Getting into Theory...

[pnchad]

While all the scales and modes and relative chords that are derived from them are important to know & understand, it's just the start.

The whole idea to of learning all this stuff is to apply it in your own or new ways.

Rules are meant to be broken once you understand the relationships.

Lots & lots to study. No shortcuts are provided. Hard work creates results as in anything worth doing.

 

[Ten Four One]

And nobody here has even BEGUN to explain the Harmonic Minor scale yet, or why it exists...

Click on the link in my sig. Find the video called "Exploring Ancient Modes" - it explains why the harmonic minor exists it exists, and with very little expectation of prior understanding of music theory.

Short version: The minor scale sucks for harmony because it has no V7, so the harmonic minor raises the 7th scale degree giving you a proper leading tone.

 

[tfer]

Click on the link in my sig. Find the video called "Exploring Ancient Modes" - it explains why the harmonic minor exists it exists, and with very little expectation of prior understanding of music theory.

Short version: The minor scale sucks for harmony because it has no V7, so the harmonic minor raises the 7th scale degree giving you a proper leading tone.

Yep - short version is it's used in jazz during a minor ii V I.

 

[Ten Four One]

Yep - short version is it's used in jazz during a minor ii V I.

That's one use of the harmonic minor, but I wouldn't say that it's the sole use of the harmonic minor. I wouldn't say that any given scale/key is genre specific.

It's basically a minor lower tetrachord with a harmonic upper tetrachord.

The melodic ascending minor is also very useful in much the same context - raising the 7th scale degree in the minor scale, and is a somewhat more elegant & flexible solution - avoiding the large step-and-a-half interval.

 

[pnchad]

I'm glad you come to these things no matter the means. However a harmonic scale is not some ancient thing. Lmao

Anyone here want to truly learn? Go to the dark side DB\jazz technique or DB\orchestral technique and see what they're taliking about.

 

[SteveCS]

...

There are thousands of musicians out there that couldn't tell you the difference between a tri-tone and an augmented 5th........but they're still enjoying themselves playing music.....

 

[Nick Yordon]

name calling? whats this 1st grade?? listen rather then read a brief description of music theory i'd rather watch a brief video explaining a few basic things. no crap there's a boat load of stuff when it comes to theory. sometimes people on this site need to lighten the F___ up. seriously.somepeople don't explain things the best.nr reason to get snotty about it.go ahead ban me i'll make another account.name calling.grow up you child. name calling that's a good one.

 

[Lownote38]

name calling? whats this 1st grade?? listen rather then read a brief description of music theory i'd rather watch a brief video explaining a few basic things. no crap there's a boat load of stuff when it comes to theory. sometimes people on this site need to lighten the F___ up. seriously.somepeople don't explain things the best.nr reason to get snotty about it.go ahead ban me i'll make another account.name calling.grow up you child. name calling that's a good one.

I could tell you how to learn theory, but I don't think you're ready.

 

[Nick Yordon]

been learning it all along..thought theory was something totally different..thanx anyway

 

[lfmn16]

name calling? whats this 1st grade?? listen rather then read a brief description of music theory i'd rather watch a brief video explaining a few basic things. no crap there's a boat load of stuff when it comes to theory. sometimes people on this site need to lighten the F___ up. seriously.somepeople don't explain things the best.nr reason to get snotty about it.go ahead ban me i'll make another account.name calling.grow up you child. name calling that's a good one.

 

[INTP]

I remember a moment when I realized aurally why a V7 chord resolved to a Imaj chord. It's the simplest form of cadence, but once you hear cadence in general, then IMHO theory seems to make sense. The combination of notes are descriptions of sounds. The notes what we hear as consonance and dissonance, tension and release. The theory just describes what we hear.

I strongly suspect that learning theory without hearing it is a big part of why so many people are put off by theory. All these names of notes/scales/keys/etc. are abstract ideas because there's nothing aurally to attach them to. But I could be wrong...

 

[mambo4]

I strongly suspect that learning theory without hearing it is a big part of why so many people are put off by theory. All these names of notes/scales/keys/etc. are abstract ideas because there's nothing aurally to attach them to. But I could be wrong...

Interesting point. It should go without saying (but maybe it doesn't) that one should play and hear any intervals/ arpeggios / chord progressions they are trying to understand.

It's nice that TB was upgraded to allow embedding audio (or at least links) into a post. But few of us have the time / gear setup to whip out audio examples on the fly.
And those who are really good at explaining things are probably going to charge anyhow.

 

[nzscott]

hey man , I once was of the opinion that theory was a big waste of time ,but man I was wrong!!!!.
I was in the same boat as you, I was wanting to learn more ,a wondering why I was not up to the same standard as my band mates who had some knowledge of the theory of music .
So I thought I learn some scales .I learnt the diatonic major scale and the 3 minor scales ,"the natural minor, harmonic minor and the melodic minor scale".
I also learnt the pentatonic major and minor scales . I have got most of my information on theory from a book called "the guitar hand book" by Ralph Denyer . I know its a guitar book, but it has a real good chapter on theory and it explains everything from scales ,modes ,triads , intervals and much more and it has heaps of good diagrams, so it's very easy to understand. you can probably get a copy from your local library or by a copy ,they cost about $25 .

I believe that just by learning and playing scales I have a better ear, and my hand/eye and ear coordination has improved 100%

Good luck and Rock On Bro

 

[lfmn16]

I strongly suspect that learning theory without hearing it is a big part of why so many people are put off by theory. All these names of notes/scales/keys/etc. are abstract ideas because there's nothing aurally to attach them to. But I could be wrong...

I wouldn't argue with this, but (putting on my angry old man hat) in today's instant society, if they can't learn something from a 5 minute Youtube video, while standing on one foot and texting their friends, they think it's too hard. To understand theory, you need to learn it AND practice it and it is a lot of hard work. Every time I read that someone thinks they know theory because they know a few scales, I cringe.

 

[INTP]

I wouldn't argue with this, but (putting on my angry old man hat) in today's instant society, if they can't learn something from a 5 minute Youtube video, while standing on one foot and texting their friends, they think it's too hard. To understand theory, you need to learn it AND practice it and it is a lot of hard work. Every time I read that someone thinks they know theory because they know a few scales, I cringe.

Agreed. I would go further and say that if anyone thinks they're learning ANYTHING by watching a video, they're deluding themselves. A video or a teacher or a book can offer instruction, but as you correctly stated, the LEARNING happens by mindful repetition and application of the instruction.

There are endless resources that "teach" music theory (books/videos/classes/websites). Lack of teaching materials is absolutely not the reason why every musician isn't well versed in theory. Lack of deliberate practice is the reason.

The tangent of "should I learn theory?" is just a distraction to avoid actually doing the work.

But again, I could be wrong.

 

[lfmn16]

Agreed. I would go further and say that if anyone thinks they're learning ANYTHING by watching a video, they're deluding themselves. A video or a teacher or a book can offer instruction, but as you correctly stated, the LEARNING happens by mindful repetition and application of the instruction.

There are endless resources that "teach" music theory (books/videos/classes/websites). Lack of teaching materials is absolutely not the reason why every musician isn't well versed in theory. Lack of deliberate practice is the reason.

The tangent of "should I learn theory?" is just a distraction to avoid actually doing the work.

But again, I could be wrong.

You could be wrong, but I don't think so. The only people I ever hear talking about theory not being useful is people that don't know any theory.

The arts is one of the few places where some people think ignorance is an advantage. Would you go to an accountant who said that all those tax rules and math would hold him back?

 

[BassyBill]

Okay, nothing to see here now, move along please.