Music Theory PDF

Contents
Articles
Music Theory
Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common Practice Music
Music Theory/Harmony
Music Theory/Counterpoint
Music Theory/Introduction
Music Theory/How to read Music
Music Theory/Music Notation Systems
Music Theory/Rhythm
10
Music Theory/Scales and Intervals
12
Music Theory/Modes
18
Music Theory/Chords
20
Music Theory/Chord Structures
24
Music Theory/Consonance and Dissonance
26
Music Theory/The Physics of Music
27
Music Theory/Finding the Key and Mode of a Piece
28
Music Theory/Playing by Ear
29
Music Theory/Complete List of Chord Patterns
30
Music Theory/Modulation
36
Music Theory/Chromaticism
37
Music Theory/Syncopation
38
Music Theory/Blues
38
Music Theory/Dance
41
Music Theory/Folk
41
Music Theory/Hip Hop
42
Music Theory/Hymn
44
Music Theory/Jazz
44
Music Theory/Metal
46
Music Theory/New Age
52
Music Theory/Pop
53
Music Theory/Reggae
58
Music Theory/Rock
59
Music Theory/Ska
60
Music Theory/Baroque
60
Music Theory/Classical
61
Music Theory/Romantic
61
Music Theory/Atonal
63
Music Theory/Celtic
64
Music Theory/Chinese
64
Music Theory/Eastern European
65
Music Theory/Indian
65
Music Theory/Necessary Tools
66
Music Theory/Software Needed
66
Western Music History
67
Writing Effective Songs
68
Writing Effective Songs/Rock Album Arranging
73
References
Article Sources and Contributors
75
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
77
Article Licenses
License
78
Music Theory
Music Theory
This book discusses tonal music theory, specifically of the common practice period onwards, including jazz, blues,
rock, and other modern styles. It focuses mostly on Western (i.e., Western European, Euro-American, and
Afro-American) styles, however, all styles of music are discussed.
Common Practice Styles

/Fundamentals of Common Practice Music/
Tones, overtones, and harmonics

/Harmony/
/Counterpoint/
/Form/
Basics
/Introduction/
/How to read Music/
/Music Notation Systems/
/Rhythm/
/Scales and Intervals/
/Modes/
/Chords/
/Chord Structures/
/Consonance and Dissonance/
Beyond the Basics
/The Physics of Music/

/Finding the Key and Mode of a Piece/
/Playing by Ear/
/Complete List of Chord Patterns/
/Modulation/
/Chromaticism/
/Syncopation/
Modern Styles
/Barbershop/
/Blues/
/Country/
/Dance/
/Folk/, Old Time, Bluegrass, etc.
/Funk/
/Hip Hop/, Rap, etc.
/Hymn/
/Jazz/, incl. Swing
Music Theory
/Metal/
/New Age/
/Pop/, Pop/Rock, etc.
/Punk/, Hardcore, Pop-Punk, etc.
/Reggae/
/Rock/, Hard Rock, etc.
/Samba/
/Ska/
/Miscellaneous Styles/
/R&B/
/Reggae/
Styles in the Western Classical Tradition
/Plainsong/
/Early Western European/
/Renaissance/
/Baroque/
/Classical/
/Romantic/
/Atonal/
/Serialism/
/Spectralism/
Traditional and Folk styles
/African/
/Arabic/
/Calypso/
/Celtic/
/Chinese/
/Eastern European/
/Indian/
/Japanese/
Composing
/Necessary Tools/
/Software Needed/
/Four Part/
/Melody(Soprano)/
/Phrasing/
/Bass/
/Alto And Tenor/
/Counterpoint/
Music Theory
Further Reading
Appendices
/Authors/
/Real Book Errata/
Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common

Practice Music
/Notation/
This section is intended for those without any experience with Western music notation and associated practices.
Humans with the ability to hear experience sound when delicate structures inside their ears detect waves of pressure
traveling through the air (or any other medium to which they are mechanically coupled). When these waves are
regular, and arrive at intervals that fall within a certain range, we recognize a tone, or note. Notes are the basic
elements of Western music.
/Pitch/
When the waves causing a note are close together, and so cause more vibrations per second in our ears, we say that
tones have a higher frequency or pitch. Pitch is measured in Hertz (Hz). When the waves are further apart we say
they have a lower frequency or pitch. When we hear series of higher and lower notes either singly or in groups,
themselves spaced out at different points in time and of different durations, and the variation in their frequencies,
spacing, and lengths are patterned in ways that correspond to established rules, we recognize the sound as music.
Harmony is the underlying foundation of Western art music. Harmony is the study of how particular sonorities are
related and function with respect to a primary tonal region based upon a central pitch class.
The Mathematical definition of harmony: Presume that waves X and Y are of wavelengths A and B. In other words
X(nA) = X(mA), and Y(nB) = Y(mB), where n and m are any 2 integer numbers.
Now, presume that wave Z is a combination of X and Y. In other words Z(n) = X(n) + Y(n), where n is any number.
Because Z is a function of X+Y, Z only repeats at any point where X and Y both repeat. This point is the lowest
common multiple of A and B, which will henceforth be referred to as value C. C is the combined wavelength of X
and Y.
The nature of tonal harmony is that the lower the value of C, the more harmonized the notes are. This is why octaves
are the most harmonized; a note's octave repeats twice as often as the note itself, so if 2n is the wavelength of any
note, n is its octave. Obviously, the lowest common multiple of N and 2N is 2N itself, which makes the wavelength
of a note combined with its octave just the wavelength of the note itself, and the shortest possible combine
wavelength of 2 notes.
/Fugue/
Fugue is sometimes considered to be the goal of contrapuntal study. Its definition may vary, depending upon the
person asked but this book will consider three definitions.
Fugue
(1) A formal compositional structure, consisting of a fugal exposition of a subject, a development with one or
more middle entries, and a recapitulation
(2) A compositional device for the elaboration and development of a single (or multiple) musical idea(s)
(3) A texture within a larger compositional structure or form which utilizes fugal devices or parts of a formal
fugue
Traditional part writing is often based on counterpoint (adjective contrapuntal), in which a second melody is
written to use harmonic intervals that create primarily consonant (good sounding) relationships between notes. First,
a leading melodic line must be written, then contrapuntal methods may be used to add additional melodic lines.
Consonants are further divided into perfect and imperfect consonants and contrasted by dissonance (which sound
bad). Traditionally the unison, the octave and the fifth were considered perfect consonances while the third and sixth
were considered imperfect consonances; the fourth was considered a dissonance if it was above the leading line but a
consonance if below, though modern theorists have questioned the need for this distinction. Other notes are
considered dissonant. Additional melodic lines beyond the second may be added by writing them in counterpoint to
all the lines already written.
In addition, the types of movement made a difference. In early theory there were three types of movement: direct, in
which both melodic line move in the same direct, oblique in which one line moves and the other does not, and
contrary in which both lines move in opposite directions. Some modern theorists further divide direct motion into
similar motion, in which both lines move different distances in the same direction, and parallel motion in which both
lines maintain the same interval between them. Early counterpoint texts (such as Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad
Parnasum [1]) listed several rules for moving lines, however these can be boiled down to one: Don't move from
perfect consonance to perfect consonance by direct motion. The addition of dissonance may be added on an off beat,
to be resolved on the next on beat. Large jumps are discouraged, and it is recommended that they be followed by
stepwise motion in the opposite direction. The octave should be used vary sparingly and the unison avoided,
however, as these tend to make the melodic lines blur together.
Various rhythms could be used in the various melodic lines, and this was encouraged with the goal being "florid
counterpoint" in which various rhythms are mixed in an elaborate way. If a smaller note is used in the following line
then dissonance must be on the second note; if the following note starts after the leader, then it must start on the
dissonance. Of course, neither have to be dissonant, and a consonance may be used in both places. A series of
stepwise movements may also be used to move over several dissonances between consonances. However, two notes
one semitone apart (sometimes described as "fa on mi") should always be avoided.
Double Counterpoint is the practice of writing a line so that both the intervals and their inversion (usually octave
inversions, but tenth and twelfth inversions may sometimes be used) follow an acceptable pattern of consonance and
dissonance. This is done so that a transposed version of the resulting melodic line may be used as a separate part.
This is especially common in classical and baroque fugues.
Note that a modern composition that follows a chord progression may just write all parts to fit the same chord,
however, use of contrapuntal principles may still be useful in order to make to melodic lines work better together.
References
[1] http:/ / www. amazon. com/ Study-Counterpoint-John-J-Fux/ dp/ 0393002772/ ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/ 103-2684630-4722241?ie=UTF8&
s=books& qid=1179766505& sr=8-1
What is music theory?
Music theory is the study of music; and while the term is often applied to the Western musical tradition (more on that
later), there are also music theories in other traditions around the world.
It is of interest to the reader to know that music theory emerged after the actual production of music. There were
people making music long before we had ideas of what a major third is, and there were groups singing tribal songs
long before we got the idea of a "downbeat". Although these ideas were often practiced before they were understood,
to have a knowledge of what they are and how they work reduces their difficulty and increases their potential and
flexibility.
What is music?
Music can be many things, and the subject of what constitutes music has been long debated and argued, we will not
be spending considerable time on its definition. Like all art, music is highly subjective and traditional. It is hard to
make sense of music from an alien culture or tradition. This book only deals with a subset of music; a very large
subset though. We look at the Western Tradition of music as it has evolved from the ancient European civilizations
with influences from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. We will also look primarily at written music, rather than
music which is only ever performed, but we realize that music notation can almost never capture everything that
makes a piece. Sheet music is a limitation that we live with. You will notice the words "sometimes", "usually",
"probably", and other similar terms used frequently as music is highly subjective and many "rules" are broken.
Music usually has four basic aspects: rhythm, melody, harmony, and timbre.
Rhythm
Concerns note length, speed and stress the "time" aspect.
Melody
Concerns a series of notes the "horizontal" aspect.
Harmony
Concerns notes played at once the "vertical" aspect.
Timbre
Concerns the physical sound of notes "the texture" aspect.

This Wikibook is here to give the reader an idea of how to read music; however, this is not to say that this book will
teach you to read music correctly. Neither will it teach you to play a musical instrument. Most music related subjects
(and most other subjects for that matter) really ought to be studied under a teacher. If you do not want to hire a
teacher then this ought to give you a general idea of how to read music.
Notes and rests

There are several different time values of
notes and rests; the most basic of which are
the whole note and rest:
The half note and rest are half as long as a

whole note:
The quarter note and rest are one-quarter the

length of the whole note and one half the
length of a half note:
Chart illustrating the divisions of note values in music.
The eighth note and rest:
The sixteenth note and rest:
And so forth with each increasing division getting one extra "flag."
Clefs
The two most commonly used clefs are the treble clef
and a bass clef.
The clefs determine what pitch the notes should fall on; for instance, the treble clef is a G-clef, so wherever the clef
ends on is the note G, in the case of treble clef, it is the second line up from the bottom. The bass clef is an F-clef, so
the line between the two dots is the note F.
Time signature
A time signature is usually written as two
numbers one on top of the other at the
beginning of a piece that divides the piece
into smaller bits called measures, making it
One measure in 4/4 time.
easier to read, and providing hints as to
which notes in each measure should be
stressed. The top number signifies how many beats each measure will contain, and the bottom note sets down which
note will take the value of one beat; so, in 4/4 time, there are four beats in a measure and a quarter note will get one
beat; so, in every measure there will be a time value equal to four quarter notes. The most common time signatures
are 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, and 2/4.

There are many ways to describe musical notes, including solfege, letters, numbers, tablature, and of course the
standard music staffs. It is important to have a working knowledge of all of these (except tablature, as it is
instrument-specific and many instruments do not use it at all).
Letters
Letter names give a label to each letter of the C major scale: C D E F G A B. Notes can be sharpened or flattened;
between D and E comes a note called either D ("D sharp") or E ("E flat"). Even more confusingly, E can be called
D ("D double-sharp"), and D can be called E ("E double-flat")! For now, you need only know that a D and an
E are enharmonically equivalent (that is, they have the same pitch, but serve a different diatonic function) in the
simplified tuning most commonly used today. You will learn about diatonic function later.
These are the letter names used in English, Dutch, and possibly a few other languages. However, Germany,
Scandinavia (such as Iceland, Denmark, Sweden) and Slavic countries have another system: their C major scale is C
D E F G A H. Their H corresponds to our B. They also use the letter B, to mean the note we call B flat. They do not
use special letters for any other notes, however, for instance, what we call a C sharp they would call "Cis", "Ciss" or
"Cs" (depending on the language), which literally means "C sharp". We will not concern ourselves with these
differences as this alternate system is almost never encountered in English language texts. Some other countries don't
use letters for notes at all, but instead the fixed-doh solfege system, where "Do" or "Ut" always means the note C.
This is an inflexible system unlike the moveable-doh one used in English, where "Do" (or "Doh") can be any pitch.
Solfege
Solfege is one of the most common ways of expressing musical notes for vocalists. In fact, in some countries such as
Spain, Portugal and France, solfege is always used instead of note names.
The major scale in solfege runs: do re mi fa sol la ti. (Note: in some regions "ti" is called "si" like in Portugal). After
"ti" comes "do" again, one octave higher than the previous "do." Notes outside the scale (sharps and flats) are
expressed in different ways according to regions. In some the equivalent to sharp or flat is added after the name of
the note (C sharp would thus be Do dise in France and Belgium). In other regions, another syllable with the same
initial letter is used, although this is mostly reserved for instructional uses. For example, the pitch between "re" and
"mi" can be called either "ri" or "m". The proper syllable to use is based on whether you are travelling up or down
the scale. The first letter of the syllable should come from the previous note, while the second letter is inherited from
the next note in the sequence. Most commonly, the chromatic ascending scale is "do di re ri mi fa fi sol la li ti/si do"
and the descending scale is "do ti/si te la le sol se fa fe mi me re ra do."
The "movable do" system is the one most commonly used, where do becomes the tonic of the key (C in the key of C,
etc.) "Fixed do" is also used at some major colleges and universities, where do is always C, no matter what the key
is. This involves a lot more use of chromatic solfege though.
This book will not use solfege. More information can be obtained in Wikipedia's treatment of the subject. The
material should be learned and practiced, but it is useful mostly in communicating with other musicians who use the
system.
Numbers
Numbers are used in lieu of solfege to describe relative tones. Either Roman numerals (I II III) or Arabic numerals (1
2 3) can be used. A major scale would be: I II III IV V VI VII. Each number can be pronounced either like a cardinal
number ("one, two, three...") or an ordinal number ("first, second, third..."). These can be sharpened and flattened,
but the sharp is usually written before the numeral: II ("augmented second"), III ("minor third").
This book will use Arabic numerals for note names and Roman numerals for chord names to avoid ambiguity.
Latin names
Latin names follow the same principle as the solfege scale and numerals. The notes are called the tonic, supertonic,
mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, and leading tone. Of these, it is most important to remember the
"tonic" (I), "subdominant" (IV), and "dominant" (V), because these tones and chords built on these tones are used the
most often.
Tablature
Tablature is notation specific to an instrument or class of instruments, usually plucked-string instruments such as the
guitar or aerophones like the harmonica. It is mostly used in popular music for guitar and bass, because many players
of these instruments do not read standard notation and the notation does not help illustrate fingerings, for instance, a
"middle C" can be played on several different strings on the guitar, but they all look the same in standard notation.
However, tablature usually lacks information on rhythm. Instead, tablature notation assumes that the reader is
familiar with the tune or can hear its demonstration on a recording or other source. For these reasons, much
professional guitar music includes standard notation along with tablature, with the tab staff running below the
standard staff. Tablature is also common on the Internet, often in ASCII form but also in files that can be read by
programs such as Guitar Pro [1] or the Power Tab Editor [2] (the latter is freeware).
Tablatures are not useful for the purposes of explaining music theory because they describe how to play an
instrument, that is, the mechanics of producing musical sounds but not the underlying ideas, that is, the expression of

certain pitches in a logical rhythmic structure.
Standard notation
This is a preliminary version. Standard music notation will probably have its own chapter, in which case only
a cursory introduction will remain here.
Standard notation is used to demonstrate how a piece is played. Unlike tablature, it applies to any instrument. It
indicates key signatures, time signatures, rhythms, tempo, dynamics (how loud each instrument should be), and so
on. A highly trained musician can sometimes take a piece of sheet music written in standard notation, look it over
once or twice, and then play the song as though he or she had been playing it his or her whole life.
For instance, below is the C major scale, including a C at the end, in standard notation.
The standard notation staff has five lines and four spaces. From bottom to top the five lines are E G B D F, which is
commonly memorized as an acrostic such as:
Every
Good
Boy
Does
Fine
The four spaces between the five lines are F, A, C, and E, which should surely be easy for an English speaker to
remember, because together they spell "face".
But what about the first two notes, which are below the staff? Well, the second note is just below the E, so it must be
D. The first is below that, so it must be C. It also has a line through it to indicate it is placed on an "invisible" line.
This line is called a ledger line. A note could be placed below this ledger line, which would be B. Or a note could be
placed below that, on another ledger line, and it would be A. Notes can continue to be placed on ledger lines above
and below the staff infinitely, but extending too far from the staff is impractical, because the pitches will become
very hard to read.
References
[1] http:/ / www. guitar-pro. com/
[2] http:/ / www. power-tab. net/
Music Theory/Rhythm
Music Theory/Rhythm
Rhythm is, aside from melody, one of the most basic aspects of music, and definitely the fundamental. Many early
forms of music consisted only of rhythm; examples being drumming, clapping and shouting to a rhythm.
Basic durations
There are two systems for naming notes in the English language. Here, the American names are listed first and the
European names are listed in parentheses. This book, for consistency's sake, will use the American names
throughout.
The whole note is the longest unit we will consider in this book. Earlier music featured the breve, which is twice as
long. (This is why the whole note is called the "semibreve" in Europe.) Each unit after that is half the length of the
previous.
Whole note (semibreve)

Half note (minim)
Quarter note (crotchet)
Eighth note (quaver)
Sixteenth note (semiquaver)

Thirty-second note (demisemiquaver)
Sixty-fourth note (hemidemisemiquaver)
There are even shorter notes, such as the 128th note (semihemidemisemiquaver), but they are absurdly short for most
music; even thirty-second notes are uncommon. However, there are rare situations where they are appropriate. One
piece with such notes is the Pathtique Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Music may also contain rests, in which no note is played or sung.
This image shows notes and rests, in order from longest to shortest.
More on durations
A staccatoed note is 'separated' from the other notes around it. Space is inserted between the notes by shortening the
end of the note being played. Some musicians consider it to be "short and detached", whereas others suggest that a
staccatoed note is half its value. This is more a feature of articulation and style, rather than rhythm, but it has
rhythmic bearing as playing staccato can often cause musicians to play out of tempo. Staccato is shown by a dot
below or above the note.
A very short note is known as appoggiatura or acciaccatura. They are both almost insignificantly short notes also
known as "grace notes" for the purpose of expression. The shorter of the two is the acciaccatura. They are shown as
shrunken eighth notes, with a score through the shorter and the longer having no such flourish. Common uses
include on bagpipes as grace notes or on guitar for slides, string-bends and hammer-on/pull-offs.
A dotted note is 50% longer than the undotted version, i.e. a dotted half note would take 3 beats, lasting as long as
three quarter notes tied together. A double-dotted note is 75% longer than the normal note, i.e. a double-dotted half
note would take 3 beats.
Do not confuse dotted notes with staccato notes. Dotted notes have a dot on the right side, while staccato notes have
dots on the top or bottom.
10
Music Theory/Rhythm
Time signatures
Time signatures are the basic description for the feel of the rhythm; it defines how to count the rhythm. They are also
known as the meter. This is why one can listen to a piece and know what time signature it is in. It is like hearing
Shakespeare and knowing how many syllables are in the lines and what meter it is in. By far the most common time
signature is 4/4, the next most possibly being 3/4 (commonly associated with the waltz). A time signature is found at
the first measure right after the clef and key signature.
It is made up of two parts. For all meters the top number gives the number of notes per measure and the bottom
number gives the note type. The bottom number can be:
1 - whole note (very rare)

2 - half note (uncommon)
4 - quarter note (extremely common)
8 - eighth note (common in modern avant-garde music and much other non-western music)
The top number may also be any other power of 2, but they are rare. The bottom number is always a power of two.
The time signature 4/4 means there are four quarter notes in a measure; the time signature 3/4 means there are three
quarter notes in a measure. The time signature 2/2 is, in a way, the same as 4/4. However, 2/2 has two beats per
measure (each a half-note in length), while 4/4 has four beats per measure. Beats are usually accented in some way in
a song, especially with percussion in popular music. Usually the thesis is accented, while the arsis is unaccented.
Traditionally the thesis is the down-beat and the arsis is the up-beat. The terms down-beat and up-beat come from
the movements the the director makes while conducting.
NB the Time Signature is not written as a fraction but instead as two numbers one on top of the other, with no line
between.
We divide time signatures into three main types:
simple (each beat is divided into its sub-beats)
compound (notes are grouped together into beats by the type of sub-beat)
asymmetric (both duple and triple groupings for its notes)
Time signatures are classified by type (simple or compound) and sub-beat (duple or triple).
In simple meter, the beat is divided into sub-beats or subdivisions:
1 - In simple duple meter the beat (this is the type of note specified by the bottom number in the signature) is
divided into two sub-beats.
2 - In simple triple meter the beat is divided into three sub-beats.
However, for compound meters, the sub-beats are grouped into the beats by duples or triples:
1 - In compound duple meter the notes are grouped into twos, these groups make up a whole beat. Example: 6/8,
three beats each with two sub-beats.
2 - In compound triple meter the notes are grouped into threes, these group make up a whole beat. Example: 6/8,
two beats each with three sub-beats.
11
Music Theory/Rhythm
12
Asymmetric meters are a type of compound meter where beats are divided into duples and triples. In these the beat
actually changes its length because the sub-beat is constant. Examples: 5/8, two beats; either the first with two
sub-beats and the second with three, or the first with three sub-beats and the second with two. 7/8, three beats -either 2, 2, 3; 2, 3, 2; or 3, 2, 2 (in sub-beats).
Tempo
Beats-per-minute (or BPM) indicate how fast a song is played. Each beat corresponds to one note of the type
indicated by the bottom number in the key signature. For example, a song with 60 BPM will have 60 beats in a
minute, or one beat per second. A song in 4/4 time at 60 BPM will have 15 bars in a minute, with 4 beats per bar;
one each quarter note. A song at 120 BPM will have 30 bars in a minute and 2 beats per second. The number of beats
per minute is usually specified at the beginning of a piece using one of two conventions. The first is something like,
"M.M.=115". M.M. stands for Mlzel's metronome. (Johann Nepomuk Mlzel) The other common notation is a
picture of the note value receiving the beat, an equals sign (=), and the BPM. Most musicians, even professionals,
own and regularly use a metronome or drum machine for practicing or recording in order to ensure they play at the
desired tempo.

