Music theory is like an old paper road map. It can help you get to where you want to go faster than just heading down any random road. It can also show you many different paths to get there, and possibly interesting detours along the way. And it's very useful for when you meet other musicians to figure out if you're heading in the same direction, or can at least share the same road for a while. But it's only a map. It is neither the journey, nor the destination.
As a general rule that's wrong. For example can have a secondary dominant (let's say E in C major) and go to a minor or major secondary tonic (A or a) and both is correct.
Only one thing? Learn the steps to the Major scale. The reason being, if you do that, you also are learning witch chords fit into a key, like you mentioned. But you also learn the steps to every key and all seven diatonic modes. Contained within this is also all of the pentatonic modes, from the standard minor and Major pentatonic, to the Japanese scales. All of this information is available to anyone who learns the steps to the Major scale.
First, let me say that you are brilliant, funny, and entertaining. Bravo! Second, I agree with your ONE thing. Here's a simplified version: C D E F G A B C... Pick the C note, then picking every other note forward builds your chords. Then pick any note and going every other backwards shows you what chords that note goes in. Every other forward & Every other backward. Simple, no? If you want to to play in minor, then start with A instead of C. Whereas my version limits to only two keys, it does get the principle across, and yours applies to any key showing the player how to find the notes of any given key. The great thing about our chosen ONE thing is that it is every thing one needs to know in order to write great songs!
“If it sounds good, it is good”-Duke Ellington. I want to know as much as I can about music theory but that’s the basic principle I would tell someone at the beginning. Music theory can help you understand why something sounds good and help you find other chords to try, but it doesn’t limit you. If it sounds good, it is good.
My one thing is to play everything in one key (like C major) and that way you learn how all the chords, intervals and combinations work.. and it helps with improvising.. and deciphering other songs such as cover versions..
The one thing I would teach people you have already covered in a video (can't remember which one). I would show people how to listen to a scale, and develop a sensitivity for hearing which notes are stable (Rt, 3rd 5th) and which ones are not (2nd 4th 6th 7th), and how to resolve the latter. This piece of knowledge is helpful both in writing chord progressions and in improv, where you essentially force yourself to pause on a "wrong" note (or, a none chord tone), and figure out how to resolve it before you move on to your next mistake.
68plexi1 and as a bass player #2 is the start point, stop point and space between the notes is paramount. In fact, I would almost put that first as you can simply play a single note bass line. But where you place each kite, and importantly place the space between the notes will make a bassline pop. I was filling in on bass for a mate’s classic rock original band. I was playing _against_ a phenomenal drummer. We just locked in hard from the get go. While I hadn’t learned all of the songs, I knew how he wrote and what he was likely to do. So, halfway through a song, he throws a bass solo at me. The song is just a driving rock song, in Em (sometimes Dorian, sometimes Aolean) with a bit of a bounce in it and I have an incredible drummer to play off. I simply played on one note and had a rhythmic dialog with the drummer When I got off stage, I had so many people come up to me afterwards and compliment me on my solo. I told them it was only one note. They didn’t believe me. There is a huge difference to the drive of the band when the bass player understands where and how to place each note. You feel it, the band feels it and the audience feels it. Strangely, it’s rarely talked about.
I've always thought that the Circle of 5ths was the single most valuable piece of info. From that it's easy to figure out which chords work together, and it also expresses the way in which they most naturally resolve to the root. Proximity to the root suggests the likelihood or strength of a related chord, too. It's hard to find a song in western music that doesn't mostly use chords within 2 degrees of the root (counterclockwise) or 4 degrees moving clockwise. Simple songs stick within one degree. E.g. root: C, one degree counterclockwise (the 4th) is F, one degree clockwise is G. There are a gazillion (well, maybe a few less) songs using just those 3 chords. Helpful for transposition, too.
Such a broad question, yet that’s why you asked it in this fundamentals series. After you posed the question I paused the video and thought “Alright he’s probably talking about the circle of fifths, but if not it’s either how to stay in time or how to know which notes you’re ‘allowed’ to play.” Guess it was the last. I’d have to agree that keys would be the sole thing someone must learn if they could only learn one thing. The rhythm will come with time, and the circle of fifths will only confuse someone if they have no other context, but if someone doesn’t know that you can’t just play any note or chord they wish, then they won’t ever be able to make an actual song other than by chance.
The one thing is: There really is way way more than one thing to learn about music theory. So if you want to learn music theory, don't expect to get it done by knowing only one thing about it. Or expect that one thing is so much more important than the rest of it that it won't matter that much whether you know the rest or not.
chord scales would be my “ONE thing”. Piano players learn it fairly early on, but I NEVER see it used in guitar instruction. IMHO, all *beginning* music theory should be taught on the Piano, regardless of the instrument you *think* you want to play. This is great information. Thanks for sharing!!! 🐰🤘👍🏼
Chord scales is what is taught to guitarists (in a roundabout way) as "modes". In my course Master of the Modes www.musictheoryforguitar.com/scalesandmodesguitarlessons.html I take a more direct approach to the problem (though I'm not calling it 'chord scales' in the course). As for teaching theory on a piano, I'm afraid I have to disagree. While it may work for other instruments, I found that most guitar players are completely confused by theory on the piano and find it hard to relate it back to the fretboard when I teach guitarists. I prefer to teach theory on the fretboard: if you approach it the right way it's as easy as the keyboard, and more useful for guitar players.
