The study of how music works, seeking to identify structures and patterns in music.
9
votes
4answers
223 views
Music Cognition
I am learning to play the harmonica. As with so many people around the world, the approach I use is to take a song and its notes somewhere from the internet and practice it until I can play it well.
...
10
votes
4answers
389 views
What online resources should I use to learn harmony and musical analysis?
I had some harmony courses and I want to learn some more about it.
Ideally, I am looking for is a KhanAcademy-like website about harmony and musical analysis. If that doesn't exist, where else should ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
What makes a happy song happy? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What gives a piece of music its personality and feeling?
What makes a happy song a happy one? What are the elements that give this particular property to a music piece? ...
2
votes
4answers
142 views
4
votes
2answers
368 views
What is a key signature?
I'm trying to learn the flute and I bought a book that is supposed to help me learn. In one of the first chapters it describes something about key signatures and the circle of fifths and I'm ...
12
votes
2answers
991 views
What scale is this? [closed]
This is a very minor question, but I'm trying to learn a piece (a Bach Concerto in D minor) that has the following sequence of notes played in order:
A B C# D E F G A
My piano teacher said it was a ...
1
vote
4answers
231 views
How Can I Replicate The Sound Of An Instrument?
I have experience of basic music theory, guitar and piano. My current project involves creating a computer program that can replicate the sounds of any given instrument (starting with piano).
I can ...
5
votes
1answer
166 views
“Andalusian cadences”: How are they commonly heard?
The "Andalusian cadence" I-bVII-bVI-V is commonly heard as a repeated figure in Flamenco music as well as many pop songs, e.g. "Hit the Road, Jack":
...
3
votes
2answers
104 views
Name for music that imitates speech
I have searched and asked others for the answer to this but have come up dry: what is the name or technique in music where musical notes approximate/imitate speech? Note that I am not talking about ...
9
votes
3answers
470 views
Why Is Just Intonation Impractical?
I've read about the debate of "just intonation" vs 12-tone equal temperament. And nowhere it was clearly stated why just intonation is impractical. Here are my assumptions. Please let me know if I am ...
3
votes
2answers
86 views
What is A flat to C minor?
I know that Cm is the relative minor of Eb.
I noticed the Eb chord is made up of two of the same notes of Cm (beginning on the third degree). Ab is also made up of two of the same notes, but on the ...
6
votes
2answers
138 views
What does it mean when progression is resolved?
I saw this text inside a very basic piano workbook in which I'm not sure what the author means by using "resolve".
Progression #1: C-F-G-F-C
NOTE: This 4 bar progression resolves back to C ...
6
votes
2answers
176 views
Why do we use thirds to construct chords?
I am (slowly) learning music theory on the guitar. I've begun learning about scales and chords, and it seems that all chords are built using some combination of thirds.
For example, a minor triad is ...
8
votes
7answers
286 views
Is it necessary to learn the names of fret notes?
I know the names of the notes up to about the fifth fret on each string. I play from sheet music occasionally, but mostly from tabs - so is it necessary to learn the names of the notes for each fret ...
0
votes
0answers
42 views
What should I do next to improve and expand my musical knowledge? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Where can I get started with my improvisation?
How to develop soloing vocabulary
What are good resources for learning music theory?
How does one start learning music ...
11
votes
3answers
288 views
Why is a note sometimes a 4th and sometimes an 11th?
If I play the chord: GBDA, then this is considered a Gadd9. But if I play the 3rd above the 5th (GDB), it is not called a 10th.
Why don't we refer to all notes by 1-7, and is there a system to ...
3
votes
4answers
242 views
What are some interesting ways notes and chords are spelled in cultures outside of the U.S.?
I've heard that German musicians spell the seventh note of the C major scale with an "H" where an American musician would use a "B". And, for the fourth note of the F major scale, where an American ...
3
votes
2answers
91 views
Musical construction in rock - what does this mean?
Andrew Chester writes (emphasis mine):
Western classical music is the apodigm of the extensional form of musical construction. Theme and variations, counterpoint, tonality (as used in classical ...
24
votes
8answers
477 views
What exactly should I have to learn to understand why certain combination of chords are harmonic when played in a sequence?
I am an intuitive music composer trying to move to a technical music composer. As a dummy, I see music as a composition of 'pieces' (my word). Each piece is a set of notes that are melodical when ...
-1
votes
2answers
74 views
How To Derive Note Frequencies From The Harmonic Series? [closed]
The harmonic series give us the (natural or just) frequencies of the notes in an octave. To achieve that we need to transpose the higher-order harmonics to the same octave as the fundamental tone. But ...
3
votes
3answers
401 views
recognizing the motif
I encounter the term motif in composition books, and still have no idea what a motif is. Many sources (including some dictionaries) try to define it as "prominent sequence of notes" or "basic theme of ...
21
votes
9answers
445 views
What is the best way of learning the notes on the fretboard.
What is the best way to learn the notes on the fretboard. Are there any good tips on how to do this?
9
votes
9answers
251 views
Musical Aids to Memorize Intervals
As the tutor for my school's music department, I spend a lot of time helping students drill intervals. However, I only have a handful of songs to recommend recognition.
P8 - Somewhere Over the ...
3
votes
2answers
134 views
Arpeggio vs. Acciaccatura
(When writing notation for piano)
Scenario: I would like the player to play the chord G (G3, B3, D4, G4), in a "spreaded" way. That is, not hit all keys at once, but start with the bottom G and end ...
20
votes
5answers
1k views
Does it really make difference to play a song in a different key?
I hear sometimes players and composers say that this song won't sound good in F Major for example, and you should play it or write it in G Major (this was just an example). In other words, it seems ...