A musical scale is a set of notes, usually not arbitrary, of which most notes in a piece of music might be chosen.
There exist many scales with highly distinctive sounds, though some are much more common than others. the term
"scale" comes from the latin word 'scala' meaning 'ladder'. Thus a scale is a ladder of notes.
Intervals
Simple intervals
Before we progress, we must discuss intervals. An interval is usually defined as the distance between two pitches,
that is, how many semitones lie between them. When the two pitches are the same, they are said to be in unison, and
two notes played in unison can be impossible to distinguish from a single note when they are played by the same
instrument and the instrument is properly tuned. When they are twelve semitones apart, they are an octave apart (we
will learn why it is called an octave shortly). Simple intervals are defined as those intervals that are one octave or
less apart.
Intervals are usually named according to the relationship of the higher note to the lower note in the major scale,
though they also have alternate names depending upon the spelling of the particular notes on the page of music.
Semitones
Common Name
Alternate Names
perfect unison
diminished second
minor second
augmented unison
major second
diminished third
minor third
augmented second
major third
diminished fourth
perfect fourth
augmented third
tritone
augmented fourth, diminished fifth
perfect fifth
diminished sixth
minor sixth
augmented fifth
13
9
major sixth
diminished seventh
10
minor seventh
augmented sixth
11
major seventh
diminished octave
12
perfect octave
augmented seventh
This table gives the most common nomenclature for each interval according to its relation to the major scale. For
example, the interval of four semitones occurs as the third note of the major scale, and thus it is called a major
third. The interval of seven semitones occurs as the fifth note of the major scale, and so it is called a perfect fifth.
Whether an interval is "perfect" or "major" depends on mathematical ratios of frequencies as determined by the
Greeks. Other possible names are given under "alternate names," and the most common of these are emboldened.
One may draw several inferences from this table:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
If any perfect interval is raised by one semitone, the interval becomes augmented
If any perfect interval is lowered by one semitone, the interval becomes diminished
If any major interval is raised by one semitone, the interval becomes augmented
If any major interval is lowered by one semitone, the interval becomes minor
If any major interval is lowered by two semitones, the interval becomes diminished
Compound intervals
Compound intervals are defined as those intervals greater than one octave apart. These intervals may be considered
by exactly the same rules as their simple counterparts.
Semitones
Name(s)
Simple Counterpart
13
minor ninth
minor second
14
major ninth
major second
15
minor tenth
minor third
16
major tenth
major third
17
perfect eleventh
perfect fourth
18
augmented eleventh tritone
19
perfect twelfth
perfect fifth
20
minor thirteenth
minor sixth
21
major thirteenth
major sixth
22
minor fourteenth
minor seventh
23
major fourteenth
major seventh
24
double octave
octave
The compound intervals work by following the same five rules as the simple intervals above (so the augmented
eleventh might also be called a diminished twelfth!). Why even bother giving them separate names? The answer lies
in their normal function within music. Complex jazz chords are built around stacks of thirds, and so the terms
"ninth," "eleventh," and "thirteenth" are needed to designate intervals larger than a seventh.
14
Mnemonic memorization examples

The following chart intends to give some mnemonic support in recognising musical interval. For each interval,
ascending or descending, a popular song is given that contains it prominently. Capitalized syllables or a ">" mark the
stated interval: Trainear [1] is an online ear trainer that's specifically for associating intervals to songs. Here are some
examples for each interval:
Interval
minor
second
Ascending example
Jaws theme, Trouble by Coldplay, "I'm Dreaming Of A" White
Christmas, opening of 4th movement of Dvorak's 9th Symphony,
Descending example
Fr Elise, Godfather theme, "It's Not Safe To Swim Today" by
Veil Of Maya
major second Frere Jacques, Happy Birthday (notes 2 and 3), Blind Melon "No
Rain" guitar riff
Freddie freeloader (miles davis), The way we were, Corcovado,

"Trouble" by Coldplay, "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick
Astley
minor third
Seven nation army (the white stripes), Rock A Bye Baby, To

Dream The Impossible Dream, Brahms' "Lullaby", Greensleeves,
guitar riff from "Whole Lotta Love" - Led Zeppelin
Hey Jude, Ring Around The Rosy, "The Star-Spangled

Banner", 50s bass progression, Peter Gun Theme
major third
Oh When the Saints, Morning Has Broken, "It's a Small World",

verse and guitar riff of "Blister in the Sun", "Boston" by
Augustana
Clock Chimes (first two notes), Good night, Ladies; "Mario

Bros." Theme, Massenet "Meditation" from Thaiis, "Heavens
Divide" from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker where the lyrics
begin
perfect
fourth
Auld Lang Syne, Here Comes the Bride, Hi Ho, Amazing Grace
I've Been Working on the Railroad, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,

"Anchor" by Misery Signals
Augmented
fourth
The Simpsons theme, Maria (West Side Story)
European police siren, YYZ by Rush
perfect fifth
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Star Wars (Main Theme), Forrest

Gump, In the end by Linkin Park, Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001
Space Odyssey), trumpet in "Snake Eater" from Metal Gear Solid
3: Snake Eater
My Girl (Bass part at beginning), Feelings, The Flintstones
minor sixth
Batman Theme(1st and 4th note), Conquest of Paradise (Vangelis), Theme from love story
the Entertainer (notes 3 and 4), Black Orpheus, The Incredible
Hulk theme
major sixth
My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean, NBC theme tune
Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera), Nobody Knows the

Trouble I've seen
minor
seventh
Somewhere (from West Side Story), star trek
Watermelon Man
major
seventh
Bali-Hai (1st and 3rd note), the chorus melody of "Take On Me"
by a-ha
I Love You (Cole Porter) 2nd & 3rd notes
perfect
octave
over the rainbow
Bulls On Parade(RATM), Willow Weep for Me,
Here is a graphic interpretation of intervals. Major count down from the top. Minor count up from the bottom.
Naming starts top to bottom.
15
DO Major
Second
Major
Third
Perfect
Fifth
Major
Sixth
RE Major
Second
Major
Third
Perfect
Fifth
Major
Sixth
MI
Major
Third
Perfect
Fifth
Major
Sixth
Perfect
Fifth
Perfect
Fifth
FA
SO
Perfect
Fourth
LA
Perfect
Fourth
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Minor
Seventh
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Major
Sixth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Major
Sixth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Major
Sixth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Major
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
TI
Minor
Second
Perfect
Fourth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
DO
Minor
Second
Perfect
Fourth
Minor
Sixth
Minor
Seventh
Perfect
Eighth
Traditional Scales
The major scale
The major scale is a diatonic scale, which was first invented by the Greeks thousands of years ago (thus this is
sometimes known as the Ionian scale/mode). The major scale is most simply described as the eight note progression
consisting of the perfect and major semitiones, i.e., perfect unison, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th,
major 6th, major 7th, and perfect octave in that order. You have already seen the major scale: C D E F G A B; do re
mi fa sol la ti; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Scales may be constructed according to their intervals. You can see that the C major
scale consists of two whole tones, then a semitone (moving from E to F), then three more whole tones, then again a
semitone (moving from B back to C). If we add the implied C at the end of the scale, we would have eight notes: C
D E F G A B C.
The minor scale

The minor scale, or the Aeolian mode, is also a diatonic scale. The C minor scale is C D E F G A B ; 1 2 3 4 5
6 7. You can see that it consists of one whole tone, then a semitone (moving from D to E ), then two more whole
tones, then again a semitone (moving from G to A ), and a final whole tone. If we add the implied C at the end of
the scale, we would have eight notes: C D E F G A B C.
The intervals of the natural minor scale follow the following pattern: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.
The following chart demonstrates this natural minor scale construction.
The minor scale is the sixth mode of the major scale; that is, the minor scale starts on the 6th note of the relative
major scale. In the case of the C minor scale, the relative major scale is E major. We can illustrate this with two
octaves of the Eb major scale, highlighting the C minor scale. E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E . You will
learn more about modes later.
Pentatonic and Blues Scales

The pentatonic scales
A pentatonic scale has five notes. Each note in the major pentatonic scale is a fifth (seven semitones) relative to
another note. For example, the C major pentatonic scale starts with C, then from there we can get G, then D, then A,
then E. Rearranging the scale to ascending order from C, we get: C D E G A. This is the C major scale with F and B
removed! So, why use it? Sometimes less is more, and pentatonic scales are certainly easier to use when
improvising.
The major pentatonic is the same as the major scale with the 4 and 7 notes removed, while the minor pentatonic has
the 2 and 6 notes removed, that is, the minor pentatonic is relative to the major pentatonic.
So, to use our earlier example contrasting the E major pentatonic with the C minor pentatonic: E F G B C E F
GB CE .
Pentatonic scales are abundant in rock and blues music, though these are certainly not their only uses. Traditional
Japanese music has defined and named many more pentatonic scales, some of which do not use the western
twelve-note basis.
The blues scale

The most common blues scale has six notes, and may be considered a minor pentatonic scale with the diminished
fifth added as a blue note. In a major blues tune, the minor third is also considered a blue note.
Therefore, the C blues scale is: C E F G G B . Sometimes the raised seventh degree (B) is added to this scale but
most often used as a passing note, much like the diminished fifth. The blues scale is most commonly used in jazz
improvisation to create a "bluesy" flavor.
The Symmetric Scales

Symmetric scales include scales such as the whole-tone scale, octatonic scale (also called the diminished scale), and
chromatic scale, and their defining characteristic is that they are composed of repeating subunits within an octave.
This property allows these scales to be transposed to another pitch (or "key"), yet retain exactly the same notes as the
original scale.
The chromatic scale

The simplest of the symmetric scales, the chromatic scale, is composed of repeating semitones (half-steps). Thus, the
chromatic scale built on C contains the notes C,D ,D,E ,E,F,G ,G,A ,A,B , and B. The chromatic scale built on
D contains the notes D ,D,E ,E,F,G ,G,A ,A,B ,B, and C. Notice that these are exactly the same notes as the
chromatic scale built on C. In fact, a chromatic scale built on any note of the twelve-tone western music scale will
share these notes, a property which warrants the inclusion of this scale among the symmetrics. Usually chromatic
scales are spelled with sharps when ascending and flats when descending.
As noted above, composers will often choose certain notes from this scale to use more frequently than others,
thereby providing the listener with a sense of a "home" note, referred to as the tonic. However, many composers in
the twentieth century have demonstrated that using all twelve chromatic notes equally can defeat any sense of tonal
center. This technique is called atonality or, less commonly, pantonality, and can have a very unsettling effect upon
those unaccustomed to this music. An everyday occurrence of atonal music would be in the soundtracks to many
horror films, documentaries, or other movies where there is a need for extreme dissonance and tension to match the
onscreen action.
16
The whole-tone scale

The whole-tone scale is made of repeating whole tones (whole-steps). Therefore, a whole-tone scale built upon D
would contain D ,E ,F,G,A, and B. Like the chromatic scale, these pitches are the same pitches that one would
find in a whole-tone scale built upon E , or any of the pitches in this particular scale. For instance, a whole-tone
scale built upon F would be F,G,A,B,D ,E , and a whole-tone scale built on B would be B,C ,D ,F,G,A. These
two are really the same scale, since C =D and D =E . For this reason, there exist only two possible whole-tone
scales:
1. the scale including the pitches C,D,E,F ,G , and A
2. the scale including the pitches D ,E ,F,G,A, and B.
Any whole-tone scale within the western musical system will fall enharmonically into one of these two categories.
The whole-tone scale was used widely by impressionists to create a floating, ethereal sound. The scale also finds a
place in jazz improvisation, as it is among the most colorful scales to use where a raised-fifth scale degree is
indicated. Incidentally, the scale contains all of the notes of two augmented chords placed side-by-side, a whole step
apart.
The octatonic (diminished) scale

The octatonic, or diminished, scale is among the simplest scales possible, yet has been used to tremendous effect in
nearly every genre. This eight-note scale may be conceived in two manners, but both of the approaches use a
repeating subunit of alternating whole-steps and half-steps. The first manner, most often used by classical composers
and termed diminished, encourages beginning with a whole-step, while the second, used frequently by jazz players
and composers who call it octatonic, encourages starting with the half-step. Beginning from C (using the first
method), the octatonic scale would include the notes C,D ,E ,E,F ,G,A, and B . As with the other symmetric
scales, this scale may be moved to a different starting note yet retain the same pitches as the original. Thus, E ,E,F
,G,A,B ,C,D is an octatonic scale (first method) that shares all eight pitches with the octatonic scale starting on C.
There are, then, three different octatonic scales possible:
1. C,D ,E ,E,F ,G,A, and B
2. C ,D,E,F,G,A ,B , and B
3. D,E ,F,G ,A ,A,B, and C
Any other octatonic scales within the western system will fall enharmonically into one of these three groups.
The use of the octatonic scale in western music can be seen as early as Bach, who used pieces of the scale within his
counterpoint to imply diminished harmony. Modern composers of the classical canon use this scale as a colorful
alternative to redundant diatonicism or austere chromaticism. Jazz improvisers often turn to the diminished scale to
improvise over a dominant seventh harmony to imply the flat-ninth degree of a chord. The octatonic/diminished
scale is extremely versatile: a single octatonic scale (C,D ,E ,E,F ,G,A, and B contains the notes of four
dominant-seventh chords (C,E,G,B ; E ,G,B ,D ; F ,A ,C ,E; and A,C ,E,G), two fully-diminished-seventh
chords (C,E ,G ,B and C ,E,G,B ), and a plethora of major, minor, and diminished chords.
17
Other "theoretical" symmetric scales

Other collections of pitches may be considered "symmetric scales," even though they are not often used as such. The
fully-diminished-seventh chord is made up of repeating subunits of minor thirds (three semitones), and there are
three distinct pitch collections:
1. C,E ,G ,B
2. C ,E,G,B
3. D,F,A ,C
Any other fully-diminished seventh chords are enharmonically equivalent to one of these three collections.
The augmented chord is made of repeating subunits of major thirds (four semitones), and there are four distinct
collections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
C,E,G
D ,F,A
D,F ,A
E ,G,B
Any other augmented chords are enharmonically equivalent to one of these four collections.
Finally, the interval of a tritone (diminished fifth, augmented fourth, or six semitones) may be considered with the
symmetric scales because there are only six distinct varieties using the subunit of a tritone. A tritone beginning on C
(C,F ) has the same pitches as a tritone beginning on F (F ,C)
References
[1] http:/ / www. trainear. com/
Music Theory/Modes
Modes
Modes are alternate tonalities (scales) that can be derived from the familiar major scale by starting on a different
scale tone. Music that uses the traditional major scale can be said to be in the Ionian mode. For example, in the key
of C, the Ionian scale would be C D E F G A B.
The other familiar mode is Aeolian. It can be derived by starting the Ionian (major) scale on the sixth scale tone. For
example, A Aeolian would be A B C D E F G. This is the A natural minor scale.
The other modes can be derived similarly, by starting the major scale on the other tones. If we stick with only the
white notes on the piano, we can derive seven different modes. These are:
18
Music Theory/Modes
19
Ionian
C D E F G A B C
Dorian
D E F G A B C D
Phrygian
E F G A B C D E
Lydian
F G A B C D E F
Mixolydian G A B C D E F G
Aeolian
A B C D E F G A
Locrian
B C D E F G A B
As you can see, each mode denotes a unique set of intervals above the root tone. The result of this is that music
written in each mode has a very distinct sound. Progressions that sound familiar in one mode may sound
otherworldly in another mode.
The tonic chord alone sounds different in many modes. In Ionian, Lydian and Mixolydian, the tonic triad is major. In
Dorian, Phrygian and Aeolian, the tonic is minor. In Locrian, the tonic is diminished. Because the diminished triad
sounds so unstable, Locrian is the most rarely employed mode.
However, since the modes all contain the same set of notes, any or all of them can be used within a single piece
without accidentals. A certain mode can be achieved simply by creating a section which resolves to or is based on
the tonic of that mode. Again using the white keys of the piano to illustrate, a resolving to A would be in the A
Aeolian mode, while one resolving to C would be in the C Ionian mode.
The modes can also be written by noting their differences from the Ionian, i.e. what sharpened or flattened notes they
contain. This approach yields the following (in order of increasing number of flats):
Lydian
I II
III
IV# V
VI
VII
Ionian
I II
III
IV
VI
VII
Mixolydian I II
III
IV
VI
VIIb
Dorian
I II
IIIb IV
VI
VIIb
Aeolian
I II
IIIb IV
VIb VIIb
Phrygian
I IIb IIIb IV
VIb VIIb
Locrian
I IIb IIIb IV
Vb VIb VIIb
Thus the E Phrygian is an E Ionian (major) scale with flattened second, third, sixth, and seventh degrees. It can be
observed that, for a constant tonic, each mode contains the same notes as the previous except for one note being
lowered, and that the lowered notes appear in the following order: IV (natural, lowered from IV#), VIIb, IIIb, VIb,
IIb, Vb. This is known as the "order of flats", and can be used as an aid for memorizing the modes.
What music is
Music is an art form whose medium is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch (which
governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and
the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word derives from Greek (mousike), "(art) of the Muses".[1]
The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social
context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through
improvisational music to aleatoric forms. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing
lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and
occasionally controversial. Within "the arts", music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art.
Music Theory/Modes
20
To people in many cultures, music is inextricably intertwined into their way of life. Greek philosophers and ancient
Indians defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such
as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and
pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for
example, "There is no noise, only sound."[2] According to musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez, "the border between
music and noise is always culturally definedwhich implies that, even within a single society, this border does not
always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus. By all accounts there is no single and
intercultural universal concept defining what music might be, except that it is 'sound through time'."[3]
Music Theory/Chords
This is a basic introduction to chords. There is also a complete chord reference.
It is difficult to define what a chord is. Many people define it as several notes played simultaneously. This definition,
while not entirely inaccurate, is very misleading. It is possible to play music involving chords on the flute, trumpet,
or a lone human voice, all three being instruments capable of playing only one sound at a time. For our purposes, we
will define a chord as the basic element of harmony. Before we can explain further, however, we must provide an
example of chords.
Triads
The triad is a class of chords, specifically three-note chords formed by this formula: 1-3-5 or root, third, fifth. In this
example they are constructed of two consecutive thirds.
There are four kinds:
Kinds of Triads
Root
3rd
5th
Major
Minor
Augmented
#5
Diminished
=flat/lowered; #=sharp/raised
The major is very consonant; the minor is a bit less so but still consonant for most purposes. The augmented is very
dissonant and the diminished is extremely dissonant as it contains a tritone (augmented fourth or, in this case,
diminished fifth).
The major and minor triads may have their fifth omitted, although this is uncommon. If the third of a major or minor
chord is omitted, the result is a fifth chord, which is often called a power chord when played on an overdriven guitar.
Triads and Inversions

If we look at a C major triad or three-voice chord it is based on combining a root voice (C) with two other voices at
slightly different intervals of a third (E, a major third from C and G, a minor third from E). If we compare the key of
C major to the C major chord using the names do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, to represent the scale degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, the C major chord is constructed from the notes do, mi, and so. This same relationship is true for all major triads
in all corresponding major keys.
Music Theory/Chords
21
Building a C Major Triad

Note
Degree
Name
do
re
mi
fa
so
If we juxtapose these three notes (the root, major third and perfect fifth) they can be structured or 'voiced', C-E-G,
E-G-C or G-C-E. No matter what order the three notes (called voices) are in they still create a C major chord. It does
not matter if the voices are the singers in a choir or the instruments of an orchestra, if the notes are all either C, E, or
G we simply have a gigantic sounding C chord.
The two consecutive intervals produced by these voicings would be:
C E G = major third, minor third (root pos'n),
E G C = minor third, perfect fourth (1st inv.),
G C E = perfect fourth, major third (second inv.).
If the root (C) is on the bottom this voicing is called root position. If the third (E) is on the bottom it is called first
inversion. If the fifth (G) is on the bottom this voicing of the triad is called second inversion.
Since there are only three possible voicings of a triad it is relatively easy to hear them in that they are a common
feature of the past two centuries of traditional harmonic structures in Western music. The use of the exponentially
more complex voicings arising from 4-voice, 5-voice and larger chords is more challenging. Some 4-voice chords
are used in traditional, 'classical' and church music but others such as the diminished seventh were strictly forbidden
in early sacred music as they contained the tritone interval; the mathematical halfway point in the octave which
allegedly sounded Satanic. Other 4-voice chords were not used in symphonic and 'classical' music until the French
Impressionist era and in modern jazz. All triads and 4-voice chords are built within the octave, or eight-note scale
which encompasses the do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do of the major scale, for instance, or the scale steps 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8;
eight being the octave where the pattern starts over again.
All triadic and therefore, common, chords can be constructed the same way : using the 1 3 5 formula. Take the C
scale, for instance :
Building Harmonizing Chords in the Scale of C Major

