Your attitude frees music theory from VERY OLD rules and introduces the mathematical precision that has always been present in music theory (after all, sound is part of physics). Just what I was looking for. Thanks.
I showed a friend who was having trouble grasping theory the circle diagrams a few months ago and just used it to illustrate the double harmonic major scale to him and it was suddenly clear to him. Even though we were playing guitar, your idea is universal. I had to come back to say thank you.
Estoy emocionada con la última parte del vídeo. Aunque hace un par de años descubrí a PREHN y su enfoque en los Modos, q me pareció genial, no había tenido claro lo que hoy ha explicado , y que no había logrado entender antes por la absurda sistemática de la enseñanza académica : pensar todo en términos de armadura y clave (referidos a escala mayor) Creo que al fin me he liberado de tanta monserga que me impedía “ componer” porque unas absurdas normas anti intuitivas me BLOQUEBAN . Y hablo como aficionada a la música q de pequeña estuvo en una clase q nada le decían y que, posteriormente ,sólo de vez en cuando se acerca al piano para disfrutar de arrancarle sonidos sin pensar en aquellas normas. Gracias Oliver , una vez más, por salirte de la normativa y dirigirte a la naturalidad y el sonido. Un abrazo desde Canarias.
Your education of modes is exceptionally good. You have given me the foundational knowledge required to know how to calculate every mode from ANY given scale pattern, built up of ANY pattern of steps. THIS makes it so much easier to understand modes than the USUAL method of teaching modes, that most teachers just by telling them how to alter the major or minor scales to derive the other modes, without explaining WHY. Thanks to you, I KNOW why.
Wow, C Major Scale and a simple set of rules, and anyone can derive other scales and modes from it. That's the way to go! No worrying about naming - that can always be learned later. I'm an adult beginner and this is very concise and extremely useful framework. I don't think I've seen any other music theory lesson as useful as this one. Huge thanks!
Thank you so much for your really nice comment :) :) :) And thank you so much for your VERY generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
@@NewJazz No, thank you Oliver! Now I must go practice. I'm now watching your referenced Scale Family #1 Modes video and this is where I'll be taking my scale practices next outside of C Major scale.
I am a self taught pianist and your version of identifications is what I thought was the norm... It's also the way I communicate my thoughts to my other musician friends. It never fails to convey the idea and is always less confusing since it's contextual. The root and the mode is very important to the context and easier to use as a base starting point to communicate any nuanced differences with sharps and flats in any position. Thank you for blessing us with your knowledge sir!
Your videos are truly the most explanatory available. I am a bassplayer and I find you channel to be more enlightning than all the channels aimed to my kin. Your calm is enchanting aswell. My uppermost thank you for doing this. Best regards from Norway.
Simply blew my mind… Wow, I play guitar, now I’m learning piano by myself and your video removed several complications from my brain… I even put your formulas on a Excel sheet to realize how it works in a mathematical approach… Muito obrigado! Greetings from Brazil! GOD bless you!
It's so exciting to see some theory based content! With your teaching style, learning theory is very fun. I didn't understand modes very well or how to use them until I started watching your videos a few years back. You've helped build my knowledge base on music theory and guided me toward gaining intuition about some of these concepts. When I am learning or analyzing a new song, I now have tools to understand it better, rather than simply playing what I see. Thank you!
I'm really glad I found all of your systematic scale overviews because I've been struggling for too long with the restrictions of major/minor scales and didn't understand the other scales. This method makes MUCH more sense to me and will absolutely be adopting this. I wonder if we can take this one step further and rewrite how key signatures are written based off of the systematic name rather than the major name. Great method!
Amazing how much work Oliver puts into his videos, especially organising every scale so perfectly. Thank you so much! You should teach at a university!
Estoy emocionada con la última parte del vídeo. Aunque hace un par de años descubrí a PREHN y su enfoque en los Modos, q me pareció genial, no había tenido claro lo que hoy ha explicado , y que no había logrado entender antes por la absurda sistemática de la enseñanza académica : pensar todo en términos de armadura y clave (referidos a escala mayor) Creo que al fin me he liberado de tanta monserga que me impedía “ componer” porque unas absurdas normas anti intuitivas me BLOQUEBAN . Y hablo como aficionada a la música q de pequeña estuvo en una clase q nada le decían y que, posteriormente ,sólo de vez en cuando se acerca al piano para disfrutar de arrancarle sonidos sin pensar en aquellas normas. Gracias Oliver , una vez más, por salirte de la normativa y dirigirte a la naturalidad y el sonido. Un abrazo desde Canarias.
2 years ago i watched your videos, you made me think being a pianist could not just be a dream! ❤ Now i m sure of that and working each days. Peace to you
I believe I am a true pianist now because of you! Thanks to your videos, now I have total dominance over all pentatonic scales and how to smoothly navigate and switch between them!
These videos are utterly fantastic for learning these concepts, I also like that you included the 'traditional' methodology vs. your own and the reasoning behind the differences. Totally agree with your premise here and it's a great thing to be as musically flexible as possible, even knowing both 'schools' is a benefit to music development. Would love a follow-up video on playing these over changes and maybe a bit about how these thinks work harmonically/ practically with changes etc. Great work, super appreciated! 🙏
Hi and thank you so much :) :) :) You may want to check out this other similar lesson I've made some years ago about scales th-cam.com/video/Vq2xt2D3e3E/w-d-xo.html It's not so methodical, but at some point we start using the different scales playing 2-5-1 progressions... Cheers from Oliver
HI Monsieur N.j what a leson , my favorite kind of play is impro , to be short with explanation on the base am guitariste but since few years ago accident my left hand 4 fingers are out of order , play guitare again may in another live , but so am a lucky man , keyboard exist , an i can enjoy play music again , one thing is shure i can't be piano concertiste with only 6 fingers , but grace on people like you , who help me to progres , my pleasur is intact THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR GIFT , that leson open me a new dimension for new journy , Magistrale et tres utile , j'ai piger
Thank you so much for your generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
When playing I was intuitively gravitating towards the dorian mode as an epicenter because i found switching to most scales coming naturally (also considering your other video with modes of the major scale from darker to brighter). This is I guess the big science behind what feels so easy to play and drift from/to. Many thanks for one more great lesson!
