Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:03 pm
Hello LMMS community! So lately I have noticed that there are many here who don't know there basic theory, and a good portion have expressed a desire to learn, so I thought I would put together a little guide for those of you who would like to learn.
Preface: What will Music theory do for me?
Music theory will give you structure to your design, and a better understanding of how aesthetic sound works. It will bring focus and direction to your inspiration, and give you a better understanding of melody, rhythm, and general song structure.
Index:
Notes:
Above you will see a piano diagram of the different notes. But hey what are the black keys? Those are all Sharps and flats depending on how you note them. For instance, the black key in between A and B can be either A Sharp or it can be B Flat. It just depends on witch note next to it you reference it by. If its the white note higher than it, it's a Flat. If it's the white note lower than it, it's a Sharp.
Note:Typically Sharps are noted by a # and Flats are noted by a lower case b
Steps:
Half-Step: One note up. (eg: A -> A#, E -> F, etc)
Whole-Step: Two notes up, or in other words, two Half-Steps. (eg: A -> B, E -> F#, etc)
Intervals:
Perfect 1st: 0 Half-Steps (Just the root note).
Major 2nd: 2 Half-Steps.
Major 3rd: 4 Half-Steps.
Perfect 4th: 5 Half-Steps.
Perfect 5th: 7 Half-Steps.
Major 6th: 9 Half-Steps.
Major 7th: 11 Half-Steps.
Perfect 8th (Octave): 12 Half Steps.
The terms "Major" and "Perfect" refer to the intervals quality. Only seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can have a major quality. Firsts, fourths, fifths, and eighths use “perfect” instead.
But what about the minor intervals? Those exist too right?
Since minor intervals transform from major intervals; only seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can be “minor”. All you do to create Minor intervals from the Major intervals is subtract 1 Half-Step from them, or in other words, Flat it. Here's a quick reference chart though.
Minor 2nd: 1 Half-Step.
Minor 3rd: 3 Half-Steps.
Minor 6th: 8 Half-Steps.
Minor 7th: 10 Half-Steps.
For further reading on intervals:
https://method-behind-the-music.com/theory/intervals/
2. Scales
A scale is a selection of notes within an octave. There are many different types of scales, however we will only cover the Major Scale and the 3 variations of the Minor Scale.
First, remember our discussion on Whole-Steps and Half-Steps? Well we will be using notation for those here to define our scales.
H: Half-Step.
W: Whole-Step.
The Major Scale:
To build a major Scale you pick a note anywhere on the piano for the scale you want and apply this order of steps from it to build the notes:
Major Scale Formula: W-W-H-W-W-W-H
So for example say we want to build C Major? Here's a nice diagram that shows how you would build it:
The Minor scales:
There are three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic.
Natural Minor:
The natural harmonic is when you play all the notes from a Minor Key (Which we will get too later on).The natural minor scale can be thought of as a major scale with the 3rd 6th and 7th notes lowered by one Half-Step to turn those Major intervals into Minot Intervals like we learned in the previous chapter. Here's the Natural Minor Scale formula:
Minor Scale Formula: W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Here's another pretty diagram of how we would build A Minor:
NOTE: You may notice that aside from starting on A instead of C, the notes in the A minor are the same as in C Major. I picked these 2 on purpose so I could point this out. Inside every Major Scale is a relative Minor. To find the relative Minor of a Major scale, just start on the 6th note of the Major scale and end on the octave of that note playing the same keys as the Major, and there's your relative Minor.
Harmonic Minor:
The Harmonic Minor is the same as the Natural except that the seventh note is raised a Half-Step both ascending and descending.
Melodic Minor:
The Harmonic Minor is the same as the Natural except that the sixth and seventh notes are raised a Half-step when ascending, and descends like the natural minor scale.
Further reading on Scales:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m ... _and_modes
3. Keys
Keys will be simple to explain because most of what would need to be talked about we have already covered in the previous chapter about Scales.
We will cover the 2 main types of keys:
There is much more out there on this topic such as the circle of 5ths witch we will not cover as it is beyond the scope of this guide, but you are welcome to read up on it.