Degree
12345
Chord
Name
1-3-5 Rel.
Triad Name
CDEFG
C Major
CEG
DEFGA
D Minor
DFA
iim
EFGAB
E Minor
EGB
iiim
FGABC
F Major
FAC
IV
GABCD
G Major
GBD
ABCDE
A Minor
ACE
vim
B C D E F B Diminished B D F viidim
This works for any scale, and whether the chord formed is minor or major depends on the scale: the I, IV, V chords
are major, and the rest are minor, with the seventh being diminished.
Music Theory/Chords
22
Some Four-Voice Chords

Some Four-Voice Chords
Name
Voices
Dominant Seventh
1 3 5 7
Major Seventh
1357
Minor Seventh
1 3 5 7
Minor Sixth
13 5 6
Half-Diminished Seventh 1 3 5 7
Diminished Seventh
1 3 5 7
Intervals
All chords are made up of interlocking or overlapping intervals. An interval may be defined as the distance between
two notes. The names of the chords are derived from the intervals that they are built from. In order of smallest to
largest the ascending intervals (and distance in semitones) within the octave from a middle C would be as follows:
Intervals
Interval
Note
Semitones
Minor 2nd
Major 2nd
Minor 3rd
Major 3rd
Perfect 4th
Augmented 4th
Diminished 5th
F#
G
Perfect 5th
Augmented 5th
Minor 6th
G#
A
Major 6th
Minor 7th
10
Major 7th
11
Octave (8th)
12
1. Shaded interval pairs are enharmonic;

one interval with two names.
2. The Tritone is six semitones.
The dreaded tritone, six semitones up from the root (and six down from the octave), is harmonically bewildering,
being neither fish nor fowl, exactly halfway from nowhere; one interval with two names (enharmonic in 12-tone
equal temperament), the augmented 4th and the diminished 5th. Likewise, the enharmonic augmented 5th and minor
6th are eight semitones up from the root.
By observing that 2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths are always either major or minor and 4ths and 5ths are always perfect,
augmented (raised) or diminished (lowered) it becomes evident that major chords have a major 3rd, minor chords
Music Theory/Chords
23
have a minor third, et cetera. By altering or manipulating these intervals by raising or lowering the third, fifth,
seventh, and so on, all of the possible chords can be produced.
Some examples:
Some Example Chords

Voices
Name
135
Major
1 3 5
Minor
1 3 5
Diminished
1 3 #5
Augmented
1357
Major 7th
1 3 5 7
Dominant 7th
1 3 5 6
Minor 6th
1 3 5 7
Minor/Major 7th
1 3 5 7
Minor 7th
1 3 5 7
Minor 7th b5
1 3 5 7(6)
Diminished 7th
1 3 #5 7
Major 7th +5
1 3 #5 7
Dominant 7th +5
Applying chords
The easiest way to apply a triad, or indeed any chord, is to pick one on a polyphonic instrument (such as a piano) and
play its three notes simultaneously. This is often how chords occur in actual music: an instrument plays all the notes
in the chord at the same time. However, there are other possibilities. The simplest is to arpeggiate the chord, that is,
to play its notes one at a time in any order, especially in a ascending or descending order. Often a melody can be
written around the chord, using notes in the chord as well as a few other nearby notes in the chord's scale. When this
is done while there is no accompaniment actually playing a chord, the chord is implied.
Seventh chords
Triads are often extended with some form of the seventh to form a seventh chord. When a chord is referred to as
simply a seventh chord, usually the dominant seventh is meant, which is a major triad with a minor seventh, for
instance, C-E-G-B. It is called the dominant seventh because the V chord, or "dominant chord" in the Latin naming
system, is the only major chord in the major scale that can naturally contain a minor seventh. Because all sevenths
are dissonant intervals, any seventh chord is dissonant, in other words, a seventh chord is more tense than a major or
minor chord. However, a few styles of music, such as jazz, make heavy use of seventh chords and may treat them as
rather consonant.
Music Theory/Chords
Other chords
Some chords are defined by the relation to the key rather than by any inherent characteristics. The Neapolitan chord,
for example, is an ordinary major chord, but its root is the lowered supertonic of the corresponding key, so the
Neapolitan of C major is a D major chord. Additionally, the Neapolitan is usually found in first inversion. A
borrowed chord is one from the parallel major or minor key. In C major, the parallel key is C minor and borrowed
chords include E major, B major, and F minor.

A chord structure, also called a chord progression or harmonic progression, helps indicate where the melody
should go.
The purpose of chord structures

It can be argued that many forms of music are organic, while imposing a rigid "structure" can be hampering. This is
a legitimate concern. However, consider that rigid chord structures occur most often in improvisational music
(especially jazz), which is usually not rigid in itself. Furthermore, many composers do not consider chord structures
much when composing, perhaps trying various things out and just going with what works, or maybe simply having
an intuitive understanding of the structures involved. Knowledge of chord structures will help you communicate with
other musicians, and is a must for participating in any kind of jam session. With a few exceptions, all the musicians
need to know the "changes" (the chord structure) and form in order for group improvisation to succeed.
Common chord structures

By far the most common chord structures revolve around, or at least contain, the I, IV, and V chords. This is why it
is important to know the Roman Numerals for these scale degrees: they pop up a lot! Many songs use only these
three chords (and possibly variations of them). The first we will consider is the classic twelve bar blues.
The twelve bar blues

The twelve bar blues, despite its name, pops up in a variety of genres, from jazz to rock. It has been used in a many
great songs, such as the theme from the Batman television show. Its most basic structure is this:
I
I I I
IV IV I I
V7 IV I I
The roman numerals are also used for different songs. e.g E E E E / A A E E / B A E E. This can be used for any
chords but you must use the same pattern repeatedly. That is, the first four bars are the I chord, the next two the IV
chord, the next two the I chord again, and so on. It begins on the tonic and ends on the tonic, which is common in
many progressions. Many chord progressions start at the tonic, move away to somewhere else, only to come back to
the tonic. To complicate this, however, twelve bar blues structures sometimes feature a turnaround at the end,
meaning the very last bar is a V7 chord, or it has a I chord followed by a V7 chord. Turnarounds usually occur at the
end of a verse or some other section in preparation for the next section. Usually the very last bar of a song will not
have a turnaround.
In some genres, such as jazz, seventh chords occur more commonly, so the basic twelve-bar blues might become
something more like this:
24
25
I I
I I7
IV IV7 I I7
V7 IV I7 I
It can also be modified further. For instance, the tenth bar (the last occurrence of IV) might become another V7
chord. This alteration was often used when adapting the twelve-bar blues to rock and roll.
The II-V-I
In jazz, the II-V-I is probably the most common chord progression. As it's name indicates, it goes:
IIm7 V7 Imaj7
As always, the exact type of chords can be modified to give a different feeling, such as in this melodic minor,
ascending form only, version:
IIm7b5(9) V7alt Imaj7
Note: Only the IIm7b5(9) and V7alt chords are from melodic minor scales.
The Minor II-V-I

Another commonly used chord progression is the minor ii-V-i. One can derive this from the melodic minor scales
shown above, while substituting a IminMaj7 for the IMaj7 chord, or by using three modes from one harmonic minor
scale , which produces the following chord progression:
IIm7b5(b9) V7b9(b13) IminMaj7(b6)
Applications of II-V-I's
II-V-Is can be chained together, creating complex progressions. Here's an example:
C
Am7
C
Bm7b5 E7
Dm7
G7
(etc...)
(I
(I
(I
II V)
II V)
etc..)
An example of complicated progression that can be created this way is the "Coltrane Changes", where the "I" chords
move by Major 3rd intervals. Here's a simple example:
Dm7
F#m7
Bbm7
Dm7
G7 Cmaj7
B7 Emaj7
Eb7 Abmaj7
etc...
(II V I )
(II V I )
(II V I )
(I etc...)
The way the II-V-I progression works is that first the II chord moves by 4ths upwards, which very often produces
interesting results, and then when moving from the V chord to the I chord the 7th of the V chord descends a half step
and becomes the 3rd of the I chord.
II-V-I progressions can also be used in other styles, such as classical.
Two-chord structures
Two-chord structures are much simpler than three-chord structures, of course. However, they are harder to work
with! It is more difficult to write an interesting piece with fewer chords, therefore the musicians must get the most
they can out of them.
One-chord structures
One-chord "structures" are uncommon, but they do exist. For instance, Frere Jacques is a one-chord song because it
can be played against a single major chord. More contemporary examples are "On the Road Again", numerous rap
songs, and so on.
External links
Can Great Songs Be Written With Only Two Chords? [1]
References
[1] http:/ / www. bloggingmuses. com/ 2006/ 06/ 07/ can-great-songs-be-written-with-only-two-chords/

Consonance and dissonance begin with intervals. A dissonant interval can be described as being "unstable" or
demanding treatment by resolving to a consonant interval; a consonant interval is one that is stable and does not
demand treatment. Thus, there is a hierarchy of consonant and dissonant intervals. (Chords having dissonant
intervals are themselves considered dissonant.)
Note that this distinction depends entirely on musical context. As such, a sonority which is consonant in one context
where it does not seem to demand resolution (say, major 2nds in a Debussy prelude) may sound harsh or
out-of-place in a different context where it must be resolved (the same major 2nds in a Bach fugue). In this article,
we will be using the terms "consonant" and "dissonant" as they are understood in common-practice tonal music, as is
the tacit convention when speaking of consonance and dissonance in general.
Consonant intervals in tonal music

The perfect fifth and the perfect octave are considered perfect consonances. The unison is a consonance insofar as
it can be considered an interval at all (many say it cannot).
The major third and sixth, as well as the minor third and sixth, are imperfect consonances.
The perfect fourth is dissonant in some contexts but consonant in others (see below). Specifically, the perfect
fourth is dissonant when it is formed with the bass note of any sonority.
Dissonant intervals
The perfect fourth is considered dissonant in common practice music when not supported by a lower third or fifth
(but see below).
Major and minor seconds, sevenths, and ninths are dissonant. Composer/theorist Vincent Persichetti, in his book
Twentieth-Century Harmony, classifies major 2nds, minor 7ths, and major 9ths as "soft dissonances," whereas
minor 2nds, major 7ths, and minor 9ths are "sharp dissonances."
The tritone (an augmented fourth or diminished fifth) is dissonant. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, it was
known as diabolus in musica because the perfect fifth was considered to be a reflection of the divine, and the
26

tritone falls just short of a perfect fifth. [Note for the advanced: Technically, it is not proper to refer to the
diminished fifth as a "tritone." The word "tritone" refers to "three whole-tones," the distance represented by the
tritone. This means that the augmented fourth, which comprises three whole-tones, is a true tritone, while the
diminished fifth, because of its accidental-spelling, is not made up of three whole-tones and is therefore not a
tritone. However, it is acceptable as an informal convention to refer to the diminished fifth as a "tritone."]
In Jazz, the minor 9th is often considered too dissonant for practical use. This is the basis for some notes being
called "avoid notes", typically the 4th of a major scale - it sounds dissonant because it forms a minor 9th with the
3rd. Other "avoid notes" are the minor 6th in aeolian mode, or the minor 2nd in phrygian mode. Some chords are
typically voiced to avoid a minor 9th (musicians invert the interval and play a major 7th instead). For example, in
a Cadd11 chord (see ../Complete List of Chord Patterns/), there is a minor ninth between the third, E and the
eleventh F. If the F is played below the E, the interval becomes a major seventh, which is less dissonant.
The perfect fourth

The perfect fourth is the inversion of the perfect fifth. In common practice music, it can be both consonant and
dissonant: in this case, it has a need for resolution when unsupported by lower notes, in which case it is dissonant
even though it sounds as "good" as the fifth. The fourth is always consonant when supported by a lower third or
perfect fifth, for example, E-G-C-E is consonant, but G-C-E is dissonant. In more contemporary music, many
consider the fourth to always be as consonant as the fifth.
In Medieval music, the perfect fourth was even considered a perfect consonance, as the perfect fifth and the octave.
However, this attitude no longer prevails.
Music Theory/The Physics of Music

Western theory is based on the findings of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras based on the vibrations of a
string.
The fundamental frequency is the frequency where the entire string vibrates backwards and forwards with two nodes
at the ends where the string is tied down. To try this, hold a spring between yourself and a partner and rocking it
back and forth steadily until the entire spring sways without being disrupted. This is the fundamental frequency.
In Western music, the primary reference tone is the pitch A above middle C, with a fundamental frequency of
440Hz. In twelve-tone equal temperament, all other tones are related to this pitch according to the formula:
The first overtone (also known as the second harmonic) occurs when the length of a string is halved when the tension
and density of the string is unchanged. The frequency of the second harmonic is twice that of the first. The frequency
of the third harmonic is three times that of the fundamental and so on.
It is not important to understand all of the physics of this, but it is important to remember that modern music is based
of the harmonic series. The further something is from the fundamental on the harmonic series, the less consonant it is
said to be. While typically consonant notes are the unison, octave, fifth, sixth, and third and dissonant notes the
second, seventh, and tritone, as well as all augmented or diminished intervals, consonance is now considered a
relative matter based on the harmonic series and context.
27
Music Theory/Finding the Key and Mode of a

Piece
Identifying keys
Finding the proper key is a matter of finding the I note, then finding what mode the notes seem to follow. This can be
easy or difficult, depending on the piece of music. Some music does not really follow a mode at all, but non-modal
key signatures are frowned upon.
The first place to start would be the chord structure. The most important chord is the I chord. This is the chord
formed by the first, third, and fifth notes in a mode. This is why a C major chord is called C major, because the C
major scale starts with C D E F G. Every mode naturally contains three major chords, three minor chords, and one
diminished triad. By "naturally", it is meant that all of the notes in the chord are in the mode's scale. D major is not
natural in the key of C because a D major consists of D, F#, and A, and F# does not occur in the C major scale. One
major chord can be extended to a dominant seventh chord (in the key of C major, this would be G7), and all of the
minor chords can be extended to a minor seventh chord.
Suppose we have a song and have determined it to have these chords: C, F, and G. This is a classic example of a
three-chord song, of which the twelve-bar blues is a good example (but there are zillions of possible three-chord
structures). Suppose the C chord occurs often and it is also the first and last chord in the song it is probably the I
chord, because the tendency is to begin on the I chord, move around a bit, and come back ("resolve") to the I chord.
C, F, and G happen to be the three major chords that occur naturally in the C major scale. Therefore the chord
progression is in C major and it is quite likely that any melody accompanying it is also in C major.
But what if a chord progression contains six major chords? Not all of those can occur naturally in a given mode,
since each mode has only three. Does the mode change during the progression? Well, yes and no. Certainly, the key
signature won't change with each chord change; it will only change when the piece as a whole is changed to another
key, generally when a new chord becomes the I chord.
By the way, in case you forgot, harmonic minor and melodic minor scales use the same key signatures as the natural
minor scale.
Another way
There is another way to figure out the key signature, which does not depend on matching the scale exactly. You still
have to find the 1 note and write the notes of the scale. Let's say your song uses only five notes: 1 2 4 5 b7. (This is a
Japanese scale.) It has a flatted seventh; everything else is the same as in the major scale. What modes have a
flattened seventh? Everything except lydian and ionian. The one with the fewest sharps/flats of these is mixolydian.
Therefore, this scale fits well into the mixolydian mode, and a piece written in this scale would have the appropriate
key signature for the mixolydian mode.
Now let's try a different Japanese scale: 1 2 b3 5 b6. This one is even easier: what modes have a flatted third and a
flatted sixth? Aeolian and locrian. But locrian does not have a 5 note, it has a b5 note instead. Therefore this piece
uses the key signature for the natural minor scale.
Now a really puzzling one: 1 b3 4 b5 5 b7. What mode has a flatted third, fifth, and seventh? Locrian. But again this
scale has the 5 note, which locrian does not! This scale doesn't fit into anything. There are two possibilities: the song
is indeed in locrian and the 5 is outside the scale. Notes outside of a scale in a song are rare and usually stand out
(sometimes to good effect and sometimes to bad effect, depending somewhat on your musical tastes); if a note is
used often it is part of the scale. If you find the 5 note is not part of the scale, then the song is in locrian. However, it
turns out this "modified locrian" with the 5 note is very common and it is called the blues scale. (If confronted with
28

this apparent scale, this is the much more likely possibility. Another way to look at this is as the minor pentatonic
with a b5. The minor pentatonic is 1 b3 4 5 b7.) The normal way to handle this particular oddball scale is to just
interpret it as a major scale. That is, the "F blues" is F major.
More often than not, the bass instrument (typically a cello or electric bass) will play the tonic as the first note of the
first measure (excluding pick-ups).
Atonal music
Some music is "atonal", meaning there is no tonal center and therefore no I note. Atonal music has a fairly distinct
flavor, and generally does not occur in popular music even rap music is tonal when it has any musical notes at all.
The most well-known atonalists were probably Arnold Schnberg (who, incidentally, abhorred the word "atonal")
and, after Schnberg's death, Igor Stravinsky (before Schnberg's death, Stravinsky made many tonal pieces). Atonal
music is perhaps the musical equivalent of abstract art, that is, free from the confines of the usual way of things at
the possible cost of an inability to be understood by others because the work does not inspire the same thoughts in
them.
What key signature do you use for atonal music? None at all. The very idea of a key implies the presence of a tonal
center, which atonal music, by definition, lacks. But be sure that the piece really is atonal before arriving at this
conclusion. The twelve-tone technique, which Schoenberg usually used (and Stravinsky used it as well), is almost a
dead giveaway that a piece is atonal (but there are some tonal songs that use it).
Music Theory/Playing by Ear

Playing by ear is both inherently difficult and inherently easy due to two things:
1. The music is played as heard therefore, rhythmic values and expression are easier to pick up and replicate in
one's own playing.
2. The music is, more often than not, unknown as a piece to play to whomever is playing it, and as a consequence he
or she, depending on the attention to which they feel inclined to play the piece, will have to work out key, chord
changes, melody, harmony and technicalities like fingering on their own.
Some people have a gift known as perfect pitch, that is, they are able to tell from listening to a specific note or chord
what it is. This may aid them immensely when they try to transcribe a piece of music or play it by ear.
The best way to learn to play by ear is to first develop your ear, that is, play easy songs without notation. Play along
to the song, so you know you are in the right key and always use an instrument that is in tune (if applicable). If you
are blessed with a particularly good memory, you will be able to memorize songs and chord changes without too
much difficulty. This gift does not have a name, but is comparable to perfect pitch in its use and applications.
Playing songs in one's head in the right key is not difficult after some ear development, so play by ear when you
don't have notation.
Not all people have the gift of perfect pitch, but one skill that you can develop is the ability to recognize relative
pitch. That is, being able to tell what a note is by relating it to a reference note, or being able to tell what a specific
chord is by correctly hearing the relative intervals between the notes within the chord. This ability would be a more
useful tool for learning to play any song in any key. For example, you hear the first three notes of the melody of a
certain song. Although you would not be able to exactly pinpoint what the actual notes are, you would still be able to
duplicate what you heard (but perhaps not in the original key) by identifying the intervals between those three notes.
Learning this skill means learning to play, and more importantly, hear the different intervals between notes: unison,
minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, and so on.
29
30