Its a perfectly teaching processes for all kind of students.. never ever seen like this easy process.. take my Pronam, 🙏🙏🙏Namaste, 🙏🙏Salute ❤❤ i m from india sir
So I always had the theory of scales in my mind, e.g. " G Phrygian" the whole orchestra needed to know in order to play properly.!!! I thought that no one thought about it that way, and that I was wrong...! Sequences of intervals, and Key note... so simple! You saved me... You are the best of the best in all of You tube 😇😇🥰🥰🥰😜😜😜🎼🎹🎶🎵🎸🎺🎶🎼
A wonderful takc on what always seems a confusing complex web of theory. Thank you Oliver, I am going to grab my guitar and begin exploring these scales from an "alternative " viewpoint. I think this may be of great use to all of us. I especially like the concept of an "ultimate premise " to guide my thinking about tunes.
thanks you so much, I love your point of view about music and freedom for explore it. Yours videos inspire me a lot, I am from Uruguay and is not posible go to a school to learn jazz music, usually money is not enough and there are other priorities, but thanks of you and others youtubers, i have the best master clases and free, so im just practicing and learning, feeling the gratitud for improve my music skills and enjoy playing and playing, that make me very happy :) thanks a lot again, i wish you all the best!
I play plain old style blues οn an acoustic guitar, solely by ear, and I can't read music. But this video excited both my senses and my brain. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING work !!!
Thank you for continuing to work on this! Last time I modified your document before printing so the minor scale is on position 6 like in the regular modes but I'll try your system this time, seems it actually might be the more musical approach. What would be absolutely lovely is if you'd consider making a video on other exotic scales you like and categorize them too? I love the double harmonic major for example. Deeply appreciate your work and watch it with pleasure! :)
Hi and thank you so much. I'm so glad that I can inspire you a little in your own work :) And great suggestion! But I have so many requests - I hope that you understand... but I'll have it in mind for sure :) Thanks a lot for your input and feedback. Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Oh for sure I understand, it's just an idea, you do you of course, there's no pressure, just positive vibes! Thank you so much Oliver, love your content, please keep it up!
Sorry for the late reply Mr. Prehn. This system makes so much sense to me. When playing over a dominant chord in - for example - C Ionian (which would be G7), all we have to do is raise the root by 1/2 step, play the rest of the Ionian scale and we have a perfect scale to play over our tritone substitution i.e C# Altered. Have I understood this correctly? Thank you for all your input. I'm a huge fan of yours! Greetings from a South African in the UK.
Thank you so much for your generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
Very interesting. I watched it until the end and your system makes total sense to me. I never really understood why people see dorian, for example, as a mere derivative of ionian, rather than as a unique universe of its own right.
A very informative video and offers a different point of view and perspective on these relationships between scales and modes. I come from the more applied traditional route of theory and I disagree with some views you have on the topics but overall it is another way of looking at music “theory”. It’s how we decipher and apply that theory to our own understanding and compositions but maintaining the language or terminology that we can communicate it to other musicians or anyone wanting to learn as well. You have a great channel and I think for beginners it’s great and even those beyond the beginner phase, it’s another way to look at this from those who haven’t dived into the more traditional aspects of music theory.
Hating on cogent, concise methods of organizing information such as this is in the same camp as criticism of the metric system. It logically makes more sense and is easier to use/understand, people just want to hold on to tradition and familiarity. I for one love these ideas, and that's coming from someone deeply familiar with most of these scales and their uses.
I had a hard time trying to figure out the conventional "parent" scale for given mode including unnamed modes/scales. Your systematic free approach to musical thinking, i.e regarding all modes equal really offers new methods to rethink scale modes relations. I also, liked the "Notational Parsimony" approach for naming altered modes.
Dude! Brilliant! I kind of been. Working toward understanding of music.theory and jazz but have been hinderd by 1) 1rd learning music theory based on classical. 2) The differences between the differing jazz styles through history. Now I think that the best way to score mark the musical key on the sheet music _ a single flat on the C space with and watch people freak out! ( followed by deal with it... in English.) Once they get used it, it will be a better system. AND how about this for bebop music notation of a scale: G natural sign & sign G# ... All sitting on the G line of the staff! 😅 I bet it's been done, if not I think we need to keep on pushing it until it catches on. We can always add a handwritten note of " Key of Locrian #2" as well until people "get it." Also this lesson made me understand why you put "modern " in front of jazz. The practitioners of older jazz styles (old dogs) may not appreciate having to unlearn or relearn the naming of things (new tricks). Personally, I fond it entirely logical and worthy of adopting.
I've been looking at this material for a few hours now, and compared it to the existing literature. It's the clearest, most structured and most logical presentation I have seen, and I'm very grateful for that. However, could it be the case that you overlooked a whole family? In particular, it seems to me like double harmonic major and its modes entirely fit within your set of rules, and give rise to a fifth family.
Translations of the English subtitles to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French by Edgardo Solano from Colombia. Thank you so much Edgardo!!! You can turn on the subtitles and choose a language in the video settings. Obrigado OL :)
We think alike and outside the box. That's why we'll never fit in with the academic music theorists. I've written my own software where just as you, I can take any scale as premise and start altering notes according this scale. I come across chords as minor #3 and major flat 3 :) We could even go further and decide which qualities we allow. For instance, in Jazz, the half diminished quality is sometimes not part of the gamma, so we'll end up with a min7b5 chord. Possibilities are endless once you throw away all inhibitions academici put on us. Play free, music has no boundaries!
Thank you sir. Your explanation is inspiring me. 🥰 So far (if i'm not wrong), you completely explained these scales and their modes : 1. Major 2. Harmonic major 3. Harmonic minor 4. Melodic minor 5. Diminished 6. Whole tone And those all (minor and major) are diatonic. But, how about any other scale, sir? 1. Diatonic natural minor 2. Pentatonic Major 3. Pentatonic minor 4. Blues major 5. Blues minor 6. Augmented 7. Suspended 8. Bebop scale 9. Exotic scale If we order/creates the modes for each of those scale, is there any (new) rules? Or we can do as you did in this video?
Hi and thanks :) :) :) Yes, you can for sure break the field of study and continue the exploration and continue making families. Some of the scales you mention may not be so suited though - I think it will not make much sense to extract modes from the bebop scale for example. The rules I made make our scales in study quite suited for building up harmonies without too many enharmonic alternatives - so I’ve named our scales: “The Scales of Harmonies”. But you can for sure build up harmonies from other scales as well. Many regards from Oliver
Thank you for the video! This is a very nice and systematic representation of music theory that has less implicit assumptions. Do you have a video explaining where the "field of study" rules are derived from?
Hi and thank you so much :) The rules I just made up for the occasion, to limit the field of study and to extract some of the most common scales ;) I've made a similar lesson some years ago (no as systematic) using almost the same rules except that a scale doesn't have to contain 7 notes in total. Then we have a few more families to investigate. Cheers from Oliver th-cam.com/video/Vq2xt2D3e3E/w-d-xo.html
Hi and thank you so much for your very nice comment and your very generous voluntary “super thanks” donation :) :) :) I can make lots of coffee from you contribution ;) Best regards from Oliver
I think you are genius just wow the rules what made you choose the rules ? Were they based on a starting point (ergo) another know fundamental? Or just how you have a rare life unique way of contemplating through anticipatory motive? Truly either way nonetheless I'm now speechless......
