Introduction To Music Theory

This Section will give you a basic introduction to the general rules that are the basis for music all over the world. While many people devote their lives and careers to music theory and millions of pages have been written about the subject, this will only give you what you need to understand the fundamentals.

The Notes Of Music

There are only 12 different notes that make up the building blocks of any song you have ever heard. Even music from cultures that were previously considered to have a separate music systems have been studied and found to use the 12 note system. These 12 notes create what is known as a chromatic scale and, apart from bending strings, these are really your only options to hit on the mandolin. C, C# (Db), D, D# (Eb), E, F, F# (Gb), G, G# (Ab), A, A# (Bb), and B. It is important to note that the "#" symbol is pronounced "sharp" and the "b" symbol is pronounced "flat". For example, D# is the note above D and the note below E. Eb is the same note as D# simply with a different name. In most circumstances, however, we refer to the note above C as C#, not Db, and the note above F as F#, not Gb, though either way is theoretically acceptable. In the same sense, the note above D is referred to as Eb, and the note above A is referred to as Bb. Each of these notes are (effectively) the same distance apart from one to the next. In reality, D# is 6% higher than D and E is 6% higher than D# and so on. these numbers are not exact, as they have been altered so that the octaves match up. The distance between two notes that are one fret apart is called a half step or a semitone, the distance between two notes that are two frets apart is called a whole step or a tone. I prefer to use the terms half step (HS) and whole step (WS) An octave is a note that sounds the same as another note but twice as high. Once you go through the chromatic scale starting, for example, on G, you have the following scale. G, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, F#... But then what? Well, you get G again, but twice as high as the G you started on. The distance between these two notes is called an octave.

Scales
If you play all twelve of these notes on the mandolin in succession, it won't sound like much. That's because the song we have heard all our lives have not included all twelve notes and our brains don't like to hear it. Our brains have become accustomed to other scales. Most of the scales we hear in music from the past and present usually only have 7 different notes, sometimes only 5. The first note of a scale is called the root. The major scale, which is usually described as "happy" is played: Root, WS, WS, ST, WS, WS, WS, ST (octave) 1 Gabriel 2012

While the minor scale, which is usually describes as "sad" is played: Root, WS, ST, WS, WS, ST, WS, WS (octave) The C scale is unique in the sense that when you play the C major scale, there are no sharps or flats, just C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Likewise, the A minor scale has no sharps or flats. Because of this, A minor is known as the relative minor of C. In the case of G major and E minor, they both have one sharp (F#), Making E minor the relative minor of G major.

Intervals
In music, an interval is the distance between two notes. We can count simple intervals by simply starting with the root and counting up to the note in question through the scale of the root. For example, the interval between a C and an A would be calculated in the following manner: C (1), D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5), A (6) So now we know that the interval from C to A is a 6th. However, musicians like to make things complicated, so there is more to the question. The way to calculate the more precise interval is to follow this table (don't worry, you will learn to know the names of the most common ones very soon). Distance in half steps 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Interval Name Unison Minor Second Major Second Minor Third Major Third Perfect Fourth Tritone Perfect Fifth Minor Sixth Major Sixth Minor Seventh Major Seventh Octave

So now we can count chromatically, saying C (0), C# (1), D (2), Eb (3), E (4), F (5), F# (6), G (7), Ab (8), A (9). That's a 9 half step difference, making it a Major Sixth. While it may seem like a lot now, it's not too bad once you get the hang of it. 2 Gabriel 2012

The Circle Of Fifths

Possibly the most important structure in music theory, the circle of fifths ties all of the notes, chords, and scales together by relating them to one another.

Again, this is a lot of information all at once, so dont feel like you need to learn it all at once. Looking at this larger circular jumble of information, it is best to break it down into sections. The first thing to notice is that, when you follow the outermost letters clockwise, they are all separated by perfect fifths, C to G, G to D, etc. Following the circle counterclockwise, the progression moves in fourths, C to F, F to Bb, etc. As a practical tool, lets say we wanted to play a song in A. To figure out what chords to play, you already know that you want the I, IV, and V. Looking at the circle of fifths, find the A. Your fourth will be one step counterclockwise from your A, and your fifth will be one step clockwise from your A.

