This is a very good beginner's guide. I've found that many music theory teachers (for beginners) simply skip basic definitions, expecting a level of prior knowledge that isn't always obvious for the student. Despite, a basic foundation can even help students with prior knowledge to better grasp the more advanced teachings as well
This was put in a way that was very clear and easy to understand! It actually made me realize a couple of things that I'd always read about but never understood or put together!
Without a doubt the best music tutorial on the internet. I have been looking for something like this for 5 years. There are so many out there but they all conflict and do not tell you what is important. I cannot believe it is only 382 comments. It should be 382 thousand!!.
I would love if you could do a series of these to cover more ground. I’ve only had casual exposure to music theory and hearing the foundations laid out so clearly and concisely was very nice.
Well, I’ve been teaching myself piano for nearly a year now, and I can honestly say this is the singular most helpful music theory video I have EVER seen!
After years of playing guitar and singing i learned through dj ing Spotify and then thus applied it to finally learn keyboard which has all sorts of instruments. Problem was relation and application of a different scale in piano
In high school I was in Choir. Our voices easily sharpens and flattens. However trying to learn piano without music theory has made my journey a complicated one. I thought I knew how to read music; now I feel musically illiterate. Your videos have opened a new world to me. Thank You. ( I'm 54 years old touching a piano for the 1st time.)
What a perfect teacher you are ! Feeding all that is necessary for a complete beginner, Specific and to the point. No unnecessary boasting ! Really commendable ..All the best to you. May God Almighty bless you abundantly.
As still a (very) beginner, this has put stuff I kinda already knew or was aware of, in a new light, way easier to process and apply on a daily basis. Thank you!
I studied music all my life, I thought this would bring me nothing, but you never know when you’re gonna learn something new, even the way you put together all this information is amazing.
This is great! My younger sister got a keyboard for Christmas, and her music lessons only start tomorrow, so I was playing (or rather, playing with) her keyboard since she got it, and I really needed something like this, even if I already knew (or rather, thought I knew well enough) all music theory concepts that were presented. The sponsor is also very convenient. Thank you so much!
I literally just decided to start learning music theory a few days ago (in my 60s) and have watched several videos so far. You did a great job and explaining the true basics in an easy-to-understand way. Kudos to you! I want to know how in the Hell people even came up with all this stuff (major, minor, chords, perfect fifth, scales, etc.). I equate it to the people who "developed" calculus and other types of mathematics. I don't understand how someone can come up with a concept this complex.
Thanks for the bit at the end on notation, it brought back what I learned 60 years ago in middle school band. I will save this video and refer to it often until I have committed it to memory.
Oh my. MANY years ago as a small child I took piano lessons. I vaguely remembered most of it. However, I was just getting into the theory when I stopped. This tied it all together (the tones and semitones) and helped me make sense of it all. Thank you so much. And, thank you for all your other videos. I'm not a professional or even amature, but the technical aspect that you bring for me, an engineer, is very interesting.
English is even not my native language, but this video helped me more than 8 years of (basic) musical theory in primary and middle school in my native language.
I suspect this is more a post-mortem link that the actual reason why the G clef looks the way it is. For a number of reasons. 1- I suspect that the G clef was invented in a time and place where the notes were not called by letters but by names, so this would be a Sol clef, and 2- the other clefs don't resemble their letters at all (take for example the F clef or the F clef).
@@adb012 It's a G, not an S. An S would flow in the opposite way. And the bass clef is a stylized F, the dots surrounding the F line of that staff making up the branches of the F. Google the history of the bass and treble clefs, and you'll see in the images that this is true. Even if you assume it to be the Sol-Fa scale (again, the G is not an S-the integration symbol in calculus shows a more correct stylized S, symbolizing "Sum"), F is Fa-denoted by the same letter.
@@hektor6766 ... I didn't say, and I don't think, that it's an S. I just said I don't think it's a G. I can be wrong on that of course. But not on something I didn't say.
Holy shit why is this so easy to understand all of a sudden? Your teaching style is amazing. Idk if it's the graphics on screen or the way you explain it or what it is but I've been trying to figure out the most basic concepts in music theory for months on end at this point and nothing has helped me understand it as much as this video. THANK YOU 🙏
Could you do a video about more advanced topics? At least in the States, many people were in the school band or orchestra, so they know a lot of this stuff. But what should we learn next, after the basics?