Hi and thanks a lot :) :) :) The rules I just made up to limit our field of study and to locate some of the most used harmonic scales throughout western music history; the Ma Modes, the Mel mi Modes, the harm mi Modes, the Harm Ma modes, the Diminished scales, the Augmented scales and the Whole Tone scale. Cheers from Oliver
Thank you for sharing such a clear, consistent, and systematic method for organizing and interpreting scales and modes. I am a novice to music theory, so I found your approach to be very comprehensible and logical. I hope that it becomes the standard theory and replaces confusing names like Locrian bb7. Have you done a video that explains the reasons for your rules for suitable harmonies, e.g., why shouldn't a scale permit two adjacent 1/2 steps or two adjacent 1-1/2 steps?
Hi and thank you so much :) :) :) No I've not made that video yet. But basically we extract quite well behaving scales so that we can make a 7th chord fit the scale without too many enharmonic interpretations etc. I'll consider making a geeky video about that some day hehe... Many regards from Oliver
You know everything about music theory, its amazing, congrats! Everywhere, including my ex teacher, they teach us about the 3 minor scales, I'd like to know why do you overlook the natural minor scale, why do you tell us nothing about it? Greetings from Brazil.
Thank you very Much for this Insight!Ive been unaware of this.... Altough i would point out that at least to me there is something special about the dorian in the first family (as each family constructed in the same way would have that one outstanding member) that isnt common on the rest of the family members.If you reverse for example the Major (Ionian) Scale you get the Phrygian (and Vice Versa),Locrian=Lydian and Aolien=Mixolydian. If you reverse the Dorian you get a Dorian ;) Make out of that what ever you want
Hello, Oliver. Thank you so much for your generosity, for sharing such a wonderfull material. I`m trying to find your ModeWheels to print them and start studying them. Could you please let me know where can I find them? Thank you very much
Hi and thanks a lot :) I guess that you're thinking about these 4 Mode Wheels: Major Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Major_Modes.pdf Mel mi Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Mel_mi_Modes.pdf Harm mi Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Harm_mi_Modes.pdf Harm Ma Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Harm_Ma_Modes.pdf Many regards from Oliver
Great to see a lesson from you again! Your topic has always been harmonics, scales, modes, but I wander what would happen if you turned your attention to rythms. I think Euclidean rythms are a mathematical concepts that defines in how many ways you can have X pulses in Y time steps. Would it be interesting to have a NewJazz lesson about that, of is the genre of jazz that you play not as suited for exploring time as it is for exploring pitch?
Thank you so much. Great suggestion. I have made several lessons about making making tension between rhythm and motifs, like for example this one: th-cam.com/video/BZNSDqrQ_rQ/w-d-xo.html I know that it may not be exactly what you seek though.... it could be very interesting some day to explore this more... Cheers from Oliver
I'm not a jazz-player but I like the systematic magic that happens with the #numbers and I wonder what will happens to integrate this into Common Practice Periode Function Harmony...
First of all: Very nice video, love all of your stuff, always come up with nice new ways of seeing things, THANK YOU! i think a better name for Aeolian b1 would be Lydian Augmented #2, also in terms of how the scale actually sounds, but the idea of using every mode name just once is also cool, because otherwise we would have several occasions with two times the same mode with different alterations. Ionian #1 doesn't imply the sound of the scale to me though, altered Dominant or Superlocrian, or better Locrian b4 seems more adequate to me, as it doesn't sound at all like a major scale. You would then have Locrian nat2 and Locrian b4 modes in the same scale, but then again, knowing this is actually beneficial. In Melodic Minor, you would also have Dorian#7 and Dorian b2, and Mixolydian #11 and Mixolydian b6. If i know this, i can use this to make my improvisation easier, prioritising certain mode shapes. While thinking of Locrian b4 as being Major #1, is confusing soundwise, but can be helpful shape-wise, because you can just play a shifted major scale. Aeolian #3 doesn't make sense to me as well, as Aeolian suggests it sounds like a minor scale, but raising the 3 gives it a major sound. Just some thoughts, it's very useful having different points of view on the same scale actually.
Thanks a lot :) Yes, we can have many enharmonic interpretations of a specific scale. What we hear depends on the musical progression leading up to our scale. The names of all the scales in this video are made for the purpose of the systematic overview only. But anyway, the scale names can actually make sense in real Music as well. All this I try to explain in the last geeky section of the lesson (21:17 and forward). For example, by the very end (36:01), I try to demonstrate how we can actually hear the sound of an "Ionian #1" scale. Cheers from Oliver
Great❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Idk how to THANK YOUUUUU . I'm a music teacher and a classical guitar and piano player and I LOVE theory and Ive done a lot of searched in these topic , I mean modes and ... . Ypu explanations were like heaven for me!awesome . I have a very important quastion : what is your opinion about starting all these 28 or according to your other post 33 scale or mode from the note c? This is my perspective . In this situation I think well have a GREAT view about their diffremces . For example instead of saying c melodoc minor modes like : c melodic minor and d dorian b2 or even like this explanation here instead of C dorian #7 and D phrigian#6 and ... we see ALL of them from the note C . In this case we OBVIOUSLY see their diffrences . Because when we see them as modes of a scale as you explain and is a popular explanations and has some advantages but with my perspective we see theor diffrences for example the modes of major scale would be : C D E F G A B and then next one : C D EB F G A Bb then the 3rd one : C Db Eb F G Ab Bb and ... . And we do this for ALL THESE 28 OR 33 OR EVEN more kodes and scales . Do you agree ?❤️❤️❤️
Hi and thank you so much. Yes, that's two different approaches, each with their own advantages. The one I use in this lesson we realize how the scales are all structural connected. In the other approach (letting each scale start from the key of C for example) we hear their differences. In this other lesson I walk through the Modes from the key of C th-cam.com/video/KiEoJjWlGMY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=QC5ibpwCGhhou5UR Cheers from Oliver Cheers from Oliver
I like this idea: Think n terms of the four families scale patterns, based on exacting rules. Each family having 7 keys, named after a church mode, plus an alteration if nessary. Every key (Even if it's name is derived from a mode) can be a Key ( a tonality center ) with the other related mode like siblings in a family. I get it. One qeustion is the 4th familly redundant? I need to work that out with.graff paper, because I think it might be.
