Introduction
Hello faithful readers, I am back with the first in a series of articles devoted to the topic of music theory. Obviously within this subject there are vast number of topics involved, ranging from the simpler concepts like how to construct a scale, to the more fringe topics like negative harmony. My job is to convince you that it is all worth understanding and is exciting to learn about. But the path we take in learning the concepts is paramount; without a proper foundation of basics, the more complex areas of study won’t have the comprehension they demand. Today, since we are inundated with information and a simple search can yield the information one is searching for, another music theory article might seem redundant. But what has been neglected, in my opinion, is the optimal path of learning. Often, the student is left with fragmented concepts that can’t be woven together easily. So, I present my plan of writing a series of articles that graduate in terms of complexity, but with an equal explanation and method of application. Along the way I will try my best to include music history and appreciation bits because that leads to a more enriching learning experience. Let’s begin!
A=440Htz
This is what is known today as concert pitch. If you go to a piano and play A above middle C, that pitch you are hearing is measured as 440hz (hertz is a way of measuring vibrations per second). What is important about this is nearly all the music you hear today is tuned to this system, A=440. Though throughout history this hasn’t been the case. It wasn’t until 1936 when concert pitch was standardized. For instance, in the Baroque era of music there wasn’t any one specific concert pitch, but A=415 was commonly used. The takeaway here is that music operates within a system of notes/pitches which relate to each other by use of mathematical ratios, and A=440hz is the standardized pitch that calibrates all other pitches.
12 Tone Equal Temperament
Understanding how each note is assigned a specific pitch and its standardization (A=440hz) ties into 12 tone equal temperament (12 TET). 12 TET is the method we use to define how each note is in tune with each other. So to begin, we are going assign a perfect ratio to octaves 2:1. Either double or half the frequency of a specific pitch results in an octave; with A=440hz an octave above would be 880htz, an octave below is 220htz. Then within that 2:1 ratio, we divide that space into 12, this calibrates the 12 notes of any key to its specific frequency.
Historically, there have been other systems of temperament used, for example a tempering system assigning a perfect ratio (3:2)to a fifth was used, this is what is known as just intonation. The reason music moved away from this tempering system is that by tuning fifths to a perfect ratio, other interval ratios in different keys became less perfect and actually were quite dissonant, therefore other keys would become more or less in tune with each other and would take on different aural characteristics. Check out this video explaining 12 tone equal temperament versus just intonation to learn more.
Treble Clef and Bass Clef
Above we have a labeled treble clef. This is one of the most commonly used today, and is used for guitar, violin, flute, piano, saxophone, xylophone, horns and more. Clefs and staffs assign specific locations for each note in a logical way; up ascends stepwise (semitone), and down descends stepwise. The treble clef is known as the G clef because the symbol is actually a stylized G, and where the clef wraps around the second line is the note G. To remember where all the notes are on the treble clef use Every, Good, Boy, Does, Fine for the lines and the spaces F A C E. Learning where each note is on the staff is an essential step to being able to read music.
The bass clef is also known as the F clef, and like the treble clef is stylized F with two dots that straddle the 4th line up; the line occupied by the note F. To remember where the notes on the bass staff are use Good Boys Do Fine Always for the lines, and for the spaces All Cows Eat Grass. The bass clef is used for instruments such as bass, cello, piano, tuba, and others. Learning these clefs and developing speed in recognition just takes time, a little bit of daily practice yields the greatest results. In this article I have left out the alto and tenor clef, but will cover in future lessons.
Note Values
I want to quickly run through note values. Even if this information seems basic to some, it is an essential piece of theory even if it’s just a refresher.
The most basic notes and rests you’ll find in a piece of music are whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenths notes. The names of the notes indicate the duration they assume within a bar of music. A whole note takes up 4 beats, a half note 2 beats, quarter note 1 beat, eighth note takes 1/8 of a bar, and a sixteenth note 1/16. The same duration applies for the corresponding rest notes.
The names in the chart above are the modern names of the note values, there are also traditional (British) names which are whole note = semibreve, half note = minim, quarter note = crotchet, eighth note = quaver, and sixteenth note = semiquaver. (This information is probably irrelevant unless you find yourself talking music with Paul McCartney, or some other tuneful brit.)
I have left out dotted notes for this lesson, I will include them in next lesson. For now, understanding each notes duration is a good place to start.
Time Signatures and Counting Music
Using the note values we learned above we can now begin to count music rhythmically. But before we do that we need to learn how music is organized. After the clef and key signature markings, the first thing we see before we get into a piece is what is called a time signature. There are various time signatures, but for this first lesson I will make use of the two most common 4/4 and 3/4. Let’s begin with 4/4. The numerator is 4, this indicates the number of beats in a measure. So we have 4 beats. But what’s the value of those beats, what type of note? The denominator denotes the type of beat, so the number indicates 4 quarter notes. All in all, in one bar of music will be measured as 4 quarter note pulses.
Same method with 3/4. We have 3 quarter note pulses in a bar. Each time signature is unique, take for example a look and listen to this drum beat that goes from 4/4 to 3/4, can you feel the change in time? This change from one time signature to another is what is called metric modulation.
Let’s take things a step further by adding in some chords and melodies by using some of the note values we’ve learned but layer it overtop drum beat. Can you still hear the time signature switch from 4/4 to 3/4? How do the note types within the bars interact with the time signature? It exciting to think about the potential combinations of melody, rhythm, and time signatures possible.
