Music Theory Basics - Revision history

Meambobbo at 03:26, 8 October 2015

2015-10-08T03:26:09Z

Meambobbo: /* Other Major Keys */

2015-07-18T19:28:12Z

‎Other Major Keys

Meambobbo: /* Enharmonic Notes */

2015-07-18T19:25:47Z

‎Enharmonic Notes

Meambobbo at 18:55, 18 July 2015

2015-07-18T18:55:07Z

Meambobbo: /* Sharps and Flats */

2015-06-14T17:43:33Z

‎Sharps and Flats

Meambobbo: /* Sharps and Flats */

2015-06-14T17:42:32Z

‎Sharps and Flats

Meambobbo at 17:41, 14 June 2015

2015-06-14T17:41:06Z

Meambobbo at 00:34, 12 June 2015

2015-06-12T00:34:29Z

Meambobbo: /* Homework */

2015-04-03T15:10:17Z

‎Homework

Meambobbo: /* Melody */

2015-03-17T03:24:58Z

‎Melody

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 Again, melody can get insanely complex...so what's our simple framework?  Really, it's the same frameworks as harmony and rhythm.  We take a subset of all possible frequencies and give them note names, and restrict them to 12 possibilities, with only 7 being "active" for a particular key or scale.  Note duration is restricted to a common set, based around beats.
-The big divergence from harmony is that pitch between octaves has significance.  So, for example, if we take a common A minor ascending scale starting at A<sub>2</sub> (110 HZ) as our melody; our last note should be A<sub>3</sub> (220 HZ).  Here is the example melody: A<sub>2</sub>, B<sub>2</sub>, C<sub>3</sub>, D<sub>3</sub>, E<sub>3</sub>, F<sub>3</sub>, G<sub>3</sub>, A<sub>3</sub>.  This makes sure each note has an ascending pitch compared to the prior note's pitch.  Similarly, A<sub>2</sub>, B<sub>3</sub>, C<sub>4</sub>, D<sub>5</sub>, E<sub>6</sub>, F<sub>7</sub>, G<sub>8</sub>, A<sub>9</sub> is not the same melody, despite having all the same note names.  It will sound much different to the listener.  Ranges of notes grouped by pitch are called '''registers'''.
+The big divergence from harmony is that pitch between octaves has significance.  So, for example, if we take a common A minor ascending scale starting at A<sub>2</sub> (110 Hz) as our melody; our last note should be A<sub>3</sub> (220 Hz).  Here is the example melody: A<sub>2</sub>, B<sub>2</sub>, C<sub>3</sub>, D<sub>3</sub>, E<sub>3</sub>, F<sub>3</sub>, G<sub>3</sub>, A<sub>3</sub>.  This makes sure each note has an ascending pitch compared to the prior note's pitch.  Similarly, A<sub>2</sub>, B<sub>3</sub>, C<sub>4</sub>, D<sub>5</sub>, E<sub>6</sub>, F<sub>7</sub>, G<sub>8</sub>, A<sub>9</sub> is not the same melody, despite having all the same note names.  It will sound much different to the listener.  Ranges of notes grouped by pitch are called '''registers'''.
 The melody stands out from the harmony by having louder volume or by being played in higher pitches.  It typically has a less uniform or more complex rhythm than the rhythm accompaniment (consider a vocal melody compared to a drum beat).
@@ Line 133: / Line 133: @@
 | 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13
 |-
-! Frequency in HZ
+! Frequency in Hz
 | 110.0 || 116.5|| 123.5|| 130.8|| 138.6|| 146.8|| 155.6|| 164.8|| 174.6|| 185.0|| 196.0|| 208.0||220.0
 |-
@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 '''This matches the frets on the fretboard.'''  The 12th fret is the same note as the open string, just an octave higher.  Notice the 12th fret is exactly the middle of the string.  All the frets between the nut and 12th fret are spaced such that each fret is ~5.946% higher-pitched than the previous fret.
-These pitches are named using the letters A-G.  You may notice that is only 7 letters - the other 5 can be expressed using [[#Sharps and Flats|sharp or flat]] symbols next to some of the letter names, covered below.  It is customary to define the "A" note to a specific frequency, with the standard being A = 440 HZ.  This determines the pitches of the other notes, given that they are all equidistant within an octave.  Certain compositions may call for aligning the notes to different frequencies (A = 442 HZ); however, this will not change the ''relative'' pitch between notes, which is our primary concern in terms of the art of music.  Whether a melody is played with A = 440 HZ or A = 442 HZ will have the same emotional impact on the listener.
+These pitches are named using the letters A-G.  You may notice that is only 7 letters - the other 5 can be expressed using [[#Sharps and Flats|sharp or flat]] symbols next to some of the letter names, covered below.  It is customary to define the "A" note to a specific frequency, with the standard being A = 440 Hz.  This determines the pitches of the other notes, given that they are all equidistant within an octave.  Certain compositions may call for aligning the notes to different frequencies (A = 442 Hz); however, this will not change the ''relative'' pitch between notes, which is our primary concern in terms of the art of music.  Whether a melody is played with A = 440 Hz or A = 442 Hz will have the same emotional impact on the listener.
 {|class="wikitable"
@@ Line 148: / Line 148: @@
 | 1 (A) || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 (A)
 |-
-! A = 440 HZ
+! A = 440 Hz
 | 110.0 || 116.5|| 123.5|| 130.8|| 138.6|| 146.8|| 155.6|| 164.8|| 174.6|| 185.0|| 196.0|| 208.0||220.0
 |-
-! A = 442 HZ
+! A = 442 Hz
 | 110.5 || 117.1|| 124.0|| 131.4|| 139.2|| 147.5|| 156.3|| 165.6|| 175.4|| 185.8|| 196.9|| 208.6||221.0
 |-
@@ Line 179: / Line 179: @@
 | A || B{{b}} || '''B''' || '''C''' || D{{b}} || D || E{{b}} || '''E''' || '''F''' || G{{b}} || G || A{{b}} || A
 |-
-! Frequency in HZ
+! Frequency in Hz
 | 110.0 || 116.5|| 123.5|| 130.8|| 138.6|| 146.8|| 155.6|| 164.8|| 174.6|| 185.0|| 196.0|| 207.7||220.0
 |}

