D-fourth, VERY consonant but typically used no more than twice in succession
E-very consonant, used twice in succession in Gregorian chants, not in modern or classical
F-sixth, pretty consonant, has a lullaby sort of sound, harmonizing a sixth down is common
G-seventh, rare to find and very dissonnant but not easy to use harmonically, one of my personal favorites
A-octave, obviously consonant
I hope that was helpful, and remember, it's not the note itself that is dissonant or consonant, it is it's distance from the previous note that makes it that way. mmmok, that's all for now I think cause I have limited time. If this goes well I'll post as much as I can ASAP.
Short lesson on chords. Knowing what we now know about intervals, it would make a bit more sense to tell you how to make chords. Basically, the standard chords are based around thirds, the most common of which is called a triad. Let's refer to our C major again. A third interval from C would be E, and a third from that would be G, which is also a fifth from C! This i the triad, a three note chord based around the third interval. This particular example is a major triad, meaning it uses what is known as a perfect third for the first interval, and a minor third from there, which, again, is a perfect fifth from the root of the chord (the root in this case being C).
So to reiterate here is the FORMULA FOR A MAJOR TRIAD.
Root+major third+minor third
Well, if there is a major triad there must logically be a minor triad as well, right? They are set up very much like major triads but with a small difference.
FORMULA FOR MINOR TRIADS
root+minor third+major third
Oh wait, that would be easy if I had told you what a minor third is compared to a major third. my bad. If you recall that we went over the concept of half steps and whole steps in scale building, that knowledge will be useful once again. A major third consists of 4 half steps, a minor third consists of 3 half steps. Cto C#=1 half step, C# to D=1 half step, D to D#=1 half step, D# to E=1 half step. Recall that E to F and B to C are half steps, unlike the other natural tones and this makes sense in our construction.
There are also two other types of triads available, known as diminished and augmented chords. Diminished is like a super minor chord you could say, augmented like a super major chord.
FORMULA FOR DIMINISHED CHORDS
root+minor third+minor third
you'll find diminished chords in classical music often, though not so much in pop music
FORMULA FOR AUGMENTED CHORDS
root=major third=major third
you'll see these alot in jazz and whole tone scale progressions
which reminds me that I haven't done formulas for other modes and modern scales, I'll get to those next post. First, the seventh chord
It's really pretty simple, especially after knowing how to construct triads. Basically do a triad and add the interval of a seventh from the root at the end. Another way to think of it is to add a major third to the end of the triad. These have a more dissonant sound by using that seventh interval, for some reason I've noticed that guitars seem to make use of triads more (though they are typically inverted, lengthened, or both) and pianos seem to work with sevenths really well. Not a rule or anything, just something I've noticed.
Speaking of inverted chords, it is just doing a chord but not in the sequential order that you're used to. For example, a C major triad on a guitar will consist of C,E,G, just like normal, but with an added C and D on the high end to fill out the sound more. This is still a triad though and, if we remember the short lesson on the hertz value of a pitch, follows the same rules of any other triad.
Modes and modern scales are next. I'd like to know if I'm wasting my time or not so please respond people!
---and they didn't
I figure everyone that will look at this has the potential to learn something and you wouldn't be here if you weren't into music anyway so yea. Kinda spur of the moment so it won't be incredibly well organized, bear with and I'll do what I can when I can.
BASICS
-Melody
A melody is really any sequence of pitches, that's it. Well, what's pitch, some of you may be asking? Pitch, technically, is the frequency at which the sound vibrates (sound is actually the result of vibrations in air moving away from the epicenter, since our atmosphere is enclosed and there is limited space, reaching our eardrums [sound technically does not exist without someone to perceive it, and perceptions of such sound may vary, as with color and sight]). The pitches of Western music are A,B,C,D,E,F,G and repeating (there is a limited pitch that humans can hear but I forget it and it's irrelevant, it would only make me look smart and wouldn't help you all that much). The reason these repeat has to do with the frequency they vibrate at, with each octave (next tone of the same letter value, for example high C over middle C) doubling in hertz. So the "standard" A, known as A440, is 440 hertz, with the next octave A being 880 and the previous being 220, and so on.
Within that one octave, there are twelve half steps of equal division. Starting from A, they would be...
A, A#/Bb,C,D,D#/Eb,E,F,F#/Gb,G,G#/Ab,A,etc...
# is standard notation for a "sharp" note, raising it one half step, b means "flat", lowering it one half step, both are subjective to each other, hence A#=Bb, D#=Eb etc. Also, notice that between every note there is a half step, with the exceptions of B to C and E to F. Consequently, B#=C and E#=F, you get the idea. The placement of half steps is VERY important to remember!
PS anyone with a piano or keyboard has an easy map of pitch placement.
-Scales
Standard Western melody is based on modes, the two most common modes, Ionian and Aeolian (as in Aeolus hehe), more commonly known as major and minor scales, respectively. All modes are actually derived from a formula that bases it on interval relationships. Let's look at a C major scale to begin with. For those if you with no knowledge C major is the Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do that you probably know from grade school.
C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Here's a good rule to remember-what's true of the key of C major is true for all other major scales. So, looking back, we can see that all steps besides 3to4 and 7to8 are whole steps. Therefore, Any major scale can be derived by starting on your tonic (the note the scale is named after, C is the tonic for C major/minor etc), and proceeding in whole steps except for steps 3to4 and 7to8. Let's try it with another scale.....F will do.
(1)tonic F-(2)whole step to G-(3)whole step to A-(4)HALF step to Bb-(5)whole step to C-(6)whole step to D-(7)whole step to E-(8)half step to F
Simple enough. Notice also how I used to term Bb rather than A# on step 4, that is because in a scale, it is not musically "legal" to use two of the same letter value. This is known as a Diatonic half step. Diatonic means on the scale, or "from the tonic" to be literal, the opposite being Chromatic, which refers to the grand scale. That seems like i iddn't word it so well, so again, Diatonic refers to a specific scale, Chromatic refers to every possible note, not taking scale into account. Is that understandable?
