MUSIC THEORY 101 Don't Be Afraid :)

[jonesy]

I have been Teaching for over 25 years and do not use a book to teach out of. A new student gets an empty folder with their name on it and every lesson they get new stuff added as they go along. No matter what kind of Music they think they want to learn, there are certain basics we all must master. After they get going I focus on their interests and work on the things that they like and can use in their style of playing, plus a mix.

First Lesson...

The 7 White keys on the piano are A B C D E F G

The 5 Black keys on the piano are A# C# D# F# G# (flats later)

Combine them getting a 12 note chromatic scale, ever wonder why there are usually 2 dots at the 12th fret on most guitars????

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A etc...

notice no B# or E#???

I also refer to this as the Musical Alphabet or the answer key for solving any music theory problems

INTERVAL is the distance between 2 notes, the intervals in the chromatic scale are all 1/2 step or one fret intervals. It takes two 1/2 steps to make a whole step interval. A to B is a whole step, B to C is a 1/2 step, C to E is two whole steps, E to G is 1 1/2 steps and so on...

Next is the Major scale, IMO the Mother of all scales and what all basic chord theory in evolved from. Here is the Major Scale Formula, it is a series of half step and whole step intervals, 1/2 steps noted...

1........2.........3...(1/2 step)..4.........5.........6.........7...(1/2 step)...8

Root---------------------------------------------------------- Octave

C.......D.........E..................F..........G. ........A...........B................C

A Major chord is made up of the 1 3 5 notes of it's root scale and a minor chord is 1 b3 5 basically taking the major chord and flatting the 3rd

1 4 5 in chords are simple blues, rock and country progressions, the 6th is the relative minor, flat the Major 7th and you will have the Blues or Dominant 7th, all good useful stuff if you plan on playing in a rock band or in church or are just trying to change the key of a song to make it easier to sing...learn and understand the basics and you will be able to go on and solve the most difficult music theory problems.
If you re new at this...Start slow and as you go along more and more should start to click for you...

Peace, jonesy

[brettk7]

Interesting stuff.

As a current music major, I am supremely interested to see where this thread goes.

[05jrock]

I had my first lesson in febuary this year.I just wanted to learn songs and that was it,the theory stuff did put me off a bit.Now I know A minor pentatonic,E minor pentatonic, A lonian major scale,A aeolian natural scale,a couple of blues scales and a bunch of chords.Done a lesson on open D tuning the other day.I'm loving it,learning all these scales has helped me out so much,and they are so good for warm up aswel.

[jonesy]

Knowledge is Power....

[armann]

Great post Jonesy.

Good for theory beginners.

[Stowburst]

Originally Posted by armann

Good for theory beginners.

Thats me.. been playing for about 16yrs and I dont understand anything..I'm just starting to learn the theory side of things.

[armann]

Just ask away if your stuck on something

I sure know I was sometimes lost when I went to music school...

[deepkick]

i have never had any lessons, but this is awesome, please keep posting! i want to learn more.

So if i was to make up a song, out of the D, E and G chords, what would major scale would i solo in, can it only be of the D, E and G major scales? im going to learn that now, i found the minor pentatonic scales so i learned them but i think i learned the wrong scales.

is minor pentatonic scales for a song that has Dm Em and Gm chords?

[armann]

Let's say the song is in the key of D.
That key has two sharps, F# and C#.
The formula for the major scale is: W - W - H - W - W - W - H.
W = Whole step, H = half step.

So the chord progression for D major would be:

D major, E minor, F# minor, G major, A major, and then the relative minor B minor
and then C#diminished.

A good way to learn how to harmonize scales is playing the triad on the g,b and low e strings. The triad is the root, third, fifth.

So about soloing, the first rule is to follow the chords tone.
That always sounds good and is just a good practise, helps you memorize
the key notes for chords on the fretboard.

So for a I-IV-V progression in D, that's D-G-A.
I would play D major scale for the D then G major scale for the G and A major scale for the A.
I also depends on the song, is it fast then maybe you just have time for a note or two in the G major
then a good idea is to pick any note from the triad, it's just trial and error but the more you practise this
the better your solos are going to sound.

I could also just play D major pentatonic for the whole progression but
that kind of implies you really don't know theory or what your doing.
So following the chord tones and mixing it up with major/minor pentatonic scale
makes you sound like you know the fretboard.

I would learn the CAGE system and apply it for major/natural minor major pentatonic/minor pentatonic scales.

It's only five shapes and you have the whole neck covered.

Hope this helps a little.

[jonesy]

I am so glad this thread has generated some interest...
BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POST: Now after I taught a student what I showed as "first lesson" post I would tell them the following....

