Edley's Music Theory for Practical People TB Study Group

[LowWay]

Did you order it from Edly's site ?

I did. Just got the pdf with a hand typed email. Turns out he lives 15 minutes from me. Small world.

 

[lowplaces]

I did. Just got the pdf with a hand typed email. Turns out he lives 15 minutes from me. Small world.

Good deal. Let us know how it goes after you dig into the first couple of chapters !

 

[SteveCS]

I’m not interested in joining a study group, because I already know music theory, but I have subscribed to the thread, so if I see any theory questions I would be more than happy to answer them. That’s “answer them,” not argue them.And I promise not to let the thread degenerate into a theory argument as mentioned above. I am merely volunteering my knowledge as a resource for people learning theory.

Likewise - let's observe and support rather than dig trenches

 

[SteveCS]

Here's a first observation:

that you either have sharps or flats and not both in a piece of music

As is often the case, things are not always as they seem. It is true that accidentals should never be mixed the the key signature, but mixing accidentals in the score is perfectly acceptable, and in some cases necessary:

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

Consider the key of D minor.

• The key signature is the same as that of the relative major, which is F major.
• The key signature for F has 1 flat (Bb).
• In the key of D minor we find 3 minor scales D natural minor, D harmonic minor and D melodic minor.
• Harmonic contains a major ('raised') 7th, and melodic contains a major 7th and major ('raised') 6th.
• This means that the 7th note, C natural, becomes C# in the music.
• In the case of melodic minor, the 6th note, Bb, becomes B natural, which is also notated in the music with an accidental.

So here we see all 3 accidentals in the same minor scale:

 

[Enrique M]

FWIW, I am working my way through Andrew Pouska's free curriculum on StudyBass - Free interactive online bass lessons as I go through the Edly book. So far I have found the bass specific reinforcement to be an extremely useful compliment to Edly's curriculum.

 

[Enrique M]

I have officially finished the first Edly book (up through Ch. 20 Cadences) and am about to finish up "Fundamentals #2" from Study Bass. Again, the bass specific reinforcement has helped clear up many questions I had from the Edly book.

How are others progressing?

 

[LowWay]

I got bogged down with work as soon as I got the book.

I’ll probably be starting this weekend.

At least I’ve been practicing and working through the Molly Gebrian lessons.

Late spring to early fall is the busy period at my job and stuff flairs up with little warning.

 

[Enrique M]

I got bogged down with work as soon as I got the book.

I’ll probably be starting this weekend.

At least I’ve been practicing and working through the Molly Gebrian lessons.

Late spring to early fall is the busy period at my job and stuff flairs up with little warning.

Yea. I know how that goes. Good luck carving out some time.

 

[lowplaces]

I'm up to chapter 6 in the hard copy, Diatonic Harmony. I'm spending more time reviewing previous chapters than progressing.

I just want to have the previous chapters material memorized very well. Tonight I plan to review chapters 1-5 and write out test questions for each one. Pretty sure I have 90% of the material memory but I want to get to where I ace each chapter test before I start on newer chapters. Probably not necessary but that's the plan.

 

[lowplaces]

One other thing I'll mention is that learning how to identify key signatures has lead to me becoming interested in reading standard notation.

 

[LowWay]

My next chapter in musical growth involve studying theory, improving my reading abilities and working on better practicing skills. In doing so I want to expand my repertoire and vocabulary. My only goal is enjoying the growth. I’m done playing out. I may be up for some recording gigs though. We’ll see.