I grew up playing trumpet . . . now I realize that only piano, guitar, and harp can play chords. Now I'm learning guitar (wish it was piano) and learning music for the first time. No one does that voodoo that you do so well !
An easier way to count intervals (in my opinion) is by looking at how many keys are in between the interval you want. A minor 3rd will always have 2 keys (including #/b notes) between the root and interval, and a major 3rd will have 3. I know it sounds like the same way of counting, but this way can count by looking instead of feeling, if you know what I mean. This can be applied to any interval. Basically just subtract 1 from how many semitones it is from the root
Hi David, I have learned so much from your videos! I'd love to see a video on the different types of outros in songs and generally how to nicely end a song, what different types there are etc.
That was intense! But much appreciated. I've no doubt this'll help me as I'm writing songs again for the first time in many a year. Your channel is marvelous!
I use an absolute numbering system of my own invention instead of the classical relative numbering system. The 12 notes are numbered 1 to 12. In the key of C the c note is 1, c# is 2, d is 3, d# is 4 . . . b is 12. You call the C major chord as the first, the third and the fifth. For me it's 1, 5 & 8. The C major pentatonic is 1, 3, 5, 8 & 10. This is a far simplier system that makes intervals apparent as well as the topology of scales. eg comparing the C dorian (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11) to C major pentatonic (1, 3, 5, 8 & 10). This works for all keys. Music is about timing (space) and intervals (reach) and absolute numbering plainly shows the reach. Dorian has asymmetrical runs; 1, 3 & 4 and 3, 4 & 6 and 8, 10 & 11 and 10, 11 & 13 and symmetrical runs 4, 6 & 8 and 6, 8 & 10. My guess is the inventors of music theory were very smart people who didn't give a rat's arse if the lesser breeds could not follow their unnecessarily convoluted structure. .
This was excellent. I've never formally taken music lessons, and nibbled about theory at the sides. This made everything make sense. I will use this as a go-to reference. So well done. Thank-you.
I studied piano at school for ~3 years but the teacher never taught me most of music theory, not even the basics except for reading, so now that im picking back up the hobby, watching this video made a lot of stuff make sense Thanks very much
I've watched all David's videos for years, so I thought that I have to watch this also, although being so basic I won't learn anything new. Well, wrong. The very last thing with accidentals lasting the whole bar was new to me. So the full series is still perfect, I've learnt something from every single video.
Didn’t know that all major chords were made of the same intervals. This’ll be so useful for trying to figure out chords, instead of using an app with all the chords. Been binging your content and it’s really been great for learning
This was unbelievably helpful! I have pretty much zero prior knowledge and experience, and I really want to learn music theory so that maybe I can learn how to play instruments more effectively! Great job! Your teaching style would make all this stuff I'm facing so much more fluid to learn!
I ended up already knowing everything covered in this video but it was a good reminder of something things I tend to forget about and over-complicate, such as the way scales and keys are constructed. Once I learned the circle of fifths, I've mostly used that and/or memorisation, but had forgotten that you can just use TTSTTTS etc
I knew almost none of that. I've been a music lover and casual guitar player for 20 years, but I'd never had one minute of theory or lessons. So this was wildly helpful!
Converted this to mp4 then looped the 7 seconds over and over. That ish go hard “cause it’s my turn , my turn, give me back my bread”. Pure motivation for the bounce back😂
Thank you so much!! I have been on a break from teaching music for almost 4 years. I’m just getting back into it now, and felt anxious about being rusty. This video was the perfect primer for me to review everything and remember how I used to explain them to students. Also picked up a couple nuances so thank you so much!!!
Informative video! I’ve been playing for 2 years and I still learn something new from you. Thanks to all I’ve learned, I’m now brave enough and performing for others (free of course😂). Thanks for helping me achieve my dream. Namaste from Miami.
Omg thank you!!! U actually explaine what some of the symbols in sightreading mean. I had a hard time understanding why the notes started getting chained together..