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT AS YOU ARE LEARNING THEORY
1. Don't worry about it if you don't understand it, I just wanted to show it to you and we can work on it as you go along.

2. You don't have to know how it all works at first, because it is very much like going to kindergarten and learning your abc's. You have no idea who wrote them or why you just sing the silly little song and you MEMORIZE them. Try not to question it, rather accept it like you would 2 + 2 = 4 always right?

3. Write out the chromatic scale as many times as you need to so you will have it MEMORIZED correctly and can write it out properly on a piece of paper with out looking.

4. No Music Theory is of any good if we cannot relate it to our instrument and use it to be a better Player/Musician.

5. This is Practical theory and I am not trying to impress you with useless information or waste your time with any nonsense. This is something you can use to give yourself an edge...

Chromatic scale A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A etc.

Lets go back and make sure we understand the whole step half step concept.
Every Fret is 1/2 step. So if you went to the 5th string on your guitar, it would be an A in standard tuning. So open not fretted it rings out an A, 1st fret is A#, 2nd fret is B, 3rd fret is C, 4th fret is C# all the way to the 12th fret and then it starts on A again.

TWO WORDS: ROOT & OCTAVE....
These are as important for power chords as it is for scales and solo/improvisation. Where are the roots at on a tree? At the bottom or base, same for chords and scales the root note is usually the lowest note or bass note as well. The Octave is the same note but one register higher
C D E F G A B C C is the root and C is the Octave

Let's look a little bit at the major scale again...

C........D........E.........F.........G........A.. .......B............C
1........2........3.........4.........5.........6. ........7............8

----------------1/2 ---------------------------1/2 ---

The half steps are between the 3 & 4 and the 7 & 8 the rest of the INTERVALS are whole steps. With this Formula and the chromatic scale you should be able to write out all 12 Major scales even if you know nothing about Music theory. See I told you not to be afraid it is not that hard. Most people tend to really over think and makes this complicated, it is not that hard.

It is a FORMULA just like in math, if we plug in the right information we will get the right answers. If we put in the wrong info then we will get the wrong answer, it is that simple.

Normally I teach music theory at the Piano because it is much easier to see than on the strings of a guitar. If we are talking about an A or a G or C they are Major chords even if we don't call it a G major etc. it just goes with out saying. If a chord is Minor it will have a little m by it like Am or Bm etc.
Major chords sound rather Happy and Minor chords are a little moody or darker sounding.

Now if we have Major and Minor chords we can also have Major and Minor Scales. The Pentatonic scales come in Major and Minor forms, major pentatonic scales are used a lot in country and the minor pentatonic scales are used for Bluesy riffs, even though I use both for rock and country and cross them over all the time for Blues stuff...

Thats all for now I have a 62' Tele reissue to put together...

Peace, jonesy

[El_Greco]

Amazing thread Jonesy, for beginners like me this is worth quite much, can't wait to read more!

[armann]

I hope you don't feel like I was trying to "steal" your thread Jonesy.

I was just trying to help out.

Good job Jonesy and a much needed thread.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by armann

I hope you don't feel like I was trying to "steal" your thread Jonesy.

I was just trying to help out.

Good job Jonesy and a much needed thread.

No Bro, by all means chime in with what ever you feel is important, I was just trying to keep on track. Lol... I was kinda surprised that many people were even interested in theory. Was sorta planning on keeping this going for a little while, and making sure I don't go to fast or miss anything for those who are new at this Theory stuff

Peace, jonesy

[armann]

Cool, thanks, I have never taught theory but it's a fun subject, specially when it's
start making sense when your staring at the fretboard.

[jonesy]

The major scale and i iv v's made easy....
Ok so if we know the Chromatic scale, we can figure out all 12 Major scales if we also know the Major scale formula...


If you see a mistake please do not get down on me to bad, I am only human and a poor typer...
The Chromatic scale is all 1/2 steps just like each fret on your guitar is..
AA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#AA#BCC#DD#EFF#GG#A etc....

Major Scale is a combination of whole steps and half steps....
1...2....34...5....6....78
C...D....EF...G....A....BC

The C Major Scale is the only Major scale with NO flats or sharps in it...

12345678 KEY
CDEFGABC------C F G Am These are the 1 4 5 and minor (1=root) Key of C

GABCDEF#G------G C D Em 1 4 5 and minor Key of G

DEF#GABC#D------D G A Bm 1 4 5 and minor of the Key of D

ABC#DEF#G#A------A D E F#m 1 4 5 and minor in key of A

EF#G#ABC#D#E------E A B C#m 1 4 5 and minor in key of E

As you see as we go along and build scales off of the 5th note of each scale we start to get more #'s in each Key(Root)...