@@ Line 311: / Line 311: @@
 }}
-Each major scale has the same quality as every other.  C Major will sound like C{{sharp}} Major will sound like A Major; they just start on different notes.  It doesn't matter that C Major has no sharps or flats while C# Major is all sharps (C{{sharp}} D{{sharp}} E{{sharp}} F{{sharp}} G{{sharp}} A{{sharp}} B{{sharp}}) and A Major has 3 sharps (A B C{{sharp}} D E F{{sharp}} G{{sharp}}).  What matters is the whole-tone/semi-tone relationships between notes:
+Each major scale has the same quality as every other.  C Major will sound like C{{sharp}} Major will sound like A Major; they just start on different notes.  It doesn't matter that C Major has no sharps or flats while C{s} Major is all sharps (C{{sharp}} D{{sharp}} E{{sharp}} F{{sharp}} G{{sharp}} A{{sharp}} B{{sharp}}) and A Major has 3 sharps (A B C{{sharp}} D E F{{sharp}} G{{sharp}}).  What matters is the whole-tone/semi-tone relationships between notes:
   |--w--|--w--|-h|--w--|--w--|--w--|-h|

@@ Line 204: / Line 204: @@
 * C = D{{db}} = E{{db}}{{db}} = G{{db}}{{db}}{{db}}{{b}}
-* C = B{{s}} = A{{ds}}{{s}} = G {{ds}}{{ds}}{{s}}
+* C = B{{s}} = A{{ds}}{{s}} = G{{ds}}{{ds}}{{s}}
 {{top}}

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 {{Beginner Lesson Crumbs|5}}
-Music is the art of sound.  From an objective standpoint, there is no good music or bad music, no happy music or sad music.  However, music can be subjectively evaluated.  Is it pleasing to listen to?  Does it inspire the ideas and emotions the composer/performer sought to communicate?  Thus, there are good musicians and bad ones.  Good ones understand that sound has objective properties, knows how to manipulate these properties, and puts this knowledge into action.  The composer must know way more than I can cover here.  The performer must be able to play his instrument with the desired technique.
+Music is the art of sound.  From an objective standpoint, there is no good music or bad music, no happy music or sad music.  However, music can be subjectively evaluated.  Is it pleasing to listen to?  Does it inspire the ideas and emotions the composer/performer sought to communicate?  Thus, there are good musicians and bad ones.  Good ones understand that sound has objective properties, knows how to manipulate these properties, and puts this knowledge into action.  The composer must know way more than I can cover here.  The performer must be able to understand his instrument and play with purpose and direction.
 == 4 Basic Elements of Music ==

@@ Line 188: / Line 188: @@
 {{sharp}} or '#' means '''sharp'''.  {{flat}} or 'b' means '''flat'''.  These terms indicate the named note is raised or lowered one semi-tone, respectively.  Looking back at the chromatic scale above, we now see that either a sharped version of the note below or the flatted version of the note above fills in the gaps between the notes without such symbols.
-Multiple sharps and flats can be used, and there are special symbols for double sharp {{Double Sharp}} and double flat {{Double Flat}}.  For example, A{{Double Flat}} is 2 semi-tones below A.  A{{Double Flat}} corresponds to the same pitch as G.  Similarly, G{{sharp}} is the same pitch as A{{flat}}, and B{{sharp}} is the same pitch as C.  For our purposes, we are unlikely to deal with double (or more) sharps or flats.  But it's important to understand what they are to remove some of the mystique from them.
+Multiple sharps and flats can be used, and there are special symbols for '''double sharp''' {{Double Sharp}} and '''double flat''' {{Double Flat}}.  For example, A{{Double Flat}} is 2 semi-tones below A.  A{{Double Flat}} corresponds to the same pitch as G.  Similarly, G{{sharp}} is the same pitch as A{{flat}}, and B{{sharp}} is the same pitch as C.  For our purposes, we are unlikely to deal with double (or more) sharps or flats.  But it's important to understand what they are to remove some of the mystique from them.
 We can even represent the entire 12-tone scale in terms of a single note, using flats and sharps:

