StimmSchule

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MUSIC THEORY

Here are the basics of HARMONIES.

Imagine a piano keyboard. There white and black keys on it.  The scale (or the "key" )  is a grid of intervals that we place on keyboard. Those keys that are on this grid - are harmonical to each other, when we play them they all add up, they are appropriate to each other and sound good together.

There are MINOR and MAJOR scales.  MINOR and MAJOR scales have their own formula to define which keys of our keyboard will come into particular scale.

Look at keyboard again.  Count each key starting from 1.  C is 1.  C# is 2.   D is 3.  D# is 4.  E is 5.  F is 6. F# is 7.  G is 8.  G# is 9.  A is 10. A# is 11.  B is 12.   C of next octave is 13.

Now let's take only whit keys.  If we play  C  D  E F  G A B  C  - this will be a C MAJOR scale. 

The formula of MAJOR scale is      1   3   5   6  8  10  12                 

Now to play C MAJOR we play  C D E F G A B C, where C=1, D=3, E=5 and so on. This is by the formula we described above.

The scale is named by the key from which it's been counted.  So  G MAJOR starts from G.

To play D MAJOR we simply use the same formula, but now we start counting from D.   D now is 1.    E  is 3.   Following the formula   5  is  F#.    6 is G.

The formula of MINOR scale is       1   3  4   6  8   9   11.    The counting is perfomed similarly.   

 

According to these formulas all scales can be figured easily and quickly.   Each scale has  chords that are built  based on the notes of this particular scale. Now we present all chords of all scales.

Any diminished chord like  Adim Bdim   can be substituted with 3rd 4th  chords  (for instance  A3 A4  or  B3  B4  ).

      MAJOR  SCALES AND CHORDS  

C dur

C   Dm   Em   F   G   Am     Bdim    C

1    3      5      6    8    10       12      13

C#  dur

C# D#m Fm  F# G# A#m  Cdim    C#

D   dur

D   Em   F#m  G   A   Bm   C#dim   D

D# dur

D#  Fm   Gm  G#  A#  Cm   Ddim    D#

E   dur

E   F#m  G#m   A   B   C#m   D#dim   E

F   dur

F    Gm    Am    A#  C    Dm     Edim    F

F#  dur

F#  G#m  A#m  B    C#  D#m   Fdim    F#

G   dur

G    Am     Bm    C     D    Em   F#dim    G

G#  dur

G# A#m   Cm    C#  D#   Fm    Gdim     G#

A   dur

A    Bm    C#m    D    E    F#m   G#dim    A

A#   dur

A#  Cm    Dm      D#  F    Gm     Adim     A#

B      dur

B    C#m   D#m    E   F#   G#m  A#dim    B

 

 

MINOR SCALES AND CHORDS

C moll

Cm    Ddim    D#    Fm   Gm   G#   A#   Cm

1        3     4      6       8       9        11      13

C# moll

C#m  D#dim  E   F#m   G#m   A     B    C#m

D moll

Dm    Edim     F    Gm    Am     A#   C    Dm

D# moll

D#m  Fdim    F#   G#m  A#m   B    C#  D#m

E moll

Em   F#dim   G     Am     Bm     C     D    Em

F moll

Fm   Gdim    G#   A#m   Cm    C#   D#    Fm

F# moll 

F#m  G#dim  A     Bm    C#m    D   E     F#m

G moll

Gm   Adim    A#    Cm    Dm     D#   F    Gm

G# moll

G#m  A#dim   B    C#m   D#m   E     F#   G#m

A moll

Am     Bdim     C       Dm    Em     F     G     Am

A# moll

A#m   Cdim    C#    D#m    Fm     F#  G#   A#m

B   moll

Bm    C#dim    D      Em     F#m    G    A     Bm

 

                                                                                                    CHORD  SEQUENCES

As was already mentioned the basic  major and minor scales have 7 notes and 7 chords built up on these notes. 

Now we will count each note order.  For instance in Cdur     C chord goes as the first note of the scale, let's  give it  a  roman numerical    I.

The second chord in Cdur is Dm, since it goes  second we give it a number II and so on.  We numerate each step of the scale with roman numbers. 

