Skip to main content

Intermediate Music : Beyond the Basics


So by now, you already have a handle on how music works for the most part. If not, check out the ELEMENTARY section again.


Intermediate music theory can be lots of fun as you learn more and use your own creativity to explore the different possibilities. Once you have control of the building blocks, you get to be the architect!

There are certain components of this level of study that are pretty much essential for learning beyond this point. These things are all interrelated, and each one is necessary in understanding another.

Intervals
Here's a slightly more advanced sequel to the Basic article on intervals. Discover what major, minor, augmented, diminished, and perfect are and how they relate to different kinds of intervals.

Diatonic Chords
Diatonic chords are the chords that naturally fit into a particular scale because they were built from it. Almost all of the chords you hear in today's music are diatonic.

Nashville Number System
The Nashville Number system is a way of writing chords in numeric form so that they can be applied to all keys. This is useful for working in terms of interval distance and chord types without having to specify a key. Learn this easy system that ALL of the pros use.

Minor Scales
Minor Scales can seem tricky at first just because we aren't as used to them as we are to majors. Learn more about the different types of minor scales and how they work.

Arpeggios
Arpeggios are chords broken up into their different pieces. Almost all melodies ever written use arpeggios. Click to read more and find out how you can use these essential parts of music theory.

Modes
Modes are a way of dealing with scales in a different position. Basically, it's like taking scales, and changing the key they're in.

Circle of Fifths
The Circle of Fifths is a guide showing the relation of certain chords to each other. It's a huge aid in song writing, and it can help your understanding of chords in general. See what it is and why it matters.

Transposing Chords
Transposing chords is essential when working with other musicians, especially singers. Learn how to move entire songs from one key to another with two different easy to follow and easy to remember methods.

Pentatonic Scales
Pentatonic scales are 5 note scales that are useful for writing, arranging, and learning music. They are like normal major or minor scales but with certain notes taken out, so they're easier. They're much easier than most people think.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music Theory Intervals That Actually Make Sense

Here we're going to work on basic music theory intervals. Ok, I didn’t actually realize until I started writing this, but apparently, I use them all the time without thinking about it. Whether it’s learning harmonies in my vocal lessons, working out new melodies, or tuning the strings on my instruments, intervals are everywhere, and you won’t be able to get around without them. What is an interval? This is an easy question. An interval is just the distance between two notes. That’s it. The distance from A to G is an interval called a seventh. The distance from C to E is an interval called a third. The distance from F to B is an interval called a fourth. Get the idea? There are actually two ways to play intervals: harmonic and melodic. Harmonic intervals are when you play the two notes at the same time, (like in a chord). Melodic intervals are when you play one note, then the other one, (like in a melody). There are different types of sevenths, thirds, and fou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Music Intervals - Spanning the Distance

Learning music intervals is essential to becoming a good musician. An interval simply is the distance between two notes. It's not quite as simple as it sounds though. We measure these distances in terms of whole steps and half steps, and according to their position in the scale. While this sounds like it would make things harder, what it actually does is trains you to relate notes in a way that can be universally applied to all scales and positions. Basic Intervals In this lesson we cover the system of naming music intervals by their position in the scale. We use numbers instead of letters for this so that we can apply these names in all keys and all scales. Intermediate Intervals In this lesson, we'll combine the above system of naming intervals by their position in the scale with a system of naming them by their size. An interval's size is its distance from the lower note to the higher note.
Post a Comment
Read more

Music Theory Chords: Chord... That's like a power cable, ...right?

Not quite. Learning music theory chords is a big deal when it comes to understanding music. However, it's not as hard as it seems at first. The key is to take them in baby steps; in small pieces. That why we'll just work with triads, or three note chords for now. Just as notes are the building block of melodies, chords are the building blocks of the general tone of a song. Lots of sad sounding songs will use what we call minor chords. Lots of pretty sounding songs will use major seventh chords or suspended second chords. Chords are simply several notes played together as a group. They can be used to make arpeggios for melodies. They can also be arranged in different orders called progressions to create movement and direction in a song. Let's Start Building! When building chords, we will start with scales. Each scale degree receives a number. These numbers will be used to build different kinds of chords. C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 Again, we...
Post a Comment
Read more