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The next section of the circle is the inner circle. The inner circle deals with relative minors. As you have learned, each scale has a number of sharps or flats, or, in the case of C major, no sharps or flats. When it comes to minor scales, it is the same, with Am being the scale with no sharps or flats. From this information we can discover that both C and Am use the same notes. the C scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The Am scale is A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A. There are no sharps or flats in either scale. One way of looking at it is, to play the Am scale, you play the notes of a C scale but rather than starting on the C note, you start on the A note. As another example, the key of D consists of the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D. The relative minor of D is Bm, which has the notes B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A, B. One easy way to find the relative minor of a key is to count backwards two notes. For example, counting backwards two notes on the A major scale gives you A, G# (Ab), F#. Therefore, your relative minor of A is F#m. Understanding the theory behind relative minors simplifies music even farther by reducing the number of scales you need to know. Rather than picking around until you get all the notes of the Dm scale, play your F major scale but start on the D note of the scale, giving you D, E, F, G, A, Bb, C, D.

Introduction to Reading Music

Some people think trying to read music is hard and difficult. The following set of pages will try to introduce the most important topics in reading music in a very easy to understand way. Don't expect to fly through all the lessons and understand. As with anything new, it'll appear complicated and complex but as you look at the examples and read the explanations it will make sense. With that said, lets go on and introduce the first lesson.

Clefs
There are 2 basic kinds of clefs. The clef you will see on your music depends on what instrument you play. Treble Clef Bass Clef You might wonder why there are 2 different clefs. The reason is that most instruments using the bass clef usually have a lower pitch (sound) and regulary play low notes. If they were to use the treble clef the notes would appear so far 4 Gabriel 2012

below the staff it would be hard to read. Here are the the names of the notes for both clefs. Although you only really need to know 1 or the other, it is good practice to know both.

The treble clef:

The bass clef:

Time Signatures
Time signatures tell you how many and what kind of notes per measure there are. The number on top is the number of notes per measure, and the bottom number is what kind of note. Let us explain further. Let us take for example the most popular time signature, 4/4. This means there is 4 quarter notes per measure. How is this so? Looking at 4/4, you saw the 4 on top. You already knew that meant there were 4 somethings per measure. Then looking at the bottom number probably confused you. The bottom number can be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. Look at this chart. Bottom Number Value 1 Whole note 2 Half note 4 Quarter note 8 Eighth note 16 Sixteenth note For example: 3/4 is 3 quarter notes per measure. 5/2 is 5 half notes per measure. 6/8 is 6 eighth notes per measure. There are also 2 other common things you might see where the time signature should be. Common Time Same as 4/4 time 5 Gabriel 2012

Cut Time Same as 4/4 but everything is cut in half. Example: a half note = 1 quarter note, a whole note = 1 half note.

Types of Notes:
1 of the most important parts of music is learning the types and values of notes. Here you will gain some understanding of how the notes look and sound. The icon means you can listen to it. All of the music samples are recorded at the same speed and are just 1 measure. The whole note: Looks like: an egg on its side, either with a line through it or not. The half note: Looks like:

the same as a whole not but with a vertical line attached to it. The quarter note: Looks like:

the same as a half note except the circle is filled in. The eighth note: Looks like:

the same as quarter notes but with a curly off the line. They can also be put in groups of 4, 3, or 2. The sixteenth note: 6 Gabriel 2012

Looks like:

the same as an eighth note but has double curlies. Can also be grouped in 4, 3 or 2 but are joined by a double line.