Major and Minor Scale
Great, so with our understanding of concert pitch (A=440hz), the two most common clefs (treble and bass clefs), and note values (whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth), we are ready to learn major and minor scales. Lets start with a C major scale, to play a C major scale you only have to play the white keys on a piano beginning at C and ascend up to its octave C. (Where’s C? Click here.) The C major scale is a common scale used in theory lessons because it has no sharps or flats (which are the black keys); its the most straightforward. So this series, or pattern of notes from one octave to another, is known as the major scale. The pattern can be defined in a few ways, one using the terms whole steps and half steps, another using tones and semitones. A semitone or a half step is the closest distance between two notes, most simply it is the nearest note one can play next to a note. A tone or whole step is every other note (there is a total of two semitones in a whole step), for example C to D is a whole step because there C# or Db in between. There is a whole other subject of microtonal music (24 TET) that involves adding tones in between semitones for a total of 24 notes per key, but I plan on discussing that in future articles.
Above I have labeled where the whole and half steps are in a major scale.
From C to D is a whole step, as is D to E. Note E to F is a half step (since there is no E# key). F to G is a whole step, as is G to A, and A to B. B to C is a half step since there is no B sharp key. This pattern can be remembered by WWHWWWH (whole and half steps) or TTSTTTS (tone and semitone). Below is how the C major scale sounds.
So, by observing the pattern for a major scale we see that each note will have a specific distance to the tonic (C up to F is 5 semitones, C to A is 9 semitones apart). We can then see that because each note has a specific distance to the tonic, each note will assume its own unique sensation relative to the tonic, this sensation is known as a keys color. Musical gravity is a term to describe the tensions and consonances notes in a key assume when compared to the tonic. This is a topic that I plan on discussing further, especially when the topic of ear training comes up.
Understanding the major scale (how it sounds as well as how it is constructed) is one of the most crucial steps in learning theory; in future lessons more advanced concepts will be built upon this foundation. For now, knowing how to play a major scale in different keys and being able to recognize the patterns in pitches is a great starting point.
The minor scale, like the major scale, is one of the most commonly used scales in music. And, in an interesting way, by knowing how to play a major scale one already knows how to play a minor scale; both scales are composed of the same notes, but have different starting points.
How exactly is the minor scale composed of the same notes as the major scale? To help explain, we should start with understanding what scale degrees are. Listing out the notes of a key we see there are 7 notes (C D E F G A B), scale degrees simply number each note (C is 1, D is 2, E is 3, etc..) So to get a minor scale from a major scale all we have to do is start from the 6th degree and travel up or down an octave. The 6th degree of C major is A, therefore an A minor scale are the notes A B C D E F G.
Scale degrees are incredible useful in music theory. Future lessons will use scale degrees to analyze chords, melodies, and more.
The Same Notes in a Different Context
Just by hearing the same notes played from a different root note (starting point) the ear picks up on a entirely different array of tensions and consonances. This is an amazing thing that I will touch upon in future lessons, but the essential point is this: The notes that make up any piece of music are 100% contextual, and we can alter the context of by shifting starting points.
Modes
I’ve noticed that there seems to be a gap of understanding when it comes to modes. Everything’s going fine and then the word ‘mode’ seeps its filthy way into the conversation and then eyes begin to glaze over. The good news is, by understanding how the natural minor scale is nested within the major scale, that is all one needs to comprehend to learn modes. In fact the natural minor scale is a mode of the major scale, the Aeolian mode.
Quick sidebar about how modes are named. All modes and their names originated in ancient Greece. They are the names of mythological Gods: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.
By looking at the picture below we see a similar diagram as the one used for the major and minor scale, except now we see that each scale degree has its own scale.
For simplicity’s sake, if you take the series of white keys that forms a C major scale, try then playing those notes beginning at different points. Play D through D, that’s the D Dorian mode, E to E is the Phrygian mode, F to F is the Lydian mode, and so on. Just try and absorb the different sensations found in each mode.
Below are audio files playing the different modes of C major, take some time to hear the differences.
Take for example this metaphor for modes. You have seven strips of paper all with a word on each. You then order those words in a sequence to produce a sentence. Then you read the sentence. It has a specific meaning, but only because of the order the words are in. If you rearrange those words and form a new sentence and then reread the sentence the original meaning has changed, it may slightly resemble what was initially meant or it may not, but the point is that within that sequence of words the order dictated meaning; different order = different meaning.
Same things applies to modes. We could hear, and more importantly feel the difference when we played a major scale then a minor scale, and we understood that although the scale is composed of the same notes, a different order presented a new sound, a new aural palate if you will. Our horizons were then expanded when we learned that each major key has 7 modes nested within.
Recap
In this lesson we explored A=440htz and concert pitch; 12 equal temperament; the treble and bass clef; whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenths notes (along with their traditional names); time signatures; metric modulation; major and minor scale construction; how different order creates a different meaning; as well as the seven modes. There was more I wished to include in this basic music theory lesson but the article has hit its size limit (dang nubbins!). I’ll pick up the trail next lesson with more music theory concepts and application.
Hopefully you enjoyed reading this. Be sure to subscribe for more. Thank you!
About the Author
Isaiah Grip is a 22 year old multi-instrumentalist composer (guitar, piano, violin, and voice) out of Colorado who records and studies music independently under the name Tetra Veda, as well as collaborating with Ghostwrite Inc, and playing guitar in the progressive metal band Cloud Temple. His personal repertoire can be found on Bandcamp and YouTube under the name Tetra Veda.
Amazing amount of information! Well thought out and presented.
Excellent article for a clear explanation about the basics!