MusicTheoryForGuitar Oh, I was just trying to contribute because I was prompted in the video to do so. No worries, man. You have your way, and I respect it. Thanks for the reply! I hope you sell lots of books!🐰✌️
@@JackTheRabbitMusic No problem at all - if anything, thank you for commenting! I was just answering with my opinion. I like having this frank exchange of opinions, no bad feelings on my part.
We do have something akin to that... the "C-A-G-E-D" system. Scales based upon certain common chord structures that are moveable. I do see your point with piano, though. I started out on trombone and tuba. so going to a treble clef was quite an experience at first!
This is the only way I do it, write the scale, write the chords, identify them with Roman numerals and voile you're done. I actually did this a few hrs ago, I'm currently dissecting (not schenkerian analysis principles) Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in C#m and all of his opening arpeggios and his kind of chord progression, I've inverted them, ie his first opening arpeggio is in the 2nd inversion, I've put it back to root position, thus far it actually sounds quite good and it still has Beethoven's style and character, it's actually good to dissect and understand a composers famous work rather than just play the notes, you actually learn the piece much faster than just reading the score.
The one thing I would teach someone is how a chord is built because I guess if you experiment enough with each chord youll notice which ones go together and which ones dont
Hi tommasic! Another awesomely simple approach... thank you... years ago I asked myself the same question? I found that knowing all of my intervals provided me with an awesome clarity of understanding music theory but your approaches are quickly filling in all the gaps keep going brother!!!
Think in Intervals. Everything seems so much easier when you think of scales that way. As important as it is, learning which individual notes are sharp or flat in every scale can get confusing. But learning which modes have sharps and flats just by knowing the intervals of the Major Scale really changes the game. C Aeolian (Natural Minor) - b3 b6 b7 is easier to remember than Cm - Eb Ab Bb.
I don't think it's possible to sum music up with just one thing, but this comes pretty close. I would say that key signatures, chords and intervals are actually three things, but it can be said they are all aspects of the theory of harmony so no argument there. However rhythm is also part of music and I wouldn't be able to describe music without that as well. Thanks for these videos, I watch them all and I'm not even a guitar player! Good stuff.
I would demonstrate the sound of dominant moving to tonic, note that this is an example of tension and release, and then mention that this strong harmonic motion can be heard in so many examples of music.
Always good stuff! Thanks for the academic experiment. Co5ths/chords is the simplest way to start fast at making music. But really everything in music is tied to everything else so it's hard to draw boundaries of what would be included in this theoretical "one thing" of which you speak. I feel that I would teach them a level higher than chords. I'd give an in-depth explanation of the '7 string long, 3 notes per string pattern (3nps)'. 3nps will show 1 full moveable key. It will show the quality (major or minor third) of each starting note of 3nps (therefor its relative chord). It will allow very quick speed enhancement, which lends itself to finding (hearing) the correct notes at the correct time as you can simply hit more notes faster and therefor find your way (ear training) faster. The scale (like all) repeats itself indefinitely, but in a very simple pattern; 3 consecutive strings of 2 whole steps, 2 consecutive strings of 124 fingerings, and 2 consecutive strings of 134 fingerings (then repeats). And it shows each note as the first of 3 notes, the middle of 3 notes, and the last of 3 notes, turning them into clumps or quantum ideas which are easy for the mind to hold onto. Top it off with a quick rundown of chord arpeggios and they'll probably get further than just chords, but with greater effort on their part. I know this paragraph adds a technical second "thing" but that brings me back to my first paragraph... it is all tied together.
Before seeing the rest of the video or reading any comments (to give as personal an answer as possible), I would teach tone distances between notes in a scale, at minimum the distances in the major scale (root FULL 2 FULL 3 HALF 4 FULL 5 FULL 6 FULL 7 HALF 8/octave, or as most write it, W W H W W W H). From there you can branch out into other modes (like relative minor), construct chords with a very simple bit of additional knowledge ('root+3rd+5th=basic chord'), learn how to improvise/write while staying in-key (this helps beginners who haven't developed an ear for more dissonant music like jazz or post-hardcore start to know how to 'sound good'), and is a good basic stepping block for learning the fretboard or even the piano ("the WWHWWWH thing is just how far apart the notes on a piano are, now look at how they're spaced on guitar, isn't that neat?"). Now... I'll watch the video and read what other people say lol. EDIT: Hah, neat, I went with the step before what the video says. While I'm at it, the second thing I'd have a student learn about music theory would be chord construction, but the WWHWWWH piece is, in my opinion, the very first block along anyone's "music theory journey."
Not sure if this qualifies as one thing.. But - Intervals. imo the most important concept in music theory, that, when understood well, explains chords, scales, dissonances, consonances, keys, progressions,.... If you ever wish to start learning more about music theory, definately begin with intervals. It's the most basic building block for overything else, imo.
The tonic dominant relationship. In classical harmony it's the basis for the whole system of movement and functional harmony. In pop/rock context its also extremely important. you can make any chord progression sound nice by throwing in some perfect cadences. you could even add that to this video explanation. that some chords in the key sound really good together.
Some may consider the following as two essentials, but I see them as one combined, tightly intertwined essential: - the major scale and its relation to the harmonized set of diatonic chord triads within the scale. Learn that as a foundation, and many other important aspects become far easier to understand - minor scales, relative minor, pentatonic scales and so on.