15
votes
3answers
3k views
How do harmonics work?
The guitar has harmonic notes at some places. I can play it, but I don't understand the logical reason why/how this is can played. Can you tell me how exactly this works?
What other musical ...
5
votes
3answers
966 views
What is a good solo to learn in the Dorian mode?
I understand that Dorian is a commonly used mode in rock. I am starting to play / improvise in the mode and would like to learn some guitar solos that are good examples of this scale so that I see how ...
29
votes
4answers
1k views
Why are there twelve notes in an octave?
I know that one scale consists of 12 half-tones. But my question is still: Why? Why not 13 or 11?
4
votes
2answers
151 views
How to compose an acoustic guitar chorus?
I've been playing guitar off and on for years, and every once in a while I come up with some lyrics and chords that seem to be really great for a few verses. The problem is that I can never seem to ...
15
votes
5answers
594 views
What notes are optional in jazz chords?
I have a question on jazz chords, and what notes can be removed from the chord. My understanding is fairly superficial - mostly from what I've read in books. This is what I understand:
In some ...
9
votes
4answers
1k views
Is it possible to find the correct chords from melody notes alone?
I'm caught up in this thought. My friend gave me just the melody notes of a song. Here it is,
So, Here is the problem: "without having the chords supplied, there is no way of knowing what the chords ...
10
votes
3answers
572 views
What is the (Practical) theory behind applying chords for a Song?
I love playing Guitar. I can play the lead for any song by listening to it. But often in our prayer meeting people sing different songs in different keys. I can track the major they sing, but I am ...
2
votes
4answers
492 views
Finding chords that sound like a single note
I cannot seem to find an algorithm to do this.
Say I play an E (not a chord)... it sounds a certain way. If I make it into a chord an play an E Major chord it sounds completely different. What would ...
4
votes
2answers
161 views
Does playing in scale mean only using notes from that scale?
Many melodies contain notes that are not from scale they are composed in. For example, "Stairway Heaven" solo contains an A minor pentatonic scale plus an additional F note. I've read that this is not ...
7
votes
3answers
380 views
What is bad about Roman Numeral Analysis?
I have studied roman numeral analysis in my theory courses and I think that it's a good way of describing and understanding classical music, especially that of the classical and early romantic ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
How to identify the root note of a chord
I struggle with chords on the staff because I'm not sure which note is the root note. Is it the top note with the rest of the notes falling below it? E.g., The top note is C, and bundled below it are ...
6
votes
2answers
128 views
Converting to harmonic and melodic minor
Is this correct?
In converting from major to harmonic minor of the same root (not the relative minor (with the same key signature)), flatten the 3rd and 6th.
In converting from major to ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
Music Theory: Frequencies related to playing a note on guitar
I am studying the physics related to playing guitar. I need to understand the relationship between the fundamental frequency of a guitar string and its harmonics.
For e.g., the top string has the ...
5
votes
2answers
186 views
Why play out of scale notes as part of a chord?
So, I'm learning 'Stray Cat Strut' right now and came across something I'm not sure I understood. I have to say, I've only just begun to learn theory, so maybe that's why.
Anyway, as far as I can ...
6
votes
6answers
1k views
Why is the highest frequency on a piano 4186 Hertz?
The human hearing range is between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz. The lowest frequency on a piano is 27.5 Hz, which is almost at the start of the human hearing range. However, the highest frequency on a piano ...
9
votes
2answers
200 views
How does one start learning music theory?
I know some basic stuff like scales and how to construct chords, but I don't know much about the roles notes play in melody, what kinds of melodies there are, how to do chord progressions, and so on.
...
9
votes
5answers
2k views
What are the objective differences between the guitar and the piano?
The guitar and the piano are two of the most popular instruments which allow multiple notes to be played simultaneously.
The acoustic quality of the two instruments are, of course, different, but ...
5
votes
2answers
159 views
The relationship between music theory and physical phenomena
The first unique overtones of a simple vibrating string form a major chord. Are there other simple physical structures that would generate other chord types?
4
votes
1answer
414 views
Franz Liszt Liebestraum No. 3 Bar 17 Roman Numeral Analysis
I'm going through Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3 in Ab M.... in bar 17, I don't know how to mark the A natural chord. It's either a #1 or the song has modulated to the natural minor, in which case it would ...
1
vote
3answers
229 views
18-note groupings across 4 beats in this Yngwie Malmsteen inspired lick
I have a few questions regarding the following lick:
...
3
votes
2answers
240 views
Steve Gaines and Ed King… Love their playing, have a hard time emulating it…
Another question that's been puzzling me for a while.
I love Steve Gaines playing but I find it impossible to improvise in his style, especially the style he plays in I Know A Little.
I also love ...
7
votes
1answer
587 views
What is this called? Why is it allowed?
"Golden Train" by Justin Nozuka (YouTube link below) is in the key of Ab major. However he uses a Cb major chord throughout the song, which is not in the key of Ab major. It sounds good and works ...
3
votes
1answer
214 views
How to become a DJ
I'd like to become a DJ, and to tell the truth, I also have made many tracks using Encore notation software. But, now that I want to bring it to reality, I don't know what instruments to purchase. A ...
1
vote
1answer
141 views
What note(s) are a diminished 3rd above D-flat?
In
What is the interval between Db and D#
some of the comments indicate that the interval Db->Eb can be considered as a diminished third. I would think that Fbb (double-flatted F) is a diminished ...
6
votes
3answers
616 views
How many (major and minor) keys are there? Why?
I am wondering about how many major and minor keys there are and why.
Here are some suggestions:
24 keys
One could argue that there should be one major and one relative minor key for each of the 12 ...