Further reading on Keys:
https://method-behind-the-music.com/the ... esandkeys/
http://www.music-theory-for-musicians.c ... ifths.html
4. Chords P.1 [design, naming, and structure]
A chord is a combination of 2 or more notes played together at the same time. For this section I will be noting there steps differently than in other topics we have discussed. When you make a chord you base it off the scale of the root or in other words tonic you are making the chord from. So I will be saying witch notes from the scale (1st [tonic] -> 8th [octive]) you use to make the scale.
Basic chords:
Major Chord: The major chord is built using the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from the Major scale built on the 1st (Tonic).
Here's a diagram of a C Major Chord:
Minor Chord: Same principal as the Major Chord, but you take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th from the Minor scale built on your 1st note (Tonic).
Here's a diagram of an A Minor Chord:
That's just the basics, for more information on how to build some more of the other tons of chords that exist out there, refer here:
http://www.choose-piano-lessons.com/lea ... hords.html
5. Progressions [progressions]
A chord progression is a sequence of chords repeated threw a piece of music giving the song a type of Harmonic movement.
Once again, notation for chord progressions are different from what we have used thus far. You pick a key, and build chords rooted on any of the notes in that key using only the notes in that key to build a chord progression in a certain key. As you can assume, there are only certain finite amounts of chords that can be made in any given key.
Thus, chord progression are notated using roman numerals referring to the chords root notes placement in the given key being used.
Unless noted differently, you simply take the root note and add a 3rd up from it and a 5th up from it all in the given key. This topic goes much more in depth but for now I will leave you with a chart of some common chord progressions:
Also, many popular songs do used the exact same progressions, this is demonstrated in this, albeit entertaining, video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ
Further reading on chord progressions:
http://www.lotusmusic.com/lm_chordprogressions.html
6. Further Reading and more
Excellent compilation of resources: https://www.dubstepforum.com/forum/view ... 8&t=159713
Hope you enjoyed and learned from this! If any of you have questions or believe you see any errors in my guide, feel free to drop it in the comments, a PM, or ask for my Skype if you'd like to discus further.
Preface: What will Music theory do for me?
Music theory will give you structure to your design, and a better understanding of how aesthetic sound works. It will bring focus and direction to your inspiration, and give you a better understanding of melody, rhythm, and general song structure.
Index:
- Notes, Steps, and Intervals
- Scales
- Keys
- Chords P.1 [design, naming, and structure]
- Chords P.2 [Progressions]
- Further Reading and more
Notes:
Above you will see a piano diagram of the different notes. But hey what are the black keys? Those are all Sharps and flats depending on how you note them. For instance, the black key in between A and B can be either A Sharp or it can be B Flat. It just depends on witch note next to it you reference it by. If its the white note higher than it, it's a Flat. If it's the white note lower than it, it's a Sharp.
Note:Typically Sharps are noted by a # and Flats are noted by a lower case b
Steps:
Half-Step: One note up. (eg: A -> A#, E -> F, etc)
Whole-Step: Two notes up, or in other words, two Half-Steps. (eg: A -> B, E -> F#, etc)
Intervals:
Perfect 1st: 0 Half-Steps (Just the root note).
Major 2nd: 2 Half-Steps.
Major 3rd: 4 Half-Steps.
Perfect 4th: 5 Half-Steps.
Perfect 5th: 7 Half-Steps.
Major 6th: 9 Half-Steps.
Major 7th: 11 Half-Steps.
Perfect 8th (Octave): 12 Half Steps.
The terms "Major" and "Perfect" refer to the intervals quality. Only seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can have a major quality. Firsts, fourths, fifths, and eighths use “perfect” instead.
But what about the minor intervals? Those exist too right?
Since minor intervals transform from major intervals; only seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can be “minor”. All you do to create Minor intervals from the Major intervals is subtract 1 Half-Step from them, or in other words, Flat it. Here's a quick reference chart though.
Minor 2nd: 1 Half-Step.
Minor 3rd: 3 Half-Steps.
Minor 6th: 8 Half-Steps.
Minor 7th: 10 Half-Steps.