This is amazing content. I’ve always been intimidated by music theory and avoided it completely. Obviously that has severely limited my ability to understand and play music. So thank you for opening this door for me. Your videos are awesome.
I learned most of this back in middle school, but it bored me to years because it was explained, but not visualized. I'm a visual learner so seeing these graphics made it INSTANTLY make sense to me and I can't wait to apply this next time I'm trying to figure out a song on guitar, piano, etc. Thanks for the great explanation!
Been following this channel for a couple of years now and have CRAVED this information. So pleased you did it. Left my seven year old to watch it and he was mesmerised, loved the whole thing especially showing examples of chord progressions (we were both disappointed you left out Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry in the I V vi IV though lol! I'd love more of these, I was suprised how much I knew but can't quite seem to work out what my knowledge gap is.
Phenomenal video, man. I've been needing this for a long time. I can expand into the individual sections now in a more focused way. I've always had a hard time with instruments and learning music and once I started listening to people use theory, the relationship between notes started to make kore sense but in a way that I obviously needed more info to understand. I def feel grounded in the basics now. Thank you!
Thank you SO much for this David. I've been sniffing at music theory for a while, but many other sources spend an ungodly amount of time on each little subject, and I end up not getting the bigger picture. This style of condensed crash course is really helpful to get the big picture crystal clear. I won't remember how many semitones are in each interval, but now I know I can just look it up.
What a brilliant video. Anyone wanting to learn music theory should watch this before even picking up an instrument, exercise book or sheet music of any kind. Bravo!
I really like this video. I went through your ArtMaster theory course, and these two presentations really complement each other. One thing I noted, though, was that the process of using triads to build chords which you presented here was easier for me to understand and learn. In your ArtMaster class, you talked about what the difference was, note by note, between major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords, but you didn't show the triad building blocks that you do here. Same for the 7th chords. Thanks for all the work you do to make music understandable. I look forward for each new discussion/class/explanation you make.
Why is this not the very first video any child ever learning western music is ever shown. SO MANY YEARS of confusion and rote memorization could've been saved if this video had just been provided right at the beginning!
Great video! I play a really basic guitar and now I'm starting with piano/keyboard. All my life I saw guitar tabs with Cmaj and had no clue what it meant. That alone made the video for me. Thanks!
if i only see this when im still a beginner. This will save me a whole lot of time learning from scratch. Especially on the semitone combining into chord one.
David your videos are helping me learn music theory. I read music and play the piano but no know chords at all. Not necessary if you can read music, yes? Anyway would you consider making on online course. I have the Beato book and it’s far too complicated. He talks about the Lydian Mode 12 pages in and has not defined the word mode yet. So I’m have to use ChatGPT to answer questions that could in the book. Anyway just an idea. Bye. And do some videos on John Williams please.
I believe you also should’ve mentioned that each note is a 12th-root of 2 multiple above the one below it, so when you go the full 12 notes, it doubles (12-root of 2 to the 12th power = 2) So A440Hz * 12throot(2) = A#466.16Hz, and A#466.16Hz * 12throot(2) = B493.88Hz
I agree with Berserk Asura (especially the bit about the relationship between intervals and chords/ scales, etc 👍) David posts so many varied and informative/ thought provoking videos
have a question, can you confirm below? in Taiwan Hong Kong Singapore China, many are using a “simplified sheet music” (invented about 100 years ago by a person in Europe). It uses “Arabic numbers” 1234567 to represent do re mi fa su la ti. It seems that it is a good system for melody vocal, which is mostly for pop music. But for piano playing, 5-line-staff is still more direct and therefore better. But now I feel that it is also very good to use it together with 5-line-staff! Because it helps us to firmly tie 1234567 with movable do solfège together from the very beginning and deep in our mind. The key is, do solfège is not “sorted” and therefore less useful in music-thinking. That is why we need 1234567, in addition to do solfège itself.
