Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Getting Started with Music Theory 5
Chapter 1: What Is Music Theory, Anyway? 7
Unearthing Music Theory’s Beginnings 8
Putting the Spotlight on Music Theory Fundamentals 9
Understanding the foundation: Notes, rests, and beats 9
Manipulating and combining notes 9
Studying musical form and compositions 11
Seeing How Theory Can Help Your Music 11
Chapter 2: Determining What Notes Are Worth 13
Meeting the Beat 14
Recognizing Notes and Note Values 15
Examining the notes and their components 15
Looking at note values 17
Checking Out Whole (Semibreve) Notes 18
Homing in on Half (Minim) Notes 19
Considering Quarter (Crotchet) Notes 20
Examining Eighth (Quaver) Notes and Beyond 20
Extending Notes with Dots and Ties 22
Using dots to increase a note’s value 22
Adding notes together with ties 23
Mixing All the Note Values Together 23
Chapter 3: Giving It a Rest 27
Getting to Know the Rests 28
Whole (semibreve) rests 28
Half (minim) rests 29
Quarter (crotchet) rests 30
Eighth (quaver) rests and beyond 30
Extending the Break with Dotted Rests 32
Practicing Beats with Notes and Rests 32
Chapter 4: Introducing Time Signatures 35
Decoding Time Signatures and Measures 35
Keeping Things Easy with Simple Time Signatures 37
Using measures to count in simple time 38
Practicing counting beats in simple time 40
Working with Compound Time Signatures 41
Using measures to count in compound time 42
Practicing counting beats in compound time 43
Feeling the Pulse of Asymmetrical Time Signatures 44
A Short Discussion about Conducting 46
The beat 47
Phrasing, articulation, and dynamics 49
Cueing 49
Chapter 5: Playing with Beat 51
Creating Stress Patterns and Syncopation 51
Placing stress: Knowing the general rules 52
Syncopation: Hitting the off-beat 52
Getting a Jump on Pick-Up Notes 54
Exploring Irregular Rhythms: Triplets and Duplets 55
Adding interest with triplets 56
Working with duplets 57
Part 2: Putting Notes Together 59
Chapter 6: Music Notes (and Where to Find Them) 61
Meeting the Staff, Clefs, and Notes 62
The treble clef 63
The bass clef 63
The grand staff and middle C 64
C clefs: Alto and tenor 64
Identifying Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Accidentals 65
Working with half steps 66
Taking whole steps 68
Changing pitch with accidentals 70
Finding the Notes on the Piano and the Guitar 72
Looking for notes on the piano 73
Picking out notes on the guitar 73
Using Mnemonics to Help Remember Notes 75
Chapter 7: Mastering the Major and Minor Scales 77
Following Major-Scale Patterns 78
Working with major scales on piano and guitar 79
Listening to the major scales 82
Discovering All That Minor Scale Patterns Have to Offer 82
Playing natural minor scales on piano and guitar 83
Having fun with harmonic minor scales on piano and guitar 84
Making great music with melodic minor scales on piano and guitar 86
Listening to the minor scales 88
Chapter 8: Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths 91
Understanding the Circle of Fifths and Recognizing Major Key Signatures 92
Sharps: Father Charles Goes Down and Ends Battle 93
Flats: Battle Ends and Down Goes Charles’s Father 94
Finding Minor Key Signatures and Relative Minors 95
Visualizing the Key Signatures 96
C major and A natural minor 96
G major and E natural minor 97
D major and B natural minor 97
A major and F sharp natural minor 98
E major and C sharp natural minor 98
B/C flat major and G sharp/A flat natural minor 99
F sharp/G flat major and D sharp/E flat natural minor 99
C sharp major/D flat and A sharp/B flat natural minor 100
A flat major and F natural minor 101
E flat major and C natural minor 101
B flat major and G natural minor 101
F major and D natural minor 102
Chapter 9: Intervals: The Distance between Pitches 103
Breaking Down Harmonic and Melodic Intervals 104
Quantity: Counting lines and spaces 104
Quality: Considering half steps 106
Naming intervals 107
Looking at Unisons, Octaves, Fourths, and Fifths 107
Perfect unisons 108
Augmented unisons 108
Octaves 108
Fourths 110
Fifths 111
Recognizing Seconds, Thirds, Sixths, and Sevenths 112
Seconds 112
Thirds 115
Sixths and sevenths 117
Building Intervals 117
Determining quantity 118
Establishing the quality 118
Showing Major and Perfect Intervals in the C Major Scale 120
Checking Out Compound Intervals 121
Creating a compound interval 121
Returning a compound to its simple state 122
The Nashville Number System 123
Chapter 10: Chord Building 127
Creating Triads with Three Pitches 128
Roots, thirds, and fifths 128
Major triads 130
Minor triads 132
Augmented triads 133
Diminished triads 135
Expanding to Seventh Chords 136
Major sevenths 137
Minor sevenths 138
Dominant sevenths 139
Minor 7 flat 5 chords 139
Diminished sevenths 140
Minor-major sevenths 141
Looking at All the Triads and Sevenths 141
A 142
A flat 142
B 142
B flat 143
C 143
C flat 143
C sharp 144
D 144
D flat 145
E 145