For further reading on intervals:
https://method-behind-the-music.com/theory/intervals/
2. Scales
A scale is a selection of notes within an octave. There are many different types of scales, however we will only cover the Major Scale and the 3 variations of the Minor Scale.
First, remember our discussion on Whole-Steps and Half-Steps? Well we will be using notation for those here to define our scales.
H: Half-Step.
W: Whole-Step.
The Major Scale:
To build a major Scale you pick a note anywhere on the piano for the scale you want and apply this order of steps from it to build the notes:
Major Scale Formula: W-W-H-W-W-W-H
So for example say we want to build C Major? Here's a nice diagram that shows how you would build it:
The Minor scales:
There are three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic.
Natural Minor:
The natural harmonic is when you play all the notes from a Minor Key (Which we will get too later on).The natural minor scale can be thought of as a major scale with the 3rd 6th and 7th notes lowered by one Half-Step to turn those Major intervals into Minot Intervals like we learned in the previous chapter. Here's the Natural Minor Scale formula:
Minor Scale Formula: W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Here's another pretty diagram of how we would build A Minor:
NOTE: You may notice that aside from starting on A instead of C, the notes in the A minor are the same as in C Major. I picked these 2 on purpose so I could point this out. Inside every Major Scale is a relative Minor. To find the relative Minor of a Major scale, just start on the 6th note of the Major scale and end on the octave of that note playing the same keys as the Major, and there's your relative Minor.
Harmonic Minor:
The Harmonic Minor is the same as the Natural except that the seventh note is raised a Half-Step both ascending and descending.
Melodic Minor:
The Harmonic Minor is the same as the Natural except that the sixth and seventh notes are raised a Half-step when ascending, and descends like the natural minor scale.
Further reading on Scales:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m ... _and_modes
3. Keys
Keys will be simple to explain because most of what would need to be talked about we have already covered in the previous chapter about Scales.
We will cover the 2 main types of keys:
- Major Keys
- Minor Keys
There is much more out there on this topic such as the circle of 5ths witch we will not cover as it is beyond the scope of this guide, but you are welcome to read up on it.
Further reading on Keys:
https://method-behind-the-music.com/the ... esandkeys/
http://www.music-theory-for-musicians.c ... ifths.html
4. Chords P.1 [design, naming, and structure]
A chord is a combination of 2 or more notes played together at the same time. For this section I will be noting there steps differently than in other topics we have discussed. When you make a chord you base it off the scale of the root or in other words tonic you are making the chord from. So I will be saying witch notes from the scale (1st [tonic] -> 8th [octive]) you use to make the scale.
Basic chords:
Major Chord: The major chord is built using the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from the Major scale built on the 1st (Tonic).
Here's a diagram of a C Major Chord:
Minor Chord: Same principal as the Major Chord, but you take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th from the Minor scale built on your 1st note (Tonic).
Here's a diagram of an A Minor Chord:
That's just the basics, for more information on how to build some more of the other tons of chords that exist out there, refer here:
http://www.choose-piano-lessons.com/lea ... hords.html
5. Progressions [progressions]
A chord progression is a sequence of chords repeated threw a piece of music giving the song a type of Harmonic movement.
Once again, notation for chord progressions are different from what we have used thus far. You pick a key, and build chords rooted on any of the notes in that key using only the notes in that key to build a chord progression in a certain key. As you can assume, there are only certain finite amounts of chords that can be made in any given key.
Thus, chord progression are notated using roman numerals referring to the chords root notes placement in the given key being used.
Unless noted differently, you simply take the root note and add a 3rd up from it and a 5th up from it all in the given key. This topic goes much more in depth but for now I will leave you with a chart of some common chord progressions:
Also, many popular songs do used the exact same progressions, this is demonstrated in this, albeit entertaining, video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ
Further reading on chord progressions:
http://www.lotusmusic.com/lm_chordprogressions.html
6. Further Reading and more
Excellent compilation of resources: https://www.dubstepforum.com/forum/view ... 8&t=159713
Hope you enjoyed and learned from this! If any of you have questions or believe you see any errors in my guide, feel free to drop it in the comments, a PM, or ask for my Skype if you'd like to discus further.