Thanks for this very handy explanation of basic music theory. I have never learned to play an instrument before but always wanted to learn to play the piano. I have just ordered a keyboard and this video is ideal to learn the basic terminology. It will be a steep learning curve, but I'm going to try. Good exercise for the grey matter! 🙂
This is one of the greatest music theory video ever made, considering the short time of course! Is there a way to like this video again? I must have watched 5 times already and I want to give it a thumb up again 😂
Thank you so much for this video, I restarted my attempts at piano since childhood , only to be totally confused…where had the crochets .,quavers, demi- semiquavers etc gone 😢 this was a new language. 🥴 Whats a d7th 😳 I have Found your very helpful video and suddenly I can understand again. At 80 years old I can feel hopeful of improving my brain cells 👍
The names of the intervals seem a bit mysterious until you realize that (major/minor)Nth means the interval between the root note of the major/minor scale and the Nth note. Normally when you measure an interval in semitones, it is a true distance, with unison being zero, but for counting intervals in Nths (so to speak) you are counting starting at 1, so unison is "first", the next note in the scale is "second" etc. So a major third is the interval from, say, (using C major scale) C through D (second) to E (third), a distance of 4 semitones. A minor third is the interval from, say, (using A minor scale) A through B (second) to C (third), a distance of 3 semitones. A fifth is called "perfect" because if is the same number of semitones between the root and 5th note in either major or minor scale. Calling it "perfect" sort of implies that there might be some other type of fifth but there isn't, although perhaps there is an archaic meaning of "perfect" that means "the only one"...
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In case you're working on another "songs based on classical music," I think Kevin Kiner's track "Omega's Theme" from The Bad Batch partially uses THAXTED (i.e. the theme from Holst's "Jupiter").
Spledidly comprehensive. David, I love how You started w/the "A" note. Question: Why wasn't the "C Major" scale labeled "A"? Not to rewrite the Bard's literature, or change any established works. It just seems that the beginning should have been "A" (at least "A minor" has the same notes as "C Major").
David thank you for this show and tell video. my mind needs a simple explanation of our musical system that becomes so obvious when it’s stacked piece by piece. you are an expert explainer. thank you so much for building my foundation of understanding
Do I know this already? Yes. Am I still going to watch the whole thing? Also yes.
Same
Same, but I’m just hoping to still learn something haha
Facts
I know it, but now I know it more
Ditto
This is a very good beginner's guide. I've found that many music theory teachers (for beginners) simply skip basic definitions, expecting a level of prior knowledge that isn't always obvious for the student. Despite, a basic foundation can even help students with prior knowledge to better grasp the more advanced teachings as well
Glad it was helpful!
This was put in a way that was very clear and easy to understand! It actually made me realize a couple of things that I'd always read about but never understood or put together!
Without a doubt the best music tutorial on the internet. I have been looking for something like this for 5 years. There are so many out there but they all conflict and do not tell you what is important. I cannot believe it is only 382 comments. It should be 382 thousand!!.
I would love if you could do a series of these to cover more ground. I’ve only had casual exposure to music theory and hearing the foundations laid out so clearly and concisely was very nice.
I'd love that as well!
i would love it too!!!
They always leave out the main bulk of other music theory, like all the other notations and what they mean
Well, I’ve been teaching myself piano for nearly a year now, and I can honestly say this is the singular most helpful music theory video I have EVER seen!
After years of playing guitar and singing i learned through dj ing Spotify and then thus applied it to finally learn keyboard which has all sorts of instruments. Problem was relation and application of a different scale in piano
I'm a beginner piano player and your explaination of major and minor chords, combined with the visuals is the best I've seen.
Thank you
In high school I was in Choir. Our voices easily sharpens and flattens. However trying to learn piano without music theory has made my journey a complicated one. I thought I knew how to read music; now I feel musically illiterate. Your videos have opened a new world to me. Thank You. ( I'm 54 years old touching a piano for the 1st time.)
57 years on this planet, and you have unlocked the rudiments of music for me finally in half an hour. God bless you, sir. I am weeping with joy.
This is like the spark notes of your whole channel. You explain everything perfectly, there will be many more musicians because of you.
What a perfect teacher you are ! Feeding all that is necessary for a complete beginner, Specific and to the point. No unnecessary boasting ! Really commendable ..All the best to you. May God Almighty bless you abundantly.
As still a (very) beginner, this has put stuff I kinda already knew or was aware of, in a new light, way easier to process and apply on a daily basis. Thank you!