In example below we took major and minor  scales    Cdur  and  Cmoll

C dur

                                                                                               I    II      III    IV   V   VI       VII

C   Dm   Em   F   G   Am     Bdim    C

1    3      5      6    8    10       12      13

C moll

                                                                                           I          II        III     IV      V    VI   VII

Cm    Ddim    D#    Fm   Gm   G#   A#   Cm

1        3     4      6       8       9        11      13

Each step I, II, III ..   has it's own name in musical  theory. And each step has it's own function and purpose. Below find the names of each step and example in Cdur.

I   TONIC                   Tonal center, note of final resolution    C

II   SUPERTONIC       One whole step above the tonic    D

III  MEDIANT              Midway between tonic and dominant    E   /  E♭

IV  SUBDOMINANT      Lower dominant, same interval below tonic dominant is above tonic    F

V   DOMINANT              2nd in importance to the tonic    G

VI   SUBMEDIANT         Lower mediant, midway between tonic and subdominant    A  / A♭

VII SUBTONIC              Leading tone/Subtonic    Melodically strong affinity for and leads to tonic/One whole step below tonic    B  /   B♭

VIII  TONE                   Tonic    Tonal center, note of final resolution    C'

 

Secondary Leading Tone  (SLT)  

 

                        PREDOMINANT CHORDS

In music theory, a predominant chord (also pre-dominant) is any chord which normally resolves to a dominant chord.

Examples of predominant chords are the subdominant (IV),supertonic (ii), Neapolitan sixth and Dominant 7th Chords (Major chord + 7th note of the scale). Other examples are the secondary dominant (V/V), secondary leading tone chord, iv and ii°. The predominant harmonic functionis part of the fundamental harmonic progression of many classical works.

The dominant preparation is a chord or series of chords that precedes the dominant chord in a musical composition.[dubious – discuss] Usually, the dominant preparation is derived from acircle of fifths progression. The most common dominant preparation chords are thesupertonic, the subdominant, the V7/V, the Neapolitan chord (N6 or ♭II6), and the augmented sixth chords (e.g., Fr+6).

 

VII  Secondary Leading Tone

Secondary leading-tone chords may resolve to either a major or minor diatonic triad:

In major keys: ii, iii, IV, V, vi
In minor keys: III, iv, V, VI

 

I - IV - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of C: C - F - G - C
• Key of D: D - G - A - D
• Key of E : E - A - B - E

I - iii - IV - ii - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of F: F - A - Bb - G - F
• Key of G: G - B - C - A - G
• Key of A: A - C# - D - B - A

I - vi - ii - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of B: B - G# - C# - F# - B
• Key of Db: Db - Bb - Eb - Ab - Db
• Key of Eb: Eb - C - F - Bb - Eb
• Key of Gb: Gb - Eb - Ab - Db - Gb

I - ii - iii - IV - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of Ab: Ab - Bbm - Cm - Db - Eb - Ab
• Key of Bb: Bb - Cm - Dm - Eb - F - Bb

I - vi - ii - IV - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of C: C - Am - Dm - G - C
• Key of D: D - Bm - Em - A - D

Try This!

Using the I - vi - IV - V - I - vi - V - I chord pattern play the following chords: C - Am - F - G - C - A - G - C

Listen to it several times, what songs come to mind when you play this pattern? One example that uses this pattern is the song "Unchained Melody."

Try it:

C - Am
Oh my love

F
my darling

G
I hunger for

C
your love

Am
a long

G
lonely time

Then back to C for the second verse.

You can play around with various chord patterns to see what other melodies you can come up with.

 

 

 

 

HARMONICAL   MODES

The idea of modes is that you can build a scale counting not from the root note like C Major counting from C, but instead we can count from any other key keeping the same SCALE we will obtain another scale that will sound differently from the basis.   So we take C Major (CDEFGABC)  and go through this scale from D to D  (DEFGABCD) this will sound different and will be called Dorian, whereas counting from root key is called Ionian scale.

Still remember the formula of MAJOR?        1    3   5  6  8  10  12                         and   MINOR?          1  3  4   6  8  9  11 

Now to make it simple.  These are the numbers that we use to figure which notes should we play to play the target scale.  Each of this numbers has NAME in music theory.

1  is  first step or latin  I.   3  is II        5  is  III         6   is  IV    8  is   V   10 is VI and  12 is VII.      