I gave the above answer *before* watching any further into your video than your opening invitation to suggest what one thing we might nominate for that "one" thing. It's reassuring that someone of your far greater knowledge would think along similar lines, not that I'm suddenly going to think I'm any kind of expert myself :=)
I was gong to say the exact same thing! Know that certain chords are in a key, and play them. This is all the theory knowledge that many musicians have.. So many players have written and played so many hit songs, based only on playing some chords in a certain key and that is all, no key changes, no odd chords, no lead guitar, no timing changes! I would bet most hit songs are like this! I mean seriously.. How many hits does Yngwie, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, etc have? It is rare that a complex skilled player has any hits! Hendrix, Allman Bros, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen are some of the very few long song, or long or fast guitar solo players, that ever had any hits at all.
Indeed I would like to see a video on WHEN/WHY NOTES OF A SCALE DON'T MATCH THE NOTES OF CHORDS. Simple common case is the pentatonic scale. The blues scale goes even further: You "can't" use the blues note in the bass line. The augmented scale, etc...
I think I first follow my online course from my teacher to learn basic guitar and later on I will start to learn all this. I think it will help a lot if you can play guitar to improve massively.
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The First (one) thing i will teach a person about music, is to learn his instrument at the ver best. Learning music theory will be much easier to apply fast and easy !! But i really do agree to teach the chords first !!
La cosa più importante da sapere è la Scala Maggiore. Una volta saputa la Scala Maggiore (con la giusta sequenza di Toni e semitoni), si possono imparare: gli Accordi Maggiori (formati da Primo, Terzo e Quinto Grado della Scala Maggiore), la Scala minore naturale (variando la sequenza di Toni e semitoni), e l'Armonizzazione della Scala Maggiore, cioè si possono imparare tantissime cose partendo da una sola (la Scala Maggiore).
Maybe that what sounds good (in the western system) comes from the overtone series. Just because it's a wonderful science / psychological idea. After that, chords are built on thirds: one note, skip one, etc.
If I had to teach only one thing, it would most likely be Intervals!! Because by knowing your intervals you can construct chords, scales, arpeggios, and is really useful! (I haven't watched the full video or read the comments yet....)
Harmony. Everyone needs to know how chords work together and how to move from one chord to another smoothly. Diatonic chords, borrowed, slash chords, extensions, suspensions, tritone subs, secondary dominants, negative harmony. It is so important.
Maybe the one thing would be the overtone series. Understanding it teaches you a lot about notes and harmony, why some harmonies some dissonant and others sound consonant. You have to know a lot about music to compose well though of course, much more than one thing
I thought about the exact same thing. That's the first to learn. Maybe I'd just add there how to determine which chords are minor and which are major so that they can find other types of chords within the same key.
Depends... if you play a stringed instrument maybe how to tune your instrument? Other than that, and you covered it here, is the "formula" , whole whole semi whole whole whole semi. Love your vids by the way 👍👍👍
Absolutely fantastic video you compiled, truly, you should be very proud; it's leagues above a lot of the puke I see posted. Thank you for not wasting time at the beginning of the video, with five minutes of unnecessary babble. Thank you for providing some excellent, well illustrated, material that effectively closed a point; then waiting until the END to solicit your website. Thank you for teaching theory that didn't skip over essential points that help make sense of what follows from what came before. Excellent.
Before: I hear 'your one thing / I will put forth my one thing... I would want to know, and understand the 'Modes', both in, 'Series and in, 'Parallel. ( That' "You can play any scale degree, from an fretboard location ") .
Does this work with other modes? The major is Ionian, the minor is Aeolian. Could I use a chord arrangement of major - minor - diminished - major - minor - minor - major and use the relevant intervals to write a chord progression in Mixolydian?
@@sarahpengilley5394 Thanks :) I'm trying to figure out modes after years of pentatonic scales and major chord progressions. Challenging but fascinating to see how everything fits together.
If you play in time you can literally play any note in any order in any tuning. I know I know, there’s so much more to it and it’s so difficult to explain just grab your noise maker and play your favorite song but using only the first note.. or chord if that’s the case.. seriously go do it then watch any live band better yet watch that Cory Wong video with the energetic camera guy I’ll fetch the link
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I don't think so. Keep mathematics out of music because in fine It's just a question of lyrism and your ears make the difference. Même Pythagore s'y est cassé le nez (quinte du loup) Zarlino et autre théoricien aussi et finalement on a un bon paquet de tempéraments divers. Ecoutez la world music et vous comprendrez ce que devient la précision harmonique selon les cultures.
@@capellovici ... this is what happen when I talk about 'math in music' then people understand 'math in tuning', and blame me because there is no perfect tuning and a good part of the emotional message of music only partially influenced by tuning. I did not mention tuning. I did not mean tuning. Clear enough?
The one thing is, and I don’t know the answer to this, is how the scales and notes arrive as the basis of our music systems. Are they arbitrary or inevitable; self evident or contrived,l; indisputable basics or simply the system which made it to top spot in the beautiful sounds arena?
at 4:20 ... Is that the reason that most music is either in major or minor and the other modes/scales are used much more rarely? Because the three most important chords are of the same quality and that makes them more stable and usable?
