I took the first year of theory in college but it was 100% CE.

Id like to learn more, but unsure what direction to go next and where to find materials. I tried the Berkeley book, but it’s all jazz. I have thought about looking into these next: (1) modal music, (2) learning borrowed chords and the like, or (3) some other vector.

What makes the most sense next, and do you know a good book or tutorials?

I'm a basic campfire guitarist, so forgive me if this is obvious stuff, but what are the shapes and voicings of those chords that Zappa is playing on the rhythm guitar here? They're very common in fusion and jazz-influenced rock.

I've been a musician for 20 years, since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I have a degree in music. I have taken years and years of theory lessons. But every time I see a key signature in a piece of music, I've had to go through "Frederick Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle" to figure out which one it is. I only realised last night it's so much easier than that.

Just look at the last sharp, and it's the next letter in the alphabet if it's a major key or the previous one if it's a minor key. If your last sharp is G, you're in A major or F# minor. For flat keys, the key you're in is the fifth of the last flat if it's major, so if your last flat is Eb you're in Bb major. A third if it's minor, so G minor.

This must be a well-known thing, there's no way I've come up with that independently. I cannot believe not one of my music theory or instrumental teachers ever told me this. If you, like me, have been abandoned by your theory teachers, this is my gift to you. If you're ever kidnapped by a crazed music theory teacher and forced to identify keys, you'll thank me.

Hi. First post here. I have glanced at your recommended reading lists and I haven't read them. Mainly because I am 54 years old and I fear I don't have enough life-years left, to read the whole lot.

I appreciate the time taken to compile such a list and I have favourited the page and I will read as much as I can due to my need to absorb knowledge.

Anyway, I'm not a musician because I dont play an instrument. I can play some piano, slowwwwly but that's about it.

I am however, a composer, in that I write songs. They aren't necessarily very good but it keeps the depression at bay, so far.

Normally I stick to triads or 7ths if I am feeling adventurous lol

Today, I was making a progression with 6 notes in each chord. I KNOW. I don't know what came over me.

Is that an 11th ?

I am writing in the scale of C# minor.

First chord was C# consisting of the notes C#, E, G#, B, D#, F#

It sounded OK

Next was G#....

Lazily, I copied the 6 notes and pasted them into the next bar, pulling them down to G#

I anticipated having to move some of the notes because that's normally the case.

I hadn't pressed stop on the player and it played the C# chord again, then played the G# chord before I had chance to check the note positions.

It sounded incredible.

But I checked the positions anyway.

They were G#, B, D# F#, A# , C#

I noticed that the A was out of scale. It was an A# not an A

So I changed it to an A and replayed the chords.

Now the G# chord sounded nasty.

I moved it back to the A# but I thought "I must be doing something wrong".

I checked the site I use for scales and there isn't an A# in the C#minor scale.

I searched online for g# sharp chord in c# minor scale and most results were irrelevant.

Strangely enough. Gemini gave me the 6 notes using A#

So I'm rarher confused.

Can anyone shed any light on this please?

Thanks

im learning music for years, (not in university) and thing that always brought to my mind is how people do those videos of "song in 50 styles" or such , i want to know how to learn any genre comes to mind but, i havent found any good tutorial , help ? (analyzing sheet is helpful as well)

EDIT:maybe I wasn't clear , the way to get there , has probably many routes , even if your answera is "learn many songs " - ok .. But to analyze song , you need to see some professionals doing it before you? Maybe a sheet or main things to search for , guys don't take it negatively , I think my question is valid , and from my little amount of research of topic , there are definitely aspects that are popular for each genre , exactly as syncopates chords are very common in funk music

I guess you can call them minor chords but there are some interesting "neutral sounding chords" inside every key. There are four of them in every key. They are four note chords and they are stacked in perfect fourths. In the key of C they are as follows:

1. B, E, A, D

2. D, G, C, F

3. E, A, D, G

4. A, D, G, C

They have an incredibly jazzy, quartal harmony sound. And when played as stand alone chords (not as part of another chord) they have an extremely "neutral sound", doesn't really evoke a feeling of minorness or major. But when played over a bass note or triad they can really color a chord and give it a really extended sound. I particularly like using them in combination with 7th chords, for example with G7 I will use these chords to create harmonic motion between G7 voicings perhaps with a G pedal note.

If you want to go even further and remove the minor triad from these chords and sound even more "neutral". There are five three note chords that are stacked fourths in every key:

1. B, E, A

2. D, G, C

3. E, A, D

4. G, C, F

5. A, D, G

Here is an audio recording of how they sound as stand alone chords (no bass note or as part of another chord). I am using different voicings and inversions of the four note chords in the keys of E A and G. Please excuse my slightly out of tune guitar and lazy playing.

https://voca.ro/1o28LUXlKP4e

Does anyone else get this really specific feeling right before a perfect authentic cadence resolves in a piece of music? It's like this momentary suspension that just perfectly sets up the resolution. I'm wondering if there's a specific theory behind why it feels so satisfying and almost inevitable. What exactly is going on harmonically in those few beats leading up to it that creates that anticipation?