I studied music all my life, I thought this would bring me nothing, but you never know when you’re gonna learn something new, even the way you put together all this information is amazing.
Hands down the best music theory explanation I have ever seen! So clear, precise and so well presented fantastic!
This is great! My younger sister got a keyboard for Christmas, and her music lessons only start tomorrow, so I was playing (or rather, playing with) her keyboard since she got it, and I really needed something like this, even if I already knew (or rather, thought I knew well enough) all music theory concepts that were presented. The sponsor is also very convenient. Thank you so much!
I literally just decided to start learning music theory a few days ago (in my 60s) and have watched several videos so far. You did a great job and explaining the true basics in an easy-to-understand way. Kudos to you!
I want to know how in the Hell people even came up with all this stuff (major, minor, chords, perfect fifth, scales, etc.). I equate it to the people who "developed" calculus and other types of mathematics. I don't understand how someone can come up with a concept this complex.
Thanks for the bit at the end on notation, it brought back what I learned 60 years ago in middle school band. I will save this video and refer to it often until I have committed it to memory.
Jeez, you've just accomplished in 30 mins what none of my music teachers in school could. Thanks so much for making these.
Oh my. MANY years ago as a small child I took piano lessons. I vaguely remembered most of it. However, I was just getting into the theory when I stopped. This tied it all together (the tones and semitones) and helped me make sense of it all. Thank you so much. And, thank you for all your other videos. I'm not a professional or even amature, but the technical aspect that you bring for me, an engineer, is very interesting.
English is even not my native language, but this video helped me more than 8 years of (basic) musical theory in primary and middle school in my native language.
Excellent 😀😀
I never knew the treble clef symbol was a stylised "G". That's what I love about David's vids...I always learn something new.
😊😊😊
I suspect this is more a post-mortem link that the actual reason why the G clef looks the way it is. For a number of reasons. 1- I suspect that the G clef was invented in a time and place where the notes were not called by letters but by names, so this would be a Sol clef, and 2- the other clefs don't resemble their letters at all (take for example the F clef or the F clef).
@@adb012 It's a G, not an S. An S would flow in the opposite way. And the bass clef is a stylized F, the dots surrounding the F line of that staff making up the branches of the F. Google the history of the bass and treble clefs, and you'll see in the images that this is true. Even if you assume it to be the Sol-Fa scale (again, the G is not an S-the integration symbol in calculus shows a more correct stylized S, symbolizing "Sum"), F is Fa-denoted by the same letter.
@@hektor6766 ... I didn't say, and I don't think, that it's an S. I just said I don't think it's a G. I can be wrong on that of course. But not on something I didn't say.
Holy shit why is this so easy to understand all of a sudden? Your teaching style is amazing. Idk if it's the graphics on screen or the way you explain it or what it is but I've been trying to figure out the most basic concepts in music theory for months on end at this point and nothing has helped me understand it as much as this video. THANK YOU 🙏
This is like a revision lesson of your course. Much appreciated. :)
A very neat summation of a lot of fundamental theory! A great presentation, too - your slides and animations are so clear!
Could you do a video about more advanced topics? At least in the States, many people were in the school band or orchestra, so they know a lot of this stuff. But what should we learn next, after the basics?
I grew up playing trumpet . . . now I realize that only piano, guitar, and harp can play chords. Now I'm learning guitar (wish it was piano) and learning music for the first time.
No one does that voodoo that you do so well !
An easier way to count intervals (in my opinion) is by looking at how many keys are in between the interval you want. A minor 3rd will always have 2 keys (including #/b notes) between the root and interval, and a major 3rd will have 3. I know it sounds like the same way of counting, but this way can count by looking instead of feeling, if you know what I mean. This can be applied to any interval. Basically just subtract 1 from how many semitones it is from the root
Hi David, I have learned so much from your videos! I'd love to see a video on the different types of outros in songs and generally how to nicely end a song, what different types there are etc.
Agree!!
That would actually be awesome !
David is the 🐐
❤
That was intense! But much appreciated. I've no doubt this'll help me as I'm writing songs again for the first time in many a year.
Your channel is marvelous!
I use an absolute numbering system of my own invention instead of the classical relative numbering system.