This is a complete reference on chord formation.
This is a helpful chord tree that will aid in the writing and analysis of music. You may move down the tree but
cannot retrograde backwards until reaching the bottom. There are, of course, exceptions including cadencing using
the IV to I and the so-called deceptive cadences that typically go from V to vi. You may move across the levels and
interchange the chords and can skip levels entirely if so desired. (Example- I, IV, ii, V, I, vi, V, I)
I
vi --- iii
IV --- ii
V --- vii7
I
Note numbers in parentheses are optional:
Major
Notes
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
1 3 (5)
major
maj, (none), M
Ionian
1 3 (5) 7
major seventh
maj7, 7, ma7, M7, Ionian
1 3 (5) 7 9
major ninth
maj9
Ionian
1 3 (5) 7 (9) (11) 13
major thirteenth
maj13
Ionian
1 3 (5) 6
sixth
6, add6, add13
Ionian
1 3 (5) 6 9
sixth/ninth
6/9, 69
Ionian
1 3 (5) (7) #11 (9,13..)
lydian
maj#4, #4, #11
Lydian
1 3 (5) (7) (9) (b13), (11) major seventh b6, or b13 maj7b6, ma7b6, M7b6 Harmonic Major
Dominant/Seventh
Normal
Notes
31
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
1 3 (5) b7
dominant seventh
7, dom
Mixolydian
1 3 (5) b7 9
dominant ninth
Mixolydian
1 3 (5) b7 (9) 13
dominant thirteenth
13
Mixolydian
1 3 (5) b7 #11 (9,13..) lydian dominant seventh 7#11, 7#4
Lydian Dominant (melodic minor 4th mode)
The dominant seventh is sometimes just called the "seventh", even though it contains a minor seventh and not a
major seventh.
Altered
Notes
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
1 3 (5) b7 b9 (#9,b5,6..) dominant b9 7b9
Half-tone/tone (8 note scale), 1/2 step/whole step Diminished scale, Octatonic scale.
1 3 (5) b7 #9
dominant #9 7#9
Mixolydian with b3
1 3 b7 (b9) (b5,b6,#9..)
altered
Locrian b4 (super-locrian)
alt7
Suspended
Notes
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
1 4 (5)
suspended 4th
sus4
Usually mixolydian
1 2 (5)
suspended 2nd
sus2
Usually mixolydian
1 4 (5) 7
suspended 4th seventh
sus47
Usually mixolydian
1 (5) b7 (9) 11
eleventh
11, sus, Bb/C for C11 Usually mixolydian
1 4 (5) b7 (9) 10 eleventh (special voicing) 11
Mixolydian
1 4 (5) b9
Phrygian or phyrgian #6
suspended 4th b9
susb9, phryg
Any chord with a major third can have the third replaced by a major second or perfect fourth to form a suspended
chord. Given a chord C, this would be written Csus2 ("C suspended second") and Csus4 ("C suspended fourth") for a
major chord. As these only apply to the major second and major fourth, there is no such thing as, say, a Csus6, which
would probably be properly written as Gsus4/C or C5add6 if it has a fifth, or else Am/C. However, in certain circles
it is said thought that replacing the fifth in a triad with a sixth is a type of suspention, eg Csus6 would contain C, E
and A, rather like an Am. This is however more accurately notated as C6.
Minor
Normal
Notes
32
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
1 b3 (5)
minor
min, m, -
Dorian or aeolian
1 b3 (5) b7
minor seventh
mi7, min7, m7, -7
Dorian or aeolian
1 b3 (5) 7 (9, 13)
minor/major seventh m/ma7, m/maj7, mM7, m/M7, -7, m Minor melodic (ascending)
1 b3 (5) 7 (9, b13) minor/major seventh m/ma7, m/maj7, mM7, m/M7, -7, m Harmonic Minor
1 b3 (5) 6
minor sixth
m6
Dorian
1 b3 (5) b7 9
minor ninth
m9
Dorian or aeolian
1 b3 (5) b7 (9) 11
minor eleventh
m11
Dorian or aeolian
1 b3 (5) b7 (9) 13
minor thirteenth
m13
Dorian
Diminished
Notes
Full Name
Abbreviations
1 b3 b5
diminished
dim,
1 b3 b5 bb7
diminished seventh dim7, , 7
1 b3 b5 b7 (b9 or 9,11,13..) half-diminished
Scale/Mode
Tone/Half-tone (8 note scale)
Tone/Half-tone (8 note scale)
Locrian or locrian #2
m7b5,
Notice the diminished seventh chord has a double-flatted seventh, which is enharmonically the same as a sixth, so
you may find the diminished chord alternately written as "1 b3 b5 6". The double-flat notation is more correct
because it shows how the seventh is further diminished from the half-diminished state.
Sometimes a diminished seventh chord is notated the same way as a diminished triad. Even more confusingly,
sometimes both forms are called the "diminished chord"! You can make the distinction between the two to avoid
ambiguity. However, keep in mind that they're ultimately very similar chords anyways, and you can usually
interchange them.
Other
Notes
Full Name
Abbreviations
Scale/Mode
No chord
N.C.
None
15
fifth
5, (no 3rd)
None
1 3 #5
augmented
aug, +
Whole tone (6 note scale)
1 3 #5 7 augmented seventh 7#5, maj7+5
Whole tone (6 note scale)
It's worth mentioning that you might hear some people (usually rock guitarists) call fifth chords 'power chords'.
9th, 11th, and 13th chords

7th chords can be extended to 9th, 11 and 13th chords. If you have a C7 (C dominant seventh), then the
corresponding chords would be C9, C11 and C13 . The C9 is a C7 with a major ninth (or second) added. The C11 is
a C7 with a eleventh (or perfect fourth) added. The C13 is a C7 with a major thirteenth (or sixth) added.
The same principles that can be applied to seventh chords apply to minor and major 7th chords. For instance, you
can have a minor 13th: 1 b3 (5) b7 13. The notes added are always the same: ninth, eleventh, and/or thirteenth, not
augmented or diminished. Only the seventh chord base changes.
It is very uncommon to extend a major 7th chord with an 11th. This is because there would be an interval of a minor
ninth between the third and the eleventh. If an eleventh is played, it is usually altered (this is dealt with below).
Additions
When a note is added to these chords in a manner that does not fit the tables above, it is often written "addX", where
X is the number of the added note, e.g., add6 for an added sixth. For instance, C major with an added sixth would
usually be written Cadd6. If the number is above 7, then it will be an octave higher than the root note.
Do not confuse Csus2 and Cadd2, or Csus4 and Cadd4. Suspended chords must not have a major third, but major
chords with additions must. (Note that in jazz, suspended chords sometimes have a major third added, but only when
the player wants dissonance).
Do not confuse Cadd9 with C9; the latter has a minor seventh, but the former does not.
An "added second" and "added ninth" are often considered synonymous, because a ninth is a second. Some
musicians argue they imply different voicings of the chords, for instance, add9 should have the second raised an
octave, but add2 should not. The "added ninth" is more common, especially since it is rare that one wants to add a
major second that is literally one whole tone away from the first (and possibly a third as well).
The 9th here is what is often referred to as a compound interval, that being an interval greater than an octave, such as
a 9th being an octave up from a 2nd, a minor 10th being an octave up from a minor 3rd... Greater intervals eg a
minor 17th theoretically exist (this being a minor 3rd raised 2 octaves) but such things above a modification of a
13th are never spoken of. To create a compound interval one would add 7 (once for every octave) raised to the
number in the name to raise the interval. The same applies subtracting seven to lower the pitch by octaves.
Alterations
Sometimes something such as "b5" or "#5" (also written "-5" and "+5", respectively) will be appended to the end of
the chord; this means play the chord as normal but flatten or sharpen the fifth respectively. (This is why C is
sometimes written Cm7b5, because a minor 7th with a flatted fifth has the same notes as a half-diminished chord.
Similarly, it may also be pronounced "C minor seventh flat five".)
Any of the extension notes (9th, 11th and 13th) can also be altered, something fairly common in jazz. The possible
alterations are b9, #9, #11 and b13. You may be wondering why there is no b11 or #13. Stop and think for a second
about which notes they would be in the key of C major. The b11 would be E, which is the major third in C, and the
#13 would be Bb, the minor 7th, so a chord symbol like C b11 #13 would imply C7. Which would you rather read?
The table below shows common altered chords:
33
Notes
34
Full Name
Abbreviation
1 3 (5) 7 9 #11
major #11 (lydian)
maj7#11, #11, #4
1 3 (5) b7 #9
dominant #9
7#9
1 4 (5) b7 b9
suspended b9 (phrygian)
susb9
1 3 (5) b7 b9 #9 #11 b13 dominant altered (super-locrian) 7alt, alt
The names in brackets after the full name refer to the mode from which the chord is derived (there should be a
section on this eventually).
Bass notes
The bass note of a chord is the lowest note of the chord. The most common case is that the bass note is the root note,
for instance, in a C major chord C-E-G ascending in pitch from left to right, the bass note is C, which is the root
note. But if the chord were instead G-C-E, it is still a C major chord (specifically, an inverted C major), but G is the
bass note, while C is still the root note. Sometimes the bass note is omitted for brevity when it is still a part of the
chord, which may be needed, for instance, when many rapid chord changes would otherwise make the names
illegible on a printed score.
Occasionally, bass notes are not a part of the original chord. For instance, a D minor does not have a C note, but
sometimes Dm/C is seen, meaning the D minor chord is played normally but with a C note below it. These are often
called slash chords.
This notation can also indicate a polychord.
Polychords
Polychords are superimposed chords. They are more common in some kinds of music (jazz) than others (classical).
This may occur, for instance, when a piano player plays a D minor with the left hand (possibly omitting its fifth) and
a G major with the right hand. The most common notation for this polychord is probably G/D. This leaves out
something important: that the D is a minor chord! (Usually, only the first chord, the higher one in pitch, has anything
more than a single note specified.) This also clashes with the more common meaning of "G chord but with a D bass
note", which is really a specific case of a polychord where the lower "chord" has only one note. Therefore, this
notation is incomplete, but it is the closest thing to a standard notation for polychords. There are many nonstandard
systems in use, however. Sheet music using polychords should explain the system used, if possible.
A common use of polychords is arpeggiating one chord against a different chord. For instance, on a piano, the left
hand may be holding down a G5 chord while the right hand arpeggiates D minor chords. This would be notated
Dm/G.
Polychords might be used as exotic voicings for many chords. The following examples use a pipe (|) to separate the
upper chord from the lower one. (the examples are given here for a C chord)
Notes
35
Polychord notation
Voicing for
2 #4 6 | 1 3 7
D|Cmaj7
Cmaj7#11
2 #4 6 | 1 3 b7
D|C7
C7#11
6 b2 3 | 1 3 b7
A|C7
C7b9
#4 7 b2 | 1 3 b7 F#|C7
C7b9b5
b6 1 b3 | 1 3 b7 Ab|C7
Calt7
b7 2 4 | 1 3 b5
Bb|Cdim
C7
5 b7 2 | 1 b 5
Gm|C
C7
572|1b5
G|C
Cmaj7
5 b7 2 | 1 b 5
Gm|Cm
Cm7
5 7 2 | 1 b3 5
G|Cm
Cmmaj7
Quartal Chords
Some arrangements use chords based on fourths, often two fourths in the upper notes with an independent bass,
which gives the following possibilities:
Notes
b7 b10 b13 / 1
Suggested notation
Bbsus47/C
Voicing for
Cm7b6(aeolian)
4 b7 b10 / 1 (5) Fsus47/C
Cm11
1 4 b7 / 1 (5)
Csus47/C
Csus47
5 8 11 / 1 (5)
Gsus47/C
Csus4
2 5 8 / 1 (5)
Dsus47/C
Csus2
6 9 12 / 1 (5)
Asus47/C
Csus26
3 6 9 / 1 (5)
Esus47/C
C69
7 10 13 / 1 (5)
Bsus47/C
Cmaj13
#4 7 10 / 1 (5)
F#sus47/C
Cmaj13#11
Of course, the fourths part of the chord can be present in two other inversons - sus4 or sus2, making Bbsus47/C,
Ebsus4/C and Absus2/C equivalent for instance.
Chord implication
Sometimes chords are not specifically indicated by notes, but are indicated by the chord structure, or even notes that
don't form chords by themselves but sound like they belong to a certain chord. The most usual way to handle this is
to put the chord name in parentheses. Implied chords are also often used when there are constant chord changes
throughout a section (several per measure), and marking each one would make little sense, so the "underlying" chord
is chosen (usually a chord the others are temporarily centered around). Sometimes sheet music will use only implied
chords, in which case often chord names will appear normally, and perhaps a footnote will state something such as
"chords reflect implied harmony".
Modulation is the process of changing key center. Modulation occurs in a number of ways, most of them involving
some way of making the current key ambiguous and reaching a cadence in a new key. The key chosen is usually one
closely related to the original key, those that share the key signature or have only one sharp or flat different in the
key signature (for example, in C major, A minor, G major, and F major are all closely related keys). Modulation to
other keys is not unknown, however, particularly in the Romantic era.
There are several means used to modulate. One is simply to introduce a new key, though this does not always sound
very convincing and many consider it quite crude. In classical music, modulation is usually prepared and carried out
through the use of pivot chords, which exist in both the starting key and the intended destination. Especially during
the Romantic era, the possibilities of chromatic pivot chords, such as the diminished seventh, were heavily exploited.
Pivot chord
A pivot chord is a chord that is common to both the key you are moving from and the key you are moving into. The
pivot chord begins as a particular chord in the original key (eg. iv) and is then used as a different chord in the new
key (eg. ii). This creates a smooth transition to the new key.
Eg. To modulate from C major to G major, the chord a- is common to both keys, and can be used as a pivot chord as
follows:
C -> a -> D7 -> G
(I -> iv/ii -> V7 -> I)
Another method of modulation is to treat a major chord in a given key as the dominant chord in a new key by adding
a minor 7th above. Commonly, the tonic chord is used like this to modulate to the sub-dominant:
Eg. in C major, modulating to F major
C -> C7 -> F
(I -> I7/V7 -> I)
Or to modulate to Bb, one may follow this progression:
C -> F -> F7 -> Bb
(I -> IV -> IV7/V7 -> I)
Uses of modulation
Modulation is integral to sonata form, where a modulation to a (usually) related key in the exposition sets up an
important tonal contrast in the development. Modulation is also used in other forms like the fugue and rondo to
create contrast within unity.
36
Chromaticism refers to the use of pitches, chords, and keys not associated with diatonic collections. The etymology
of the word chromatic, which refers to colour, gives us a clue as to its function is in nineteenth-century music: it
provides inflections to diatonic harmonies.
Pitch
A chromatic pitch is any note not contained within a given diatonic collection. For example, in C major, C-sharp,
D-flat, D-sharp, E-flat, F-sharp, G-flat, G-sharp, A-flat, A-sharp and B-flat all represent chromatic pitches. For a
chromatic pitch to function 'chromatically', however, it must resolve in a logical way to a diatonic pitch, otherwise
the overload of 'colour' undermines the integrity of the key and begins to suggest a modulation to a different key or a
non-diatonic modality. As a general rule, chromatically raised tones resolve upward while chromatically lowered
ones resolve downward. Hence, chromatically introduced A# usually goes to B while Eb would have to go to D.
Chords
In nineteenth-century music there can be no pitches without chords, which more fully suggest harmony. In C major,
chromatic chords include all those outside the diatonic framework, including C minor, C-sharp major and minor, D
major, E-flat major and minor, E major, F minor, F-sharp major and minor, G minor, A-flat major and minor, A
major, B-flat major and minor, and B major and minor. The way these chords are used in nineteenth-century music is
not arbitrary and each chord has its own specific quality and compositional implications. Most obviously the level of
diatonicism, or its displacement around the cycle of fifths, of a chromatic chord makes it sound more or less
nearly-related to the tonic (that is within diatonicism, although other theories exist, notably certain neo-Riemannian
theories).
Keys
Finally, keys, which may provide large-scale harmonic structure in nineteenth-century music, may also be chromatic.
Given that gamut of keys for most music of the eighteenth century is diatonic - most often creating a tension between
tonic and dominant (Charles Rosen, The Classical Style, 1978) - the use of chromatic keys opens up a vista of new
tonal possibilities. Composers such as Beethoven and to an even greater extent Schubert, are examples of the first
composers to explore this.
After chromaticism
Historically, the prolongations of chromatic pitches, chords, and keys, increasingly undermining a clear diatonic
harmonic basis, led it many different directions. Wagner and Strauss pushed to the extreme the tension of prolonging
chromatic pitches, whereas other composers, such as Debussy, overstep the boundary and moves towards modality.
Composers of the Second Viennese School - Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern - completely eradicate any diatonic
basis with atonal and dodecaphonic (twelve-tone serialism) harmony, and can thus be said to have moved through
and beyond chromaticism.
37
Syncopation is when a normally unstressed beat is stressed. For example, music in common time (4/4) usually
stresses the first and third beat. A syncopated song, on the other hand, may emphasize the second and fourth.
Syncopation can also occur when a note is between two beats.
Music Theory/Blues
Blues genre of music originally came from the USA in the 19th century and was a form of music played by black
slaves. It was full of soul and emotion and some may even be found as depressing. The original blues music often
contained sad lyrics that dealt with everyday issues of life that the slaves found hard to cope with.
Slowly, as blues became more popular and spread into the urban areas, it gradually became more 'happy'. By 1920,
three major formats of blues were common: The 8 bar blues, the 12 bar blues and the 16 bar blues. Blues also
developed various styles, or subgenres, such as Mississippi Delta blues and Chicago electric blues.
Blues scale
To understand Blues chords, first you need to understand the scale that is associated with the 12 bar blues, which is
called the blues scale. It follows the pattern:
I, IIIb, IV, IV#, V, VIIb, I
in relation to the I major scale. The IIIb, IV#, and VIIb are considered to be the 'blue' notes, and characterise the
style.
In terms of intervals, or distances between notes (in half steps), the pattern is:
3, 2, 1, 1, 3, 2
In other words, three half steps from the tonic (I) to the second note of the blues scale (IIIb), two from the second
note to the third (IV), one from the third to the fourth (Vb), and so on.
In C:
C, Eb, F, F#, G, Bb, C
In D:
D, F, G, G#, A, C, D
In G:
G, Bb, C, C#, D, F, G
The reason I talked about these three scales as examples is to illustrate the next point of blues: Blues are made up of
I, IV, and V chord. In the case of Blues in G, that would be in G major, C major, and D major. However, we do not
use proper major scales, but use the blues major scale. As seen from the above example, 2/3 of the notes in IV chord
and V chord of G blues scale are in the C and D blues scale. Thus, the artist can just focus on the notes in the key of
their song.
Note: 'Blues scale' is a somewhat disputed term, also used by many to refer to the minor pentatonic scale: I, IIIb,
IV, V, VIIb, I, or intervals of 3, 2, 2, 3, 2 half steps. The blues scale outlined above is a minor pentatonic scale
with a note (Vb) added in between the IV and the V. Blues music generally uses the minor pentatonic scale, and
often includes the added note, making it a blues scale. The term 'blue note' is used in various ways as well. In
addition to the meaning given above, it can refer to the added note that turns a minor pentatonic into a blues scale,
38
Music Theory/Blues
or to a note that is flattened by less than a semitone.
12 bar blues
12 Bar blues is still the most popular blues pattern, and is adopted by many contemporary musicians. Numerous
variants exist, but this is the general outline:
I | I | I | I
IV | IV | I | I
V | IV | I | I
In the key of C, these will be the chord progression:
C | C | C | C
F | F | C | C
G | F | C | C
Some common changes to this pattern include making some or all of the chords into seventh chords (I7, IV7, V7),
which can give an even more bluesy feel to the progression, or substituting a chord in one of the bars for another
chord. For example, the final I is often changed to a V or V7 (in the key of C, a G or G7) instead, which is known as
a "turnaround", and generally sets up for another verse (since the V or V7 chord naturally leads to the I).
Verse forms
Each of the blues progression equates to one verse of the song, and during soloing, verse form should also be
observed. If a verse is split into three blocks of four measure, numerous verse form can exist within a coherent
framework. While there can be numerous kind of verse form, the following are the most common:
A-A-A. A block is repeated three times. Containing no B section but a repetition over and over; often used to tell
a story with a song. It is also common to have a turnaround near the end of A.
A-A-B. The third block is new in the verse. This is good for vocal lines.
For the two above, you can always have a few variations, making them sound similar but different.(eg: A-A'-A") For
example, repeat the "A" block a little bit, or change the end a little bit.
A-B,C-C. The second block uses two measure of B material, then follow by two measure of C materials.
A-B-C. Formless. May give a prescene of melodyless. Useful for jamming mainly. Sounds easy, but actually very
difficult, since if done poorly can bore the audience easily.
Jazz Blues
One of the most interesting Blues variation is the Jazz Blue Progression:
Variation
I7 |IV7
IV7 |VII7
II7 |V7
1
|I7
|V7
I7
|I7
|III7 VI7
|I7 VI7 |II7 IV7
Variation 2
I7 |IV7
|I7
|V7
I7
IV7 |IV#dim |I7
|III7 VI7
II7 |V7
|III7 VI7 |II7 V7
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Music Theory/Blues
For those that knows about jazz theory, you may ask where is the ii-V progression is. Actually, it is here: the v-I
progression is actually ii-V prgression relative to the the IV chord.
Lyrics
The lyrics of blues usually takes the form of a narrative. As its origin goes, most of the time the lyrics dealt with
personal woes and hard times, or simply their day to day life. Of course, it can be humorous, too. While it was
humorous, it differs from other humourous songs by mainly using joyous melodies, and use a more innuendo-laden
lyrics. For example, a song by the Blues Brothers:
I said Woman, you going to walk a mile for a Camel (this can refer to the cigarette)
Or are you going to make like Mr. Chesterfield and satisfy? (this here to another cigarette, but a certain body
parts)
She said that all depends on what you're packing
Regular or king-size (again, refer to either or)
Then she pulled out my Jim Beam, and to her surprise (refer to either the liquor, or the body part)
It was every bit as hard as my Canadian Club. (again, refer to either or)
Obviously, this can only be done by knowing well not only of numerous vocabulary and synonym, (for example,
hard can mean either hardness or alcohol strength), but also of numerous product that can easily take dual meanings.
Unlike many other genre, Blues is more directed toward the audience on the surface, as if doing a simple speech with
melodic, rhythmatic, and poetic features, while the other genre's lyric are more abstracted even when just listening.
Many early blues lack rhyming, which is seen as needed in many modern songs.
Also, repeating a vocal line is often helpful, since it reinforces the words into the audiences.
For more details on writing a song, go to Writing Effective Songs.
External links
Twelve Bar Blues [1]
References
[1] http:/ / www. powertabs. net/ pta. php?page=wip_download,1641,zack
40
Music Theory/Dance
Music Theory/Dance
Dance music is a broad category, generally associated with the club and rave scene.
Major genres of contemporary dance music include House, Techno, Ambient, Trance, Drum and Bass, IDM and
Glitch, most of which are frequently divided into sub-genres.
Dance music may be purely instrumental or may employ lyrics. The vocals are sometimes heavily-processed,
distorted, or otherwise electronically manipulated above and beyond the norms for other forms of popular music.
Modern dance music shares technical similarities with musique concrte, including the use of sampling, often of
"found sounds" other than musical instruments. Though this was once accomplished with the mechanical
manipulation of physical tape loops, purpose-built machines or software known as samplers are now used for this
purpose. Sampling may be combined with synthesized instruments, or samples of analog or digital synthesizers may
be used. Effects such as delay, reverb, and flanging are often applied in very obvious ways.
House and Garage are heavily influenced by disco, and commonly feature repetitive 4/4 beats with heavy,
synthesized or sampled bass drums. Drum and bass uses characteristically broken beats, typically in the 160 to 180
beat-per-minute range; distorted, synthesized bass and sub-bass plays a key role.
Dance music has grown in prominence since the 1980s, especially in North America and Europe. Notable artists
include Fatboy Slim, Orbital, Basement Jaxx, New Order and Aphex Twin.
Music Theory/Folk
Music held to be typical of a nation or ethnic group, known to all segments of its society, and preserved usually by
oral tradition. Knowledge of the history and development of folk music is largely conjectural. Musical notation of
folk songs and descriptions of folk music culture are occasionally encountered in historical records, but these tend to
reflect primarily the literate classes' indifference or even hostility.
As Christianity expanded in medieval Europe, attempts were made to suppress folk music because of its association
with heathen rites and customs, and uncultivated singing styles were denigrated. During the Renaissance, new
humanistic attitudes encouraged acceptance of folk music as a genre of rustic antique song, and composers made
extensive use of the music; folk tunes were often used as raw material for motets and masses, and Protestant hymns
borrowed from folk music.
In the 17th century folk music gradually receded from the consciousness of the literate classes, but in the late 18th
century it again became important to art music.
In the 19th century, folk songs came to be considered a "national treasure," on a par with cultivated poetry and song.
National and regional collections were published, and the music became a means of promoting nationalistic
ideologies.
Since the 1890s, folk music has been collected and preserved by mechanical recordings. Publications and recordings
have promoted wide interest, making possible the revival of folk music where traditional folk life and folklore are
moribund.
After World War II, archives of field recordings were developed throughout the world. While research has usually
dealt with "authentic" (i.e., older) material not heavily influenced by urban popular music and the mass media, the
influence of singer-songwriters such as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan expanded the genre
to include original music that largely retains the form and simplicity of traditional compositions.
41

