Music Theory For Dummies

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.

• Introduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 3Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part 1: Getting Started with Music Theory 5Chapter 1: What Is Music Theory, Anyway? 7Unearthing Music Theory’s Beginnings 8Putting the Spotlight on Music Theory Fundamentals 9Understanding the foundation: Notes, rests, and beats 9Manipulating and combining notes 9Studying musical form and compositions 11Seeing How Theory Can Help Your Music 11Chapter 2: Determining What Notes Are Worth 13Meeting the Beat 14Recognizing Notes and Note Values 15Examining the notes and their components 15Looking at note values 17Checking Out Whole (Semibreve) Notes 18Homing in on Half (Minim) Notes 19Considering Quarter (Crotchet) Notes 20Examining Eighth (Quaver) Notes and Beyond 20Extending Notes with Dots and Ties 22Using dots to increase a note’s value 22Adding notes together with ties 23Mixing All the Note Values Together 23Chapter 3: Giving It a Rest 27Getting to Know the Rests 28Whole (semibreve) rests 28Half (minim) rests 29Quarter (crotchet) rests 30Eighth (quaver) rests and beyond 30Extending the Break with Dotted Rests 32Practicing Beats with Notes and Rests 32Chapter 4: Introducing Time Signatures 35Decoding Time Signatures and Measures 35Keeping Things Easy with Simple Time Signatures 37Using measures to count in simple time 38Practicing counting beats in simple time 40Working with Compound Time Signatures 41Using measures to count in compound time 42Practicing counting beats in compound time 43Feeling the Pulse of Asymmetrical Time Signatures 44A Short Discussion about Conducting 46The beat 47Phrasing, articulation, and dynamics 49Cueing 49Chapter 5: Playing with Beat 51Creating Stress Patterns and Syncopation 51Placing stress: Knowing the general rules 52Syncopation: Hitting the off-beat 52Getting a Jump on Pick-Up Notes 54Exploring Irregular Rhythms: Triplets and Duplets 55Adding interest with triplets 56Working with duplets 57Part 2: Putting Notes Together 59Chapter 6: Music Notes (and Where to Find Them) 61Meeting the Staff, Clefs, and Notes 62The treble clef 63The bass clef 63The grand staff and middle C 64C clefs: Alto and tenor 64Identifying Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Accidentals 65Working with half steps 66Taking whole steps 68Changing pitch with accidentals 70Finding the Notes on the Piano and the Guitar 72Looking for notes on the piano 73Picking out notes on the guitar 73Using Mnemonics to Help Remember Notes 75Chapter 7: Mastering the Major and Minor Scales 77Following Major-Scale Patterns 78Working with major scales on piano and guitar 79Listening to the major scales 82Discovering All That Minor Scale Patterns Have to Offer 82Playing natural minor scales on piano and guitar 83Having fun with harmonic minor scales on piano and guitar 84Making great music with melodic minor scales on piano and guitar 86Listening to the minor scales 88Chapter 8: Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths 91Understanding the Circle of Fifths and Recognizing Major Key Signatures 92Sharps: Father Charles Goes Down and Ends Battle 93Flats: Battle Ends and Down Goes Charles’s Father 94Finding Minor Key Signatures and Relative Minors 95Visualizing the Key Signatures 96C major and A natural minor 96G major and E natural minor 97D major and B natural minor 97A major and F sharp natural minor 98E major and C sharp natural minor 98B/C flat major and G sharp/A flat natural minor 99F sharp/G flat major and D sharp/E flat natural minor 99C sharp major/D flat and A sharp/B flat natural minor 100A flat major and F natural minor 101E flat major and C natural minor 101B flat major and G natural minor 101F major and D natural minor 102Chapter 9: Intervals: The Distance between Pitches 103Breaking Down Harmonic and Melodic Intervals 104Quantity: Counting lines and spaces 104Quality: Considering half steps 106Naming intervals 107Looking at Unisons, Octaves, Fourths, and Fifths 107Perfect unisons 108Augmented unisons 108Octaves 108Fourths 110Fifths 111Recognizing Seconds, Thirds, Sixths, and Sevenths 112Seconds 112Thirds 115Sixths and sevenths 117Building Intervals 117Determining quantity 118Establishing the quality 118Showing Major and Perfect Intervals in the C Major Scale 120Checking Out Compound Intervals 121Creating a compound interval 121Returning a compound to its simple state 122The Nashville Number System 123Chapter 10: Chord Building 127Creating Triads with Three Pitches 128Roots, thirds, and fifths 128Major triads 130Minor triads 132Augmented triads 133Diminished triads 135Expanding to Seventh Chords 136Major sevenths 137Minor sevenths 138Dominant sevenths 139Minor 7 flat 5 chords 139Diminished sevenths 140Minor-major sevenths 141Looking at All the Triads and Sevenths 141A 