The 12 notes are numbered 1 to 12. In the key of C the c note is 1, c# is 2, d is 3, d# is 4 . . . b is 12.
You call the C major chord as the first, the third and the fifth. For me it's 1, 5 & 8. The C major pentatonic is 1, 3, 5, 8 & 10.
This is a far simplier system that makes intervals apparent as well as the topology of scales.
eg comparing the C dorian (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11) to C major pentatonic (1, 3, 5, 8 & 10). This works for all keys.
Music is about timing (space) and intervals (reach) and absolute numbering plainly shows the reach.
Dorian has asymmetrical runs; 1, 3 & 4 and 3, 4 & 6 and 8, 10 & 11 and 10, 11 & 13 and symmetrical runs 4, 6 & 8 and 6, 8 & 10.
My guess is the inventors of music theory were very smart people who didn't give a rat's arse if the lesser breeds could not follow their unnecessarily convoluted structure. .
This was excellent. I've never formally taken music lessons, and nibbled about theory at the sides. This made everything make sense. I will use this as a go-to reference. So well done. Thank-you.
30mins of my life very well spent. Easy to understand theory, finally 🙌 🙏
I studied piano at school for ~3 years but the teacher never taught me most of music theory, not even the basics except for reading, so now that im picking back up the hobby, watching this video made a lot of stuff make sense
Thanks very much
I learned all of this over 4 years ago however having an easy overall lesson to come back to is a welcome addition!
I've watched all David's videos for years, so I thought that I have to watch this also, although being so basic I won't learn anything new. Well, wrong. The very last thing with accidentals lasting the whole bar was new to me. So the full series is still perfect, I've learnt something from every single video.
Didn’t know that all major chords were made of the same intervals. This’ll be so useful for trying to figure out chords, instead of using an app with all the chords. Been binging your content and it’s really been great for learning
This was unbelievably helpful! I have pretty much zero prior knowledge and experience, and I really want to learn music theory so that maybe I can learn how to play instruments more effectively! Great job! Your teaching style would make all this stuff I'm facing so much more fluid to learn!
I ended up already knowing everything covered in this video but it was a good reminder of something things I tend to forget about and over-complicate, such as the way scales and keys are constructed. Once I learned the circle of fifths, I've mostly used that and/or memorisation, but had forgotten that you can just use TTSTTTS etc
I knew almost none of that. I've been a music lover and casual guitar player for 20 years, but I'd never had one minute of theory or lessons. So this was wildly helpful!
Converted this to mp4 then looped the 7 seconds over and over. That ish go hard “cause it’s my turn , my turn, give me back my bread”. Pure motivation for the bounce back😂
since watching your channel i always hoped for more music theory lesson videos, so glad you’ve done this!
Thank you so much!! I have been on a break from teaching music for almost 4 years. I’m just getting back into it now, and felt anxious about being rusty. This video was the perfect primer for me to review everything and remember how I used to explain them to students. Also picked up a couple nuances so thank you so much!!!
Informative video! I’ve been playing for 2 years and I still learn something new from you. Thanks to all I’ve learned, I’m now brave enough and performing for others (free of course😂). Thanks for helping me achieve my dream. Namaste from Miami.
Omg thank you!!! U actually explaine what some of the symbols in sightreading mean. I had a hard time understanding why the notes started getting chained together..
This must be the easiest to understand video on the subject on the entire platform. Everything just makes sense. Thank you!
This is amazing content. I’ve always been intimidated by music theory and avoided it completely. Obviously that has severely limited my ability to understand and play music. So thank you for opening this door for me. Your videos are awesome.
I know how to play piano but never really knew the keys, scales or intervals, really helpful
You're my favourite music education channel on TH-cam. Thank you so much for all that you do
Wow, thank you!
I learned most of this back in middle school, but it bored me to years because it was explained, but not visualized. I'm a visual learner so seeing these graphics made it INSTANTLY make sense to me and I can't wait to apply this next time I'm trying to figure out a song on guitar, piano, etc. Thanks for the great explanation!
Been following this channel for a couple of years now and have CRAVED this information. So pleased you did it. Left my seven year old to watch it and he was mesmerised, loved the whole thing especially showing examples of chord progressions (we were both disappointed you left out Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry in the I V vi IV though lol! I'd love more of these, I was suprised how much I knew but can't quite seem to work out what my knowledge gap is.
