Diatonic Harmony Question

[Bass.]

Hello. I am relatively new to this forum but had a question while reading a magazine and thought this would be a great place to ask it.
Question:
The magazine refrenced to diatonic harmony, it actually got quite into it, but it did not get into how it could be applied. I understand the idea of the I, IV, and V chord being major and the II, III, and the VI being minor. But how would I go about using those, the notes that they encompass and so forth, in a song/jam/practice?

It, the article, also touched on how to decipher which key the music was in based on diatonic's. And once again how could these be applied?

Thank you,
Jamal

[BSR6P-Bob]

Check out the "sticky's" at the top of this page.

[WillBuckingham]

It's going to be really difficult to get a handle on this stuff from reading independantly and online forums. Does your high school offer a course in music theory? You might also consider finding a good teacher, specifically one who teaches jazz, whether or not you intend to study jazz with him.

[Bass.]

yea. jazz is my main focus as of recently. and it is the main reason i ask this question. I was hoping that wouldn't be the answer though (really difficult) especially since i'm a senior and in my last few months of free school and have no job and no money. hah
thakn you though. i'll try and look into gettinga good teacher

[BassChuck]

See if you can find a copy of the Mark Levine "Jazz Theory" book. Its one of the best in terms of covering music theory in easy to understand language and showing practical applications.