Ok so why is it important to know what the 1 4 5 chords are?? Because they are basically all that are used in Blues, Country and early roots Rock. We normally do not play in all 12 keys so learn the ones used most often instead of wasting time on keys you won't be using much. I play a lot of blues in E A and G, lot's of Rock in E and A and other keys. Country is right at home in the key of G...

Here is one example of a 12 bar blues in the key of E... 4/4 time
...1.4.1.1..4.4.1.1...5..4..1..1..
/:E/A/E/E/A/A/E/E/B7/A7/E/E:/ REPEATS

This is actually the progression to "Rambling on my mind" by Robert Johnson, I lean more towards Clapton's rendition.

Here is the 8 bar for Elmore James "It Hurts Me To"
Key Of E 4/4
...I.I..IV.IV.I.V,IV.I.I..
/:E/E/A/A/E/B7A/E/E :/ E Major Pentatonic Scale copies the vocal line

Knowing the Groups of chords by Keys is a quick way to help learn songs faster, especially if you have to think quick and don't have much time to prepare??? So if you know what Key you are in then you can pick the correct chords, and the patterns will vary. If you know what Key your are in, you can also choose the correct scale for soloing or improvisation(more on that later) and it will help you with writing songs.
Root note or 1 will be the same as they Key your are in. The 4th and 5th chords are the 4th and 5th notes of that Keys Major scale, simple as that.
Hope that helps clear some things up for some of you...

Peace, jonesy

[Gigan]

Hmm this stuff is great but I need to brush up on my homework as far as my scales....

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Gigan

Hmm this stuff is great but I need to brush up on my homework as far as my scales....

I used to use the Major scale as my warm up scale, even though I did not use it much for soloing. The Major and Minor Pentatonic's are what you most often hear in Rock, Blues and Country...
Once you memorize a scale pattern, making Music with it is an entirely different thing. Adding in the bends and slides, and learning what not to play...

[TheWellGoodShow]

cmon keep going =]
Ive done alot of theory teaching for people they just tend to wanna know it or just pass it off and quit.

[TheWellGoodShow]

or i just suck at teaching theory

[mikemack]

Theory is really cool when you start getting into it. I do find it to be overwhelming at times though. Im just starting to wrap my mind around it.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by mikemack

Theory is really cool when you start getting into it. I do find it to be overwhelming at times though. Im just starting to wrap my mind around it.

Don't over think it, most people seem to make it way to complicated...and it is a very useful tool for communicating with other Musicians.

[st.bede]

here is a quick question.....since pop/jazz music is so dominated by (what we call) the petatonics....I TEND to (when I am teaching) start off with both the major (Ionian) scale and the minor petatonic.....I do this if I think the student can deal with both....if not then depending on the student I will choose one or the other....

also I always teach solfeggio with theory (I belive that helps to ground the info in the inner ear and builds the tools to be able understand theory with out sitting at your insterment....and it is just darn useful stuff)

master guru (respectfully meant) tell what you think about my system

[jonesy]

Well if you are asking me, I think any teaching method that allows the instructor to get useful information across to a student, is a good teaching method.

As far as developing the ear, I usually put on a fairly easy blues 1 4 5 or a simple rock song like AC/DC and ask the student to play their guitar and find the root note. I call it "going fishing" because sometimes it takes a while to land the right note. When they finally do you can usually see the look on their face like, I got it! The root note will sound correct most of the time when played over the chord progression.
I am self taught and never really took lessons, so I spent a lot of time rewinding tapes and Q'ing back records in hopes of getting a few notes right.

The problem today is that there are so many tabs available that people don't spend the time struggling to listen for the notes, so their ear does not develope as fast. I call it "Tab dependancy"...Lol
Besides the basics I teach...Most of my students have to bring me a list of songs they want to learn and the CD's so they can practice along. If not we U-tube it and jam along with that. It is much easier to learn guitar now than it was 10-20 years ago...did I answer your question??

Peace, jonesy

[lifele55]

I think I have "tab dependency" lol..

But I am learning the theory side of things now and have just quite understood the CoF (Circle of Fifth).

But heck, there's still alot more to be done.

[jonesy]

Back to the Major Scale...

Two kinds of intervals, Melodic intervals and Harmonic Intervals
Remember an INTERVAL is the distance between 2 notes.

Melodic intervals are the distance between notes in a melody line or scale...

Harmonic intervals are the distance between notes in a chord...