E flat 145
F 146
F sharp 146
G 146
G flat 147
Manipulating Triads through Voicing and Inversion 147
Taking a look at open and close voicing 147
Identifying inverted chords 148
Exploring Extended Chords 150
Ninth chords 151
Minor ninth chords 152
Major ninth chords 152
Ninth augmented fifth chords 153
Ninth flatted fifth chord 153
Seventh flat ninth piano chords 154
Augmented ninth chords 154
Eleventh chords 154
Thirteenth chords 156
Chapter 11: Chord Progressions 159
Reviewing Diatonic Chords, Chromatic Chords,
and Minor Scale Modes 160
Identifying and Naming Chord Progressions 161
Assigning chord names and numbers 161
Looking at chord progressions in major keys 162
Checking out chord progressions in minor keys 164
Adding a Seventh Chord to a Triad 165
Seeing (and Hearing) Chord Progressions in Action 167
Applying Chord Knowledge to Fake Books and Tabs 169
Modulating to a New Key 170
Reaching a Musical Cadence through Chord Progressions 170
Authentic cadences 172
Plagal cadences 173
Deceptive cadences 175
Half-cadence 175
Part 3: Musical Expression through Tempo and Dynamics 177
Chapter 12: Creating Varied Sound through Tempo and Dynamics 179
Taking the Tempo of Music 180
Establishing a universal tempo: The minim 180
Keeping steady time with a metronome 181
Translating tempo notation 181
Speeding up and slowing down: Changing the tempo 183
Dealing with Dynamics: Loud and Soft 183
Modifying phrases 184
Checking out other dynamic markings 185
Examining the piano pedal dynamics 186
Looking at the articulation markings for other instruments 188
Chapter 13: Instrument Tone Color and Acoustics 191
Delving into Tone Color 192
Attack: Checking out the beginning sound of a note 192
Timbre: Hearing the body of a note 193
Decay: Listening for the final sound of a note 194
Building the Band: An Acoustics Lesson 195
Part 4: Musical Expression through Form 197
Chapter 14: The Building Blocks of Music: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, and Song Form 199
Establishing Rhythm 200
Shaping the Melody 201
Complementing the Melody with Harmony 203
Working with Musical Phrases and Periods 204
Linking Musical Parts to Create Forms 206
One-part form (A) 207
Binary form (AB) 207
Three-part form (ABA) 207
Arch form (ABCBA) 209
Chapter 15: Relying on Classical Forms 211
Counterpoint as a Classical Revelation 211
Sussing Out the Sonata 212
Starting with the exposition 213
Moving on to something new: Development 214
Taking a rest with recapitulation 214
Rounding Up the Rondo 215
Figuring Out the Fugue 216
Combining Forms into a Symphony 217
Observing Other Classical Forms 218
Concerto 219
Duet 219
Etude 219
Fantasia 219
Chapter 16: Tapping into Popular Genres and Forms 221
Feeling the Blues 222
12-bar blues 222
8-bar blues 224
16-bar blues 224
24-bar blues 224
32-bar blues ballads and country 225
Having Fun with Rock and Pop 226
Improvising with Jazz 228
Twelve-Tone Compositions 228
Part 5: The Part of Tens 231
Chapter 17: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Music Theory 233
Why Is Music Theory Important? 233
If I Can Already Play Some Music, Why Bother Learning Music Theory? 234
Why Is So Much Music Theory Centered on the Piano Keyboard? 234
Is There a Quick and Easy Way to Learn to Read Music? 235
How Do I Identify a Key Based on the Key Signature? 235
Can I Transpose a Piece of Music into Another Key? 236
Will Learning Music Theory Hinder My Ability to Improvise? 236
Do I Need to Know Theory if I Just Play Drums? 237
Where Do the 12 Musical Notes Come From? 237
How Does Knowing Theory Help Me Memorize a Piece of Music? 238
Chapter 18: Ten Keys to Reading a Musical Score 239
The Basics 240
Lead Sheets 240
Full Scores 240
Miniature Scores 240
Study Scores 241
Piano Scores 241
Short Scores 241
Vocal Scores 241
Tablature 242
Figured Bass Notion 242
Chapter 19: Ten Music Theorists You Should Know About 243
Pythagoras (582–507 BC) 243
Boethius (480–524 AD) 244
Gerbert d’Aurillac/Pope Sylvester II (950–1003) 245
Guido D’Arezzo (990–1040) 246
Nicola Vicentino (1511–1576) 246
Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) 247
Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) 247
Harry Partch (1901–1974) 248
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) 249
Robert Moog (1934–2005) 249
Chapter 20: Ten Musical Movements That Changed History 251
800 AD — England, Gregorian Chant 251
1100 AD — Organum/European Polyphony 252
1649 — England, the Diggers 253
17th Century: Italy, Opera 254
1789-1799: The French Revolution 255
1913 — Atonal Music and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” 255
1950-1990: Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, “Nueva Cancion” (the New Song Movement) 256
1960s: U.S Civil Rights Movement 257
1980s: Estonia Singing Revolution 258
2010-2012: Arab Spring 259
Part 6: Appendixes 261
Appendix A: Audio Tracks 263
Appendix B: Chord Chart 267
Appendix C: Glossary 305
Index 309