1  is TONIC.  It is a root note.      8  is DOMINANT. 

There are 2 different approaches in building modes.

1)   First MODE BUILDING APPROACH is very simple:  we can count from  modes within  SCALES.

We take  C Major Scale    C D E F G A B C   and make another scale  within  THIS basis scale.  So building from root C  is called Ionian mode:  C D  E F G A B.  If we build from the second note of the scale D   -  then we have  Dorian mode:   D  E  F  G A B  C  D.  From third note  E  - we have Phrygian:  E  F  G  A B  C  D  E and so on.  You might ask for what reason should we construct those modes if they are based on the same notes?    Well, the reason is:   different MODES have different MOODS. One mode sounds happy and brightly another one sounds dark and sad, and another one will be in between the sad and happy, usually it is described as EPIC or DOMINANT sound.  To sum up we have the following list of modes togher with the mood of each of them:

C MAJOR  sclae:  CDEFGABC

Ionian:    CDEFGABC       bright I             (1st level of brightness)

Dorian:   DEFGABCD        dark I              (1st level of darkness)

Phrygian: EFGABCDE      dark III             (3rd level of darkness)

Lydian:    FGABCDEF       bright II            (3rd level of brightness)

Mixolydian: GABCDEFG   dominant 7       (balancing,  epic, not happy not sad)

Aeolian:     ABCDEFGA     dark II             (2nd level of darkness)

Locrian      BCDEFGAB    the darkest IV   (4rd level of darkness)

 

2)   SECOND  MODE BUILDING APPROACH is more complex:  we build the modes within  the NOTES  INTERVALS.  

For example we can build it from C  to C.  And here is what we have then:

Ionian        C dur /Amoll (root)

C      D     E     F     G     A      B    C

1      3      5     6     8    10    12   13

I       II     III     IV    V   VI     VII

    T     T      S      T     T     T       S

Dorian     C:    A# dur/G moll

C     D     D#    F    G    A    A#   C

1      3     4       6    8   10   11  13

    T    S       T      T    T     S     T

Phrygian    C:    G# dur/F moll

C    C#    D#    F    G    G#    A#    C

1     2      4      6    8     9      11    13

    S     T       T     T     S      T      T

Lydian       C:    G dur/ E moll

C     D     E     F#     G     A     B     C

1     3      5     7       8     9     12   13

    T     T     T       S      T      T      S

Mixolydian   C:   F dur/ D moll

C      D      E      F      G      A      A#      C

1       3      5      6      8     10     11      13

    T       T       S     T       T       S       T

Aeolian         C:    D# dur/ C moll

C      D      D#      F      G      G#      A#    C

1       3      4        6       8      9         11    13

    T       S        T        T      S         T       T

Locrian         C:    C# dur/ A# moll

C      C#     D#      F      F#      G#     A#     C

1       2       4        6      7         9       11     13

     S       T        T       S        T        T        T

                  ADDITIONAL  (for dom 7th chrd)

Lydian  b7

C      D       E        F#      G      A     A#     C

1       3      5         7        8      10   11    13

     T      T        T        S       T       S      T

Altered            (Locrian  b4)

C       C#     D#      E      F#      G#   A#    C

1       2        4        5       7        9     11    13

     S        T       S        T        T       T       T

Symmetrical  Diminished

C       C#     D#      E       F#      G     A    A#    C

1       2        4        5       7        8     10  11     13

     S        T        S        T        S      T     S       T

 

MORE ALTERNATIVE SCALES

PENTATONIC

Pentatonic is simply the shortened version of the normal scale.   In normal scale we have 7 notes (or seven steps)    I   II   III  IV  V  VI  VII

In pentatonic scale we take only 5 and throw away  2  steps.    Since we have Major and Minor scales  there's  Major and Minor pentatonic scales. So 2 types.

   MAJOR   pentatonic looks like this:                     I   II   III       V  VI         Major Pentatonic formula:   1    2    5    8    10

C dur  Pentatonic example

          C          Dm       Em          G          Am       

   MINOR  pentatonic  looks like this:                    I         III  IV  V      VII   Minor Pentatonic formula:    1   4    6     8    11

A moll  Pentatonic example

        Am          C        Dm         Em          G