It is ONE of the reasons :) The main reason is that you can build more complex harmonic structures on major and minor rather than modes. Now to explain this sentence it will take a few hours of music theory... but the thing that you notice is related to this. Well spotted!
I gave almost the same answer. Still there are plenty of things that don't fit within the parameters of the Major scale steps. Although it does contain the minor and all of the other diatonic modes, the standard and Japanese pentatonic scales (all that I am aware of), and all of the chords and harmony contained in any diatonic key or mode (and even more info), there are also plenty of things that don't fit too, like the whole tone and diminished scales, the super locrian mode, the harmonic minor and Major scales, etc etc. *But,* even those are just a step away, so your point is more than valid.
If I could teach someone only ONE thing about music theory is that all that really matters is if THEY like how it sounds, then do it! Who cares what principles explain why it works if it sounds good? (In this context at least)
You use chords from harmonic minor (that's why it's called harmonic) over melodies from the natural minor. Harmonic minor only exists to give a major V chord.
@@Apfelstrudl Thanks. My point was rather about just saying "minor" is confusing, then it's always good to qualify it. Or maybe, when not qualified it always means minor natural?
I want to agree with this, it's just that I don't know how to use chords in the first place… So maybe that should be the second thing to learn, not the first.
Hi! Nice video. It's not the first I time see "let's ignore the diminished chord for moment". Why is that? Doesn't it sound good in a progression in that tonality?
Il Circolo delle Quinte è lo strumento "perfetto" per creare progressioni Diatoniche quanto poi ti piacciano le stesse "marmellate" è un'altra cosa,bisognerebbe avere un'infarinatura decente dell'armonia funzionale in modo da esser in grado di usare le sostituzioni (acordi presi in prestito dalla relativa Minore o le dominanti secondarie) a quel punto la tavolozza si espande in modo fantastico.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar when the youtuber replies even after the video has been uploaded for two years, you know it's a keeper. man you're helping a lot with my music theory knowledge, i'll be fucking great at my music school ! such a shame i don't have enough money to buy your course, you really are a great teacher
Back to basic fundamentals. Music is about relationships between sounds. This covers all pitch and time as well as others like emotional effects, timbre, socio-cultural aesthetics...
Why is the diminished chord always ignored in these explanations? I realize it’s not the easiest to play on the guitar, but that can’t be the only reason, can it?
It's because it's dissonant, so it needs to be resolved, so you need to know what chords to put before and after that. The other triads in the key are not dissonant, and can be used in any order.
Going through the exercise for yourself to figure out WHY those particular notes and chords are in that particular key (for all the keys) will do wonders for your understanding of music theory. Memorizing it is important, but you’ll actually understand it if you derive all the scales and chords yourself. And it’s really not difficult! Thanks for the great videos!
![INTERVALS Explained - Major Minor Perfect Augmented Diminished intervals [Music Theory]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V7wGIxpW5rM/mqdefault.jpg)
![INTERVALS Explained - Major Minor Perfect Augmented Diminished intervals [Music Theory]](/img/tr.png)
![This Is Why MODES Are So Confusing To Guitar Players [Music Theory]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8z_MwotLh1M/mqdefault.jpg)
Music theory is like an old paper road map. It can help you get to where you want to go faster than just heading down any random road. It can also show you many different paths to get there, and possibly interesting detours along the way. And it's very useful for when you meet other musicians to figure out if you're heading in the same direction, or can at least share the same road for a while. But it's only a map. It is neither the journey, nor the destination.
The “right” note is always a half step from the “wrong” note and if you don’t think any notes are “wrong” - congratulations... you’re a jazz musician.
And if you think noise is not wrong either... you're John Zorn and you just won a MacArthur Genius Grant!
Excellent one ! This is the kind of simple things I wished I figured out sooner. :)
There are no wrong notes. But there are inappropriate ones.
As a general rule that's wrong. For example can have a secondary dominant (let's say E in C major) and go to a minor or major secondary tonic (A or a) and both is correct.
Simon Gross Hence the quotes. Lets not miss the forest for the trees. :)
Only one thing? Learn the steps to the Major scale. The reason being, if you do that, you also are learning witch chords fit into a key, like you mentioned. But you also learn the steps to every key and all seven diatonic modes. Contained within this is also all of the pentatonic modes, from the standard minor and Major pentatonic, to the Japanese scales. All of this information is available to anyone who learns the steps to the Major scale.
Aylbdr Madison you beat me to it, I 100% agree, the major scale unlocks so much understanding of music theory.
This
First, let me say that you are brilliant, funny, and entertaining. Bravo!
Second, I agree with your ONE thing. Here's a simplified version:
C D E F G A B C...
Pick the C note, then picking every other note forward builds your chords. Then pick any note and going every other backwards shows you what chords that note goes in. Every other forward & Every other backward. Simple, no?
If you want to to play in minor, then start with A instead of C.
Whereas my version limits to only two keys, it does get the principle across, and yours applies to any key showing the player how to find the notes of any given key.
The great thing about our chosen ONE thing is that it is every thing one needs to know in order to write great songs!
“If it sounds good, it is good”-Duke Ellington. I want to know as much as I can about music theory but that’s the basic principle I would tell someone at the beginning. Music theory can help you understand why something sounds good and help you find other chords to try, but it doesn’t limit you. If it sounds good, it is good.