Its it true the only scale that has a really strong pull back to the tonic is the ionian mode. How can we make other modes sound just as strong. Great lesson it really opens up your mind
Hi and thanks a lot :) Well, in this Lydian Jam Vamp (called "Lydian Jamp") we try to make Lydian our main base and not Ionian th-cam.com/video/Ds4JmuKJ62A/w-d-xo.html You can check it out if you like ;) Cheers from Oliver
Is there a video or article to understand why these harmonic rules exist? Why do these rules make these scales harmonically related, and why does breaking one of these rules make them enharmonic? I think I have found the first two ones, based on my little understanding of harmony. 1) Octave rule: it seems to be a consequence of the octave being the first strongest overtone in the harmonic series (2x frequency of the fundamental => 2:1 ratio). So it's the "same" note which is "vibrating" 2 times more than the fundamental, so we can frame our structure between these limits. 2) The 7 notes rule: This seems to stem from a legacy of double coincidence. Chaining seven fifths is roughly equivalent to chaining four octaves, and the number seven held particular interest for superstitious minds during the construction of one of the first scales in music-the Pythagorean diatonic scale. For the 4 other rules, it seems to be the deductive rules for having a cake of 6 tons that could only be divided in 7 slices. But I'm not sure about that. 3) ? 4) ? 5) ? 6) ?
Hi :) I simply just made the rules so that we have a nice well-defined field of study and to limit the total number of scales to walk through ;) You can for sure just break the rules and make up more families and scales ;) If you break the octave rule... yes, then things may start to get a bit complicated haha... Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Ok thanks, I was wondering if there was some harmonic logic behind these rules, because you expressed differences at the end of video with others "enharmonic" families. So I was wondering what was the logic behind them.
Yes I understand ;) With the rules I avoid more 'cracy' scales that makes many huge interval jumps or have chromatic clusters or exceeds the octave. But on the other hand, we then miss very common scales like the pentatonic scales or blues scales the whole tone scale or diminished scales. So all in all, the rules is mostly made to limit the field of study. In Music anything is allowed ;) Many regards from Oliver
Fun and interesting. I wonder if Dorian is a useful starting point for alterations because it's a palindrome (same interval pattern ascending and descending). I notice that b2 or #7 generate the melodic minor family. #2 or b7 eliminate a note b3 or #6 eliminate a note #3 or b6 generate the major family. b4 or #5 fail the adjacent half steps rule. However #4 generates the harmonic minor family b5 generates the harmonic major family
Hi and thanks. Yes, Dorian is symmetric - a fantastic scale in my world. But it's totally random that I picked Dorian as starting point for the alterations. It could have been any other scale because they derive each other. Cheers from Oliver
Hi :) Good question. Actually they are not the same. Dorian #4 has a raised 4th but a perfect 5th. Dorian b5 has a perfect 4th but a lowered 5th. For example in D; 'Dorian #4'; d-e-f-g#-a-b-c 'Dorian b5'; d-e-f-g-ab-b-c Best regards from Oliver
Hi and thank you so much :) I use this VST from Native Instruments: www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/the-grandeur/ Cheers from Oliver
Wow, this is mind blowing! When improvising using dorian as the starting point or base, would you think of Dorian as the "1", and Phrygian as the "2" etc? When the musical style is something like static harmony (e.g. long periods of sitting on Dorian, maybe shifting up or down a half step occasionally) I can hear Dorian as the "1" through the force or repetition, but as soon as the harmony has more movement or includes movements that are found in more traditional songs, it's hard to not hear Mixolydian->Ionian as the new 5 to 1, rather than as 4 to 7 as they'd be with Dorian as the 1. In other words, I find that it works to vamp on a variety of modes as a fairly static "1" (including lydian, dorian, or mixolydian), but the pull of traditional harmony (with Mixolydian being the 5) feels too strong to ignore once harmonic movement comes in, especially if going around the cycle of fifths. Any suggestions appreciated :)
Hi and thank you so much!!! And great thoughts about this!!! I think any scale can be nr. one. But I think you're right about the natural traditional harmonic progression we have in Family 1 (Mixo to Ionian - Dominant to Tonic). But when playing modal or more modern Jazz I think it's liberating not to be stuck in this way of analyzing Music. Also when playing chord progressions actually; you may for example play a dominant scale from one of the other families that leads to Dorian - emphasizing that Dorian is our key scale... Cheers from Oliver
I observe that family 2-4 have sharps and flats to show how they differ from family 1. Is this just practical convention (and any family could have been the "natural" one) or are you suggesting that the families 2-4 are based on family 1 in a deeper sense?
Hi :) That's a really fantastic question I think! By convention we are probably most comfortable by using the family 1 scales (in the West at least). But we could for sure make one of the other family scales as main premises. The systematics are the same but the names we must change/rearrange ;) Thanks! Cheers from Oliver
Your attitude frees music theory from VERY OLD rules and introduces the mathematical precision that has always been present in music theory (after all, sound is part of physics). Just what I was looking for. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for your feedback on this!!! Cheers from Oliver
I showed a friend who was having trouble grasping theory the circle diagrams a few months ago and just used it to illustrate the double harmonic major scale to him and it was suddenly clear to him. Even though we were playing guitar, your idea is universal. I had to come back to say thank you.
Oliver is the best teacher and that's a fact! Long live music as communication! No war!
Estoy emocionada con la última parte del vídeo. Aunque hace un par de años descubrí a PREHN y su enfoque en los Modos, q me pareció genial, no había tenido claro lo que hoy ha explicado , y que no había logrado entender antes por la absurda sistemática de la enseñanza académica : pensar todo en términos de armadura y clave (referidos a escala mayor)
Creo que al fin me he liberado de tanta monserga que me impedía “ componer” porque unas absurdas normas anti intuitivas me BLOQUEBAN . Y hablo como aficionada a la música q de pequeña estuvo en una clase q nada le decían y que, posteriormente ,sólo de vez en cuando se acerca al piano para disfrutar de arrancarle sonidos sin pensar en aquellas normas.
Gracias Oliver , una vez más, por salirte de la normativa y dirigirte a la naturalidad y el sonido. Un abrazo desde Canarias.
The best instructor on TH-cam. You took a complex subject and made it completely comprehendible. Genius.
Your education of modes is exceptionally good. You have given me the foundational knowledge required to know how to calculate every mode from ANY given scale pattern, built up of ANY pattern of steps. THIS makes it so much easier to understand modes than the USUAL method of teaching modes, that most teachers just by telling them how to alter the major or minor scales to derive the other modes, without explaining WHY. Thanks to you, I KNOW why.
Wow, C Major Scale and a simple set of rules, and anyone can derive other scales and modes from it. That's the way to go! No worrying about naming - that can always be learned later. I'm an adult beginner and this is very concise and extremely useful framework. I don't think I've seen any other music theory lesson as useful as this one. Huge thanks!
Thank you so much for your really nice comment :) :) :) And thank you so much for your VERY generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
@@NewJazz No, thank you Oliver! Now I must go practice. I'm now watching your referenced Scale Family #1 Modes video and this is where I'll be taking my scale practices next outside of C Major scale.
It's very sad that I can't make a donation from Russia...
@@psychosculptor Oliver should make some crypto-currency addresses ;) just like in music, there are no barriers in crypto.
@@LogioTek Yep!