@@ Line 188: / Line 188: @@
 {{sharp}} or '#' means '''sharp'''.  {{flat}} or 'b' means '''flat'''.  These terms indicate the named note is raised or lowered one semi-tone, respectively.  Looking back at the chromatic scale above, we now see that either a sharped version of the note below or the flatted version of the note above fills in the gaps between the notes without such symbols.
-Multiple sharps and flats can be used.  For example, A{{flat}}{{flat}} is 2 semi-tones below A.  A{{flat}}{{flat}} corresponds to the same pitch as G.  Similarly, G{{sharp}} is the same pitch as A{{flat}}, and B{{sharp}} is the same pitch as C.  For our purposes, we are unlikely to deal with double (or more) sharps or flats.  But it's important to understand what they are to remove some of the mystique from them.
+Multiple sharps and flats can be used, and there are special symbols for double sharp {{double sharp}} and double flat {{double flat}}.  For example, A{{double flat}} is 2 semi-tones below A.  A{{double flat}} corresponds to the same pitch as G.  Similarly, G{{sharp}} is the same pitch as A{{flat}}, and B{{sharp}} is the same pitch as C.  For our purposes, we are unlikely to deal with double (or more) sharps or flats.  But it's important to understand what they are to remove some of the mystique from them.
 We can even represent the entire 12-tone scale in terms of a single note, using flats and sharps:
@@ Line 195: / Line 195: @@
 | A ||  A{{sharp}} ||B  ||C  ||C{{sharp}} ||D  ||D{{sharp}} ||E  ||F  ||F{{sharp}} ||G  ||G{{sharp}}
 |-
-| D{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}} ||  D{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}} || D{{flat}}{{flat}}{{flat}} || D{{flat}}{{flat}} || D{{flat}} ||D  ||D{{sharp}} ||D{{sharp}}{{sharp}} ||D{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}} ||D{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}} ||D{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}  ||D{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}{{sharp}}
+| D{{db}}{{db}}{{b}} ||  D{{db}}{{db}} || D{{db}}{{b}} || D{{db}} || D{{b}} ||D  ||D{{s}} ||D{{ds}} ||D{{ds}}{{s}} ||D{{ds}}{{ds}} ||D{{ds}}{{ds}}{{s}}  ||D{{ds}}{{ds}}{{ds}}
 |}
@@ Line 203: / Line 203: @@
 Two notes are '''enharmonic''' if they have the same pitch but are spelled differently.  For example, B and C{{b}} are enharmonic, as are B{{s}} and C.  As noted above, notes can have multiple sharp/flat symbols, which gives us a wide variety of enharmonic notes.
-* C = D{{b}}{{b}} = E{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}{{b}} = G{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}{{b}}
+* C = D{{db}} = E{{db}}{{db}} = G{{db}}{{db}}{{db}}{{b}}
-* C = B{{s}} = A{{s}}{{s}}{{s}} = G {{s}}{{s}}{{s}}{{s}}{{s}}
+* C = B{{s}} = A{{ds}}{{s}} = G {{ds}}{{ds}}{{s}}
 {{top}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:34, 12 June 2015
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Top-Level Crumbs\|1}}		{{Top-Level Crumbs\|1}}
		+	{{Lesson Crumbs\|1}}
	{{Beginner Lesson Crumbs\|5}}		{{Beginner Lesson Crumbs\|5}}

@@ Line 343: / Line 343: @@
 * Go listen to some music, trying to identify with each of the four basic elements of music: rhythm, harmony, melody, and timbre.
 * Listen to a song while only focusing on one of the following: the melody, the drum-beat, the bass line, and accompanying chords.
 * Know that the pitch 2x any pitch is its octave.
 * Know that Western music is based upon the 12-tone scale - 12 equal divisions within one octave (excluding the octave itself).
@@ Line 350: / Line 348: @@
 * Be sure to know what half and whole steps are.
 * Be sure to know that sharps and flats ({{s}} and {{f}}) raise or lower the pitch of the indicated note by a half-step.
 * ''Do not'' start trying to memorize that the key of A has 3 sharps.  It will not do you any good at this point.
 * The only thing you should ''start'' to memorize at this point is the layout of the major scale - whole whole half whole whole whole half.