My one thing is to play everything in one key (like C major) and that way you learn how all the chords, intervals and combinations work.. and it helps with improvising.. and deciphering other songs such as cover versions..
As a music instructor, this is what I teach first. Getting a grasp on this will help you with everything else
...and harmonized triads and their inversions. I love playing them!
I'd pick the same as yours. The harmonization of the scale. Harmonic intervals. Triads. Extended chords.
The one thing I would teach people you have already covered in a video (can't remember which one). I would show people how to listen to a scale, and develop a sensitivity for hearing which notes are stable (Rt, 3rd 5th) and which ones are not (2nd 4th 6th 7th), and how to resolve the latter. This piece of knowledge is helpful both in writing chord progressions and in improv, where you essentially force yourself to pause on a "wrong" note (or, a none chord tone), and figure out how to resolve it before you move on to your next mistake.
Oooh, good one!
68plexi1 and as a bass player #2 is the start point, stop point and space between the notes is paramount. In fact, I would almost put that first as you can simply play a single note bass line. But where you place each kite, and importantly place the space between the notes will make a bassline pop.
I was filling in on bass for a mate’s classic rock original band. I was playing _against_ a phenomenal drummer. We just locked in hard from the get go. While I hadn’t learned all of the songs, I knew how he wrote and what he was likely to do.
So, halfway through a song, he throws a bass solo at me. The song is just a driving rock song, in Em (sometimes Dorian, sometimes Aolean) with a bit of a bounce in it and I have an incredible drummer to play off. I simply played on one note and had a rhythmic dialog with the drummer
When I got off stage, I had so many people come up to me afterwards and compliment me on my solo. I told them it was only one note. They didn’t believe me.
There is a huge difference to the drive of the band when the bass player understands where and how to place each note. You feel it, the band feels it and the audience feels it.
Strangely, it’s rarely talked about.
Learning that helped me.
Also secondary dominate, borrowed cords and his other video about negative harmonies.
I've always thought that the Circle of 5ths was the single most valuable piece of info. From that it's easy to figure out which chords work together, and it also expresses the way in which they most naturally resolve to the root. Proximity to the root suggests the likelihood or strength of a related chord, too. It's hard to find a song in western music that doesn't mostly use chords within 2 degrees of the root (counterclockwise) or 4 degrees moving clockwise. Simple songs stick within one degree. E.g. root: C, one degree counterclockwise (the 4th) is F, one degree clockwise is G. There are a gazillion (well, maybe a few less) songs using just those 3 chords. Helpful for transposition, too.
It took me a while for the lightbulb to go on, but when I finally understood modes it was a real gain in my knowledge.
Such a broad question, yet that’s why you asked it in this fundamentals series.
After you posed the question I paused the video and thought “Alright he’s probably talking about the circle of fifths, but if not it’s either how to stay in time or how to know which notes you’re ‘allowed’ to play.” Guess it was the last.
I’d have to agree that keys would be the sole thing someone must learn if they could only learn one thing. The rhythm will come with time, and the circle of fifths will only confuse someone if they have no other context, but if someone doesn’t know that you can’t just play any note or chord they wish, then they won’t ever be able to make an actual song other than by chance.
The one thing is: There really is way way more than one thing to learn about music theory. So if you want to learn music theory, don't expect to get it done by knowing only one thing about it. Or expect that one thing is so much more important than the rest of it that it won't matter that much whether you know the rest or not.
That is a GREAT point!
Damned, I was hoping to be an astronaut based on my understanding of gravity. Oh well back to the guitar.
chord scales would be my “ONE thing”. Piano players learn it fairly early on, but I NEVER see it used in guitar instruction. IMHO, all *beginning* music theory should be taught on the Piano, regardless of the instrument you *think* you want to play.
This is great information. Thanks for sharing!!! 🐰🤘👍🏼
Chord scales is what is taught to guitarists (in a roundabout way) as "modes". In my course Master of the Modes www.musictheoryforguitar.com/scalesandmodesguitarlessons.html I take a more direct approach to the problem (though I'm not calling it 'chord scales' in the course).
As for teaching theory on a piano, I'm afraid I have to disagree. While it may work for other instruments, I found that most guitar players are completely confused by theory on the piano and find it hard to relate it back to the fretboard when I teach guitarists. I prefer to teach theory on the fretboard: if you approach it the right way it's as easy as the keyboard, and more useful for guitar players.
MusicTheoryForGuitar Oh, I was just trying to contribute because I was prompted in the video to do so. No worries, man. You have your way, and I respect it. Thanks for the reply! I hope you sell lots of books!🐰✌️
@@JackTheRabbitMusic No problem at all - if anything, thank you for commenting! I was just answering with my opinion. I like having this frank exchange of opinions, no bad feelings on my part.
MusicTheoryForGuitar I guess I’m a strange guitar player, since I don’t only play guitar lol! 😂❤️
We do have something akin to that... the "C-A-G-E-D" system. Scales based upon certain common chord structures that are moveable. I do see your point with piano, though. I started out on trombone and tuba. so going to a treble clef was quite an experience at first!
Watched the vid, DL'd the pdf, did a quick read & play along with the book. It's time to learn this stuff. Subbed! Thank You!