I am a self taught pianist and your version of identifications is what I thought was the norm... It's also the way I communicate my thoughts to my other musician friends. It never fails to convey the idea and is always less confusing since it's contextual. The root and the mode is very important to the context and easier to use as a base starting point to communicate any nuanced differences with sharps and flats in any position. Thank you for blessing us with your knowledge sir!
Thanks a lot and great that you think at musical scales the same logical way. Cheers from Oliver
Your videos are truly the most explanatory available. I am a bassplayer and I find you channel to be more enlightning than all the channels aimed to my kin. Your calm is enchanting aswell. My uppermost thank you for doing this.
Best regards from Norway.
Thank you so much for your really nice message and feedback :) :) :) Cheers from Oliver
Simply blew my mind… Wow, I play guitar, now I’m learning piano by myself and your video removed several complications from my brain… I even put your formulas on a Excel sheet to realize how it works in a mathematical approach…
Muito obrigado!
Greetings from Brazil!
GOD bless you!
It's so exciting to see some theory based content! With your teaching style, learning theory is very fun.
I didn't understand modes very well or how to use them until I started watching your videos a few years back. You've helped build my knowledge base on music theory and guided me toward gaining intuition about some of these concepts. When I am learning or analyzing a new song, I now have tools to understand it better, rather than simply playing what I see. Thank you!
I'm really glad I found all of your systematic scale overviews because I've been struggling for too long with the restrictions of major/minor scales and didn't understand the other scales. This method makes MUCH more sense to me and will absolutely be adopting this. I wonder if we can take this one step further and rewrite how key signatures are written based off of the systematic name rather than the major name. Great method!
Thank you for making this! Your videos were a real eye-opener for me, when I discovered them first.
This video changed my life forever
As a player and a teacher, thank you
Amazing how much work Oliver puts into his videos, especially organising every scale so perfectly. Thank you so much! You should teach at a university!
Estoy emocionada con la última parte del vídeo. Aunque hace un par de años descubrí a PREHN y su enfoque en los Modos, q me pareció genial, no había tenido claro lo que hoy ha explicado , y que no había logrado entender antes por la absurda sistemática de la enseñanza académica : pensar todo en términos de armadura y clave (referidos a escala mayor)
Creo que al fin me he liberado de tanta monserga que me impedía “ componer” porque unas absurdas normas anti intuitivas me BLOQUEBAN . Y hablo como aficionada a la música q de pequeña estuvo en una clase q nada le decían y que, posteriormente ,sólo de vez en cuando se acerca al piano para disfrutar de arrancarle sonidos sin pensar en aquellas normas.
Gracias Oliver , una vez más, por salirte de la normativa y dirigirte a la naturalidad y el sonido. Un abrazo desde Canarias.
Blowing my mind with this one.
Thank you Mr. Prehn for adding some light to sound!
2 years ago i watched your videos, you made me think being a pianist could not just be a dream! ❤
Now i m sure of that and working each days.
Peace to you
You are creating a systematic way that will change forever the music education. Blesses all time master Oliver. Hugs
I believe I am a true pianist now because of you! Thanks to your videos, now I have total dominance over all pentatonic scales and how to smoothly navigate and switch between them!
New upload from Newjazz!!! happy happy day
You really cleared up how your chart works. Also I didn't get lost in the geeky 2nd half of the video. Thanks a Trillion for this lesson.
THANKS for your feedback!!! Great to hear that I didn't confused you in the geeky section :) :) :) Cheers from Oliver
Scale vs mode? confusing and fooling me around. Now here is a beautiful and vivid answer. Thank you so much.
These videos are utterly fantastic for learning these concepts, I also like that you included the 'traditional' methodology vs. your own and the reasoning behind the differences. Totally agree with your premise here and it's a great thing to be as musically flexible as possible, even knowing both 'schools' is a benefit to music development. Would love a follow-up video on playing these over changes and maybe a bit about how these thinks work harmonically/ practically with changes etc. Great work, super appreciated! 🙏
Hi and thank you so much :) :) :) You may want to check out this other similar lesson I've made some years ago about scales th-cam.com/video/Vq2xt2D3e3E/w-d-xo.html
It's not so methodical, but at some point we start using the different scales playing 2-5-1 progressions...
Cheers from Oliver
HI Monsieur N.j what a leson , my favorite kind of play is impro , to be short with explanation on the base am guitariste but since few years ago accident my left hand 4 fingers are out of order , play guitare again may in another live , but so am a lucky man , keyboard exist , an i can enjoy play music again , one thing is shure i can't be piano concertiste with only 6 fingers , but grace on people like you , who help me to progres , my pleasur is intact THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR GIFT , that leson open me a new dimension for new journy , Magistrale et tres utile , j'ai piger
you approach harmony / music in very friendly, open, liberal, social ways and terms. thank you.
Oliver, I say hello from Russia!
Your approach is really very practical and convenient! Thank you for the video lesson
mind blowing. this is just proof music theory should evolve
Oliver - you are truly a Godsend! Blessings!
My favorite channel on TH-cam!! Thanks so much for the excellent videos!
Just. Wow. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
Brilliant and inspiring! Oliver, you're the best!!
just hear your voice for 10 seconds = automatic like! and I thank you
When playing I was intuitively gravitating towards the dorian mode as an epicenter because i found switching to most scales coming naturally (also considering your other video with modes of the major scale from darker to brighter). This is I guess the big science behind what feels so easy to play and drift from/to. Many thanks for one more great lesson!
Its a perfectly teaching processes for all kind of students.. never ever seen like this easy process.. take my Pronam, 🙏🙏🙏Namaste, 🙏🙏Salute ❤❤ i m from india sir
You are great, the french translation is very good and the "all about ..." video is amazing too, you have got my little support, thank you
Спасибо за систему и логичный взгляд! Thanks for you system!
So I always had the theory of scales in my mind, e.g. " G Phrygian" the whole orchestra needed to know in order to play properly.!!! I thought that no one thought about it that way, and that I was wrong...!
Sequences of intervals, and Key note... so simple!
You saved me...
You are the best of the best in all of You tube 😇😇🥰🥰🥰😜😜😜🎼🎹🎶🎵🎸🎺🎶🎼
thank you, thank you so much. your knowledge has helps me develop almost all i know about music. i aspire to know as much as you one day.
Thank you for the heart! It means a lot knowing you read my comment ❤️
A wonderful takc on what always seems a confusing complex web of theory. Thank you Oliver, I am going to grab my guitar and begin exploring these scales from an "alternative " viewpoint. I think this may be of great use to all of us. I especially like the concept of an "ultimate premise " to guide my thinking about tunes.
Thank you SO MUCH Oliver, for share your thoughts and feel about music. Is so unique and fresh. Best regards from Argentina!