Phenomenal video, man. I've been needing this for a long time. I can expand into the individual sections now in a more focused way. I've always had a hard time with instruments and learning music and once I started listening to people use theory, the relationship between notes started to make kore sense but in a way that I obviously needed more info to understand. I def feel grounded in the basics now. Thank you!
Took me two years of choir to learn this- and it was nicely and concisely laid out in front of me in 30 minutes.
Thank you SO much for this David. I've been sniffing at music theory for a while, but many other sources spend an ungodly amount of time on each little subject, and I end up not getting the bigger picture. This style of condensed crash course is really helpful to get the big picture crystal clear. I won't remember how many semitones are in each interval, but now I know I can just look it up.
What a brilliant video. Anyone wanting to learn music theory should watch this before even picking up an instrument, exercise book or sheet music of any kind. Bravo!
Thank you! Tried learning music theory before but this really is laid out in an easy way to understand! Cheers!
I swear, this is months if music class in 30 minutes and i retain the information so much easier. Thank you very much, Mr. Bennett.
FACE was really one of the most useful things i've learnt in a long time about music. Amazing content!
I really like this video. I went through your ArtMaster theory course, and these two presentations really complement each other. One thing I noted, though, was that the process of using triads to build chords which you presented here was easier for me to understand and learn. In your ArtMaster class, you talked about what the difference was, note by note, between major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords, but you didn't show the triad building blocks that you do here. Same for the 7th chords.
Thanks for all the work you do to make music understandable. I look forward for each new discussion/class/explanation you make.
im not even a native english speaker but i learned more from this video than any other teaching lesson in my native language
Awesome lesson!! Brings a lot of coherence to the tiny pieces of scattered theory I had! Thanks a lot!
Why is this not the very first video any child ever learning western music is ever shown. SO MANY YEARS of confusion and rote memorization could've been saved if this video had just been provided right at the beginning!
Great video! I play a really basic guitar and now I'm starting with piano/keyboard. All my life I saw guitar tabs with Cmaj and had no clue what it meant. That alone made the video for me. Thanks!
This is so good man. You're actually making real life teachers quite obsolete this way. But to my great advantage you are, so thank you!
Wow dude you have a gift for teaching. I’ve always had trouble with music theory but it clicked after watching you explain it. Thank you 🙏
Jfc. This has made things so much easier not only to grasp but to explain. Thank you so much for this.
Hi David thank you so much for your content it's so interesting and your presentation makes it even better!
Thanks!
This is awesome 😎 thanks so much very helpful 🎹
Thanks 😊
Thank you for this! I’m one of your subscribers who is not a musician but is fascinated by music theory.
First time I learned so much in less than 30 mins…thanks 😊
Excellent introduction to basic theory. I especially like you approach to chord structure in term of intervals of semi-tones.
Thanks so much this helped out a lot I feel more confident going into my test tomorrow 😭🙏
if i only see this when im still a beginner. This will save me a whole lot of time learning from scratch. Especially on the semitone combining into chord one.
Amazing. You went through some stuff I didn't know in such little time. You make me a better musician and a teacher.
This video one of the most helping and understandable one for me. Thanks :D
Great!
Didn’t have a better video on scales and theory,thank you for helping!
This is probably the easiest and most straightforward explanation of music theory I’ve seen so far
I'm picking music theory back up after many years, thank you for the refresher!
went to music school and never learnt so in depth like this
16:34 GET OUT OF MY HEAD GET OUT OF MY HEAD
David your videos are helping me learn music theory. I read music and play the piano but no know chords at all. Not necessary if you can read music, yes? Anyway would you consider making on online course. I have the Beato book and it’s far too complicated. He talks about the Lydian Mode 12 pages in and has not defined the word mode yet. So I’m have to use ChatGPT to answer questions that could in the book. Anyway just an idea. Bye. And do some videos on John Williams please.
The major/minor and semitone explanation blew my mind as someone just learning theory
This is brilliant! You are such a fantastic teacher. You made all of this so easy to understand. Thank You!!
