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Music Theory Basics

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[[Guitar Parts and Functions|Parts]]

[[Holding the Guitar and Pick|Playing]]

== Rhythm ==

<div class="item-wrap"><div class="trail dblue"> [[#Rhythm|Rhythm]] [[#Harmony|Harmony]] [[#Melody|Melody]] [[#Timbre|Timbre]] [[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]] [[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]] [[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]] [[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]] [[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]] [[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]] </div></div>''Rhythm'' is a pattern o#Analysis of the Major Scalef sound over time. This can be a single note sustained infinitely, a drum beat, dynamic accents in a melody, etc. The vast majority of compositions seek to establish some sense of order in rhythm. Thus, most songs are locked to a specific ''tempo'' and ''time signature''. Tempo establishes how many regular intervals of time (or beats) should occur within a certain period of time, usually a minute. A common tempo is 120 beats per minute (bpm). This means there are 120 equal intervals of time per minute. Each beat will contain the standard minumum of controlled sound. For example, a drummer may play one stroke per beat, or a guitarist may strum a chord once per beat. Of course, doing the same thing every beat is boring. Master musicians know how to play "around" the beat, "off-beat", across several beats, or even subdivide a beat. But the point is that '''tempo provides a framework in time to create order''' - the listener does not feel lost, and a band or orchestra consisting of numerous instruments can simultize their playing to create a unified whole. #HomeworkTime signatures describe ~~the~~ #Q/Athe number of beats per measure, where each measure is basically a musical idea, although this is a very loose concept. Most modern music is 4/4. That's 4 beats per measure with each beat represented by a 1/4 note. A guitarist may play each chord for one measure, strumming each beat. A drummer may play a repeating pattern every measure, with at least one stroke per beat. #Related Lessons

Consider a common drum pattern in 4/4 - boom ssss taah ssss boom ssss taah ssss. The musical idea repeats every 4 beats. Now 3/4 - boom ssss taah boom ssss taah. The musical idea repeats every 3 beats. We could play the first pattern in 3/4 or the 2nd in 4/4, but the pattern won't fit neatly inside each measure, appearing more complex than it actually is.

== Harmony ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

''Harmony'' is the pattern of how frequencies interact. Most natural sounds are relatively noisy - they contain a random selection of frequencies. The true definition of noise is sound with equal distribution of all audible frequencies. Consider an untuned radio or TV, which produces white noise - you cannot "zero-in" on any particular frequency, although your brain may try. Noise is chaos, and all true noise is undifferentiatable from other true noise, regardless of its source. Conversely, a pure frequency is represented by a sine wave. Again, this is more easily understood by our minds - we can recognize it easily and even recreate it vocally. But of course it is boring. Popular instruments do not create a pure, single frequency, but a multitude of frequencies (and noise). This is discussed further in timbre below. But most instruments are designed to create notes, which are based around a fundamental frequency. This frequency is the most prominent and recognizable. Harmony is concerned mostly with the interaction of these fundamental frequencies.

== Melody ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

''Melody'' is very similar to harmony, but more concerned with sequences of single notes over time than with the combination of multiple notes. Again, it is very difficult to conceptualize harmony and melody as completely separate entities. Melodies are the lines to our favorite songs we sing - a melody can tend in a particular direction, finding resolution, having accents. It doesn't require harmony, although harmony often gives it its context.

== Timbre ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

''Timbre'' is the quality of a particular sound. It is why a horn sounds like a horn and a violin a violin. Musical instruments tend to focus on sounding particular frequencies, but not necessarily. For example, drums are not designed to focus as much on frequency as the general sound they create. Some instruments are noisier than others. Some have more overtones than others. Some can have a soft attack or even swell slowly louder until reaching full volume, while others might have a very noticeable, percussive attack. Some may sustain forever (synth). Some may decay immediately (sitar).

== Applied to Guitar ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

Guitar is such a popular instrument because of its extreme versatility. It can be percussive and rhythmic (funk playing). It can play rich harmonies, with up to 6 simultaneous notes. It has a large range, able to play most melodies. There are a wide range of techniques to embellish traditional playing. The angle you hold the pick and where you pick the strings can affect the tone. The type of pick you use. Finger picking. And then there are loads of different effects, such as compression, volume pedals, wah pedals, distortion, delay, reverb, modulation, pitch shifting, and synth filters, that expand even further upon this. Guitar fits into band contexts as well as being sufficient for solo compositions. It can perform the work of many different instruments, reducing the size of bands, allowing such bands to play smaller and different shows.

== Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

We all know the sound of the common major scale: ''Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do''. Really it's like a short little melody. But where did it come from? Why are the frequencies chosen what they are? These are really, really big questions. It involves some serious music history, psychoacoustics, math, and conscious design. I feel they are important to answer, but it's still too early. For now, we need to understand simply that it works. If we sing Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti, we feel the tension. Where's that final Do? Similarly, if we just sing Do Re Mi, we want to keep going to the Fa; then it feels ok to end. The tension is at least partially resolved. We can also end on the So.

== The Chromatic Scale ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

The chromatic scale, or 12 tone scale, is basically made by dividing the frequency range that is covered by an octave into 12 equal pieces (on a logarithmic scale). Each dividing point is a note on the scale. Since the octave note already occurs as the root note, we are left with 12 distinct note values (A, A{{sharp}}, B, C, C{{sharp}}, D, D{{sharp}}, E, F, F{{sharp}}, G, G{{sharp}}). '''Notice that there is no B{{sharp}} or E{{sharp}}'''. This has nothing to do with frequency - it is a convention in note naming. E - F spans the same frequency range as A - A{{sharp}}.

== Semi-tones and Whole-tones ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

The "distance" from one note to the next in the chromatic scale is called a ''semi-tone'' or ''half-tone''. So A - A{{sharp}} or E - F is one semi-tone. A ''whole-tone'' is 2 semi-tones. So A - B is a whole-tone, just as A - A{{sharp}} and A{{sharp}} - B are two semi-tones.

== Sharps and Flats ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

{{sharp}} or '#' means ''sharp''. {{flat}} or 'b' means ''flat''. These terms indicate the named note is raised or lowered one semi-tone. 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 frequency as G. Similarly, G{{sharp}} is the same frequency as A{{flat}}, and B{{sharp}} is the same frequency 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.

== The Major Scale ==

[[#Rhythm|Rhythm]]

[[#Harmony|Harmony]]

[[#Melody|Melody]]

[[#Timbre|Timbre]]

[[#Applied to Guitar|Guitar]]

[[#Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do|Do Re Mi]]

[[#The Chromatic Scale|Chrom. Scale]]

[[#Semi-tones and Whole-tones|Half/Whole Tones]]

[[#Sharps and Flats|{{s}}s and {{b}}s]]

[[#The Major Scale|Major Scale]]

</div>

The ''major scale'' is composed of the following whole/half step pattern: (w w h w w w h). So we start on the root note. We add +1 whole step to get the 2nd note, another +1 whole step for the 3rd note, +1 half step for the 4th, +1 whole step for 5th, +1 whole step for 6th, and +1 whole step for the 7th. Another +1 half step gets us to the octave of the root note (the octave is the 8th note in the common 7 note scales). Again, that's 2 whole steps, 1 half step, 3 whole steps, and another half step. Below is the chromatic scale starting on C, then the C Major scale. The h's represent half steps (semi-tones) and the w's represent whole steps. The chromatic scale consists of 12 semi-tones.

[[Guitar Parts and Functions|Parts]]

[[Holding the Guitar and Pick|Playing]]

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Music Theory Basics

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