Simple and perfectly explained and structured, easily understandable. Thank you very much Oliver
Thank you very much for the effort that went into this video. This is exactly what I needed right now in my musical development.😊
thanks you so much, I love your point of view about music and freedom for explore it. Yours videos inspire me a lot, I am from Uruguay and is not posible go to a school to learn jazz music, usually money is not enough and there are other priorities, but thanks of you and others youtubers, i have the best master clases and free, so im just practicing and learning, feeling the gratitud for improve my music skills and enjoy playing and playing, that make me very happy :) thanks a lot again, i wish you all the best!
You make music so much mathematic and comprehensive. Thank you :)
love the simplicity. thank you ❤
A brilliant and wonderfully organized presentation. Thank you!
I play plain old style blues οn an acoustic guitar, solely by ear, and I can't read music. But this video excited both my senses and my brain. AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING work !!!
Great. And also keep on playing the blues by ear!!! Cheers from Oliver
Wow.... wow. Thanks again Oliver.
Thank you for continuing to work on this! Last time I modified your document before printing so the minor scale is on position 6 like in the regular modes but I'll try your system this time, seems it actually might be the more musical approach.
What would be absolutely lovely is if you'd consider making a video on other exotic scales you like and categorize them too? I love the double harmonic major for example.
Deeply appreciate your work and watch it with pleasure! :)
Hi and thank you so much. I'm so glad that I can inspire you a little in your own work :)
And great suggestion! But I have so many requests - I hope that you understand... but I'll have it in mind for sure :) Thanks a lot for your input and feedback. Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Oh for sure I understand, it's just an idea, you do you of course, there's no pressure, just positive vibes!
Thank you so much Oliver, love your content, please keep it up!
youre sharp and have learnt alot from you.God bless you
I really enjoyed this explanation and am going to see if I can incorporate it into my musical life. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks. Always appreciate your systematic and easier-to-understand methods.
Thanks for sharing your talent, knowledge and unique perspective, Oliver!!!
Sorry for the late reply Mr. Prehn. This system makes so much sense to me. When playing over a dominant chord in - for example - C Ionian (which would be G7), all we have to do is raise the root by 1/2 step, play the rest of the Ionian scale and we have a perfect scale to play over our tritone substitution i.e C# Altered.
Have I understood this correctly?
Thank you for all your input. I'm a huge fan of yours!
Greetings from a South African in the UK.
Hi and thanks a lot :) YES that's correct!!! Cheers from Oliver
Thank you so much for this lesson.. from Indonesia
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your generous voluntary “super thanks” donation - you help keep me going for sure!!! I'm very grateful :) :) :) Best regards from Oliver
unsurpassed state of art lessons you do Sir🙋♂️🚀🌞
Thank you OP. That was another amazing post.
A new great video, very interesting, thank you very much
Very interesting. I watched it until the end and your system makes total sense to me. I never really understood why people see dorian, for example, as a mere derivative of ionian, rather than as a unique universe of its own right.
Amazing explanation. I watched and enjoyed the whole thing :)
A very informative video and offers a different point of view and perspective on these relationships between scales and modes. I come from the more applied traditional route of theory and I disagree with some views you have on the topics but overall it is another way of looking at music “theory”. It’s how we decipher and apply that theory to our own understanding and compositions but maintaining the language or terminology that we can communicate it to other musicians or anyone wanting to learn as well. You have a great channel and I think for beginners it’s great and even those beyond the beginner phase, it’s another way to look at this from those who haven’t dived into the more traditional aspects of music theory.
Thanks for all. You are amazing.
Hating on cogent, concise methods of organizing information such as this is in the same camp as criticism of the metric system. It logically makes more sense and is easier to use/understand, people just want to hold on to tradition and familiarity. I for one love these ideas, and that's coming from someone deeply familiar with most of these scales and their uses.
I had a hard time trying to figure out the conventional "parent" scale for given mode including unnamed modes/scales. Your systematic free approach to musical thinking, i.e regarding all modes equal really offers new methods to rethink scale modes relations. I also, liked the "Notational Parsimony" approach for naming altered modes.
Wow!!! Thank you very much. It is amazing .
You’re just great! Thank you ❤
That’s really refreshing. Thank a lot !!
This is incredible. Thank you!
Dude! Brilliant! I kind of been. Working toward understanding of music.theory and jazz but have been hinderd by 1) 1rd learning music theory based on classical. 2) The differences between the differing jazz styles through history. Now I think that the best way to score mark the musical key on the sheet music _ a single flat on the C space with and watch people freak out! ( followed by deal with it... in English.) Once they get used it, it will be a better system. AND how about this for bebop music notation of a scale: G natural sign & sign G# ... All sitting on the G line of the staff! 😅 I bet it's been done, if not I think we need to keep on pushing it until it catches on. We can always add a handwritten note of " Key of Locrian #2" as well until people "get it." Also this lesson made me understand why you put "modern " in front of jazz. The practitioners of older jazz styles (old dogs) may not appreciate having to unlearn or relearn the naming of things (new tricks). Personally, I fond it entirely logical and worthy of adopting.
Thanks a lot :) :) :) Cheers from Oliver
Thanks , now i can show how to use all families on the violin to the children in class .
I've been looking at this material for a few hours now, and compared it to the existing literature. It's the clearest, most structured and most logical presentation I have seen, and I'm very grateful for that.
However, could it be the case that you overlooked a whole family? In particular, it seems to me like double harmonic major and its modes entirely fit within your set of rules, and give rise to a fifth family.
Translations of the English subtitles to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French by Edgardo Solano from Colombia. Thank you so much Edgardo!!! You can turn on the subtitles and choose a language in the video settings.
Obrigado OL :)
We think alike and outside the box. That's why we'll never fit in with the academic music theorists. I've written my own software where just as you, I can take any scale as premise and start altering notes according this scale. I come across chords as minor #3 and major flat 3 :) We could even go further and decide which qualities we allow. For instance, in Jazz, the half diminished quality is sometimes not part of the gamma, so we'll end up with a min7b5 chord. Possibilities are endless once you throw away all inhibitions academici put on us. Play free, music has no boundaries!
Great great and again great my dear musical friend!!! Cheers from Oliver
Thank you sir. Your explanation is inspiring me. 🥰
So far (if i'm not wrong), you completely explained these scales and their modes :
1. Major
2. Harmonic major
3. Harmonic minor
4. Melodic minor
5. Diminished
6. Whole tone
And those all (minor and major) are diatonic.
But, how about any other scale, sir?
1. Diatonic natural minor
2. Pentatonic Major
3. Pentatonic minor
4. Blues major
5. Blues minor
6. Augmented
7. Suspended
8. Bebop scale
9. Exotic scale
If we order/creates the modes for each of those scale, is there any (new) rules? Or we can do as you did in this video?