Types of Rests:
For each type of note you learned beforehand there is a corresponding rest. The whole rest: Looks like:

a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing downwards. (1 shown) The half rest: Looks like:

a dark rectangle attached to a bar line, facing upwards. (2 shown) The quarter rest: Looks like:

a squiggly line. (4 shown) The eighth rest: Looks like:

a slanted line with a dot. (8 shown) The sixteenth rest: Looks like:

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a slanted line with a double dot. (16 shown)

Basic Counting:
One of the most obvious questions is how musicians know when to play. Well, its easy.. they learn to count the beats. First let us present you with this. 1 whole note = 2 half notes = 4 quarter notes = 8 eighth notes = 16 sixteenth notes. Keep that in mind while looking at these examples. Lets start with this example.

First off, looking at the time signature you know that there are 4 quarter notes per measure. In the first measure the whole note gets all the beats (1, 2, 3 and 4) because 1 whole note = 4 quarter notes, and there are a total of 4 quarter notes per measure. In the second example, each half note gets 2 beats because 2 quarter notes = 1 half note. In the third example, each quarter note gets its own beat because there are 4 quarter notes per measure (time sig). Let's intermingle the 2 quarter notes and a half note.

The half note get the first 2 beats, and each quarter its own beat. This makes sense because the 4/4 time signature means there is 4 quarter notes per measure. 2 quarter notes + 1 half note (which is really 2 8 Gabriel 2012

quarters) = 4 quarter notes, the total number of quarter notes for that measure (time sig). Lets add in the eighth notes.

In this example there is something new. The + sign. It just means "and". If you said 1 + 2 + ... out loud it would sound like this. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and Each eight note is 1/2 of a quarter note, therefore it takes 2 eighth notes to equal 1 quarter note. Think of it like this: the 1 and the "and" are both half of one quarter note and together they form 1 quarter note and from the time sig we know there are 4 quarters per measure. This may seem a little confusing now, but all of the sudden it will click. You will hit yourself in the head and wonder how you never understood it. After you understand this, go on to the counting basics 2 page. ;-)

Basic Counting, Part 2:

Let's introduce a mixed example.

The quarter note is obviously beat 1 because from the time sig you know there are 4 quarter notes per measure. You also already know one half note = 2 quarter notes therefore the half note must be beats 2 and 3. Finally, you know that two eighth notes = 1 quarter note so they must be the "4 +".

When many different kinds of notes are intermingled, it starts to become tricky to count. Musicians will sometimes subdivide the notes so the counting flows more easily. Let's use the above example, but this time sub divide it.

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Here every note in the measure is subdivided into 8th notes thus making it a lot more "fluid" to count. Its pretty easy to understand too... one quarter note is two 8th notes, so it gets "1 +". The half note is really four eighth notes so it get "2 + 3 +". And the each 8th note get a half so one is "4" and the other is the "and" of 4.

Here would also be a good place to throw in a few examples with rests. These will just show the counting and will not explain them. Just think of the rests in terms of their corresponding notes and you'll have no problem!

Counting the 16th note.

Basically counting 16th notes is similiar to 8th notes except that you need to add more things to count with. I was taught using "e" and "a", but feel free to use what you want. Each part, the "1", "e", "+", "a" are all 1/4 of 1 quarter note. Together they add up to 1 beat according to the time sig. (4 sixteenths = 1 quarter) Different time sigs and different notes. Here you are.. the top of the note hill. Just look at these and the counting section is over!

Remember.. from this time sig you are counting the 8th notes.

Remember you are counting half notes, and therefore you have to subdivide the eighth notes and quarter notes accordingly. 10 Gabriel 2012

Other symbols
This page contains some of the symbols you might come across while reading music. <="" td=""> Play the note 1/2 step up (Sharp) Play the note 1/2 step down (Flat) Play the note normally; pay no attention to the key signature The above 3 symbols can also appear at the beginning of each line of music affecting the whole line. Also, if they are included in an individual measure, they override each other and carry through ties or slurs. Compressed Rests. The number on top specifies how many measures of rest. Fermata. Hold the note until cut off. Repeat. Play through normally until 2nd symbol, then go back to 1st symbol and play again, this time ignoring 2nd symbol. Begin and End. Marks the beginning and ending of a piece. Tie. Make each note flow into the next. (Do not break them up)