Minor Scales and Interval relationships next.
Now on to
-Minor Scales
As we now know, all scales are derived from a formula. So uhh, here's the minor scale formula! We'll start with A minor, the easiest.
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Notice how it is all natural notes, no sharps or flats just like C major? A Minor is the relative minor scale to C major. This goes into modulation and the Circle of Fifths which is a few posts away, the important thing to know for now is that all scales are related, the details of which you'll see when it applies. Try to find the half step placements........................................ .................................................
If you answered that the half steps are between step 2 and 3, and steps 5 and 6, you were correct and are probably catching on easily enough. Let's try it with another minor scale (Aeolian mode when you're at a party talking about music and being cool), how about D minor, probably my personal favorite scale. "The saddest of all keys" according to Spinal Tap.
(1)tonic D-(2)whole step to E-(3)HALF step to F-(4)whole step to G-(5)whole step to A-(6) half step to Bb (diatonic remember?)-(7) whole step to C-(8) whole step to D
gj, practice this formula, write down all the scales you want for help
Another way of doing a minor scale is simply starting a major scale from the sixth step and going from there with the same setup. This is why A minor is relative key to C major, the note A being the sixth note of the C maj scale.
Notice how the smallest change in half step placement so decidedly changes the entire mood of the scale. This steup is known as the Natural Minor scale, which is the true Aeolian mode, when we get into harmony you may notice that the natural minor presents problems harmonizing, so throughout the ages people have come up with "manmade scales", the harmonic minor and the melodic minor.
The harmonic minor is the same, but with a step 7 raised one chromatic half step. So A harmonic minor is A-B-C-D-E-F-G#-A.
-Interval relationships-consonance and dissonance
This section is kind of hard to just get into, I don't really know where to start. Although this is a bit too general, intervals and chords (for this section just intervals) that sound as if they are more pleasant, conclusive,stable, are consonant. Dissonant intervals and chords sound as if they are left unresolved, tense, wanting to move towards stability. For instance, the rising action in many larger, more epic pieces involves mostly dissonance. The love song with a happy ending is typically consonant. I hate being on the spot to give examples. Why these are perceived this way by 99% of people I have no idea. Let's go back to our A minor scale and look for dissonance and consonance.
A-tonic, neither consonant nor dissonant, the interval matters not the note
B-interval known as a "second", typically very dissonant
C-third, rather consonant
D-fourth, VERY consonant but typically used no more than twice in succession
E-very consonant, used twice in succession in Gregorian chants, not in modern or classical
F-sixth, pretty consonant, has a lullaby sort of sound, harmonizing a sixth down is common
G-seventh, rare to find and very dissonnant but not easy to use harmonically, one of my personal favorites
A-octave, obviously consonant
I hope that was helpful, and remember, it's not the note itself that is dissonant or consonant, it is it's distance from the previous note that makes it that way. mmmok, that's all for now I think cause I have limited time. If this goes well I'll post as much as I can ASAP.
Short lesson on chords. Knowing what we now know about intervals, it would make a bit more sense to tell you how to make chords. Basically, the standard chords are based around thirds, the most common of which is called a triad. Let's refer to our C major again. A third interval from C would be E, and a third from that would be G, which is also a fifth from C! This i the triad, a three note chord based around the third interval. This particular example is a major triad, meaning it uses what is known as a perfect third for the first interval, and a minor third from there, which, again, is a perfect fifth from the root of the chord (the root in this case being C).
So to reiterate here is the FORMULA FOR A MAJOR TRIAD.
Root+major third+minor third
Well, if there is a major triad there must logically be a minor triad as well, right? They are set up very much like major triads but with a small difference.
FORMULA FOR MINOR TRIADS
root+minor third+major third
Oh wait, that would be easy if I had told you what a minor third is compared to a major third. my bad. If you recall that we went over the concept of half steps and whole steps in scale building, that knowledge will be useful once again. A major third consists of 4 half steps, a minor third consists of 3 half steps. Cto C#=1 half step, C# to D=1 half step, D to D#=1 half step, D# to E=1 half step. Recall that E to F and B to C are half steps, unlike the other natural tones and this makes sense in our construction.
There are also two other types of triads available, known as diminished and augmented chords. Diminished is like a super minor chord you could say, augmented like a super major chord.
FORMULA FOR DIMINISHED CHORDS
root+minor third+minor third
you'll find diminished chords in classical music often, though not so much in pop music
FORMULA FOR AUGMENTED CHORDS
root=major third=major third
you'll see these alot in jazz and whole tone scale progressions
which reminds me that I haven't done formulas for other modes and modern scales, I'll get to those next post. First, the seventh chord
It's really pretty simple, especially after knowing how to construct triads. Basically do a triad and add the interval of a seventh from the root at the end. Another way to think of it is to add a major third to the end of the triad. These have a more dissonant sound by using that seventh interval, for some reason I've noticed that guitars seem to make use of triads more (though they are typically inverted, lengthened, or both) and pianos seem to work with sevenths really well. Not a rule or anything, just something I've noticed.
Speaking of inverted chords, it is just doing a chord but not in the sequential order that you're used to. For example, a C major triad on a guitar will consist of C,E,G, just like normal, but with an added C and D on the high end to fill out the sound more. This is still a triad though and, if we remember the short lesson on the hertz value of a pitch, follows the same rules of any other triad.
Modes and modern scales are next. I'd like to know if I'm wasting my time or not so please respond people!
---and they didn't
