Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
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Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#2Anyone wanting to take things back a step further to first principles may enjoy this (shameless plug - I wrote it)
Deriving the piano keyboard from biological principles using clustering (Jupyter)
https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/JupyterNotes/piano....
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#3> Modes are essentially left-rotations of a scale.
While true, I find this interpretation harmful to the understanding of modes. It didn't provide me with any insight and instead it seemed irregular to the other theoretical constructs we have and thus deterred and misled me in the beginning.
To me, it all clicked when I took all the modes, except Lydian, and constructed them by putting down the augmentations to the major scale in a circle-of-fifths sorted way:
Mixolydian: b7, Dorian: b7 b3, Aeolian: b7 b3 b6, ...
You can see that the modes appear walking left on the circle of fifths or walking along fourths (or going "darker", as some prefer to say). Try this out when starting at e.g. C and you see the pattern immediately.
Then take Lydian: #4
That's going right on the circle of fifths or going in fifths going "brighter".
Also, tangential comment: My music and my life has changed profoundly when I found out how to use the Lydian mode. I can't explain it, but it is just exciting.
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#4“ For historical reasons, there are no sharps or flats between the notes B/C, and E/F.”
Mmmm yes, and that’s also a bit confusing because it dodges around why the scale was and is 7 notes to begin with.
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#5I wonder if there is a scripting environment where I describe a chord progression in one thread, a lead voice in another and run them simultaneously, written entirely in code as a single file (or 2 files for parts + 1 for importing those).
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#6I wonder if there is a scripting environment where I describe a chord progression in one thread, a lead voice in another and run them simultaneously, written entirely in code as a single file (or 2 files for parts + 1 for importing those).
You might want to try Sonic Pi, which pairs Ruby with the SuperCollider synthesizer engine: https://sonic-pi.net/
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#7I wonder if there is a scripting environment where I describe a chord progression in one thread, a lead voice in another and run them simultaneously, written entirely in code as a single file (or 2 files for parts + 1 for importing those).
You might want to try Sonic Pi, which pairs Ruby with the SuperCollider synthesizer engine: https://sonic-pi.net/
It will work in Sonic Pi, but I’m looking at ways to make the voice leading of chords more intelligent. At the moment it will voice chords in root position unless you specify otherwise. I’m also looking at writing a parser so the chord symbols can be written naturally as a string
Edit: I’m on the Sonic Pi core team. I mean that I’m looking to add these features to sonic pi soon
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#8“ For historical reasons, there are no sharps or flats between the notes B/C, and E/F.” Mmmm yes, and that’s also a bit confusing because it dodges around why the scale was and is 7 notes to begin with.
Coincidentally there are no commonly used scales or modes with two consecutive semitones. The semitone gaps are always spaced out. With 11 notes (excluding the octave), that only leaves 4 possibilities for a 7 note scale if you remove rotations. These correspond to major, harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major. It’s easy to prove with pencil and paper concentrating on c to c
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#9Anyone wanting to take things back a step further to first principles may enjoy this (shameless plug - I wrote it) Deriving the piano keyboard from biological principles using clustering (Jupyter) https://fiftysevendegreesofrad.github.io/JupyterNotes/piano....
> If you hear a sound of frequency f and others of frequency 2f, 3f, etc then there's a good chance these sounds come from the same object, due to the physical principle of resonance. And so our perception of sound evolved to reflect this...
Wow that's interesting enough to share as a standalone post, so I took the liberty! Thanks for the link!
Re: Basic Music Theory in ~200 Lines of Python
#10> Modes are essentially left-rotations of a scale. While true, I find this interpretation harmful to the understanding of modes. It didn't provide me with any insight and instead it seemed irregular to the other theoretical constructs we have and thus deterred and misled me in the beginning. To me, it all clicked when I took all the modes, except Lydian, and constructed them by putting down the augmentations to the m…
Oddly, for me it was the opposite!
I used to be confused on why modes required modifying certain notes from a major scale until I tried deriving them in the way shown in the article.
Of course, once you understand that, the way you go about memorizing and practicing is probably easier the way you described; that is, deriving modes in any given key by modifying notes of the major scale using the circle of fifths.