This is the only way I do it, write the scale, write the chords, identify them with Roman numerals and voile you're done. I actually did this a few hrs ago, I'm currently dissecting (not schenkerian analysis principles) Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in C#m and all of his opening arpeggios and his kind of chord progression, I've inverted them, ie his first opening arpeggio is in the 2nd inversion, I've put it back to root position, thus far it actually sounds quite good and it still has Beethoven's style and character, it's actually good to dissect and understand a composers famous work rather than just play the notes, you actually learn the piece much faster than just reading the score.
The one thing I would teach someone is how a chord is built because I guess if you experiment enough with each chord youll notice which ones go together and which ones dont
Hi tommasic! Another awesomely simple approach... thank you... years ago I asked myself the same question? I found that knowing all of my intervals provided me with an awesome clarity of understanding music theory but your approaches are quickly filling in all the gaps keep going brother!!!
Think in Intervals. Everything seems so much easier when you think of scales that way. As important as it is, learning which individual notes are sharp or flat in every scale can get confusing. But learning which modes have sharps and flats just by knowing the intervals of the Major Scale really changes the game. C Aeolian (Natural Minor) - b3 b6 b7 is easier to remember than Cm - Eb Ab Bb.
I think relative pitch is the most important thing to learn (recognizing intervals)
I don't think it's possible to sum music up with just one thing, but this comes pretty close. I would say that key signatures, chords and intervals are actually three things, but it can be said they are all aspects of the theory of harmony so no argument there. However rhythm is also part of music and I wouldn't be able to describe music without that as well.
Thanks for these videos, I watch them all and I'm not even a guitar player! Good stuff.
I would demonstrate the sound of dominant moving to tonic, note that this is an example of tension and release, and then mention that this strong harmonic motion can be heard in so many examples of music.
Always very informative and explained in a way easy to understand like no one other does.
Just excellent and special.
Thank you
Always good stuff! Thanks for the academic experiment.
Co5ths/chords is the simplest way to start fast at making music. But really everything in music is tied to everything else so it's hard to draw boundaries of what would be included in this theoretical "one thing" of which you speak.
I feel that I would teach them a level higher than chords. I'd give an in-depth explanation of the '7 string long, 3 notes per string pattern (3nps)'.
3nps will show 1 full moveable key. It will show the quality (major or minor third) of each starting note of 3nps (therefor its relative chord).
It will allow very quick speed enhancement, which lends itself to finding (hearing) the correct notes at the correct time as you can simply hit more notes faster and therefor find your way (ear training) faster.
The scale (like all) repeats itself indefinitely, but in a very simple pattern; 3 consecutive strings of 2 whole steps, 2 consecutive strings of 124 fingerings, and 2 consecutive strings of 134 fingerings (then repeats).
And it shows each note as the first of 3 notes, the middle of 3 notes, and the last of 3 notes, turning them into clumps or quantum ideas which are easy for the mind to hold onto.
Top it off with a quick rundown of chord arpeggios and they'll probably get further than just chords, but with greater effort on their part. I know this paragraph adds a technical second "thing" but that brings me back to my first paragraph... it is all tied together.
Before seeing the rest of the video or reading any comments (to give as personal an answer as possible), I would teach tone distances between notes in a scale, at minimum the distances in the major scale (root FULL 2 FULL 3 HALF 4 FULL 5 FULL 6 FULL 7 HALF 8/octave, or as most write it, W W H W W W H). From there you can branch out into other modes (like relative minor), construct chords with a very simple bit of additional knowledge ('root+3rd+5th=basic chord'), learn how to improvise/write while staying in-key (this helps beginners who haven't developed an ear for more dissonant music like jazz or post-hardcore start to know how to 'sound good'), and is a good basic stepping block for learning the fretboard or even the piano ("the WWHWWWH thing is just how far apart the notes on a piano are, now look at how they're spaced on guitar, isn't that neat?"). Now... I'll watch the video and read what other people say lol.
EDIT: Hah, neat, I went with the step before what the video says. While I'm at it, the second thing I'd have a student learn about music theory would be chord construction, but the WWHWWWH piece is, in my opinion, the very first block along anyone's "music theory journey."
Exactly what came to my mind for the one thing I would teach...
Not sure if this qualifies as one thing.. But - Intervals. imo the most important concept in music theory, that, when understood well, explains chords, scales, dissonances, consonances, keys, progressions,.... If you ever wish to start learning more about music theory, definately begin with intervals. It's the most basic building block for overything else, imo.
I will say : practice🧘♂️
you could have the most complex chords in the world, but learning how to properly resolve the tension you make is gold.
The tonic dominant relationship. In classical harmony it's the basis for the whole system of movement and functional harmony. In pop/rock context its also extremely important. you can make any chord progression sound nice by throwing in some perfect cadences. you could even add that to this video explanation. that some chords in the key sound really good together.
I would have picked the exact same thing. So helpful and fundamental for beginners like me.
Some may consider the following as two essentials, but I see them as one combined, tightly intertwined essential:
- the major scale and its relation to the harmonized set of diatonic chord triads within the scale. Learn that as a foundation, and many other important aspects become far easier to understand - minor scales, relative minor, pentatonic scales and so on.