Shaping and Volume of Music

For music to have some real feeling and expression it must be shaped. Volume of notes f ff fff p mp mf 11 Gabriel 2012 Loud Loud Loud As loud as possible Quiet Medium Quiet Medium Loud

pp cresc Stuff that affects notes sfz tr vibrato legato Stuff that affects the speed of note poco. accel. rit. dim. soli solo

Quiet Quiet Louder

Hit note then back way off and build back up Trill Add waves to sound Smooth

Gradually Faster Slower Diminish Shared solo in section 1 person solo (wow)

An Introduction to MusicTheory
Part One

Introduction
The purpose of this lesson is to explain the basic elements of "practical" music theory so that applications such as chord formation, soloing and transcribing skills can be developed. This introduction should enable you to progress further by seeking professional tuition if desired. Such tuition will help you develop other aspects that are not considered here, such as correcting bad habits and helping you to create your own style and this will proceed at your own pace. Music theory is one big subject to learn. There is a seemingly overwhelming amount of information to take in and because of this I have written the lesson in three parts. It is heavy going at first (this first part is the worst!) but stick with it and feel free to mail me any questions (Andrew@lyonap.force9.co.uk).

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This first part of the lesson deals with the major scale system, the second part will deal with chord formation, intervals and modes and the third part will deal with soloing. Throughout the lesson capital letters are used to represent major chords i.e. C F G and a lower case "m" represents minor chords i.e. Dm Em.

The Major Scale System

The vast majority of music in the West is based on the Major Scale system. This was devised by Pythagorus and consists of the following twelve chromatic (semi-tone or one fret increment) scale degrees - C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C If you are familiar with a piano or keyboard, the 5 black keys are the sharp/flat notes indicated above. Incidentally, I have not yet found an explanation for why there is not an E#/Fb nor a B#/Cb note. For now I am notating using both the sharp and flat notation where applicable - this will be discussed further under "Cycle of Fifths". Each of these 12 chromatic scale degrees forms the root of a major scale. Each major scale is formed with a fixed series of intervals from the "key" note on which it is based and these intervals are exactly the same for each of the twelve major scales. Conventionally, we use the expression "key" to describe which major scale any particular song is written in. However, being fairly lazy creatures instead of saying "written in the key of C major" it is more usual to say "key of C". The intervals for a major scale are; tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. (T T S T T T S) We now have seven scale degrees within a major scale, each of which has a name that denotes its relationship to the first note, or tonic. As well as playing each note as an individual tone of the scale, it can also form the root note of a chord. There is also a fixed pattern to describe the nature of each chord (i.e major, minor or diminished) and again this pattern is exactly the same for each of the twelve major scales. We shall consider the key of C, as this has no sharps or flats. This is shown below: Scale Degree The C major scale Chord Type Interval 1 C maj T 2 D min T 3 E min S 4 F maj T 5 G maj T 6 A min T 7 B C dim S

From the above it can be seen that starting at C, we move up a tone to D, a tone to E, a semitone to F, a tone to G, a tone to A, a tone to B and a semitone back to C (an octave higher than the starting note). Also, you will sometimes find that scale degrees are notated using roman numerals - again there is no right or wrong way. 13 Gabriel 2012

Incidentally, I find that names of each position are seldom referred to. The most commonly used are the first position - tonic; the fourth position - sub-dominant; the fifth position - dominant and the sixth position - relative minor. I find it more useful to think in terms of the intervals between notes rather than relative positions i.e. an interval of a fourth is shown as C to F above and an interval of a fifth is shown as C to G above. Intervals will be considered in more detail in part two.