Hi and thanks :) :) :) Yes, you can for sure break the field of study and continue the exploration and continue making families. Some of the scales you mention may not be so suited though - I think it will not make much sense to extract modes from the bebop scale for example. The rules I made make our scales in study quite suited for building up harmonies without too many enharmonic alternatives - so I’ve named our scales: “The Scales of Harmonies”. But you can for sure build up harmonies from other scales as well. Many regards from Oliver
@@NewJazz okay sir, thanks for your advice. I will learn with your contents sa base study for scales and modes👍🏻
Thank you for the video! This is a very nice and systematic representation of music theory that has less implicit assumptions. Do you have a video explaining where the "field of study" rules are derived from?
Hi and thank you so much :) The rules I just made up for the occasion, to limit the field of study and to extract some of the most common scales ;) I've made a similar lesson some years ago (no as systematic) using almost the same rules except that a scale doesn't have to contain 7 notes in total. Then we have a few more families to investigate. Cheers from Oliver
th-cam.com/video/Vq2xt2D3e3E/w-d-xo.html
Thank you Oliver!!!
Enjoy the coffee, tea, or whatever you can get with $5 these days. I owe you a few more for the knowledge you impart to the world here, my friend!
Hi and thank you so much for your very nice comment and your very generous voluntary “super thanks” donation :) :) :) I can make lots of coffee from you contribution ;) Best regards from Oliver
I think you are genius just wow the rules what made you choose the rules ? Were they based on a starting point (ergo) another know fundamental?
Or just how you have a rare life unique way of contemplating through anticipatory motive? Truly either way nonetheless I'm now speechless......
Hi and thanks a lot :) :) :)
The rules I just made up to limit our field of study and to locate some of the most used harmonic scales throughout western music history; the Ma Modes, the Mel mi Modes, the harm mi Modes, the Harm Ma modes, the Diminished scales, the Augmented scales and the Whole Tone scale.
Cheers from Oliver
Thank you for sharing such a clear, consistent, and systematic method for organizing and interpreting scales and modes. I am a novice to music theory, so I found your approach to be very comprehensible and logical. I hope that it becomes the standard theory and replaces confusing names like Locrian bb7. Have you done a video that explains the reasons for your rules for suitable harmonies, e.g., why shouldn't a scale permit two adjacent 1/2 steps or two adjacent 1-1/2 steps?
Hi and thank you so much :) :) :) No I've not made that video yet. But basically we extract quite well behaving scales so that we can make a 7th chord fit the scale without too many enharmonic interpretations etc. I'll consider making a geeky video about that some day hehe... Many regards from Oliver
You know everything about music theory, its amazing, congrats!
Everywhere, including my ex teacher, they teach us about the 3 minor scales, I'd like to know why do you overlook the natural minor scale, why do you tell us nothing about it?
Greetings from Brazil.
Hi and thanks a lot :) :) :) "Natural minor" is equal to "Aeolian" and is included in "Familie 1".
Cheers from Oliver
Thank you very Much for this Insight!Ive been unaware of this....
Altough i would point out that at least to me there is something special about the dorian in the first family (as each family constructed in the same way would have that one outstanding member) that isnt common on the rest of the family members.If you reverse for example
the Major (Ionian) Scale you get the Phrygian (and Vice Versa),Locrian=Lydian and Aolien=Mixolydian. If you reverse the Dorian you get a Dorian ;)
Make out of that what ever you want
Hi :) Yes, Dorian is symmetric and a very consonant scale as well. Cheers from Oliver
Hello, Oliver. Thank you so much for your generosity, for sharing such a wonderfull material. I`m trying to find your ModeWheels to print them and start studying them. Could you please let me know where can I find them? Thank you very much
Hi and thanks a lot :) I guess that you're thinking about these 4 Mode Wheels:
Major Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Major_Modes.pdf
Mel mi Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Mel_mi_Modes.pdf
Harm mi Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Harm_mi_Modes.pdf
Harm Ma Modes www.newjazz.dk/Compendiums/Circle_Harm_Ma_Modes.pdf
Many regards from Oliver
Great to see a lesson from you again! Your topic has always been harmonics, scales, modes, but I wander what would happen if you turned your attention to rythms. I think Euclidean rythms are a mathematical concepts that defines in how many ways you can have X pulses in Y time steps. Would it be interesting to have a NewJazz lesson about that, of is the genre of jazz that you play not as suited for exploring time as it is for exploring pitch?
Thank you so much. Great suggestion. I have made several lessons about making making tension between rhythm and motifs, like for example this one: th-cam.com/video/BZNSDqrQ_rQ/w-d-xo.html
I know that it may not be exactly what you seek though.... it could be very interesting some day to explore this more... Cheers from Oliver
I'm not a jazz-player but I like the systematic magic that happens with the #numbers and I wonder what will happens to integrate this into Common Practice Periode Function Harmony...
First of all: Very nice video, love all of your stuff, always come up with nice new ways of seeing things, THANK YOU! i think a better name for Aeolian b1 would be Lydian Augmented #2, also in terms of how the scale actually sounds, but the idea of using every mode name just once is also cool, because otherwise we would have several occasions with two times the same mode with different alterations. Ionian #1 doesn't imply the sound of the scale to me though, altered Dominant or Superlocrian, or better Locrian b4 seems more adequate to me, as it doesn't sound at all like a major scale. You would then have Locrian nat2 and Locrian b4 modes in the same scale, but then again, knowing this is actually beneficial. In Melodic Minor, you would also have Dorian#7 and Dorian b2, and Mixolydian #11 and Mixolydian b6. If i know this, i can use this to make my improvisation easier, prioritising certain mode shapes. While thinking of Locrian b4 as being Major #1, is confusing soundwise, but can be helpful shape-wise, because you can just play a shifted major scale. Aeolian #3 doesn't make sense to me as well, as Aeolian suggests it sounds like a minor scale, but raising the 3 gives it a major sound. Just some thoughts, it's very useful having different points of view on the same scale actually.