I gave the above answer *before* watching any further into your video than your opening invitation to suggest what one thing we might nominate for that "one" thing. It's reassuring that someone of your far greater knowledge would think along similar lines, not that I'm suddenly going to think I'm any kind of expert myself :=)
I was gong to say the exact same thing! Know that certain chords are in a key, and play them. This is all the theory knowledge that many musicians have.. So many players have written and played so many hit songs, based only on playing some chords in a certain key and that is all, no key changes, no odd chords, no lead guitar, no timing changes! I would bet most hit songs are like this! I mean seriously.. How many hits does Yngwie, Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth, etc have? It is rare that a complex skilled player has any hits! Hendrix, Allman Bros, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen are some of the very few long song, or long or fast guitar solo players, that ever had any hits at all.
Indeed I would like to see a video on WHEN/WHY NOTES OF A SCALE DON'T MATCH THE NOTES OF CHORDS. Simple common case is the pentatonic scale. The blues scale goes even further: You "can't" use the blues note in the bass line. The augmented scale, etc...
love it ! thank you and be safe !
I think I first follow my online course from my teacher to learn basic guitar and later on I will start to learn all this. I think it will help a lot if you can play guitar to improve massively.
The First (one) thing i will teach a person about music, is to learn his instrument at the ver best. Learning music theory will be much easier to apply fast and easy !! But i really do agree to teach the chords first !!
Start from I, end at I, and don't botch it up in between. If your are not sure, use the C scale.
La cosa più importante da sapere è la Scala Maggiore. Una volta saputa la Scala Maggiore (con la giusta sequenza di Toni e semitoni), si possono imparare: gli Accordi Maggiori (formati da Primo, Terzo e Quinto Grado della Scala Maggiore), la Scala minore naturale (variando la sequenza di Toni e semitoni), e l'Armonizzazione della Scala Maggiore, cioè si possono imparare tantissime cose partendo da una sola (la Scala Maggiore).
Maybe that what sounds good (in the western system) comes from the overtone series. Just because it's a wonderful science / psychological idea.
After that, chords are built on thirds: one note, skip one, etc.
If I had to teach only one thing, it would most likely be Intervals!! Because by knowing your intervals you can construct chords, scales, arpeggios, and is really useful! (I haven't watched the full video or read the comments yet....)
Harmony. Everyone needs to know how chords work together and how to move from one chord to another smoothly.
Diatonic chords, borrowed, slash chords, extensions, suspensions, tritone subs, secondary dominants, negative harmony.
It is so important.
Totally agree.
Maybe the one thing would be the overtone series. Understanding it teaches you a lot about notes and harmony, why some harmonies some dissonant and others sound consonant. You have to know a lot about music to compose well though of course, much more than one thing
That there are intervals that are tense and intervals that are relaxed. Scales, chords etc are extrapolated from this simple principle.
I thought about the exact same thing. That's the first to learn. Maybe I'd just add there how to determine which chords are minor and which are major so that they can find other types of chords within the same key.
Doesn't he already determine which are major and which are minor?
Depends... if you play a stringed instrument maybe how to tune your instrument?
Other than that, and you covered it here, is the "formula" , whole whole semi whole whole whole semi.
Love your vids by the way 👍👍👍
Absolutely fantastic video you compiled, truly, you should be very proud; it's leagues above a lot of the puke I see posted.
Thank you for not wasting time at the beginning of the video, with five minutes of unnecessary babble.
Thank you for providing some excellent, well illustrated, material that effectively closed a point; then waiting until the END to solicit your website.
Thank you for teaching theory that didn't skip over essential points that help make sense of what follows from what came before.
Excellent.
Every. Single. Video. All great and very helpfull
Great vid. Thank you.
Intervals
wonderful teaching method . Anyway,I feel for beginners it enough we teach only the primary chords like C,F and G 7th in C major and so on.
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Before: I hear 'your one thing / I will put forth my one thing... I would want to know, and understand the 'Modes', both in, 'Series and in, 'Parallel. ( That' "You can play any scale degree, from an fretboard location ") .
Great video thank you for this
The one thing that I think everyone should know is the difference between even temperament and pure temperament!🎸🎭🥁🕊🏴☠️😎💜🌎
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Does this work with other modes? The major is Ionian, the minor is Aeolian. Could I use a chord arrangement of major - minor - diminished - major - minor - minor - major and use the relevant intervals to write a chord progression in Mixolydian?
Yes thats how it works :-)
@@sarahpengilley5394 Thanks :) I'm trying to figure out modes after years of pentatonic scales and major chord progressions. Challenging but fascinating to see how everything fits together.
Incredibly interesting and helpful. Thanks !
Excellent advice!!! Well explained too :)
It is great thank you so much🙏
If you play in time you can literally play any note in any order in any tuning. I know I know, there’s so much more to it and it’s so difficult to explain just grab your noise maker and play your favorite song but using only the first note.. or chord if that’s the case.. seriously go do it then watch any live band better yet watch that Cory Wong video with the energetic camera guy I’ll fetch the link
Good music will also make sense mathematically.
Always.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar I don't think so. Keep mathematics out of music because in fine It's just a question of lyrism and your ears make the difference. Même Pythagore s'y est cassé le nez (quinte du loup) Zarlino et autre théoricien aussi et finalement on a un bon paquet de tempéraments divers. Ecoutez la world music et vous comprendrez ce que devient la précision harmonique selon les cultures.
@@capellovici ... this is what happen when I talk about 'math in music' then people understand 'math in tuning', and blame me because there is no perfect tuning and a good part of the emotional message of music only partially influenced by tuning. I did not mention tuning. I did not mean tuning. Clear enough?