Cycle of Fifths
Now that we are familiar with the key of C, we can start to consider the other 11 keys. The twelve keys are listed chromatically above, but this doesn't help to explain the link between them musically. If you imagine that the keys are the hours on a clock face, following the cycle of fifths will bring you back to the original starting point. Because it is a circular process, you can start with any key and progress through the full cycle through all the other eleven keys back to the original key that you started from. It is conventional (and easiest) to start with the key of C as there are no sharps or flats contained within it. The cycle progresses as follows; 1. For ease of reference, write the scale degree numbers then write the key of C underneath. 1 C 2 D 3 E 4 F 5 G 6 A 7 B 8 C

2. Take the fifth note as the new starting note and write it underneath. 1 C G 2 D 3 E 4 F G 5 G 6 A 7 B 8 C

3. Sharpen the fourth note and write it in underneath the seventh scale degree.

1 C G

2 D

3 E

4 F

5 G

6 A

7 B F#

8 C G

4. Write in the rest of the notes from the preceding key using the sequence of 6, 7, 8, 2, 3. 1 C G 14 2 D A 3 E B 4 F C 5 G D 6 A E 7 B F# 8 C G

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As a double check, the principal of T T S T T T S will always apply, and the seventh scale degree will always be a semi-tone flatter than the starting note. It is good practice to write out all twelve keys using the cycle of fifths, as this will help familiarize you with all the 12 keys and the chords contained in them. The cycle is written out in full below.

1 C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C

2 D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C G D

3 E B F# C# G# D# A# F C G D A E

4 F C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F

5 G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C G

6 A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C G D A

7 B F# C# G# D# A# F C G D A E B

8 C G D A E B F# C# G# D# A# F C

Moving through the cycle from C, it can be seen that we increase the number of sharps successively until we reach 5 in the keys of B, F# and C# and then the number decreases again.

Cycle of Fourths
In the example above, we used a clock face as an example of the circular nature of the keys. If we consider that the cycle of fifths moves us clockwise, then the cycle of fourths can be considered to move us anti-clockwise. The cycle progresses as follows; 1. For ease of reference, write the scale degree numbers then write the key of C underneath. 1 C 2 D 3 E 4 F 5 G 6 A 7 B 8 C

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2. Take the fourth note as the new starting note and write it underneath.

1 C F

2 D

3 E

4 F

5 G

6 A

7 B

8 C F

3. Flatten the seventh note and write it in underneath the fourth scale degree. 1 C F 2 D 3 E 4 F Bb 5 G 6 A 7 B 8 C F

4. Write in the rest of the notes from the preceding key using the sequence of 5, 6, 8, 2, 3. 1 C F 2 D G 3 E A 4 F Bb 5 G C 6 A D 7 B E 8 C F

It is also good practice to write out all twelve keys using the cycle of fourths for the same reasons as given above. The cycle is written out in full below.

1 C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A D 16

2 D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E

3 E A D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb

4 F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A D G

5 G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A

6 A D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B

7 B E A D G C F Bb Eb Ab Db

8 C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A D

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G C

A D

B E

C F

D G

E A

Gb B

G C

Is it # or b i.e. G# or Ab? We can see when we compare the two cycles above that the meaning is exactly the same whether we use a G# or Ab note. Convention normally uses sharps for the keys of G, D, A, E and B and flats for the keys of Gb, Db, Ab, Eb Bb and F. However, if you find it easier to think in terms of all flat notes or all sharp notes then that's fine - there is no right or wrong way.

I Can't Remember All That!

As I said at the start, this part of the lesson is definitely the worst! I would say though that it is not essential to know all twelve keys, as most songs will be written in the keys of C, G, D, A, E, Bb or F. It is easiest to learn one key at at a time and which chords are major and which are minor. Learning the cycles and the keys will enable you to transcribe songs quicker and more accurately - i.e. For a "straightforward" song (i.e. one key and no chord substitutions) there are only seven chords to choose from, and if the song has an Am in it, for instance, there are only three keys to choose from (C, F or G). It will also help with chord formation and soloing. Speaking of which, the next lesson discusses intervals, chord formation and modes - see you next time!

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