142A flat 142B 142B flat 143C 143C flat 143C sharp 144D 144D flat 145E 145E flat 145F 146F sharp 146G 146G flat 147Manipulating Triads through Voicing and Inversion 147Taking a look at open and close voicing 147Identifying inverted chords 148Exploring Extended Chords 150Ninth chords 151Minor ninth chords 152Major ninth chords 152Ninth augmented fifth chords 153Ninth flatted fifth chord 153Seventh flat ninth piano chords 154Augmented ninth chords 154Eleventh chords 154Thirteenth chords 156Chapter 11: Chord Progressions 159Reviewing Diatonic Chords, Chromatic Chords,and Minor Scale Modes 160Identifying and Naming Chord Progressions 161Assigning chord names and numbers 161Looking at chord progressions in major keys 162Checking out chord progressions in minor keys 164Adding a Seventh Chord to a Triad 165Seeing (and Hearing) Chord Progressions in Action 167Applying Chord Knowledge to Fake Books and Tabs 169Modulating to a New Key 170Reaching a Musical Cadence through Chord Progressions 170Authentic cadences 172Plagal cadences 173Deceptive cadences 175Half-cadence 175Part 3: Musical Expression through Tempo and Dynamics 177Chapter 12: Creating Varied Sound through Tempo and Dynamics 179Taking the Tempo of Music 180Establishing a universal tempo: The minim 180Keeping steady time with a metronome 181Translating tempo notation 181Speeding up and slowing down: Changing the tempo 183Dealing with Dynamics: Loud and Soft 183Modifying phrases 184Checking out other dynamic markings 185Examining the piano pedal dynamics 186Looking at the articulation markings for other instruments 188Chapter 13: Instrument Tone Color and Acoustics 191Delving into Tone Color 192Attack: Checking out the beginning sound of a note 192Timbre: Hearing the body of a note 193Decay: Listening for the final sound of a note 194Building the Band: An Acoustics Lesson 195Part 4: Musical Expression through Form 197Chapter 14: The Building Blocks of Music: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, and Song Form 199Establishing Rhythm 200Shaping the Melody 201Complementing the Melody with Harmony 203Working with Musical Phrases and Periods 204Linking Musical Parts to Create Forms 206One-part form (A) 207Binary form (AB) 207Three-part form (ABA) 207Arch form (ABCBA) 209Chapter 15: Relying on Classical Forms 211Counterpoint as a Classical Revelation 211Sussing Out the Sonata 212Starting with the exposition 213Moving on to something new: Development 214Taking a rest with recapitulation 214Rounding Up the Rondo 215Figuring Out the Fugue 216Combining Forms into a Symphony 217Observing Other Classical Forms 218Concerto 219Duet 219Etude 219Fantasia 219Chapter 16: Tapping into Popular Genres and Forms 221Feeling the Blues 22212-bar blues 2228-bar blues 22416-bar blues 22424-bar blues 22432-bar blues ballads and country 225Having Fun with Rock and Pop 226Improvising with Jazz 228Twelve-Tone Compositions 228Part 5: The Part of Tens 231Chapter 17: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Music Theory 233Why Is Music Theory Important? 233If I Can Already Play Some Music, Why Bother Learning Music Theory? 234Why Is So Much Music Theory Centered on the Piano Keyboard? 234Is There a Quick and Easy Way to Learn to Read Music? 235How Do I Identify a Key Based on the Key Signature? 235Can I Transpose a Piece of Music into Another Key? 236Will Learning Music Theory Hinder My Ability to Improvise? 236Do I Need to Know Theory if I Just Play Drums? 237Where Do the 12 Musical Notes Come From? 237How Does Knowing Theory Help Me Memorize a Piece of Music? 238Chapter 18: Ten Keys to Reading a Musical Score 239The Basics 240Lead Sheets 240Full Scores 240Miniature Scores 240Study Scores 241Piano Scores 241Short Scores 241Vocal Scores 241Tablature 242Figured Bass Notion 242Chapter 19: Ten Music Theorists You Should Know About 243Pythagoras (582–507 BC) 243Boethius (480–524 AD) 244Gerbert d’Aurillac/Pope Sylvester II (950–1003) 245Guido D’Arezzo (990–1040) 246Nicola Vicentino (1511–1576) 246Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) 247Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) 247Harry Partch (1901–1974) 248Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) 249Robert Moog (1934–2005) 249Chapter 20: Ten Musical Movements That Changed History 251800 AD — England, Gregorian Chant 2511100 AD — Organum/European Polyphony 2521649 — England, the Diggers 25317th Century: Italy, Opera 2541789-1799: The French Revolution 2551913 — Atonal Music and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” 2551950-1990: Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, “Nueva Canción” (the New Song Movement) 2561960s: U.S Civil Rights Movement 2571980s: Estonia Singing Revolution 2582010-2012: Arab Spring 259Part 6: Appendixes 261Appendix A: Audio Tracks 263Appendix B: Chord Chart 267Appendix C: Glossary 305Index 309