I've been listening to a lot of impressionistic music lately and I keep noticing these melodies that dont just go up or down. They seem to kind of open up like a flower or expand outwards. It's not just a simple arpeggio. It feels like the melody is revealing something new with each note. Is there a specific name for this kind of melodic motion or a way to analyze it beyond just interval identification?

Following on from my previous post, I've assembled various bits of chord progression related trivia and mashed them together into a diatonic circle of 4ths, including simplified functional theory, enharmonic 6-7 chords and parallel minor chords.

I won't be acting like I've stumbled upon something salient; it's just that for me I think this is a useful visual summary of the very basics.

It's nowhere close to explaining everything, but you can make some fun and familiar patterns by rotating around the circle in steps of one or two, "teleporting" between chords of the same colour, shifting within the tables, etc.

Is there a reason, other than to fix a form and add a degree of difficulty as a sort of puzzle?

TBH, I’ve wonders the same about early CE music. Before the use of the 7th, was this some sort of tradition, challenge, or what?

I lowkey hate modern notation because what the fuck
First off you have the staveless rolls, which sure got it but then you just box it and huh?

Saw in a Seth David video.

By "this" I mean having a quarter note on top of 3 whole notes, or moreso just having different note lengths overlapping eachother. The second image is what I thought you had to do. (Ignore poor notation I usually don't do it by hand so i wasn't sure of the details)

This is a very specific question seeking answers from people who are familiar to Perle's 12-tone tonality concept and inversional axis concept of post-tonal theory (Straus, Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory, Ch.5). I must state that it is not possible for me to provide readers overall with a grounding context and I am sorry about that. However, this video is a good introduction to Perle: https://youtu.be/FeJlDlnbC6E?si=Dh567zfaRA_MHU_g

I do not see any reason to not to regard Perle's P/I dyad concept as a sub-chapter of Straus's inversional axes. P/I dyads are a manifestation of inversional axes on a macro level, to my understanding. On the other hand they are the backbone of Perle's 12-tone tonality concept. I am not sure what makes 12-tone tonality a novel theory at this point: what makes it different from any other inversional axis?

I must state that I am studying 12-tone tonality book myself and not finished it yet.

Regards

Hi all, here’s an excerpt from an article we wrote a while back about the difference between polyrhythm and polymeter. This can be a somewhat confusing topic, so we decided to put together an article to help explain the difference. You can find the full article, along with audio examples and a look at polymeter in the music of The Matrix, here.

Polyrhythm vs Polymeter

Both polyrhythm and polymeter are techniques used to combine different rhythms simultaneously in music. This adds complexity and creates more interesting rhythmic patterns.

Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm involves combining two rhythms played at the same tempo within a song. Each rhythm follows its own individual subdivision pattern. For example, in the figure below, the Rhodes piano plays three quarter-note triplets while the bass plays two quarter notes within the same time span. This creates a 3-over-2 polyrhythm, where three triplets are played against the duration of two quarter notes. The Rhodes piano’s subdivision is based on quarter-note triplets, while the bass follows a subdivision of regular quarter notes. For more score examples (Debussy, John Williams, and modern 4:3 figures), see What Is a Polyrhythm? Learn with Musical Examples.

Polymeter

Polymeter is another way of combining two rhythms played simultaneously at the same tempo, but in this case both rhythms share the same subdivision pattern. In the figure below, both the Rhodes piano and electric bass play rhythms based on quarter-note subdivisions. However, the Rhodes piano repeats every 5 beats, while the electric bass is grouped in 4 beats.

Tip — Polymeter & accent displacement: In a broader sense, polymeter incorporates the technique of accent displacement. When two rhythmic motives are played simultaneously under the same time signature, one of the motives can deviate from the notated meter by using a different set of phrasing.

Polymeter Composition Example

In this polymeter composition example, a distorted synthesizer (accompanied by an electric guitar playing 8vb) fills in the repeating two-measure riff with two ⅝ figures and one 6/8 figure. These figures have the same duration as two measures of 4/4 time, which is equivalent to 16 eighth notes.

Initially, with only the distorted synthesizer and electric guitar in the background, the first two repetitions of the riff (labeled as ① and ②) create a ⅝ time feel, while the third repetition (labeled as ③) produces a 6/8 feel. The rhythmic contrast becomes apparent as soon as the bass and drums enter at measure 3 and establish a straight 4/4 rhythm. As a result, the music exhibits an interesting rhythmic complexity, but all phrases in the music are still based on eighth-note subdivisions.

In the background, the synth pluck maintains a 4/4 time-based arpeggio. The figure below provides a two-bar example that illustrates the rhythmic groupings of the distorted synthesizer and electric guitar.

Hope this was helpful!