Early Origins Of Hip Hop
The roots of hip hop are in West African and African-American music. The griots of West Africa are a group of
traveling singers and poets, whose musical style is reminiscent of hip hop. True hip hop arose during the 1970s when
block parties became common in New York City, especially the Bronx. Block parties were usually accompanied by
music, especially funk and soul music. The early DJs at block parties began isolating the percussion breaks to hit
songs, realizing that these were the most dance-able and entertaining parts; this technique was then common in
Jamaica (see dub music) and had spread via the substantial Jamaican immigrant community in New York City,
especially the godfather of hip hop, DJ Kool Herc. Dub had arose in Jamaica due to the influence of American
sailors and radio stations playing R&B. DJ Kool Herc
Large sound systems were set up to accommodate poor Jamaicans, who couldn't afford to buy records, and dub
developed at the sound systems (refers to both the system and the parties that evolved around them). Herc was one of
the most popular DJs in early 70s New York, and he quickly switched from using reggae records to funk, rock and,
later, disco, since the New York audience did not particularly like reggae. Because the percussive breaks were
generally short, Herc and other DJs began extending them using an audio mixer and two records. Mixing and
scratching techniques eventually developed along with the breaks. As in dub, performers began speaking while the
music played; these were originally called MCs; Herc focused primarily on DJing, and began working with two
MCs, Coke La Rock and Clark Kent -- this was the first emcee crew, Kool Herc & the Herculoids.
Identifying Rap Music

The music at which 1 can have its own views without any sorts of the preoccupied thoughts, that creates your true
identification of your hip-hop talent, this can be done with only full concenteration of your views related to your life,
to your destiny, to your integrity, to your problems, to your love, to your sexual life as well.
What Is Rap?
Hip hop and Rap are often used as a general name for the whole genre, however whilst they are inextricably linked,
it is important to distinguish between the two and acknowledge the differences.
Historically, rap music comes from hip-hop culture. The roots of rap music trace back to the Jamaican ska era of the
mid-60s. MCs rapping over party music made its way to New York a decade later, thanks to DJ Kool Herc, a man
many crown the "Father of Hip Hop." Kool Herc migrated from Jamaica to New York in 1967 and helped give birth
to the hip-hop culture that would continue to thrive and spread.
The Hip Hop Network notes that while the Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 "Rapper's Delight" was the first breakthrough rap
hit, it emerged from a "an inner-city phenomenon centering on DJs and including equal proportions of break
dancing, MCing, and graffiti art."
More recently, "rap" has been used to describe the aggressive, mass-market produced music of Nas or Eminem. But,
as one online encyclopedia points out, "Not all music that has rapping in it, however, is actually rap music, and not
all hip-hop music has rapping in it." Artists like Jurassic 5 and De La Soul typify hip-hop music, which is generally
more multi-instrumented and less in-your-face.
Rap and hip-hop music is now a huge industry, and it has the diversity of a huge industry. Now respected as an
established form of music, and many see it as one of the most versatile and original, from Producers/DJs/MCs such
as Madlib, crossing Jazz, Blues and other musical styles to influence his work to Dr. Dre producing such commercial
names as Eminem and 50 Cent, representing the more 'Rap' commercial style.
42
Catagorizing Hip Hop/Rap

Types Of Rap Music
Old Skool or old school

Gangster rap
Mainstream
Underground
Alternative
Freestyle
Conscious
Crunk
Grime
Political rap
+++much more
Regional Categories
West Coast Hip Hop
West Coast hip hop, also known as California hip hop or West Coast rap, is a style of hip hop music that originated
in California in the 1980s. It has since grown into a subgenre of hip hop and has developed several creative centers,
most of which are in California.
These centers are: The greater Los Angeles area, Long Beach, the greater San Francisco area (also known as the
"Bay" Area ), Oakland/Berkeley, Vallejo, Sacramento/Davis, and Seattle.
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop (sometimes also referred to as New York hip hop) is a style of hip hop music that originated in
New York City during the late-1970s. East Coast hip hop emerged as a definitive subgenre after artists from other
regions of the United States, chiefly the West Coast and the South, emerged with different styles of hip hop. It has
since grown into a major sub-genre of hip hop, and has played an instrumental role in hip hop history. East Coast hip
hop has developed several creative epicenters and local scenes within the Northeastern United States, most of which
are primarily located within African-American and Hispanic urban centers.
South hip hop
Hip hop in the South (sometimes referred to as the dirty South) is a style of hip hop music that has multiple origins in
Houston, Miami, Atlanta and Memphis. Hip hop in the South emerged during the late 1980's and early 1990's. This
regional hip hop has developed into multiple musical sounds like crunk, bounce, snap, chopped & screwed and
booty-bass. Even though initially thought of as unsophisticated and simple, recent success in this region has seen a
domination in 2005 of the weekly Top 10 songs in the country and an 2005 Academy award for Three 6 Mafia [1],
a Tennessee-based rap group.
References
[1] http:/ / awardsdatabase. oscars. org/ ampas_awards/ DisplayMain. jsp?curTime=1149254697866
43
Music Theory/Hymn
Music Theory/Hymn
A Hymn is a stylized poem or from the Greek a paeon, which, traditionally is sung in either in unison or parts, by a
group or a congregation, in praise to a God or to a deity. The book of Psalms, in the Old Testament of the Hebrew
and Christian texts, is an early example of the stylized poem, which was incorporated for group usage by the body of
beleivers in both Christianity and Judaism. The hymn form of music has evolved over the intervening centuries to
incorporate, other stylizations such as plainsong, other scriptural passages set in rythmical and tonal systems, such as
canticles and metrical latin hymnody. Late additions to the hymn's historical development incorporate elements in
"gospel" hymns from prevailing popular music genres, in order to maintain contact with the leading edge of the
developments of other forms of music.
Music Theory/Jazz
What is Jazz?
Jazz is a label that encompasses many aspects of an internationally loved art form and the culture that surrounds it.
Its rich history ties it originally to the songs and rhythms of ancient African societies, which are associated with
sacred traditions that in turn made way, if one looks closely enough, for the innovations of modern computing. As
European colonials brought slaves to the Americas, the music of Africa came with them, leading to contributions like
gospel, ragtime, and, perhaps most importantly, the blues. Jazz music can be "legit:" official and classically
regimented, like the Gershwin brothers and Scott Joplin; it can also be "free:" chaotic, improvised, and experimental,
like Ornette Coleman and the later work of Miles Davis. Jazz is also found in dance, art, and poetry, and no form of
rock or hip-hop would have ever happened without it.
Early Jazz
Jazz music has its earliest roots in Africa. Throughout the 1700s Africans were taken by the millions to the North
American colonies for the purpose of slavery. There, on plantations, slaves would sing work songs with each other in
a call and response manner. These songs still exist in the form of Spirituals today.
With the ending of the Civil War in 1865 came freedoms these men and women, most of whom had been born in
America, had never known before. Also around this time, a new music started popping up around the Louisiana
delta, in and around New Orleans. Marching bands were formed, with odd instrumentations consisting mostly of
brass instruments, playing music almost entirely by ear.
In the early 1900s, a new style of music called Ragtime started gaining popularity. Ragtime is characterized by the
stride left-hand part ("boom chick" type of bass line) and syncopated rhythms in the right hand part on the piano.
Famous names of this genre include Scott Joplin and "Jelly Roll" Morton.
Also out of New Orleans, along with Ragtime, was the Dixieland Jazz style, characterized by the distinct style of
counterpoint and stride bass line.
Then, just a couple decades later, came a new style called Swing. The man most responsible for the growth of Swing
in the mainstream was Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was known for playing using the "swing eighths", which is
characterized by playing the two eighth notes of a subdivided quarter in a non-symmetrical fashion. Below is an
example of how straight eighths (normal eighths) music might be notated:
44
Music Theory/Jazz
In the swing style, however, 8th notes are often played as though one subdivides the quarter note as an eighth note
triplet and plays a quarter note-eighth note combination. This is a rather technical way to describe it, and indeed
people originally thought that it was music solely of feeling that could not be written down. The first person to write
down jazz successfully was Jelly Roll Morton. Swing rhythm might be notated as below:
Sometimes, swing rhythms are played as a dotted quaver followed by a semiquaver. This is sometimes called heavy
swing, and is most common in the Dixie Land style. This would be notated:
Playing music with a swing is characteristic of nearly all forms of jazz, and should not be confused with the Swing
music sub-genre.
Bebop
In the 1940s, after the Great Depression and two World Wars, a new style of music was emerging out of New York
city. Bebop sprouted out of the artists' need for self-expression. Some artists at the time were tired of playing Swing
for white audiences. As a result of this, a new music style emerged in the clubs and bars of New York.
Bebop is characterized by fast tempos and improvisation based on harmonic structure rather than melody.
Jazz Evolution
Jazz quickly evolved throughout the 20th Century. A sub-genre was Swing, which featured high energy and
infectious melodies. Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller are notable leaders.
After Swing, Cool Jazz became popular, growing from its West Coast roots. One of the most popular musicians of
the genre is Dave Brubeck, who with his album Time Out first challenged the notion that jazz could only be in 4/4 or
waltz-style 3/4 time. It ignited a firestorm of controversy, but was immensely popular thanks to the single "Take
Five."
An era of experimentation followed Cool Jazz with Miles Davis leading the way. Fusion, the attempt to blend jazz
and rock and roll, also came about during this time. Notable fusion artists include Jaco Pastorius and the band
Weather Report. Latin jazz also exploded during this time, lead by people such as Chick Corea. Free Jazz also
developed during this era, lead by Ornette Coleman. Free Jazz is played without a definite rhythmic structure and
while there is some element of randomness, there is still a cohesive bond between the players. Some dispute Free
Jazz as being real jazz, or even real music.
Recently, jazz has splintered into a large grouping of subgenres without one truly leading the way. Smooth jazz has
gained some popularity thanks to artists like Kenny G, but it is reviled by many as "not really jazz" because no
improv happens and usually 'smooth' songs are just vamped on one chord. Other artists are trying to blend jazz with
other forms of music, such as the band Bla Fleck and the Flecktones who combine jazz with bluegrass, funk, latin,
reggae, and Asian music. Fleck himself plays banjo, an indication of the iconoclastic nature of the group.
(this should get you all off to a nice start)
45
Music Theory/Metal
Music Theory/Metal
What is metal?
Metal is a form of music originating in the UK and USA rock scenes in the very late 1960s. Arguably, the
progenitors of the style were Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Judas Priest. It is characterized by its aggressive feel
and angry, destructive lyrics, combined with the extensive use of 5th chords ("power chords") and a minor feel. The
default time signature for metal is 4/4; however, a large number of metal acts display a higher level of musicianship
than rock acts, and thus time signatures can vary widely to include compound and even asymmetric meters.
The general instruments in a metal band are electric guitars (acoustics are not used as widely), bass guitars, and drum
kits. In some genres keyboards are common. A lot of metal bands use guitar techniques such as sweeping and
fretboard tapping (to play fast melody patterns, especially arpeggios), whammy bar diving (pushing down the vibrato
bridge all the way to create a guttural roaring sound), and pinch harmonics (partially stopping a vibrating string with
the picking hand to create a very high-pitched harmonic with a distinctive "squealing" tone).
Due to misunderstandings, there are some genres that are either fusions of metal with other genres, or not metal at
all. For example, Visual Kei (a type of J-Rock) is often interpreted as metal, due to the heavy use of makeup (which
is a typical practice of especially earlier metal acts) and some stylistic elements common to metal. Some other
groups are a matter of constant genre debate, such as Slipknot.
General genres of metal

Metal artists tend to divide and sub-divide their genres extensively. The sheer number of metal genres is expansive;
see this Wikipedia article for an in-depth list.
Heavy metal
Heavy metal is generally regarded as synonymous with the general term "metal". It is characterized by its "heavy"
sound, that is, one with a crunchy, bass-heavy feel. The term "heavy metal" comes from the the novel "Naked
Lunch" by William S. Burroughs but was popularized by the song "Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf which features
the term in it's lyrics. Not many bands are labeled as simply heavy metal - it is more of a general term if anything.
Thrash metal
Thrash metal (a faster style of thrash metal is known as speed metal) is a heavy metal derivative, played at high
speed and aggression. It is characterized by use of pedal notes and speed-picking or strumming of these or power
chords based on these roots. Blast beats are common. Thrash metal originated from the Bay Area of California, with
bands such as Metallica and Exodus, from L.A., Slayer & Megadeth, and from New York, Anthrax, pioneering the
sound. Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer are often referred to as the "Big Four" of thrash metal. Other early
bands include Exodus, Testament, Overkill, etc. Other honorable mentions include Kreator, Sodom and Destruction,
who are sometimes referred to as "The Unholy Trinity" of German thrash metal. The thrash metal band Possessed is
known to pioneer the death metal genre.
Examples of thrash metal classics are, Anthrax's Caught In A Mosh, Megadeth's Holy Wars, Metallica's Battery, and
Slayer's Angel of Death.
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Music Theory/Metal
Doom metal
Doom Metal, inspired mainly by Black Sabbath, has many offshoots with varying sounds. The "traditional" side
include the bands Saint Vitus, Pentagram, and Trouble who differ little from the template set by Black Sabbath.
Bands such as Sleep and Electric Wizard are considered the "Stoner" side that is expanding upon the ideas set forth
by Black Sabbath and have a very heavy, slow, psychedelic tint. The other side of the spectrum includes "the
Peaceville three" such as My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Anathema, who play a more gothic, depressive style.
Doom Metal consists of down-tuned guitars and has a slow, heavy sound with both picked and slap bass with hard
rock drum beats, sometimes with two bass drums. The vocals consist of imaginations of the dark side of human
beings or drugs. The vocal tone is cand either be trebled or growled, reaching high and deep vocal patterns quickly
throughout the song.
Power metal
Power metal is one of the most melodic forms of metal. It originated in the United States and Europe, largely
growing in two separate but related types: American or traditional power metal and European or melodic power
metal. Both brands contain very high tempos and melodic harmonies. Clean vocalists are the most common within
the sub-genre but power metal bands with backup or even lead harsh vocalists are not uncommon. Traditional power
metal evolved as a direct successor of NWOBHM, traditional heavy metal and speed metal with a larger emphasis on
aggression and speed than its European counterpart. Bands like Jag Panzer, Manowar, Virgin Steele and Omen are
examples of traditional power metal. On the other hand, European power metal has a larger emphasis on an epic
atmosphere, better production values and an often less aggressive style. The extensive use of keyboards, in order to
accentuate the atmosphere or to produce a symphonic sound is also very common. Examples of melodic power metal
bands include Rhapsody of Fire, Avantasia/Edguy, later Blind Guardian, Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica, Lost Horizon,
etc.
Death metal
Death metal is noted as being an "extreme" subsidiary of thrash metal. Drums and down-tuned, distorted guitars
playing fast, intricate, almost unintelligible rhythms, and "growled" vocals all contribute to the intense power of the
style. The lyrical content usually deals with the darker, nihilistic side of human imagination, with subjects such as
death, gore, and the occult. However, death metal is not limited to conventional dark subject matter. It can also range
out to philosophy (like later-era Death), mythology (such as the band Nile), and politics.
Death metal is often distinguished by the American and European types. Melodic Death metal is known for its
harmonies and unique groove melodies. Even with these harmonies it still retains heavy aggression and intensity.
This brand of death metal was made popular by bands like At The Gates, In Flames, Carcass, Eucharist, and Dark
Tranquility. To some extent, the Finnish metal band Children of Bodom has many of the attributes of this genre.
Technical death metal is a complicated brand of the genre. These bands are just as aggressive as their other metal
counterparts. They are distinguished by odd rhythms and melodies, as well as complex time signatures and
complicated structuring. Bands of this genre include Suffocation, Decapitated and Atheist. Popular technical death
metal band Necrophagist incorporates classical music into their playing.
Deathcore is a fusion of death metal and hardcore that is much harsher variation and an offshoot of Metalcore, often
dealing with typical death metal gore topics. Their playing is often down-tuned and either incredibly fast or slow and
jagged. It tends to focus very much on the "breakdown", and tends to use less melodic tendencies. Popular bands:
Suicide Silence and Whitechapel. Deathcore, like Metalcore is usually debated whether or not, it is a legitimate
metal genre.
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Music Theory/Metal
Black metal
Black metal is known for its cold atmosphere and its often pagan or satanic imagery. Early innovators of Black
Metal included Hellhammer/Celtic Frost and Bathory, who's style was expanded upon by the Norwegian Black
Metal scene, pioneered by such bands as Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, and Burzum. Black metal's vocals are
usually either performed as guttural rasps or as harsh shrieks. Melodies are typically heavily tremolo picked, such as
the guitar work on Dissection's "Where Dead Angels Lie", or include power chords. Black metal bands tend to be
divided into the more primitive, low-fi bands such as Darkthrone, and the more refined bands that use electronic
synthesizers such as Emperor.
Folk metal
Folk metal made its way in a lot of the Scandinavian countries, mainly in Finland by Korpiklaani ("Forest Clan") and
Finntroll, which has more of a polkish feel to them. The instruments consist of classic instruments such as fiddle,
accordion, acoustic guitar, and mandolin. and mixed with new style of instruments such as guitar wailing and the
drums and a fast beat sometimes substituted with congos. but the instruments play with the same way thrash metal
does making it sound great with the vocals mostly having yellin European accent. Example: Skyforger, Eluveitie.
Gothic metal
Gothic metal is characterized by darker modes and arpegios such as aeolian, phrygian and locrian modes to
contribute a heavy, bassy sound and a very somber, dark feel to the music.Modern bands also apply the usage of
drum machines and Electric Keyboards. Strong classical influences are often evident in string arrangements and
piano parts. An example of a Gothic metal act would be Lacuna Coil.
Symphonic metal
As the name suggests, symphonic metal attempts to give a classical feel to metal, either by using a symphony
orchestra in tandem with the standard instrumentation of metal, or by using electronic keyboards to simulate
symphonic textures such as strings and brass. The Finnish band Nightwish is an example of this style.
Progressive Metal
Progressive Metal is a genre of metal often linked to music of technical expertise. The term 'progressive' is widely
debated as to what defines it. A common understanding is that progressive metal often changes tempo, time
signature, key signature, and over all styles within one song. A few key examples of progressive metal are the bands
Dream Theater, Opeth, Nevermore, Symphony X, Ayreon and Pain of Salvation.
Industrial Metal
Industrial metal fuses the cold, mechanical, electronic sound of industrial music with the amplified guitars of metal.
It is not as simple as that, however, as there is a continuum of music ranging from merely industrial with distorted
guitars to full-on heavy metal with synthetic-sounding drums and heavy electronics use. Industrial metal that veers
toward the metallic side is often called "cyber metal", and the latter subgenre includes such bands as Strapping
Young Lad and Fear Factory. More "pure" industrial metal bands would include Godflesh, Ministry, and Samael's
later outputs. As industrial music often has a political bent, so too does industrial metal, though perhaps a more
militant one.
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Music Theory/Metal
Glam Metal
Generally, glam metal or hair metal has hedonistic lyrics, often focuses on sex, alcohol, and drugs, and many of the
first wave bands had songs pertaining to the occult. Musically, glam metal songs often featured distorted guitar riffs,
shred guitar solos, anthemic choruses, hard hitting drumming, and complementary bass. Glam metal is often frowned
upon by fans of other genres of metal as being too pop influenced. Nevertheless, this can vary from band to band and
depends largely on which time frame they played the style. Examples of glam metal bands are Mtley Cre, Ratt,
W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot.
Nu-metal
Nu-metal combines typical metal sounds with heavy rap and/or hip-hop influences. A nu-metal group will often
include a turntablist or a musician who plays keyboards and samplers, helping to add the sounds that are common in
hip-hop music. Hip-hop drum-and-bass grooves are common; as is rapping. Examples of nu-metal groups may or
may not include KoRn, Mudvayne and Limp Bizkit; however, due to the bad reputation that the genre has, many
artists (such as Mudvayne and KoRn) debate that they are indeed not allied to the style. Moreover, it is usually
shunned by many Metalheads and is arguable whether or not it is a legitimate Metal genre.
Musical style
The genre of metal is immensely varied. However, there are many common theoretical traits that appear in almost all
metal music, regardless of subgenre.
Mood
Most metal songs will express only one mood for the duration of the song; sometimes maybe two or three (often
corresponding to "verse-bridge-chorus" structure). However, the more "progressive" metal acts (of which the
numbers are steadily climbing) often write epic mood pieces that display an impressive evolution of musical moods,
reflecting the lyrics, which often revolve around very complex emotional subjects.
The overall mood, whether it be "sad" or "angry", is most often very dark; indeed, for many people, metal is the
quintessential "evil music".
Rhythm
Metal is a highly rhythmic style of music, even by modern standards. The drums are of cardinal importance; and
often, the guitars will often repeat only one or two chords, emphasizing the strumming rhythm rather than the
harmonies.
Simple metal usually sticks to 4/4 time signatures (and sometimes 6/8 or 3/4), although it may be played at very high
speeds. More technical groups make extensive use of compound metres, and even irregular time signatures such as
7/8 and 5/4; the rhythm is often further complicated by frequent time changes. The song Jambi by Tool is an
excellent example of the complex rhythms sometimes exhibited in metal.
There are also songs with uneven metres such as Metallica's Master of Puppets where the main verse riff follows the
pattern 4/4, 4/4, 4/4, 5/8 repeatedly.
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Music Theory/Metal
Melody
Metal can sometimes be one of the most melodic styles of popular music; and conversely, it is often completely
devoid of melody.
Sometimes, metal singers "growl" to the accompaniment of one- or two-chord progressions and a highly prominent,
driving drum beat. The guitar(s) and bass play the rhythmic pattern ("riff") in unison; and the growl is un-melodic.
Thus, there is no obvious melody to the music, and instead, the listener's attention is drawn to the powerful rhythm.
Short guitar melodies (often referred to as "licks") may be played in between vocal phrases, almost in imitation of
the call-and-response style of jazz and blues.
However, it is also common for metal acts - especially in such genres as symphonic and "power" metal - to play
"epic"-sounding chord progressions that can sometimes almost rival the complexity of Baroque-era art music. In
such instances, either the vocalist or the lead guitarist may carry the melody; sometimes both do, in tandem.
However, the music remains almost strictly homophonic.
Metal melodies are more often than not in minor keys. Very often, scales with a minor 2nd or (b2) are used to create
a tense, dissonant feel. Because of this choice of scales - and also because of the similarity of the guitar to many folk
instruments of the Middle East and upper Africa - a large number of metal acts incorporate strong influences from
these folk styles in their music. Often, this takes the form of "Arabic"-sounding scales such as the Phrygian
Dominant. The melody-dominated homophonic nature of metal assists this assimilation. Perhaps the most popular
example of such music is System Of A Down - the members of this band are all Armenian-American, and make
frequent use of Armenian and Turkish folk instruments and melodic patterns alongside their distorted guitar riffs.
Dynamics
The dynamics of metal is perhaps the stylistic aspect that differs most between its subgenres. However, for the most
part, the genre uses terraced dynamics - in an uncannily similar situation to that of Baroque art music, the main
instrument of the genre (harpsichord for Baroque music, and distorted electric guitar for metal) is limited in its
dynamic capabilities; and thus the whole band reverts to only a few different volume levels. This is not to say that
these volume levels are limited in range, but merely that they are limited in number; a band may play at just a few
different volumes, but these volumes can differ widely from each other. Many, if not most metal bands make
dynamics a significant aspect of their music, often immediately following a quiet, subdued section with a very loud
one, or vice versa.
Texture
The textures of heavy metal are distorted and thick. The instruments often play across all frequency ranges: the
drummer plays the deep bass drum alongside high-pitched cymbals; the rhythm guitar and bass play low, guttural
rhythms; and the lead guitar plays in the extreme high registers, making frequent use of pinch harmonics.
Metal can be said to be largely texture-based; often, the rhythm guitar will repeat the same riff over and over again,
while other instruments appear and disappear to cause gradual shifts in the overall feel.
Harmony
Typically, metal makes frequent use (perhaps even overuse) of parallel 5th chords - "power chords", consisting of
the root note, the fifth of the chord, and the root note again one octave up. The power chord on a distorted electric
guitar has immense power. Thus metal guitarists often tune their guitars so that the lowest three strings form a power
chord (usually DAD); whereby they can play fast, heavy riffs using only one finger to stop all the strings in the
necessary position for a power chord anywhere on the neck. Because the rhythm guitar often follows the melody, it
can be said that much metal is harmonized in perfect fifths; however, the presence of the fifth is a feature of texture
rather than harmony. As metal progresses some bands are still looking for a thicker sound with more punch. The
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Music Theory/Metal
adoption of 4th chord voicing is more commonplace these days than in the 1980's and 1990's. Though some thrash
bands such as Slayer would use them occasionally for color, you can hear them quite frequently in death metal
bands. Another interval used to create tension in metal is called the Tritone (an augmented 4th or diminished 5th). At
one time the Catholic Church banned and restricted this interval, and it is called the "Devil's Interval". The first riff
in Black Sabbath's self titled album outlines this interval. Often, lead passages and vocal lines are harmonized in
thirds, frequently in the harmonic minor scale.
The minor seven is also an important interval in metal harmony. Hammer-on or pull-off riffs, up or down from the
octave to the flat 7, are widely used. Since the flat 7 is a blue note, metal harmony shares core elements with the
Blues. Metal's extensive use of the tritone reinforces the connection. The result can be an implied dominant 7 chord,
a gateway to modulation.
Words
The lyrics of heavy metal range from the sublime to the ridiculous; however, due to the genre's "dark" feel, the words
more often than not concern themselves with violence, hatred, anger and sadness. The words and music are often
composed well together, in that the music reflects the singer's feelings. Other genres of metal (such as power metal)
are often based around epic fantasies, great battles, or the joy of life.
Instrumentation
Metal instrumentation commonly consists of one or two distorted electric guitar, electric bass, drum kit, and vocals.
With some more fantasy based bands keyboards and synthesizers have become very common. Also, many
symphonic bands use an entire orchestra for many songs or even entire albums.
Guitars are sometimes tuned to lower than the usual E standard tuning, to provide a deeper, heavier sound. Some acts
use guitars with additional lower strings, either to facilitate the playing of fast lead passages, or to allow playing even
lower than is possible with a detuned six-string. Some even combine these techniques! Seven-string guitars tuned to
drop A are not uncommon. Also, the use of large tube amplifiers with multiple big (usually 12") speakers, along with
heavy distortion pedals, assists in creating the signature metal sound. The naturally darker-sounding
"humbucker"-type pickups are preferred.
Basses are more often than not of the 5-string variety, to allow lower playing. These instruments are also often
detuned. The bass, however, is not often distorted - perhaps this is to preserve the low end of the frequency spectrum
(which is often lost when distorting a bass with a conventional guitar distortion pedal). To keep up with the fast
guitars, metal bassists often play with a plectrum.
Drummers make use of big bass drums, big snares and big cymbals. Brushes and subtle snare work are eschewed in
favour of playing fast and loud. The use of two bass drums, or two pedals beating the same bass drum, is
commonplace - this helps to play the pounding bass drum rhythms that carry and move the music.
Musicians of Metal, are often known for their virtuoso playing and are often praised for their talent. They often blend
metal with other genres, and even combining certain types of metal with other types. Speed is a common attribute for
metal performers. However things like complexity and diversity also make metal musicians stand out.
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Music Theory/Metal
Growling/Screaming
A major element of some heavy metal and other similar genres, such as grindcore or hardcore punk, that makes them
different from other types of rock is screaming. Lots of times, in metal, instead of only singing, a vocalist may
scream. Because heavy metal's mood is darker than other genres of music, screaming complements the music well. It
is demanding, yet guttural. This means it differs from the way you or I scream when we're frightened or startled.
There are different types of screaming in metal:
Growl: Growling often sounds beast-like and almost indiscernible. This most often exists in death metal music.
Pig squeal: Pig squealing is also used primarily in deathcore and sounds very breathy and high pitched, close to a
pig squeal.
"Grim" scream: The high pitched, wailing growl used in black metal music. Can give the impression of a
banshee or a howling wolf.
Hardcore screaming: Hardcore punk influenced screamed vocals, which focus more on "standard" screaming
rather than the advanced techniques of growling. Common in punk/metal crossover.
Shouted vocals: Cleaner vocals but with an aggressive edge to it, aggression can vary from just slight to all out
shouted vocals. Common in thrash metal music.
Music Theory/New Age

