Since we don't have a MUSIC THEORY forum, how bout a thread?

good idea/bad idea?

anyone care to start off with the very basics(as if you were teaching a class on this?) maybe some terms and definitions?

this is a great idea cmon somebody!!!! id love 2 learn about chords

you can't just really make ONE thread about music theory, there's a bunch of stuff to talk about. but i'll start anyway.

um.

# = sharp
b = flat

the notes go A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab and then it repeats going either down or up. This set of notes is in a group called an octave. So you're always using one of these notes in a high, medium, or low octave, be it a bass sond, a guitar sound, or a high violin note. same notes just different octaves.

A# = Bb, C# = Db, etc. it's the same note with a different name.

each note is half a step/note apart. going up or down a half step is equal to going up or down one fret on the guitar or a key on the piano (including the black keys, those are the sharps/flats)

notes with sharps or flats (C#, Eb) are called accidentals. normal notes (A, B, C, etc.) are called naturals. on a piano, the white keys are naturals and the black keys are accidentals.

going from A to A# (Bb) is going up half a step/note, if you go up another half step you're at B so going from A to B is a two half steps/notes, or a whole step/note. the only exceptions are B to C, and E to F.. they're one half step apart, don't ask me why, they just are. that's why you don't see a black key between these two pairs of white keys on a piano.

so going from A to B would be a whole step but if you were to go up a whole note from B you would be on C#... underdig?

Scales are a sets of certain notes. the same note is never referred to twice in a scale. For example, you can't put C and C# in the same scale, that C# would have to be written as a Db, although it's the same note, you just have to have each letter in there.

There are major scales, minor scales, melodic minor, harmonic minor scales and a bunch of shit i don't know of.

I'm gonna start with a major scale, a C major scale because it's easiest to deal with for beginners. mainly because it has no accidentals (sharps/flats)

The major scale formula goes whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step (W W 1/2 W W W 1/2)

this shows is how to build a major scale starting from the note C.

W W 1/2 W W W 1/2
C D E F G A B C (it repeats forever)

so you can apply this formula to almost any note and come up with its major scale.

in a major scale, the chord order is always the same.

the order goes Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major, Minor, Diminished. so let's apply these chord names to the C major scale we got.

C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major, A Minor, and B Diminished

major chords are written as just the letter chord they are. i.e. A major is just written as A. minor chords are written with a lower case "m" next to them. i.e. A minor is written as Am. Diminished chords are um "transition chords" they don't really sound good by themselves, there's too much tension in them, they're used to transition from one chord to another. i'm not gonna gonna get into diminished chords or anything order than major and minor chords.

so the C major scale looks like this:

C Dm Em F G Am Bdim

now onto chord construction.

the basic 3 note major chord formula is 1 3 5
the basic 3 note minor chord formula is 1 b3 5

these numbers refer to the note order in the C major scale (in this case). the first, third, and fifth notes in the C major scale are C, E, and G. these three notes make up the chord C major. although C minor isn't in the C major scale i'm gonna explain that too. the only different between a basic major and minor chord is that the 3rd in the chord is flattened. so if C major is C E G, then Cminor is C Eb G. if Dmajor is D F# A then Dminor is D F A.

note: the 1 is not the first note in the major scale exactly. it's what note you start from. i started from C because i was explaining the C major chord. so in the case of F major, the F is the 1. the A is the 3 and C is the 5.

here's the layout of the C major scale basic chords and their notes as a guide.

C - C E G
Dm - D F A
Em - E G B
F - F A C
G - G B D
Am - A C E
Bdim - B D F

that's it for now. if this thread goes on i'll add. if not, then whatever, i just exercised my music theory.

I used to actually play the piano and write sheet music. But I'm glad that all of this Midi/digital/quanitize/hard drive crap exists 'cause I'm just TOO lazy. I just play by ear now.....GOD I'm lazy......