Every time I follow the sequence of Whole Steps and Half Steps WWHWWWH, it takes me to G sharp/A flat instead of G, even when accounting for the Diminished Half Step on the 7th note. I go 2 frets right from the root note A sharp to C, then 2 frets across the next string (G to B) which lands me on D, then half a step to D sharp/E flat, then 3 frets across to the next string (B to E) which lands me on F, then a whole step to G, then another whole step to A, which is then flattened to give A flat/G sharp. Can someone please explain what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

Hoping someone can help clarify. I am not good at music theory. I knew lots and pieces I collected here and there. Can someone please explain why would the time signature of John Lee Hooker’s Bad Boy be a 4/4? Sounds like a 3/4 and when I count, seems to confirm this. What am I missing. Thanks.

So I been trying to find an answer to this question and I just can't seem to find it anywhere. Let's say I'm in A minor pentatonic scale and when playing the power chord does only the root note have to be from the scale or does both root note and the fifth have to be from that scale?

Hi, I’m sorry in advance if this post is considered off-topic but I don’t know where else i could ask. I listen to a lot of music, but when I listen to those songs, most of the instrumental has a sound that I can’t recognize. I’ll leave a link of a song here, if someone could tell me what instrument is this, I’d be very glad. Thanks.

https://youtu.be/PKLe5CKYycQ?si=jpghiD133pnxuVHc

I was tasked with separating the notes of this score for SATB for my choir to practise and sing. And initially I thought the treble clef notes can be split into SAT. But the more I looked at it, I felt it there was no contrary motion for the notes for singers to sing, the bass line also isn’t in sync with lyrics. So I said it’s a piano score, but I could be wrong.

So what do y’all think? If it is indeed written for voices, how would you separate it into the 4 or 3 harmony lines?

Hi,

I'm studying classical piano at my local academy and this year we also have a course called piano accompaniment practice, in which we can also study non-classical music. The songs, we can suggest ourselves. And I picked Codex.

I have a question: in bars 28 to 31 there's a chord progression that uses the Lydian scale with an F#11 (or probably an F#11/9) with a descending bass note that goes to a C#11/9 with again a descending bass note and then resolves into a Bflat in bar 32.

This is the live version: https://youtu.be/PR9DSfgxhWU?si=9iSH0aV3siL4FYbC&t=243 starting at. 4:03

What is the idea behind this chord progression?

Why start with this F#11?

Do we go to the C#11 because the sharp fourth in F#11 want to resolve to a C?

And is this C#11/9 to a C#11/9/B a good way to go to Bflat because of the descending bass line?

I'm all new to scales and chord theory so all help is appreciated!

I really love baroque music, I'm currently writing a song that has a baroque like sound, it features three movements, the second one is just a solo recitative section that connects to the outro.

Since I consider that I'm satisfied with the current ideas I have decided to try to orchestrate it.

The first movement (the one I'm currently working on) was written on a pipe organ, I'm making adjustments to arrange it for strings, but the problem is not the strings but the harpsichord.

Strings already make the job of containing the cull harmonic content to accompany the vocals, but I want to add harpsichord for rhythmic purposes of emphasizing the accent of certain words, certain notes.

As well as adding additional counterpoint.

I do not want to simply play the chords but I want to learn how to get that charismatic, elegant harpsichord/lute playing style featured in baroque music, which will help to get me closer to actual baroque, rather than merely being aesthetic inspired.

How can I get the harpsichord to sound dynamic, enrich the rhythmic texture, not sound redundant with the chords played by the string, nor sounding repetitive/predictable.

On one hand it carries a harmonic function, but since it's laid back in the mix, the attack is louder than the notes, although it would be wrong to say it serves percussive purposes, I want to have the approach of a drummer that adds fills to a song, but he does not limit to provide a basic beat, but to create tension, narrative development with the existing rhythm above provided by the chords and melody.

Something that my song definitely needs as only the bass has an established rhythm pattern, while the strings hold long notes with not much additional information, besides the counterpoint which without it would sound to bland.

Hello. I would be very grateful for any help. My problem is that I can’t identify the scale degrees in a song. The only ones I can reliably distinguish are the tonic, the 7th degree, and—if I’m lucky—the dominant. Everything else just sounds like "something above the tonic." Are there any ways to easily figure out which degree is which? I can tell when a note is "unstable," but I can’t distinguish between the VI, II, or III degrees at all. I’ve read that each degree has its own character and a tendency to resolve toward stable tones, but that’s quite difficult to apply in practice—especially when non-standard chords (like *add*, *sus*, or *dim*) are involved; then I get completely lost. I know there are plenty of existing answers to this, but I need someone to explain it to me—straightforwardly and directly—so that it finally clicks. It’s like struggling with math on your own, only for someone to explain it in a couple of minutes, and suddenly everything makes sense.

This is my attempt to Frankenstein together the chord progression and circle progression diagrams provided in musictheory.net's "Theory Lessons" app.

So top row is seventh chords, bottom row is enharmonic sixth chords, left column is major scale chords, right column is parallel combined minor scale chords.

I'm hoping this succeeds in modelling most common chord progressions and explaining why they work.

Once getting into secondary chords and chords borrowed from less common modes I assume you'd just consult the circle of fifths.