Wow David das war so viel gute Information in so kurzer Zeit.🙏🎶
I have been trying to learn music theory and have been very confused until now. Wow, what a well done video. I get it now!
This is an excellent video. I think it’s perfect. It’s the best explanation of music theory I’ve ever heard! Very nice job!!
Thank you 😊
one of the best condensed music theory videos I've found so far! Amazing channel
I believe you also should’ve mentioned that each note is a 12th-root of 2 multiple above the one below it, so when you go the full 12 notes, it doubles (12-root of 2 to the 12th power = 2)
So A440Hz * 12throot(2) = A#466.16Hz, and A#466.16Hz * 12throot(2) = B493.88Hz
I agree with Berserk Asura (especially the bit about the relationship between intervals and chords/ scales, etc 👍)
David posts so many varied and informative/ thought provoking videos
Just an incredible, concise yet thorough overview! A1 yet again Mr.Bennett!
have a question, can you confirm below?
in Taiwan Hong Kong Singapore China, many are using a “simplified sheet music” (invented about 100 years ago by a person in Europe). It uses “Arabic numbers” 1234567 to represent do re mi fa su la ti. It seems that it is a good system for melody vocal, which is mostly for pop music. But for piano playing, 5-line-staff is still more direct and therefore better. But now I feel that it is also very good to use it together with 5-line-staff! Because it helps us to firmly tie 1234567 with movable do solfège together from the very beginning and deep in our mind. The key is, do solfège is not “sorted” and therefore less useful in music-thinking. That is why we need 1234567, in addition to do solfège itself.
Also, pentatonic is popular in “world music” in ancient China. It is amazing to see the basic theory can be so powerful.
Also, when we memorize chord progressions, we can and should remember them by solfège, not by numbers. It is more musical and easier to.
Thanks for this very handy explanation of basic music theory. I have never learned to play an instrument before but always wanted to learn to play the piano. I have just ordered a keyboard and this video is ideal to learn the basic terminology. It will be a steep learning curve, but I'm going to try. Good exercise for the grey matter! 🙂
This is one of the greatest music theory video ever made, considering the short time of course! Is there a way to like this video again? I must have watched 5 times already and I want to give it a thumb up again 😂
Best video for music theory in 30 minutes, impressive
Thank you so much for this video, I restarted my attempts at piano since childhood , only to be totally confused…where had the crochets .,quavers, demi- semiquavers etc gone 😢 this was a new language. 🥴 Whats a d7th 😳
I have Found your very helpful video and suddenly I can understand again. At 80 years old I can feel hopeful of improving my brain cells 👍
The names of the intervals seem a bit mysterious until you realize that (major/minor)Nth means the interval between the root note of the major/minor scale and the Nth note. Normally when you measure an interval in semitones, it is a true distance, with unison being zero, but for counting intervals in Nths (so to speak) you are counting starting at 1, so unison is "first", the next note in the scale is "second" etc.
So a major third is the interval from, say, (using C major scale) C through D (second) to E (third), a distance of 4 semitones.
A minor third is the interval from, say, (using A minor scale) A through B (second) to C (third), a distance of 3 semitones.
A fifth is called "perfect" because if is the same number of semitones between the root and 5th note in either major or minor scale.
Calling it "perfect" sort of implies that there might be some other type of fifth but there isn't, although perhaps there is an archaic meaning of "perfect" that means "the only one"...
wow thank you! The simplest that i’ve ever watched
Great video. I have a lot to try and remember and put into practice whenever I can finally get an instrument to do so on.
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In case you're working on another "songs based on classical music," I think Kevin Kiner's track "Omega's Theme" from The Bad Batch partially uses THAXTED (i.e. the theme from Holst's "Jupiter").
Spledidly comprehensive. David, I love how You started w/the "A" note. Question: Why wasn't the "C Major" scale labeled "A"? Not to rewrite the Bard's literature, or change any established works. It just seems that the beginning should have been "A" (at least "A minor" has the same notes as "C Major").
😊 1:23 1:23 1:23 1:24 1:24
David thank you for this show and tell video. my mind needs a simple explanation of our musical system that becomes so obvious when it’s stacked piece by piece. you are an expert explainer. thank you so much for building my foundation of understanding