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Music Theory for Beginners

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Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#41

Post by krig »

Jun8 wrote: post #39
msluyter wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are there seven notes? Is this due to an property of the ear? The 7 tones that make up a major scale are basically a cultural artifact of western music (which goes back to gregorian chant). Other cultures have more/fewer tones. Ditto, for the octave concept, why should it be multiples of two? Can you clarify this question? Octaves result from the natural harmonic series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_seri…

I think an octave up (down) means double (half) the frequency of the tone. The usual explanation, I think, is that the Pythagoreans who invented it found this to be the "most pleasing" ratio. I wonder if there are user studies to back this claim. I am also at such a low level, that part of your explanation just goes over my head, i.e. what is chromatic scale? Wikipedia says: "The chromatic scale is a musical scale wi…

The chromatic scale is basically playing every key, black and white, from one C to the next. Whereas the C major scale is every white key from one C to the next.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#42

Post by presidentender »

icarus_drowning wrote: post #3

I teach Music Theory (and piano) for a living-- this is an excellent introduction to the most practical concepts. I was somewhat disappointed that the OP showed us a C Major scale without really explaining what a "major scale" is-- a collection of whole and half steps-- especially since they used a keyboard as an example, which is laid out in exactly the right pattern for teaching the major scale. (Notice that the bl…

The key-agnostic fretboard is a big part of the reason I enjoy playing guitar.

It's not a perfect tool for the application at hand because of the necessity of separating the second and third strings by a major third instead of a perfect fifth, which would confuse the issue.

However, I think it'd be more convenient to have a graphical representation of the major scale's construction on which a whole step is always clearly a whole step.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#43

Post by mortenjorck »

MrJagil wrote: post #14
jonp wrote: post #6

This is great. Can anyone recommend a "DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)" for Windows? Preferably with at least a free trial version. Thanks.

Reason

Reason is great, but it's not a DAW; it's a synth package. For recording, you'll want to look at Reason's companion product Record.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#44

Post by alexophile »

mycroftiv wrote: post #4
icarus_drowning wrote: post #3

I teach Music Theory (and piano) for a living-- this is an excellent introduction to the most practical concepts. I was somewhat disappointed that the OP showed us a C Major scale without really explaining what a "major scale" is-- a collection of whole and half steps-- especially since they used a keyboard as an example, which is laid out in exactly the right pattern for teaching the major scale. (Notice that the bl…

I'm also a music theorist and educator. I'm interested in your perspective on whether it is a good idea to try to introduce students to the acoustic/mathematical derivation of the scale. To provide context for non-technical readers, the physical basis of harmonic intervals is integer ratios of frequencies, and European tempered tuning systems create scales and chords as a pragmatic adjustment of mathematically pure t…

>whether it is a good idea to try to introduce students to the acoustic/mathematical derivation of the scale

I did this when I was teaching my roommate about theory, but he has a degree in math, so it seemed like the logical approach.

That said, teaching theory is incredibly good practice, so I like to do it whenever possible, and in my experience, the best time to explain the mathematical foundations of music is when they start to ask questions about it. It's like the matrix - if they're not ready for it, it's just too much.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#45

Post by kreek »

Jun8 wrote: post #32

Fascinating read, but definitely not for beginners, at least for people like me, who have difficulty naming the notes (I have to go through "doe a deer..." each time, there are seven of them, right?) My total music illiteracy really annoys me. However, whenever I try to pick up some knowledge I got held back by lots of questions that the usual music student (or teacher for that matter) has never thought about and no…

'Music Theory for Computer Musicians' was very helpful for me. http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Computer-Musicians-Book/d...

There's also a great TV series from England called 'How Music Works' which gives more of a historical background. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnbOWi6f_IM

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#46

Post by ThomPete »

hasenj wrote: post #24
ThomPete wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many ways do divide an octave. Steve Vai created a scale called the Xavian scale wich is dividing the octave by 10. He used in on Deep Down Into The Pain http://www.guitarflame.com/2008/xavian-scale-steve-vais-own-...

I'm thinking about a music application that lets you place tones in arbitrary locations on a continuous line (representing the tone space) and assign them keys on the keyboard.

Something close is

http://www.morphwiz.com/

and

http://misadigital.com/index.php?target=home&lang=en

They are both interesting because they are using touchscreen meaning that they are fretless.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#47

Post by alexophile »

Jun8 wrote: post #32

Fascinating read, but definitely not for beginners, at least for people like me, who have difficulty naming the notes (I have to go through "doe a deer..." each time, there are seven of them, right?) My total music illiteracy really annoys me. However, whenever I try to pick up some knowledge I got held back by lots of questions that the usual music student (or teacher for that matter) has never thought about and no…

People sometimes guffaw at this, but I can't recommend Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEVGQKwKeCc They skip over several centuries of shifting and tweaking between the triad and the modern (western) major scale, but it's a great visual answer at least to your second question.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#48

Post by ThomPete »

bmurphy wrote: post #29
ThomPete wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many ways do divide an octave. Steve Vai created a scale called the Xavian scale wich is dividing the octave by 10. He used in on Deep Down Into The Pain http://www.guitarflame.com/2008/xavian-scale-steve-vais-own-...

That song is terrible (and I love Devin Townsend, the singer).

Of course it's terrible it's using the xavian scale which you are not used to.

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#49

Post by Jun8 »

alexophile wrote: post #47
Jun8 wrote: post #32

Fascinating read, but definitely not for beginners, at least for people like me, who have difficulty naming the notes (I have to go through "doe a deer..." each time, there are seven of them, right?) My total music illiteracy really annoys me. However, whenever I try to pick up some knowledge I got held back by lots of questions that the usual music student (or teacher for that matter) has never thought about and no…

People sometimes guffaw at this, but I can't recommend Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land enough: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEVGQKwKeCc They skip over several centuries of shifting and tweaking between the triad and the modern (western) major scale, but it's a great visual answer at least to your second question.

Funtastic! On behalf of HN, I award you, sir, with the best link posting of the day award!

Re: Music Theory for Beginners

#50

Post by gtani »

ThomPete wrote: post #46
hasenj wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm thinking about a music application that lets you place tones in arbitrary locations on a continuous line (representing the tone space) and assign them keys on the keyboard.

Something close is http://www.morphwiz.com/ and http://misadigital.com/index.php?target=home&lang=en They are both interesting because they are using touchscreen meaning that they are fretless.

Cool. I've started fretless bass, and reading about accommodations you make for playing with e.g. vocalists who run flat more often than sharp, or upper register of piano that are sharp.
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