Music Theory Forum is a series of blogs for musicians seeking a deeper understanding of music. The Basic Components of Music starts with the basics – incrementally advancing from there, while slowly building on previous concepts. If you are a beginner, go to Recent Posts, start at the bottom of the list and work your way up. The goal is that by the time you get to advanced music concepts, you will be well-prepared to easily understand them.
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by Al Dinardi
08 Feb 2022 at 18:01
D Lydian is actually the key of A. Lydian is the 4th degree of the key of A. If you were to play an A scale against a D chord, you would be playing Lydian mode.
by Al Dinardi
08 Feb 2022 at 17:57
D Dorian is actually the key of C. If someone is playing for example a Dmi7 chord – you could solo over that chord using the C major scale – in which case you are playing D Dorian. Modes are a helpful way of thinking of “key centers” while soloing. Looking at a G7 chord – you are likely in the key of C – so you would play notes from the key of C over the G7 chord (mixolydian) – the key or tonal center is C while you are playing against the G7 chord. In jazz, you could also add altered notes to that scale to make it more interesting, i.e. sharp and/or flat 5 or 9 – helpful while soloing over the dominant chord (G7 in the case of C) Hope this helps – all the best!
by Guy Aubin
10 Apr 2019 at 09:38
If I want to play in D lydian, do I play the chord G# or G. Since the 4th is sharp in Lydian?
by Guy Aubin
26 Mar 2019 at 06:18
I’m trying to wrap my head around modes. If A minor chords and notes are the same as D dorian chords and notes, how do they sound different?
by MusicShmusic
07 May 2015 at 02:42
“Bb instruments”
e.g. concert Bb for a Bb saxophone is written as C on paper
are designed so that a sax/horn/etc player can pick up a different type of horn in which the finger position that “used to produce concert Bb” now produces a different note.
It’s written differently because finger positions on a horn stay the same whether u are playing a Bb horn, Eb horn, C horn etc.
The composer is saying “make your fingers do this” as opposed to “play this note”
by Al Dinardi
22 Apr 2015 at 10:46
The term “concert C” moves all instrument’s “sound” to unison. When an orchestra conductor tells the huge orchestra to all play a concert C, they will all “sound” the same note – so the band can get in tune. However, they are not all “reading” the same note! A Bb instrument has to play a D note to sound Concert C – since Bb is one full step below C. In other words, the trumpet reads D and sounds C. To compensate for this, the music written for the Bb instruments is transposed up one full step.
Another (better) way to look at it is if the Bb Trumpet were to read C and play – it would “sound” out a Bb note – hence why it is called a Bb instrument. Same for other “non C” instruments – i.e. an Eb Alto sax reading and playing a C note would sound out an Eb.
by Al Dinardi
22 Apr 2015 at 10:15
I would suspect the song is in the key of Eb (your sharps are enharmonic equivalents of Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb, F, Gb, G) actually more like C minor blues, that resolves to Eb. Remember, C minor is the relative key of Eb major.
by Al Dinardi
22 Apr 2015 at 09:51
Not exactly sure what you are asking. Keep in mind C7 is the dominant (5) chord in the key of F. I think it is most useful if you think in terms of key centers. Though there are multiple major and minor chords in all keys, there is only one dominant 7th chord: always the 5th chord of the scale. So, in the key of F – counting up the musical scale alphabetically from F, we come to C (F G A B C) Likewise, if we encountered a G7 for instance, we would be in the key of C (C D E F G) In addition to spotting the dominant chords, we look for patterns, called chord progressions, in music. Happily, though numerous chord progressions are possible, most music is based on very few – depending on the style of music. Once you learn these basic dozen or couple of dozen common progressions, you will instantly be able to tell which key you are in. Thinking in terms of “keys” rather than individual chords is the equivalent of learning a language instead of just individual words – it makes the application much more logical and relevant.
by Karel viola lessons
17 Dec 2013 at 01:39
Hi, I’ve been teaching myself viola and have put together my thoughts at
http://001yourtranslationservice.com/me/music/viola-and-violin-introductory-lesson.html
I expanded the strings on either side and have discovered an interesting pattern, wondering what theorist would think about it. For now I’m practicing certain triads, like C and Am, since the C is the same as Am going down the scale (descending), but wondering if an Am7 would mean a C7 descending and all I would have to do is to drop the 7th on the Am scale (meaning the G# drops to a G) while ascending and the 7th on the C (B to Bflat) while decending? Have played on many instruments but never really studied theory until now.
by Al Dinardi
07 Dec 2013 at 16:54
Bb instruments are one step below C instruments – therefore, if both instruments are reading off the same page, the Bb instrument would have to transpose all notes up 1 step – i.e. for both to read and play a written C note, the Bb instrument would have to play a D.
However, band compositions are normally transcribed for each instrument, so if a song were in the key of C, the piano player’s music would be in C, while the Bb instrumentalist’s music would be written in D.
Make sense? Actually, pretty easy once you get the concept.
by Al Dinardi
07 Dec 2013 at 16:40
Not familiar with the song – but my guess would be it is in Eb (Cmi), and this could be part of a solo or hook that utilizes a Cmi altered blues scale. If that is the case, the notes C D Eb F Gb G Ab and Bb would fit a solo line. I’m using the enharmonic equivalent flat notes, since those would be theoretically correct instead of the sharp notes.
Hope this helps.
Al
by Al Dinardi
07 Dec 2013 at 16:06
D natural minor – relative minor of F major.