The 1 3 5 notes from a Major scale make up that major chord
E major chord is made up of E G# B

The 1 b3 5 of that Major scale make up a minor chord
E minor is made up of E G B see we flatted the G from G# down to G 1/2 step

I teach a lot better with a guitar in my hand, look at your guitar and play an open E chord than take off one finger(G# to G) and you have an E minor. Easy to see on piano.

1 3 5 b7 is a Dominant or Blues 7th
1 3 5 7 is a Major 7th or Jazz 7th
1 b3 5 b7 is a minor7th
1 b3 5 is just a minor chord
1 3 5 is just a major chord
Are you starting to see how chords are built?
Chords are built from notes from the major scale, progressions are built from chords...
Scales and melodies are built from single notes, the same theory works for everyone of the 12 major scales, it is that simple....

Peace, jonesy

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by lifele55

I think I have "tab dependency" lol..

But I am learning the theory side of things now and have just quite understood the CoF (Circle of Fifth).

But heck, there's still alot more to be done.

I used to turn on one of the FM Rock Stations and play along with the radio for an hour or so. Just about the time I would start to get the hang of the chords the next song would start. No tabs, no internet, good for the ear and good for timing. Tabs do not do to much to help your timing, the only way is to play along with CD's or other musicians.

[Gigan]

lets see if I can explain what I am not sure Im even talking about! So I know a scale that I'll start on the G. That in the key of G then? I think its its the Minor pen. Anyhow how then I do that scale in a minor, C , and so on. Sorry if this is a lame question. Also still trying to decipher some of your notation like the following" "...I.I..IV.IV.I.V,IV.I.I..
/:E/E/A/A/E/B7A/E/E :/" umm like can you make a key for this? Sorry Jonesy

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Gigan

lets see if I can explain what I am not sure Im even talking about! So I know a scale that I'll start on the G. That in the key of G then? I think its its the Minor pen. Anyhow how then I do that scale in a minor, C , and so on. Sorry if this is a lame question. Also still trying to decipher some of your notation like the following" "...I.I..IV.IV.I.V,IV.I.I..
/:E/E/A/A/E/B7A/E/E :/" umm like can you make a key for this? Sorry
Jonesy

All scales will go from the root note to the octave. The easiest way to learn a scale on guitar is to memorize a pattern and be able to move it around in to all 12 keys. I always liked that about guitar that you did not have to learn 12 different scales, but you could learn one and it would work for the rest.

I IV V is 1 4 5 chords...the E/A/E/E etc. are the chords in the key of E?? That was a 12 bar Blues progression...

[jonesy]

The Whole idea behind Music Theory is that is is the "Language" in which we Musicians communicate with the Music and one and other. Learning theory allows you to think about chords and scales and see how they relate with each other. You can go to another country and get by, but it is so much easier if you know the language right?
I played trumpet in band grades 5-12 and got the Louis Armstrong Jazz award my senior year(1978) but I new very little Music Theory.
When I started guitar it was like someone turned on a light!!! The Mel Bay Deluxe chord Encyclopedia taught me all my basic to advanced chord structure. It showed you like 10 different ways to play a C then they showed it written out with the notes on the Music staff. Root 3rd 5th etc...
I learned a bunch of Blues scales even before I understood the theory behind them. Being "Pre Internet" and having no Teacher, I would wait every month until a new guitar magazine came out. Then I would read every page and try all the little tabs and columns from Jazz to metal and see if I could learn just one thing to make me a better guitarist, it was a slow process..lol
I ask my students if they want to be a "Guitarist" or someone who just plays Guitar? Do you know what the difference is?? Also it is important to know the difference between "Playing" and "Practicing"??

Peace, jonesy

[Gigan]

Jonsey, Thanks for sparking me to search out answers to these struggles, I spent an hour in my theory book and now believe I understand some essential basics of scale playing. The scales I know are major, major pent., and minor pent. Called pent. due to the omission of two notes making it a 5 note scale as opposed to a 7 note scale. I couldn't understand what made them major or minor since the were the same shape. I used to play them as the whole pattern not really understanding that starting and ending on the root note is what makes the major or minor difference Or if you like happy or sad sound. I just thought that the root note was only for accenting in the riff. This thread is helping me tremendously. Lot to practice. "I IV V is 1 4 5 chords...the E/A/E/E etc. " something I knew but for some reason it didn't click with me at the time . Thanks for clearing it up for me. If it sounds like I still don't have a clue let me know but i think it's a lot clearer now. Also If this sounds like basic stuff I should have known by now forgive me. I'm still pretty knew to this. Also much of my interest in theory is to reach the level of a guitarist not just someone who plays guitar. Now to apply this practically and make sweet improv sounds is my next holy grail. Thanx a bunch and I'm still scouring this thread for tips.