New Age music is a style of music that corresponds with the New Age movement. Like the spiritual movement with
its amalgam of religious, spiritual and cultural practices, New Age music is characterized by a blend of musical
elements appropriated from different cultures.
Harmony is typically simple and often modal, and there is a strong emphasis on ephemerality. New Age music often
features "pads" and "ethnic" vocals of indeterminate Middle-Eastern/African/South Asian origin.
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Music Theory/Pop
Music Theory/Pop
note: the main focus is on American Pop Music
What is pop?
Pop basically means popular music. Popular music has had many sources from which it is derived. Many of these
having come from imported traditions; those being: European American music, African American music and Latin
American music. They have influenced each other greatly and have very different styles amongst themselves. One of
the biggest and most interesting themes that is encountered throughout the history of popular American Music is that
it starts off within a marginalized community, typically an African America or Latin American community, and then
moves into the mainstream of popular culture.
Eras of pop music

The Nineteenth Century
The Minstrel Show, or blackface minstrelsy, featured white performers who artificially blackened their face and skin
to parody the lives of black music, dance, dress and dialect. This style of entertainment emerged from working class
neighborhood's in New York City's Seventh Ward, where interracial interaction was normal. Some of the earliest hit
songs from this era were Thomas Dartmouth Rice's "Jim Crow" performed in 1832 and "Zip Coon" published
through sheet music in 1834. Both of these songs are more closely related to Irish and Scottish folk tunes than
African American song. From the 1840s to 1880s blackface minstrelsy was the predominant genre of pop culture in
the United States. The genre went through several changes and soon became the more organized and predictable
"minstrel show." Although most of the biggest celebrities of the minstrel show were predominantly white, there were
several African-American performers as well. The minstrel show is also the forerunner of the vaudeville, a kind of
variety show that was popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries.
An early pop songwriter was Stephen Collins Foster. He composed around two hundred songs during the 1840s to
the early 1860s. Songs such as "Oh! Susana," "Beautiful Dreamer," "Camptown Races," "Old Folks at Home," and
"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" are still well-known today. He is considered the first person in the United States
to make a living as a professional song-writer, surviving on his sheet music sales.
Dance music has always been important in the popular American music stream because of the various social
functions it incorporates. "After the Ball," is a waltz published in 1892 an is considered the very first "mega-hit" pop
song, selling over 5 million copies in sheet music. It was composed by Charles K. Harris. The song became much
more popular after it was performed by John Philip Sousa's band at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
The U.S Marine band, conducted by John Philip Sousa, was the first American pop "supergroup". They toured
constantly throughout the United States and Europe and had many hit songs including "The Washington Post" and
"The Stars and Stripes Forever." The band had more than fifty members.
The Late Nineteenth Century and Early Twentieth Century

The 1890s saw the birth of a popular genre of music known as Tin Pan Alley, named after the stretch of 28th Street
in New York City's lower Manhattan where the clanging sounds of many pianos could be heard playing songs in
various keys and tempos at the same time. During the 1910s, annual music sheet sales in America had reached 30
million. TPA style stayed a popular genre of music for almost seventy years. One of the most popular composers of
TPA was Paul Dresser who wrote "The Letter that Never Came," and Harry Von Tilzer, nicknamed the "Daddy of
Popular Song."
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Music Theory/Pop
From around 1896 to 1918 Ragtime was a popular form of music that derived from African American musical
influences. The root word "to rag" means to enliven a piece of music or to "play against the beat", known as
syncopation. The basic patterns of ragtime were transferred from the banjo. Latin American music, such as the
Cuban habanera, also influenced its style. Until the end of WWI, ragtime was played by several different types of
bands which include: dance bands, brass bands, country string bands, symphony, orchestras, and the classic ragtime
style -solo pianists. Scott Joplin was one of the most well-known composers of ragtime music, composing one of
the most well-known piano pieces of all time, "Maple Leaf Rag." Other ragtime influenced songs were George M.
Cohan's "You're a Grand Old Flag," written in 1907 and Theadore Metz's "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight,"
written in 1896. "Castle House Rag" was another important work of ragtime written by James Reese Europe in
1914 `and performed by Jame's Reese Europe's Society Orchestra.
The invention of the phonograph in 1877 by Thomas Alva Edison helped to disseminate music even further by
providing an actual recording of the songs instead of the "do-it-yourself" format of sheet music.
During the late 1910s Jazz began to appear in the popular mainstream.
1920s
Radio networks allowed people to hear the latest songs and artists all over the United States, allowing people living
thousands of miles away from each other to hear the same music simultaneously. Big musicals at New York's theatre
district, Broadway, and the Hollywood film industry helped to propel music's popularity even further and make it
become much more popular than it had previously been. Famous Tin Pan Alley composers such as Irving Berlin,
George Gershwin, and Richard Rodgers could be heard throughout radio and in the entertainment industry.
The 20s is commonly referred to as the Jazz Age in terms of music. The Jazz Craze, which came after ragtime, was a
very artistic time in terms of popular music pioneered by black musicians, but carried on by both black and white
musicians, and then eventually by every ethnic group. This music style emerged in New Orlean's, Louisiana around
1900, but came into the mainstream in the 1920s. Jazz's popularity was propelled by the a jazz group called The
Original Dixieland Jazz Band lead by cornet player Nick LaRocca. Their biggest hit was "Tiger Rag." ODJB were
white musicians who helped to popularize jazz and bring it into the mainstream. Another famous jazz band of the
same period was King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band who recorded "Dippermouth Blues" in 1923. The most notable
differences usually between black and white jazz bands is that black jazz bands usually had a more flowly and
relaxed feeling and relied strongly on improvisations, while white jazz bands tended to have the recordings
prearranged and memorized.
Other famous jazz musicians of this era were: Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Noble Sissle and Eubie
Blake. The self-proclaimed "King of Jazz" was Paul Whiteman who lead his jazz band the Ambassador
Orchestra. His commercial success was so huge as to make jazz music the standard form of music in the 1920s.
Another form of music that came out during this time was Blues. There were two forms of Blues, Classic Blues and
Country Blues. Classic Blues emerged from St. Louis Missouri, while Country Blues emerged from the Mississippi
Delta area. Famous Classic Blues musicians were Louis Armstrong, W.C Handy and Bessie Smith. Blues has
many jazz influences, but may have originated before that. Country blues wasn't recorded on phonographs until the
1920s, but may have emerged from earlier on. Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson were both famous
Country Blues musicians. Blues has had a major impact on future popular music such as Rock n Roll and R&B,
since these styles are usually based and derived from the "twelve-bar blues" format. In fact, Eric Clapton's band
Cream did a cover of Robert Johnston's song "Crossroad Blues" renaming it "Crossroads," and the band Jefferson
Airplane gets its name in part from country blues singer Blind Lemon Jefferson.
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Music Theory/Pop
1930s
During the 1930s, Jazz and Blues were still popular, but it was the golden age of Tin Pan Alley. With the invention
of the microphone in 1925, the age of the "crooners" began. Crooning is a type of "intimate" or "personal" singing
made possible because of the microphone. Most crooners sang in the Tin Pan Alley style which were songs about the
good things in life such as romance and privacy; hardly any TPA song dealt with real-world issues mainly because
people wanted to hear music to escape from the realities of the world, rather than be reminded of them. Irving
Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers and Cole Porter were famous arrangers of TPA music. One of the
first crooners ever was Gene Austin, who sang a very famous and popular interpretation of the song "My Blue
Heaven" which was one of the bestselling records of its time. Bing Crosby was another famous crooner who
surpassed Gene Austin in popularity with the release of his album, "White Christmas," which was released in 1942,
however, Crosby had started his career in the 30s and had already gained mass fame during that time with his song
"How Deep is the Ocean?" written by Irving Berlin. Another very famous song that captures the feel of both Jazz
and TPA is the popular song "I got Rhythm" written by George Gerswhin and sung by Ethel Merman.
Very few composers and singers of TPA style shared political statements, however composer Woody Guthrie, who
wrote the famous song, "This Land is Your Land," did. He is considered the major influence on later urban folk
musicians such as the Weavers and Bob Dylan.
The mid-30s also saw the rise of a very popular form of jazz-influenced music called "Swing," that derived from
New York, Chicago and Kansas City. The word Swing derives from African American English and is a verb that
means to have a "fluid, rocking rhytmitic feel." (Other words such as "jazz," "blues," and "rock n roll" also derived
from African American English, however, when the music industry needs to market a certain new form of music,
they turn it into a noun, such as the above examples). Swing was in heavy rotation on the radio, and swing bands
often performed in ballrooms, hotels and dance halls. Famous Swing band leaders were Benny Goodman, Tommy
Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson. Benny Goodman is nicknamed,
"The King of Swing."
1940s
From 1940 to roughly 1945, Swing was still the dominant form of popular music. The song, "In the Mood"
performed by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra became a national sensation.
During the 1940s Country music had become more mainstream and popular, especially amongst rural people,
however, the rural people moving into urban places had a big impact on disseminating it to other people who were
unfamiliar with country (country had already been around for a long time). Roy Acuff who performed the song
"Great Speckled Bird" (from which many country tunes developed) rose to great fame during this time. Other great
Country perfomers were Bob Nolan and the Country Swing band, Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, who's song
"New San Antonio Rose" reached Number Eleven on the pop charts in 1940.
The 1940s also gave rise to the "Big Singers" era. Frank Sinatra, nicknamed, the "Sultan of Swoon," was the most
popular of the big singers. He was a crooner who had been inspired by Bing Crosby, but developed his own style.
One of his most famous songs is, "Nancy with the Laughing Face." Another star of the "Big Singers" era was
African American crooner Nat "King" Cole. Cole's record "Nature Boy" reached Number One on the pop music
charts and held that position for eight weeks.
R&B was also starting to become more influental during the late 1940s. The song "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie,"
performed by Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five in 1946 topped the R&B charts for eighteen weeks and reached
Number Seven on the Billboard Top 40.
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Music Theory/Pop
1950s
During this time, the demand for popular music was rooted towards the American South, that is the demand for
Country and Western music and Rhthym and Blues was becoming more apparent. "Black Night" performed by
Charles Brown and His Band and "Hoochie Coochie Man," performed by Muddy Waters, were two of the biggest
R&B hits of the 1950s. There were also two very famous female R&B vocalists during the 1950s, Ruth Brown and
Big Mama Thornton. Big Mama Thornton became famous for performing, "Hound Dog," written for her in 1953
by the famous songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and later covered, with much more toned-down
lyrics, by Elvis Presley.
Another important form of music during this time was the emergence of Urban Folk which derived from Country
music, but pioneered by urban rather than rural musicians. The biggest and most influental musicians of the Urban
Folk movement were the Weavers led by Pete Seeger, who later inspired such musicians as Bob Dylan and Simon
and Garfunkel. Honky-Tonk was another popular form of Country that sprang out of the 50s with the biggest stars
being Hank Thompson, Hank Williams and Kitty Wells.
The early 50s also saw the rise of the music industry targeting younger generations with young pop singers. The
most famous of the young pop singers being Johnnie Ray, otherwise known as the "Prince of Wails," who became
one of the biggest international pop stars. The companies gave him a public image and promoted his songs on TV
and radio. Johnnie Ray paved the way for future rock n roll artists (he was apparently the link between the crooner
era and the rock n roll era). His different modes of performance were wild and dynamic; during his performances, he
would writhe, weep and fall to his knees.
With a combination of many R&B and Country songs came forth rock n roll. However, rock n roll has many
common misconceptions. First of all, it was not a new style of music, it had already been around, but it was not
called rock n roll because the music industry had not yet grasped it (remember, the music industry is what's
responsible for taking words and turning them into nouns to be able to market it). Obviously, rock n roll is not the
"beginning" of American pop music and the rock n roll era was not the first time that black and white styles were
combined. During this era, however, many white performers were doing covers of black songs and toning them
down to appeal to the predominant middle-class white audience. Songs such as "Shake, Rattle and Roll,"
"Sh-Boom," and "Mystery Train" were all first performed by black performers and later covered by white
performers, however most people are not familiar with the original versions. Famous and notable performers of the
rock n roll era are Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and "Fats" Domino, who came out of the R&B side, Elvis
Presley and Bill Haley who came out of the country side and Buddy Holly who was a combination of both R&B
and Country.
1960s
During the 1960s, teenagers were still a big target for the music industries. Phil Spector and Berry Gordy Jr. were
two of the biggest and most well-known producers of the 60s. Phil Spector productions include the songs, "Be My
Baby" performed by the Ronettes and "Uptown" performed by the Crystals. Phil Spector is more well-known than
the artists themselves. Berry Gordy Jr. was the creator of Motown Records, a record company based in Detroit that
helped to make R&B an extremely popular force in the music industry. In fact, most people today know the record
label Motown more so than the actual artists themselves. Famous songs that came out of the Motown record label
were "My Girl" performed by The Tempations, and "You Can't Hurry Love," performed by The Supremes.
The 60s was a time when the older people who had grown up listening to rock n roll wanted to re-name their style of
music "rock" because it sounded more mature, and so it stuck. The Beach Boys were famous for their rock style
known as the "California sound" or "surf music" which demonstrate the spirit and freedom of California. Some
famous songs from the Beach Boys include "Good Vibrations" and "Surfing USA."
The British Invasion was another huge step in America's development of popular music. The Beatles, being the
biggest and most influental British invasion band scored a number of hits in both the U.K. and the U.S especially
56
Music Theory/Pop
after their appearence on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their diverse approach and ability to adopt current and trendy styles
helped to propel their popularity even further. As the years went by, their music steadily progressed and became
more mature. Their songs such as "Please Please Me," "A Hard Day's Night," "Yesterday," and "Eleanor Rigby" all
sound very different from one another. There were other notable British Invasion bands during this time - those
include: The Rolling Stones, the Who, the Kinks, and Eric Clapton's band Cream.
The 1960s saw the development of Soul Music, which derived from R&B and Gospel Music. The pioneer of soul
music is Ray Charles, although James Brown did take it a step further, as he was known as the "Godfather of Soul."
The biggest female soul artist was Aretha Franklin who performed the song "Respect," which was a cover of Otis
Redding's version, but considered to be better. Soul music was the inspiration for later Funk and Disco music.
Urban Folk Music was a major impact in the 1960s. Songs originally performed by Bob Dylan were usually covered
by other musicians, making Bob Dylan famous that way. One of his most famous songs, "Blowin' in the Wind" is
more well-known through the Peter, Paul and Mary version, and another song, "Mr. Tambourine Man" is better
known through the Byrd's version. A song that he was actually famous for was "Like a Rolling Stone," which is
where the Rolling Stones and Rolling Stones Magazine took their name from. Other famous Urban Folk musicians
were Simon and Garfunkel, who were an Urban Folk Rock duo.
Another huge thing in the 60s was the emergence of Psychedelic Rock and Acid Rock which were associated with
the counterculture and hippies. Psychedelic Rock's and Acid Rock's major focuses were on political issues and
freedom of expression, most notably the increased use of marijuana and LSD amongst the musicians and their
audience. San Francisco was where most of the counterculture scene was taking place, in the Haight-Ashbury
district. Famous musicians of this genre include, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, and Jimi
Hendrix. Even the Beatles contributed to the counterculture and made their own Psychedelic Rock albums,
"Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band", and "Magical Mystery Tour." Another important band not
associated with Psychedelic rock, but more of a back to basics sort of band were Creedence Clearwater Revival.
They emerged when Psychedelic Rock was big and surprisingly, scored many hits all throughout the 60s, topping the
charts hit after hit.
1970s
The Seventies gave way to a genre known as disco, which is still popular to an extent today. The 70s was a huge step
forward as far as musical technology was concerned, with more complex recording techniques, drum machines &
synthesizer keyboards being introduced. A steady drum beat with wah-wah guitars and vocal harmonies all
contributed to making disco popular. Examples of disco music were The Bee Gees & The Village People
ABBA also contributed to what we know as pop today. After winning Eurovision with "Waterloo" in the 70s, the
Swedish quartet went on to release a flurry of pop hits and are considered as one of the more influential of pop
bands.
1980s
The 1980s gave birth to what many people would consider "bubblegum" pop with artists like Kylie Minogue. It was
also the birth of electronica music (see Electronic music for more information.) The 80s also gave out a new style of
music which was a marriage between electronic music & pop, called New Romantic. Bands like Duran Duran (the
Duran Duran song "Outside" is responsible for the name "New Romantic"), Adam and the Ants, Spandau Ballet,
& Japan wore androgynous clothing & make up and had a very slick & polished version of pop music to offer, often
using keyboards & obscure sounding instruments.
57
Music Theory/Pop
1990s
These are highly produced bands which are carefully designed to appeal to a specific audience (usually
pre-teenagers). Sometimes they are actually put together to a formula by music producers via auditions. The music
was inoffensive and would range from simple, electronic drum beats with most of the melody & harmony in the
vocals, to huge, orchestral ballads with passionate performances. Popular boy & girl bands include Westlife, Take
That , The Spice Girls
2000s
Boy & girl bands are still popular to this day, with Pussycat Dolls & Sugababes still reaching dizzying heights in
charts around the world. However, recently we've had the dawn of pop rock. Pop rock, a blend of Americanized
punk rock & pop music was brought to the foray by British groups Busted & McFly. The music uses "power
chords" (chords with the 3rd interval removed) commonly found in rock & metal music. Some of the pre-requistes to
pop rock are Green Day & Blink 182.
Music Theory/Reggae
Reggae is a style of music which originated in the Caribbean. Bob Marley is one of the most famous reggae
musicians.
Reggae usually has a 4/4 time signature, and a low tempo.
Theory
Most of the time there are eighth notes on the high hat. A loud snare or rimshot can almost always be heard on the
third beat. The bass drum varies: sometimes it's just on the first beat, the first and the third, every beat, or even just
the third.
INSTRUMENTS
Drums
Most of the time there are eighth notes on the high hat. A loud snare or rim shot can almost always be heard on the
third beat. The bass drum varies: sometimes it's just on the first beat, the first and the third, every beat, or even just
the third.
Guitar
The standard rhythm guitar in reggae uses quick upstrokes on the offbeat (The 'And' between the beats). 1 and 2 and
3 and 4 and. This is often referred to in reggae as the "skank".
Bass
A reggae bass line embodies the "backbone" to the rest of the overall "riddim". Its important to stay simple while
occasionally leaving space to coax the rhythm forward. Three things to aim for are denseness, tension, and
momentum. Start simple focusing on the root or the 3rd. Inversions are used frequently while using the 5th sparingly
adds a certain sense of satisfaction when you finally here it. Coming in on the strong beats 1 and 3 are helpful while
making good use of the 16th note and the triplet is where your groove can be found. Find a motif, use the call and
response technique, and play the octave to end a phrase or finalize a musical statement. All the high frequencies
(above 1000 Hz) should be filtered out. Bass is often considered the "lead" instrument in reggae because it is
58
Music Theory/Reggae
responsible (along with the drums) for establishing a song's groove.
Vocals
The vocals in reggae are often religious or concerning marijuana, but they don't have to be. There are songs about
love, bank robberies, and seemingly nothing as well. As it is music "Of the people, for the people, by the people",
Reggae lyric often speaks to the masses about raising awareness and vibe, and freeing all people.
Keyboards
Keyboards are mainly responsible for the "bubble", which aids the "skank" to add to the momentum of a given
"riddum". Most common reggae keyboards are the Hammond Organ, Rhodes and Clav.
Horn Section
Horns in Reggae are the cherry on top of the "Riddum". Usually utilised to show the difference between "Versions",
or simply to deliver after lyric.
Music Theory/Rock
Rock is a musical style that arose in the U.S. in the mid-1950s and became the dominant form of popular music in
the world. Though rock has used a wide variety of instruments, its basic elements are one or several vocalists,
heavily amplified electric guitars (including bass, rhythm, and lead), and drums. It began as a simple style, relying on
heavy, dance-oriented rhythms, uncomplicated melodies and harmonies, and lyrics sympathetic to its teenage
audience's concerns young love, the stresses of adolescence, and automobiles.
Its roots lay principally in rhythm and blues (R&B) and country music. Both R&B and country existed outside the
mainstream of popular music in the early 1950s, when the Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed (1921 65) and others
began programming R&B, which until then had been played only to black audiences. Freed's success gave currency
to the term rock and roll. The highly rhythmic, sensual music of Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, and
particularly Elvis Presley in 1955 56 struck a responsive chord in the newly affluent postwar teenagers.
In the 1960s several influences combined to lift rock out of what had already declined into a bland and mechanical
format. In England, where rock's development had been slow, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were found to have
retained the freshness of its very early years and achieved enormous success in the U.S., where a new generation had
grown up unaware of the musical influences of the new stars, thus commencing the British Invasion. Similarly, in the
United States in the early 1960s, rock bands such as The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons were hugely popular,
preceding the British Invasion. Others, such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds, and others were blending the
traditional ballads and verse forms of folk music with rock, and musicians began to explore social and political
themes. Performers such as the Grateful Dead, Jim Morrison of the Doors, and Frank Zappa of the Mothers of
Invention combined imaginative lyrics with instrumental virtuosity, typically featuring lengthy solo improvisation.
Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix won large followings with their exotic elaborations on R&B.
The 1970s saw the rise of singer-songwriters such as Paul Simon, Neil Young, Elton John, David Bowie, and Bruce
Springsteen, and rock assimilated other forms to produce jazz-rock, heavy metal, and punk rock. In the 1980s the
disco-influenced rock of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Prince was balanced by the post-punk "new wave" music
of performers such as Laurie Anderson, Talking Heads (led by David Byrne), and the Eurythmics all of whom
illustrated their songs with music videos. By the 1990s rock music had incorporated grunge, rap, techno, and other
forms.
59
Music Theory/Ska
Music Theory/Ska
Ska is a form of Jamaican music combining elements of traditional mento and calypso with an American jazz and
rhythm and blues sound. It is notable for its shuffling, scratch like tempo and jazz-like horn riffs on the offbeat.
Rhythm
Ska general plays on the upbeat, with a rest on the downbeat.
External Links
Ska guitar 101 [1]
References
[1] http:/ / www. cyberfret. com/ styles/ ska/ 101/ index. php
Music Theory/Baroque
Definition
Baroque music loosely refers to music from around 1600-1750. Baroque music has distinct features to it such as the
use of counterpoint and polyphony.
Composers
Notable composers include
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)- Very prolific composer