I would teach the concept of intervals. Everything comes after it, melody, scales, modes, harmony, chords, inversions. That's it
The one thing is, and I don’t know the answer to this, is how the scales and notes arrive as the basis of our music systems. Are they arbitrary or inevitable; self evident or contrived,l; indisputable basics or simply the system which made it to top spot in the beautiful sounds arena?
That's a great question - with a complex answer. I'll see if I can make a video about it.
Awesome!
at 4:20 ...
Is that the reason that most music is either in major or minor and the other modes/scales are used much more rarely? Because the three most important chords are of the same quality and that makes them more stable and usable?
It is ONE of the reasons :) The main reason is that you can build more complex harmonic structures on major and minor rather than modes. Now to explain this sentence it will take a few hours of music theory... but the thing that you notice is related to this. Well spotted!
Really awesome video
Excellent lesson!
Really helpful tnx 😍
the structure of the diatonic scale
wwhwwwh Everything derives from there IMHO
Indeed 2:06
I gave almost the same answer. Still there are plenty of things that don't fit within the parameters of the Major scale steps. Although it does contain the minor and all of the other diatonic modes, the standard and Japanese pentatonic scales (all that I am aware of), and all of the chords and harmony contained in any diatonic key or mode (and even more info), there are also plenty of things that don't fit too, like the whole tone and diminished scales, the super locrian mode, the harmonic minor and Major scales, etc etc. *But,* even those are just a step away, so your point is more than valid.
Grazie mille!
Brilliant!!!
Intervals and ear training
Learn to sing anything you want to play....if you can sing it, you can play it.
This is gold
if u can play it slow u can play it fast
I’d probably just teach them the harmonic minor scale. It’s got pretty much everything that you need, all in one lovely scale!
Can you elaborate?
Is minor Scale such a major scale 6th degree? I mean, it’s first note is the same as the 6th major scale note
If I could teach someone only ONE thing about music theory is that all that really matters is if THEY like how it sounds, then do it! Who cares what principles explain why it works if it sounds good? (In this context at least)
Yes this is what I would say Thank you
My answer: circle of fifth
Where the notes are and what they sound like
When you talk about minor, which minor is that? Natural, Harmo, Melo, Others?
You use chords from harmonic minor (that's why it's called harmonic) over melodies from the natural minor. Harmonic minor only exists to give a major V chord.
@@Apfelstrudl Thanks. My point was rather about just saying "minor" is confusing, then it's always good to qualify it. Or maybe, when not qualified it always means minor natural?
@@Apfelstrudl I think the main goal of harmonic is to have a dominant 7 (more than just major) on the 5th degree, to resolve on the I minor.
@@ErixSamson V7 is just an alternative. V is the main thing needed.
I want to agree with this, it's just that I don't know how to use chords in the first place… So maybe that should be the second thing to learn, not the first.
Hi! Nice video. It's not the first I time see "let's ignore the diminished chord for moment". Why is that? Doesn't it sound good in a progression in that tonality?
It does not sound good "automatically" like the others. You need to know where to play it in the progression to make it sound good.
Il Circolo delle Quinte è lo strumento "perfetto" per creare progressioni Diatoniche quanto poi ti piacciano le stesse "marmellate" è un'altra cosa,bisognerebbe avere un'infarinatura decente dell'armonia funzionale in modo da esser in grado di usare le sostituzioni (acordi presi in prestito dalla relativa Minore o le dominanti secondarie) a quel punto la tavolozza si espande in modo fantastico.
voice leading is the thing everyone should know
That too! th-cam.com/video/KBdgTofTnEA/w-d-xo.html
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar when the youtuber replies even after the video has been uploaded for two years, you know it's a keeper.
man you're helping a lot with my music theory knowledge, i'll be fucking great at my music school !
such a shame i don't have enough money to buy your course, you really are a great teacher
I would teach. There are no wrong notes, only wrong times to play them. And sometimes there are no right times to play them.
Back to basic fundamentals. Music is about relationships between sounds. This covers all pitch and time as well as others like emotional effects, timbre, socio-cultural aesthetics...
Tension and release
It would have been be more easier if you would have used the circle of 5th, wouldn't it? Much respect and love to you
Is This theory can applicable for phrgian and all scale modes ?
Most of it can.
@@MusicTheoryForGuitar can u share some augmented chord theory with showing examples of possible please 🔥
To me, though it is a vast topic, the most interesting part of music theory is form.
i registered at your webpage to have the pdf but didnt recieve it till now.
Please check your spam folder. If it's not there, then write me at tommaso@musictheoryforguitar.com and I will send it to you manually.
Why is the diminished chord always ignored in these explanations? I realize it’s not the easiest to play on the guitar, but that can’t be the only reason, can it?
It's because it's dissonant, so it needs to be resolved, so you need to know what chords to put before and after that. The other triads in the key are not dissonant, and can be used in any order.
Going through the exercise for yourself to figure out WHY those particular notes and chords are in that particular key (for all the keys) will do wonders for your understanding of music theory. Memorizing it is important, but you’ll actually understand it if you derive all the scales and chords yourself. And it’s really not difficult! Thanks for the great videos!
Tommaso sei un fenomeno.
Pentatoniks?
I recommend the Numeral system to follow this lesson
Hey 7dim can be used as a dominant :(
Grante, Tommaso!
More cowbell!