Thanks a lot :) Yes, we can have many enharmonic interpretations of a specific scale. What we hear depends on the musical progression leading up to our scale. The names of all the scales in this video are made for the purpose of the systematic overview only. But anyway, the scale names can actually make sense in real Music as well. All this I try to explain in the last geeky section of the lesson (21:17 and forward). For example, by the very end (36:01), I try to demonstrate how we can actually hear the sound of an "Ionian #1" scale. Cheers from Oliver
Great❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Idk how to THANK YOUUUUU . I'm a music teacher and a classical guitar and piano player and I LOVE theory and Ive done a lot of searched in these topic , I mean modes and ... . Ypu explanations were like heaven for me!awesome . I have a very important quastion : what is your opinion about starting all these 28 or according to your other post 33 scale or mode from the note c? This is my perspective . In this situation I think well have a GREAT view about their diffremces . For example instead of saying c melodoc minor modes like : c melodic minor and d dorian b2 or even like this explanation here instead of C dorian #7 and D phrigian#6 and ... we see ALL of them from the note C . In this case we OBVIOUSLY see their diffrences . Because when we see them as modes of a scale as you explain and is a popular explanations and has some advantages but with my perspective we see theor diffrences for example the modes of major scale would be : C D E F G A B and then next one : C D EB F G A Bb then the 3rd one : C Db Eb F G Ab Bb and ... . And we do this for ALL THESE 28 OR 33 OR EVEN more kodes and scales . Do you agree ?❤️❤️❤️
Hi and thank you so much. Yes, that's two different approaches, each with their own advantages. The one I use in this lesson we realize how the scales are all structural connected. In the other approach (letting each scale start from the key of C for example) we hear their differences. In this other lesson I walk through the Modes from the key of C th-cam.com/video/KiEoJjWlGMY/w-d-xo.htmlsi=QC5ibpwCGhhou5UR
Cheers from Oliver
Cheers from Oliver
"Ionian #1" is a bit naughty, but makes a whole lot of sense.
I like this idea: Think n terms of the four families scale patterns, based on exacting rules. Each family having 7 keys, named after a church mode, plus an alteration if nessary. Every key (Even if it's name is derived from a mode) can be a Key ( a tonality center ) with the other related mode like siblings in a family.
I get it. One qeustion is the 4th familly redundant? I need to work that out with.graff paper, because I think it might be.
Hi and thanks a lot :) :) :) 4th family redundant... can you maybe elaborate a little? Cheers from Oliver
Its it true the only scale that has a really strong pull back to the tonic is the ionian mode. How can we make other modes sound just as strong. Great lesson it really opens up your mind
Hi and thanks a lot :) Well, in this Lydian Jam Vamp (called "Lydian Jamp") we try to make Lydian our main base and not Ionian th-cam.com/video/Ds4JmuKJ62A/w-d-xo.html
You can check it out if you like ;) Cheers from Oliver
masterpiece!
Is there a video or article to understand why these harmonic rules exist? Why do these rules make these scales harmonically related, and why does breaking one of these rules make them enharmonic?
I think I have found the first two ones, based on my little understanding of harmony.
1) Octave rule: it seems to be a consequence of the octave being the first strongest overtone in the harmonic series (2x frequency of the fundamental => 2:1 ratio). So it's the "same" note which is "vibrating" 2 times more than the fundamental, so we can frame our structure between these limits.
2) The 7 notes rule: This seems to stem from a legacy of double coincidence. Chaining seven fifths is roughly equivalent to chaining four octaves, and the number seven held particular interest for superstitious minds during the construction of one of the first scales in music-the Pythagorean diatonic scale.
For the 4 other rules, it seems to be the deductive rules for having a cake of 6 tons that could only be divided in 7 slices. But I'm not sure about that.
3) ?
4) ?
5) ?
6) ?
Hi :) I simply just made the rules so that we have a nice well-defined field of study and to limit the total number of scales to walk through ;) You can for sure just break the rules and make up more families and scales ;) If you break the octave rule... yes, then things may start to get a bit complicated haha... Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Ok thanks, I was wondering if there was some harmonic logic behind these rules, because you expressed differences at the end of video with others "enharmonic" families. So I was wondering what was the logic behind them.
Yes I understand ;) With the rules I avoid more 'cracy' scales that makes many huge interval jumps or have chromatic clusters or exceeds the octave. But on the other hand, we then miss very common scales like the pentatonic scales or blues scales the whole tone scale or diminished scales. So all in all, the rules is mostly made to limit the field of study. In Music anything is allowed ;) Many regards from Oliver
Oh, Teacher my teacher, teach me teach me💙
Fun and interesting. I wonder if Dorian is a useful starting point for alterations because it's a palindrome (same interval pattern ascending and descending). I notice that
b2 or #7 generate the melodic minor family.
#2 or b7 eliminate a note
b3 or #6 eliminate a note
#3 or b6 generate the major family.
b4 or #5 fail the adjacent half steps rule.
However
#4 generates the harmonic minor family
b5 generates the harmonic major family
Hi and thanks. Yes, Dorian is symmetric - a fantastic scale in my world. But it's totally random that I picked Dorian as starting point for the alterations. It could have been any other scale because they derive each other. Cheers from Oliver
And really great with your observations!!! :) :) :)
Hi Oliver, Could you please to explain the different between Family 3 and 4. The Dorian #4 or Dorian b5 scale is the same. Thank you so much
Hi :) Good question. Actually they are not the same. Dorian #4 has a raised 4th but a perfect 5th. Dorian b5 has a perfect 4th but a lowered 5th. For example in D;
'Dorian #4'; d-e-f-g#-a-b-c
'Dorian b5'; d-e-f-g-ab-b-c
Best regards from Oliver
Beautiful expansive lesson and piano sound. I am curious about your piano sound, is it acoustic or vst, ....thanks
Hi and thank you so much :) I use this VST from Native Instruments: www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/keys/the-grandeur/
Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Thanks a lot and best wishes from Istanbul....
Wow, this is mind blowing!
When improvising using dorian as the starting point or base, would you think of Dorian as the "1", and Phrygian as the "2" etc?
When the musical style is something like static harmony (e.g. long periods of sitting on Dorian, maybe shifting up or down a half step occasionally) I can hear Dorian as the "1" through the force or repetition, but as soon as the harmony has more movement or includes movements that are found in more traditional songs, it's hard to not hear Mixolydian->Ionian as the new 5 to 1, rather than as 4 to 7 as they'd be with Dorian as the 1.
In other words, I find that it works to vamp on a variety of modes as a fairly static "1" (including lydian, dorian, or mixolydian), but the pull of traditional harmony (with Mixolydian being the 5) feels too strong to ignore once harmonic movement comes in, especially if going around the cycle of fifths.
Any suggestions appreciated :)
Hi and thank you so much!!! And great thoughts about this!!! I think any scale can be nr. one. But I think you're right about the natural traditional harmonic progression we have in Family 1 (Mixo to Ionian - Dominant to Tonic). But when playing modal or more modern Jazz I think it's liberating not to be stuck in this way of analyzing Music. Also when playing chord progressions actually; you may for example play a dominant scale from one of the other families that leads to Dorian - emphasizing that Dorian is our key scale... Cheers from Oliver
@@NewJazz Thanks so much for the suggestions and the amazing videos :)
Thank you
very interesting!
I observe that family 2-4 have sharps and flats to show how they differ from family 1. Is this just practical convention (and any family could have been the "natural" one) or are you suggesting that the families 2-4 are based on family 1 in a deeper sense?
Hi :) That's a really fantastic question I think! By convention we are probably most comfortable by using the family 1 scales (in the West at least). But we could for sure make one of the other family scales as main premises. The systematics are the same but the names we must change/rearrange ;) Thanks! Cheers from Oliver