G.P. Telemann
G.F. Handel (1685-175?)- Most famous work is the Hallelujah chorus from the Messiah oratorio
Johann Pachelbel- Most famous work is the Canon in D
D. Scarlatti
...and more
Style of Baroque
Usually contrapuntal. Very elegant, with lots of trills and other ornaments. J.S. Bach did this a LOT!
60
Classical music was a musical style that was popular in Europe in the 18th century. By convention, it begins in
1750, with the death of Johann Sebastian Bach, although "classical" music appeared earlier. The Classical era
marked a move away from the intense emotionalism of the Baroque period towards a highly structured, stylistic
manner, and was the flowering period of the sonata-allegro form (a three-part structure, with the first movement
allegro, a slower second movement, and a faster--often allegro-- third movement). Later Classical-era symphonies
often added a minuet-trio section as the third movement, and the faster third movement became the symphonic
fourth movement. Popular composers include Haydn and Mozart.
Beethoven is sometimes considered to be a classical composer, but is a special case, as his early music was classical,
and his later music romantic. In fact, his Pathetique sonata for piano is sometimes thought of as the piece that
ushered in the romantic era.
Basic Understanding
The 'Romantic' Period of music's history begins roughly in 1820 and ends no later than 1910.
All art (painting, music, drama etc.) during this period is considered to be of a 'Romantic' style. There is no
supremely clear definition of this term, but one may consider it thus: A period in cultural history where art (and most
notably music) began to grasp emotion and imaginative idea as its roots, rather than the heavily standardized rules
and formulas of Classicism which had existed directly before - in the 18th century.
Note: Donald Grout in The History of Western Music also mentions the alternation between Romantic and Classical
eras throughout western music history.
The significance in this turning point in music's history cannot be underestimated. Calling it a revolution would be
rather accurate. It was pioneered by a few individuals, not content with Classicism's standards, and caused nothing
less than a paradigm shift in music's critical theory. Romanticism caused changes in how music was first conceived
in a composer's mind, how it was performed and, of course, how it was received by an audience. Indeed, the full
cycle of conception (by the composer) and reception (by the audience) became a much more organic axis around
which music would develop from there on in.
Of course, music had never been composed without considering how it would be received (by definition, this is
fundamentally impossible), but what Romanticism brought to this process was the new, now principal understanding
of emotion. Thus, in the aforementioned cycle, this involves insertion of a composer's emotive/imaginative idea into
a piece and the later reception of this emotion by an audience (these ideas would be developed vastly to the height of
the impressionists in the early 20th Century). Therefore, Romanticism saw the arrival of music that was truly
evocative. Music which was not simply technically fine-tuned and although extremely beautiful, lacking in that new
experimental, revolutionary core that would fuel the ideas of Romanticists.
Ludwig Van Beethoven

It is my understanding that one individual in particular deserves - demands - special mention. He is Ludwig Van
Beethoven. Often credited with giving birth to Romanticism in its true sense in music, Beethoven is remembered as
one who was often not content with conforming to Classicism's standardized understanding of music. Works by
Beethoven that caused controversy when first performed became famous shortly after for being composed with
brilliance and a revolutionary energy.
61
A perfect example is Beethoven's 3rd ('Eroica') Symphony. Although written initially in admiration of Napoleon
Bonaparte, in whom Beethoven perceived great strength and heroism, upon Napoleon's crowning himself Emperor
of France in 1804, one may see some of the fire in Beethoven upon learning that when he heard this news,
Beethoven tore the title page of the Symphony (which held the dedication of the work to Napoleon on it) from the
manuscript in fury - aghast at what Napoleon was doing.
The Symphony was later given the subtitle 'Eroica' in reference to a more general heroism and "composed to
celebrate the memory of a great man". This seems to show Beethoven's wit - the Symphony remembers an earlier
Napoleon, before he became - in Beethoven's mind - a tyrant.
The work was initially received with surprise and, now and again, shock from audiences who had not experienced a
work of such length or power before. The music itself almost literally sparkles with brilliance. Beethoven has crafted
a Symphony which began to give real definition to the word 'symphonic'. It is full of variety that had in reality never
been seen before. It travels from lull to climax with such technical dexterity that it caused a handful of individuals in
early audiences to swoon at its sheer power! Indeed, this is the core of the work. It rests on its ability to evoke
emotion; it was designed to be a revolutionary work, a work that revelled in itself and most dazzlingly, in what
Beethoven could create from an orchestra.
Beethoven had commented three years before embarking on the piece that he was unhappy with his work, that he
would "henceforth (...) take a new path". It is no surprise therefore that many see the composition of Eroica as the
first symphonic step for Beethoven that would bring Romanticism into music and change music history forever. One
should also consider the Pathetique sonata which some believe is the single first piece that can be classed as part of
Romanticism.
The Development of Romanticism

Beethoven, however, was just the beginning. Perhaps he is the most interesting as one can take his nine symphonies
and listen to them in succession, hearing the unmistakable changes and developments he was bringing to music and
symphonic form from the first to ninth work.
But romanticism continued strongly after Beethoven's death. Some of the most notable composers include Brahms,
Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Chopin, and Mahler. A few have been covered in further detail below.
Brahms - A great admirer of Beethoven, Brahms was directly inspired by him and his first symphony was labelled
'Beethoven's Tenth' by admirers. Notable works include the 3rd Violin Sonata, the Violin concerto and his
exceptional works for piano including the Intermezzos and Piano Concertos in particular. However, Brahms is often
most famously remembered for his Hungarian Dances. This is an important facet in Romanticism - the use of folk
melodies and traditional pieces in a symphonic setting was more or less new and became quite popular. Mahler
(Symphonies) and Tchaikovsky (1st Piano concerto etc.) are great advocates of this along with Dvorak who wrote
his 'Slavonic Dances' in 1878.
Dvorak - Another composer who drew direct inspiration from Beethoven, Dvorak wrote a number of extremely
significant romantic works including his Cello and Violin Concertos. The former often being hailed as the greatest
ever written. Although Czech, Dvorak spent time in America and pieces he wrote there (which included said Cello
Concerto) offer insights into two feelings. Firstly his curiosity upon entering a different country (Symphony No.9,
'The New World' etc.) and secondly his feelings of homesickness (Folk melodies in the Cello Concerto and smaller
violin works etc.).
Chopin - Polish-born composer Frederic Chopin is most remembered for his works for Piano (Which include
Preludes, Etudes, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Nocturnes, and Two Piano Concertos etc. etc.). Note in particular the
(unofficially-) titled 'Revolutionary Etude', which is a startling piece of music which some believe was written in
response to the 1831 Russian invasion of Warsaw.
62
Mahler - A late romantic, Mahler's latest works contain hints of impressionism. He was committed to evoking new
emotions in audiences and presenting the world with new sounds and techniques from the orchestra. His
compositional output is almost entirely Lieder (songs for voice and piano) and Symphonies. Where Brahms and
Dvorak had taken Beethoven as the root for inspiration, Mahler (who was born in 1860) had a much wider variety of
Romantics to draw on.
In particular, he is connected with Wagner and akin to the works of Bruckner. Mahler indeed pushed Romanticism to
its limits, introducing some atonality to music, abundant use of scherzos and sonata forms and later, as stated, very
early impressionism. It seems fitting that, although dying unfortunately young, Mahler died in 1911 - he had lived to
the very edge of Romanticism; and briefly had the chance to peek beyond it.
Characteristics
Emphasis on emotion
Increased chromaticism and expansion of harmony
New musical forms and expansion of old ones
Expansion of the orchestra with new instruments
Above, I have selected the main factors from these composers that were major parts of Romanticism - they are the
ideas and expressions that did not exist before and which gave true meaning to the word 'Romanticism'.
(The above is a brief beginning to this 'module' - I entreat its expansion and continued revision)
Music Theory/Atonal
Definition
Atonal music is a generalizing term used to define music that seems to lack a clear tonal center. Nearly all music in
the western classical tradition is considered 'tonal': that is, its harmonic structure is primarily triadic and
hierarchically organized around a prominent tonal center. Atonal music works tend to deny or expand this notion by
using alternative structural strategies (frequently - but not exlusivelly - mathematical, the most famous being
serialism). As a result, many listeners used to traditional tonality may find atonal music very challenging at first, in
particular because the lack of a tonal heirarchy means that highly dissonant chords are far more common (and,
indeed, early practitioners of the style often deliberately used these chords as to avoid any implied reference to a
tonic). That said, others argue that atonality is simply another musical language which, like all other languages
(including traditional tonality), cannot be learned or appreciated until one has been immersed in it.
A brief history of atonality

Composer Arnold Schoenberg is generally seen as the first composer to fully embrace 'atonality', although a number
of other composers (such as Bartok and Scriabin) had been moving in that direction for some time. In 1925, after
experimenting with free atonality, he composed his Suite fur Klavier, the first piece of music ever written using the
twelve-tone method of composing. His students, Alban Berg and Anton Webern, followed in his footsteps by
composing numerous twelve-tone pieces; the method was generalised during the 1950s to include other parameters
such as rhythm and volume, the resultant system being known as total serialism.
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Music Theory/Atonal
Contemporary situation
All these influences over the last century have meant that it is now very difficult to draw a clear line between atonal
and tonal music: for example, the music of Philip Glass has a clearly defined tonal center (and is generally seen as
tonal), but it does not use harmony in the traditional way (as a means of giving the music direction), instead using
repetition to create something more static; similarly, the music of composers such as Alfred Schnittke or John
Adams combines elements of tonal and atonal music freely and undogmatically; this approach can be seen as far
back as Berg's Violin Concerto of 1936, which sounds almost tonal in many places despite its use of the twelve-tone
method]].
Music Theory/Celtic
Celtic music can be divided into four types:
Reels: Tend to be played very fast and usually consist of continuous eighth notes written in 4/4 time
Jigs: Much slower than reels, jigs usually have eighth notes in 6/8 time with accents falling on first and fourth
beats.
Hornpipe: Similar to reels but more slowly, They are usually written in 4/4 and often played without accents
Waltzes: Played in a "waltz pace"; Written in 3/4 time and use triplet rhythmn.
usually they are in the key of G and D, though it is possible for them to be in the key of B and C.
Music Theory/Chinese
Chinese music, unlike western music, uses a five-tone scale known as the pentatonic scale. The easiest way to see
this on a piano is to play the black keys only. The scale will sound oriental. This however, is an oversimplification,
as in many Chinese instruments, a Western Diatonic scale is achievable, and 7-note scales are frequently used. Also,
the music of Ethnic Minorities in China is often closely related to that of it's neighbours, such that microtonal
adjustments of pitch are also used.
In the Chinese pentatonic, the most commonly used scale is usually D. The notes are then as follows:
D E F# A B D
64

Eastern Europian Music is best learned by ear. Listen to as many various traditional field or studio recordings to
become an expert at a given style. Eastern Europian Styles include:
Russian\Baltic
Balkan
Transcarpathian
Transdanubian
Hungarian
Romanian
Romani (Gypsy)
Klezmer (Jewish)
Turkish\Caucasian
Music Theory/Indian
Introduction
The term 'Indian music' spans a multitude of forms and styles, from tribal and folk traditions to intellectual classical
structures and electronic-enhanced modern dance tracks. Of course, the distinctions between the forms are often
slippery. It is not uncommon, for example, for 'filmi' composers to employ folk, religious, regional or classical
elements into their songs to enhance the mood and relevance to the story. Likewise, classical music has absorbed and
transformed folk elements while the rural traditions themselves have always been influenced by wider regional and
international musics. As with literature, dance and the visual arts, Indian music is a complex interweaving of
influences and ideas.
Periods and Styles

Ancient
Literary evidence points to the existence of codified musical traditions in early times. Classical Tamil poetry from
South India was composed by itinerant and court-settled musicians and accompanied by instruments such as the
harp, barrel-drum and flute. Set scales, known as pans, provided a framework for the singers and musicians. The
pans were tuned to the strings of the harp. The 7th century epic Silappadikkaram features music and dance from this
formal tradition as well as current folk and tribal styles.
While much of the ancient Tamil tradition has been lost, there is speculation that some of the pans referred to in the
literature made their way into the Carnatic tradition. In addition, the specialist temple singers of the Meenakshi
temple in Madurai still include some songs set to pans (rather than ragams) in their repetoire.
Classical
The classical tradition of Indian music can be divided into two major movements, Hindustani and Carnatic.
65

One of the wonderful aspects of composing music is that you can use as few or as many tools as you want and need.
The minimum you'll need is probably:
1. Some way of storing the music you write:
Staff Paper
Tape Recorder
Computer with composition software
2. Some way of listening to the music you write:
Musical Instrument (piano, guitar, drums, voice)
Tape Recorder
Computer
3. Some inspiration to help you write the music you write.
If you go with the simplest setup, some notes you sing to yourself written on lined paper (which works wonderfully
if you have a good ear for pitch), it'll cost you the price of a pencil, a few sheets of paper, and a couple erasers.
However, if you'd like to invest thousands of dollars in a complex MIDI-enabled computer, keyboard, drum-set
equipped, high-fidelity sound environment, well, you can do that too. Just don't expect to finish setting that up for a
few weeks.
The rule of thumb is: the more complicated you want your composition environment to be, the longer it'll take you to
actually start writing music.

