Scales and emotions See also a post about making chords from scales. So maybe you want to write a song or an instrumental in a particular mood or style, and you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the scales. Here’s a handy guide to the commonly used scales in Western pop, rock, jazz, blues and so on. Click each image to play the scale right in your browser with the aQWERTYon. These scales have a major third (E in the key of C), which makes them feel happy or bright. Major scale Happy; can be majestic or sentimental when slow. Mixolydian mode Bluesy, rock; can also be exotic/modal. Lydian mode Ethereal, dreamy, futuristic. Lydian dominant mode Also known as the overtone scale or acoustic scale, because it is close to the first seven pitches in the natural overtone series. Phrygian dominant mode Exotic, Middle Eastern, Jewish. Harmonic major scale Majestic, mysterious. These scales have a flat third (E-flat in the key of C), which gives them a darker and more tragic feel. Natural minor scale (Aeolian mode) Dorian mode
Essential Chord Progressions - Free Chords for Players of Guitar and Piano, and for Songwriters Harmonic Progressions | Learning and Loving Music Theory - StumbleUpon Kelvin, You actually caught a mistake on the roman numerals! Thanks, I’ll have to fix that. The first and last chords of the progression are not 7th chords. Somehow I inadvertently typed “I7″ on the first chord of all the major keys. (Notice that I didn’t do that for the minor keys.) In the classical tradition, for the sake of stability, the first and last chords of a circle-of-fifths progression are usually triads, not 7th chords. Harmonic Sequences Part 2 In the jazz tradition all chords usually are 7ths, in which case the progression will start and end with 7th chords. Thanks again for your interest and input.
Music Theory & Ear Training Free Music Theory Worksheets! Material on this page is free.NEW! you can now consult an index of terms used in these worksheets.Also explore a page of worksheet extras: Worksheet Answers, Test Templates and Flash Presentations. Here are some testimonials from music teachers about these workbook chapters: I have been using your fantastic music theory sheets and PDF downloads to teach high school piano theory to 28 students per class, all of whom are at different levels of study and accomplishment. Your method is comprehensive and easily accessible to students of all ages. What a great philanthropist and talented musician you are and it is indeed a pleasure to have discovered that I can thank you (in person) on Facebook ... I am excited about the way my students have received this material. Joyce T. Hi, I am a High School teacher in California and I found your Theory Website. Material on this page is free.NEW! Here are some testimonials from music teachers about these workbook chapters: Joyce T.
stereomood – emotional internet radio - music for my mood and activities Chord Progressions Chord progressions are the canvas on which musicians paint their masterpieces, and it’s a canvas which is a piece of art in itself. A chord progression can be subtle and in the background or it can be blatant and up front; it can be simple and catchy, or it can be technical and complex, it can stay in one key or it can change like the seasons. In any of these cases a chord progression is what drives the song as it literally shapes the music that accompanies it. Chord progressions are like a cozy home where melody and rhythm can kick their feet up. All the songwriting giants, like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Bob Dylan, to name a few, have/had a tremendous knowledge of the art of the chord progression. I’m not going to promise you tremendous knowledge, but I will offer you a good head start in the way of making your own music – in an easily digestible chunk to boot. Chord Progression Guide Major Chord Chart Above is a chord chart for the 7 most used keys. Chord Theory
eMusicTheory.com: teach and learn music theory from anywhere Dry The River: An Oasis Of Calm Amid The Feedback Know Every Note on the Guitar in 9 Days | Deft Digits Guitar Lessons Knowing every note on the guitar is a challenge unique to the instrument. A saxophone has only one way to finger each note, while a guitar usually has a few different strings and four fingers to choose from. String a few notes together and the permutations of how to play them will wreck your brain. The challenge with navigating the guitar fretboard is its two-dimensional layout. Why Know the Whole Fretboard? If you don’t know every single note on the guitar cold, without hesitation, then I highly recommend taking a little time to get that under your belt. The primary advantage to knowing every note on the fretboard is in creation. If you haven’t started playing yet, come back to this after you’ve learned some music. Day 1: Open Strings From low to high (in pitch), thickest to thinnest, ceiling to floor:E A D G B E Know your open strings like you know your alphabet. Day 2: Structure of the C Major Scale The C major scale is the only major scale without any sharps or flats. Conclusion
Music Theory Musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers. Although today composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of each aspect of music (harmony, melody, form, rhythm, and timbre), according to Jean Benjamin de Laborde (1780): Composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. Musical compositions[edit] A piece of music exists in the form of a composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance or recorded track). Composition as musical form[edit] Composing music[edit] Methods Another method involves free playing of your desired instrument. As technology progresses, new and inventive methods of music composition come about. Structure Composers may decide to divide their music into sections. In the U.S.
Counterpoint General principles[edit] It is hard to write a beautiful song. It is harder to write several individually beautiful songs that, when sung simultaneously, sound as a more beautiful polyphonic whole. In the modern period, polytonality and atonality were introduced. Development[edit] Species counterpoint[edit] In 1725 Johann Joseph Fux published Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassus), in which he described five species: Note against note;Two notes against one;Four (extended by others to include three, or six, etc.) notes against one;Notes offset against each other (as suspensions);All the first four species together, as "florid" counterpoint. A succession of later theorists quite closely imitated Fux's seminal work, often with some small and idiosyncratic modifications in the rules. Considerations for all species[edit] The following rules apply to melodic writing in each species, for each part: And, in all species, the following rules govern the combination of the parts: First species[edit]