If you don't want to use a computer for your composing, skip to the next chapter.
For this tutorial, you will need notation software, aka a Note Editor. A good point to start is free and open source
MuseScore [1], which works on GNU/Linux, Mac and Windows, and has a built-in synthesizer, eliminating the need
for setting up MIDI. There are also several alternatives for Linux. For Windows, Coda Technology offers Finale
Notepad [2] as a downloadable, ten dollar version of their commercial Finale notation software. Alternatives include
Lilypond [3], MusiXTeX [4] and various abc notation programs [5]
There's a free music workstation called Frinika that features piano roll, score, and tracker interface as well. It's
opensource and written in Java. You can run it without installation through Java Webstart.
(If you are using windows but don't want to pay money, try downloading Ubuntu at http:/ / www. ubuntu. com. If
you don't want to put it as a permanent operating system, then you can use VMWare to make a Virtual PC.)
For this tutorial, we will be using NoteEdit. To download it on Ubuntu, go to Application -> Add/Remove. From
there make sure 3rd party programs are enabled, then do a search for NoteEdit. Check it, and press OK.
If you aren't hearing any sound, download EasyUbuntu, http:/ / easyubuntu. freecontrib. org/ , MAKE SURE YOU
CHECK MIDI!!!, then type this into the terminal.
timidity -iA -B2,8 -Os -EFreverb=0 > /dev/null &
This command only needs to be typed in once, but will have to be redone every time you restart Ubuntu.
66
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
http:/ / musescore. org/

http:/ / www. finalemusic. com/ notepad/
http:/ / lilypond. org/ web/
http:/ / icking-music-archive. org/ software/ indexmt6. html
http:/ / www. walshaw. plus. com/ abc/ software. html

Western Music History can be traced back to Medieval times, with the Introduction of Chanting (later termed
Gregorian Chanting) into the Catholic church services. Western Music then started becoming more of an art form
with the advances in music notation and more focus on secular themes that occurred in the Renaissance period. We
then have expansions of range and complexity as we move into the Baroque era. The Classical era gives us the
emotional power associated with such composers as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Romanticism then transforms the
rigid styles and forms of the Classical era into more individualistic stylizations. Tonality was at its peak during this
period, then Impressionist music paved the way to the use of extreme dissonances in the music of the Modern era.
This process continued into the current Contemporary period of music.
Table of contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
/Medieval Music/ (476 A.D. to 1400 A.D.)

/Renaissance Music/ (1400 A.D. to 1600 A.D.)
/Baroque Music/ (1600 A.D. to 1750 A.D.)
/Classical Music/ (1750 A.D. to 1820 A.D.)
/Romantic Music/ (1820 A.D. to 1900 A.D.)
/Modern Music/ (1900 A.D. to 1960 A.D.)
/Contemporary Music/ (1945 A.D. to present)
About this book

/Authors/
67

"Songwriters and poets suffer from the same affliction . . . they both believe they have something to say."
Do any of the following statements describe you?
"I spend a large portion of every day thinking about writing songs."
"I read scripture and think . . . surely these are the lyrics to a song."
"I write down interesting remarks I overhear."
"I put a lot of energy into writing songs, and trying to write songs."
"I see all the bits and pieces of songs I have laying around and it drives me crazy."
"I go to songwriting workshops given by people who make their living writing songs."
"I spend time with other songwriters."
"I read books on songwriting."
"I think I am a songwriter."
"I am obsessed."
"I sometimes feel angry with lyrics and just go with the flow"
"I feel an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when I finish writing a song. Writing is difficult, but I am always
challenged to do my best. Sometimes I feel like songwriting should be called song rewriting, because I spend a lot
of time rewriting until the song is right."
If these statements generally describe you, then read on, as we discuss "Writing Effective Songs".
First of all, remember: MUSIC DOESN'T HAVE TO CONTAIN SINGING
Music and lyrics, comes from the heart. Its not something you can just do easily. Lyrics are created from events that
have happend in your life, AKA an ex lover, the present, dreams, or everyday life. All the different experiences you
have had in your life can be written down as songs if you think hard enough.
The Mechanical Elements of a Song

For the beginning songwriter, it may be helpful to know something about the various elements of a song. Following
are some definitions:
Measure (Bar): a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. The word "measure" is
heard more frequently in the U.S., while bar is used in other English-speaking countries.
Melody: the part of a song that can be sung alone so that the song is recognizable; the "lead". Elements of the
melody include:
Motif: a short group of notes
Phrase: Two motifs combined
Sentence or period: Two phrases combined
Paragraph: A group of sentences
Sequence: a melodic phrase that is repeated but is transposed
Harmony: the notes that compliment or support the melody line. These may be sung or played. In music theory,
they are described as the vertical structure. If using a chord progression format, should base the harmony of the
song upon the progression and only vary a bit.
Rhythm: the pattern of beats to which the words are sung. There are two versions: The traditional, where every
note is played as shown, and the "swing", used in Blues and Jazz, where, for example, two half-beats go
"bomp-bomb" (kind of like heartbeat
Tempo: the speed of the song.
Time Signature: 3/4, 4/4, 6/8, etc. the top number relates to amount of beats in a measure/bar and the bottom
number relates to the value of the notes in the bar. i.e 4/4 = four Quarter/crochet notes in a bar. 6/8 = six
68

eighth/quaver notes in a bar.
Usually, each song consists of the following:
Intro: the short instrumental section at the beginning of the song.
Verse: a section of the song having its own melody, usually following the introduction and occurring again after
the chorus. Most songs have two or three verses, repeating the same melody with different words. Verses usually
have about eight measures, but traditional twelve bar blues may use twelve measures.
Pre-Chorus (a.k.a. Channel): a short section that builds beyond the verse and usually leads to the Chorus.
Chorus: a different section in the song with a different melody, usually following the verses and the bridge. The
chorus may be very repetitive.
Bridge, or Middle 8: a section of the song that is different from the verses and chorus. The bridge usually occurs
during a transition between verse and chorus or between two choruses in separate keys; hence, it is sometimes
called the "bridge." Because it is frequently 8 bars long, it also known as the "Middle 8," particularly in Britain
and Europe. However it is conceived, its primary function is to provide the ear with a kind of "relief" from the
repetitiveness of the Verse and Chorus, to provide a fresh perspective within the context of the overall structure.
Hook: an important phrase in the song, the memorable theme. The hook is usually repeated at various times
during the song. Also referred to as the motif.
Coda: the ending section of the song; usually repeats the hook or an important portion of the song. Maybe
integrated into the chorus.
Often, it is worth the effort to first invent a melody from a chord (or string for guitar) sequence around which your
song will be focused. Song writing for the popular vote requires a 'hook' as it is known. The hook may be simply a
melodic structure, but is perhaps preferably a mix of the melody coupled with a clever line of words.
For instance, in the well known 'Danny Boy' or 'Derry Air' as it is sometimes called, the 'hook' is found where the
melody appears to try to surge forward into the chorus and the words "But come ye back" accompany that surge in
chord progression.
The reverse process, putting music to words, is a lot more difficult and is also less successful in most formats.
But there are certain cases where putting music to words is a better option... for instance, a rhyming poem or free
verse with a regular meter can easily be made a song. Basic chords lend themselves well, the I - IV - V progression
and iv - IV - V - I chords work.
Popular Song forms

Popular music has several forms that are commonly used. These usually consist of four 8-bar phrases, making up the
typical 32 bar form. Typically, this entire 32-bar is a chorus.
A-A1-B-A (ternary) is the most famous. The hook is typically in A, which allows it to be repeated, setting the
hook in the listener's mind. The hook is a memorable, catchy part of the song, and may consist of one or more of
the following: the title, a musical phrase, a riff, or a production effect. {{{needs explanation of A1 section}}} The
B section, often referred to as the bridge, is a musical (and usually lyrical) contrast.
Example: Over the rainbow, Yesterday, Just the Way You Are, What'll I Do, Ain't Misbehavin', As Time Goes
By.
A-B-A-B (binary verse/chorus) consist of eight-bar of A as verse, followed by eight bar of B as chorus. The 2nd
half, acting as repetition , have a slight difference either melodically, harmonically, or both.
Example: Material girl, "Sunrise, Sunset"
A-A-B-B (binary): One A phrases for 8 bars, followed by its repetition, then followed by B phrases for 8 bars
and its repetition. Repetition may or may not have variations.
Example: Bouree in E minor
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A-B-A-C: Provide variation with the B phrase and repetition of A phrase with new concluding material in C
phrase.
A-B-C-D: Each phrase provides a variation with new melodic material. This is rarer since it requires more
attention from the listener and fewer opportunities to bring home the hook through its repetition.
the other popular form, the 12-Bar Blues, is also common. See Music Theory/Blues for numerous type of 12-bar
blues form.
Tools for Your Songwriting Toolbox

Some things that will help, but are not required:
The gift of songwriting. Obviously, if you are gifted in this way, youll be way ahead of the game. Some people
are born skilled writers. It comes to them like breathing. Others want to write so bad it's killing them, but they
can't come up with anything that moves people. Most of us are somewhere in between . . . pretty good writers
who could benefit from studying the craft of songwriting.
Absolute Pitch. Of course it is a helpful tool but is not necessary.
Some creative bent. "Most people see the sun go down. I see the mountain rise up."
A good understanding of poetry writing.
Ability to sing or play an instrument.

Collaborating with other writers.
Cassette Multi-tracker
A voice recorder, to record how it sounds.
Music Theory. While some of the greatest songs being sung around the world today were birthed in the hearts of
people who knew nothing about music, if one wants to play in a certain style, they should also follow the style.
One should not deviate too much from the 12-Bar Blues, for example, if they are to make a song in the style of
Blues, regardless of the song's content.
Things that are not required, PERIOD:

Virtuoso ability on an instrument.
A great singing voice.
Some things that ARE required:
An intimate and vital relationship with your topic.

A sensitive spirit relative to your intended audience.
Patience. (Sometimes you block or hit snags. Work through them.)
A paying job, or normal education. (Don't expect to hit a record contract so soon, pal)
Becoming an Effective Songwriter

You need to know your subject matter, this is IMPERATIVE. After all, it is difficult at best to discuss subjects that
youre not knowledgeable ofand research, know about the subject matter as much as possible
Write about what you know. If your songs are not meaningful to you, they probably won't be meaningful to other
people, and the lack of knowledge on your subject and your lack of enthusiasm for it will show through.
Write primarily as an expression of your own feelings, and who knows better about what you're feeling than you?
Strive to expand your vocabulary. While some phrases may be very meaningful, there are probably words that fit the
image you are trying to create more appropriately. Also, if possible, try to live "in" the subject matter.
You need to be vulnerable; to be a good writer, you must remain vulnerable in your writing. If you hide, then the
song hides. There is no safe haven for songwriters. If you choose to play it safe and not lay it on the line, your songs
will be clich-ridden, shallow and boring.
70

You need to practice and you need to be persistent; Yes, sometimes, the words and melody simply flow. But most of
the time songwriting is hard work. Songwriting requires work, practice, mentors, study, diligence, and commitment.
We should give ourselves to the development of our writing skills.
Practice, sing and write constantly. Write something every day, even if you come up with something that might
initially sound trite. You can revise it and make it something good later. Whatever musical impulse lies within will
come out.
Important Elements of a Song

The most important aspect of a song is "sing-ability"
Do the stressed syllables of the lyrics match the stressed beats of the music?
Are the words you want emphasized sung with longer notes?
Does it have a smooth melody?
Are the intervals easy to sing? (Usually 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, 5ths and octaves are easiest.)
Is the melody supported by the chord progression?
Does the melody fall within the sing-able range of the majority? (Usually, not much lower than an A; not much
higher than a D.)
Is it too wordy? Too many words make it difficult to focus on the subject matter.
One Theme: stay focused on the "seed thought".
Repetition: This makes the song easier for the congregation to retain and memorize.
Imagery: Does it capture an image? Does it paint a picture of how you feel about a given situation at a given
moment in time?
Consistent within itself: Is the melody "saying" the same thing as the lyrics? Try to avoid putting happy
sounding lyrics with a haunting melody. Of course, this can be done: for example, songs by Asaki are a good
example (they have haunting songs, but celebratory)
Is it catchy?: Is there a creative chord progression? Is there an interesting rhyming scheme? Is there a creative
melody? Is there alliteration?
Making the Connection

The lyric is arguably the most important part of a song. Be clear. It is primary and fundamental that the audience
understands what you are saying. If not . . . it might as well have been an instrumental.
Does it use the language of the assembly? If aimed at Youth, does it "groove"? If aimed at Kids, is it happy?
Is it simple, or is it 70's "Art-Rock"?
Is it intended for small group or a large crowd? Can it be sung by your choice of line up?
Are there long uncomfortable pauses that are normally filled with a guitar lead?
Simplicity
Simple images cut deep like a sharp knife. One of the most common mistakes made by beginning songwriters is
trying to say too much. The simplest songs are usually the most powerful.
Complex writing in "code" that sounds like some other good song somewhere doesn't cut it. Many writers play it
safe behind vague or complex lyrics.
If you try to say in three minutes or less how you feel about everything in your life, you will lose people. It is more
powerful to show how you feel about ONE thing, right now.
Once you've gained considerable experience in writing songs, you may decide to add some elements of symbolism,
metaphor, or irony into your work. A song with several layers grows progressively interesting; if there is more to the
song than first meets the ear, it will stay fresh.
71
Sparking the Creative Flow

Quiet time: The key that unlocks the door to the most expressive songs and song lyrics is your own personal
quiet times. Meditation is a very effective way. There is none more creative than your inner voice, which does not
come out until you stay quiet with your own self. As you draw closer to your inner self during times of mediation,
it becomes easier to hear your inner voice speak, thus easier to flow in the idea.
Difficulties and Devastation Speaking from life-changing personal experience. This is important in folk-style
songs, such as Blues and Country Music.
Brainstorming If you are a musician, sit at your instrument and just play. If you are a lyricist, write or sing
whatever comes to mind.
Was it just a feeling? Then follow your feelingdo not look for anything else.
Do you just have a melody? Sing something, anything, to it.
Is it just a thought?
Brainstorm - write down every thought that comes to mind corresponding to it, and dont ever throw anything
away.
Write down your ideas and lyrics, and always record a rough draft of your songs.
Is the theme universal, or is it so personal that it could only mean something to you?
Do you have a great chord progression? If you have access to a piano, voice the chords with left hand and just
improvise a melody with the right.
Or . . . do you just want to get rich?
Not completely impossible. Just close to impossible. If you make songs just to get rich, theres a strong chance
youre going to be terribly frustrated. We have little control over how others receive what we create. And if
you try to change to fit what you think they want, you will never be happy with it, and they will never be
happy with you.
A Word Concerning Originality...

As songwriters, we don't have to re-invent the wheel; we just need to spin it our own way. A composer fails to be
original when he or she does not listen to his or her own musical voice. Composers frequently re-create melodic,
harmonic, and rhythmic tapestries that lie deep in their sub-conscious. Initially this is not a problem, since all music
must take off from somewhere. We must be able to take it to a NEW place . . . one that it is original to our "take" on
the style. Sometimes a composer is successful with a song only to find it has already been written.
Alternatively, it is common for a songwriter to use the same (or similar) well known melody. for example, Gekkoka
(Moonlight Flower) and Tsubasa (wings) are both based on a classical piano piece, Midori no haze. However, with
variations on melody (one is more melodramatic, while Tsubasa is more upbeat), and different lyrics, they become
two distinct songs. Still, one should be very careful about using another person's melody, especially in countries in
the developed world, which usually have the toughest copyright laws.
Conclusion
Once you have a song that you think is ready for the group, run it past a few objective and mature friends for an
honest critique. Don't be afraid to refine it, taking into consideration their input.
Focus on the process, not the outcome. It's good to have a goal. It's more important to spend your days doing what
pleases you. Years of deprivation and sacrifice to reach a place most times equal years of deprivation and
sacrifice. The place is never enough compensation. Just ask anyone who is in the place you want to be.
If you are really strong, you can find your identity in the songs you write, just like any poem.
72
Style Reference
Elements of an Effective Praise & Worship Song
/Rock Album Arranging/

From wikihow.com
So you are a musician and want to make a rock album? Well, here are some things you might want to consider!
Song types
A power song includes angry drums, distorted guitar, slap bass, and other components that make a song come in
handy when you've had the worst day in the world, want to let out some aggression, or just want to wake up a bit.
A dark song is the "bridge" between the power song and the slow emotional one. It is basically a gothic single
without as much screaming.
The slow emotional song is your classic rock ballad, with acoustic guitar, light percussion, and killer lyrics. You
want it to make your daddy fall to his knees crying.
The punk song adds some levity to the album. If you hate the idea of punk-rock, try to add some funny lyrics to a
rock song.
The chill-out song is basically the most poppy one on the album. Even if you're a rocker, you must not freak out
when it comes to enlarging your audience.
If you didn't understand what the electric guitar solo meant, listen to Steve Vai, John Petrucci or Paul Gilbert.
Steps
1. Define your trademark and intrigue the public. There must always be a connection between your message, your
style and the public's expectations. In short, you need to find your own secret formula.
2. Choose your songs. This is an example of how a 10-song rock album could be organized:
1. Metal song 1
2. metal song 2
3. Dark Song 1
4. punk song 1
5. Punk Song 2
6. Chill-out Song
7. Dark Song 2
8. Electric Guitar Solo
9. Acoustic guitar solo
10. Power Song 1
3. Make sure you have a unifying theme.
4. Find an agent and/or publicist and begin to market your album. Play gigs wherever you can to get the word out.
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Tips
It's important to finish with a power song if you start an album with one. Why? it gives the impression of a
brilliant album. The listener's mood must change through the album but return to where it was when he/she started
to listen to it. This is more a psycho-effect-whatever. In 60% of the cases, listening to a vivid, vibrant song makes
you want to listen to the next, in this case, to start listening to the album all over again. which is . . .well, exactly
what you hoped for, right?
When you ask someone for their opinion keep in mind that the same song does not relate to EVERY person in the
world the same way. In the media, there is a rule when it comes to news: if it is confirmed by 3 different sources,
then it is a valid news story. Choose at least 3 people with different ages, cultures, personalities or styles, to "test"
the song on. It's important NOT to get discouraged if they have suggestions or just don't like it. Practice makes
perfect, and even though you aim for the sky, you've gotta keep your feet on the ground.
Don't treat this and other similar pages as a bible. The most important thing should be to make the album how you
visualize it sounding, the rules should come as an afterthought. If your album still doesn't sound good, load all of
the songs into iTunes, put 'em into a playlist and hit shuffle and see what happens.
The last song is always a chance to do whatever you want, experiment, add little snippets of miscellaneous stuff.
Or, if you have the newest greatest rock ballad or ground breaking, moderately slow song, put it here. Basically,
this is the place to put whatever song doesn't fit.
Warnings
Don't make a solo that's longer than 5 minutes. According to some scientific studies, the brain stops being
attentive after 5 min. so it's best to keep it short, or you risk boring your public.
15. NOTE: when you have two power songs one after the other, it is best if the styles are as different as possible!
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Music Theory Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?oldid=2071768 Contributors: Aaronjgardner, Adrignola, BlackJar72, Chocolatemintmocha, ConcertG, Counsell, Dallas1278,
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Music Theory PDF

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Contents

Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common Practice Music

Music Theory/How to read Music

Music Theory/Music Notation Systems

Music Theory/Scales and Intervals

Music Theory/Chord Structures

Music Theory/Consonance and Dissonance

Music Theory/The Physics of Music

Music Theory/Finding the Key and Mode of a Piece

Music Theory/Playing by Ear

Music Theory/Complete List of Chord Patterns

Music Theory/Hip Hop

Music Theory/New Age

Music Theory/Eastern European

Music Theory/Necessary Tools

Music Theory/Software Needed

Western Music History

Writing Effective Songs

Writing Effective Songs/Rock Album Arranging

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

Common Practice Styles

Tones, overtones, and harmonics

Beyond the Basics

/The Physics of Music/

Styles in the Western Classical Tradition

Traditional and Folk styles

Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common

Music Theory/How to read Music

Notes and rests

The half note and rest are half as long as a

The quarter note and rest are one-quarter the

Chart illustrating the divisions of note values in music.

The eighth note and rest:

The sixteenth note and rest:

Music Theory/How to read Music

Music Theory/Music Notation Systems

Music Theory/Music Notation Systems

Music Theory/Music Notation Systems

Whole note (semibreve)

Sixteenth note (semiquaver)

1 - whole note (very rare)

Music Theory/Scales and Intervals

augmented fourth, diminished fifth

Music Theory/Scales and Intervals

augmented eleventh tritone

Music Theory/Scales and Intervals

Mnemonic memorization examples

Freddie freeloader (miles davis), The way we were, Corcovado,

Seven nation army (the white stripes), Rock A Bye Baby, To

Hey Jude, Ring Around The Rosy, "The Star-Spangled

Oh When the Saints, Morning Has Broken, "It's a Small World",

Clock Chimes (first two notes), Good night, Ladies; "Mario

I've Been Working on the Railroad, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,

The Simpsons theme, Maria (West Side Story)

European police siren, YYZ by Rush

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Star Wars (Main Theme), Forrest

My Girl (Bass part at beginning), Feelings, The Flintstones

My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean, NBC theme tune

Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera), Nobody Knows the

Somewhere (from West Side Story), star trek

I Love You (Cole Porter) 2nd & 3rd notes

over the rainbow

Bulls On Parade(RATM), Willow Weep for Me,