Hot answers tagged theory
39
There are a ton of easy and great-sounding substitutions, and you can use them in the turnaround or anywhere else you want. Here are a few of the most common:
ii-V sub: Substitute ii for IV, so that you have a ii-V turnaround. For example, if you're playing in the key of C, the V chord is G7 and the ii chord is Dm7. So instead of C-F-G7, play C-Dm7-G7. ...
34
You ask an enormously deep question that could (and does) comprise whole books of material. I'll try to boil down the bare essentials for right now, and I'll expand on them later.
"There are only two types of chords: I's and V's"
My teacher told me that Joe Pass said this, although I'm sure it's probably a misquote.
The sentiment, though, is right on. ...
33
See the section on tuning systems on Wikipedia for some background.
In short, most intervals do not sound best on equally-tempered scales (where the distance between any two consecutive half steps is the same) but on ones where the notes vary in distance. For instance, fifths usually sound the most in tune when the frequencies are in a 2:3 ratio.
Because ...
33
I've seen it argued that the instrument that became the guitar started with the major G chord set, the second, third and fourth string, probably in pairs, as the entire string set for the instrument. The first string was then added, and the lower strings were added in fourths to provide more bass harmony, much the same way we see the 7th string being brought ...
31
Do you transcribe other players' solos? I find this helps me a lot, especially when I transcribe non-guitarists' solos. The clichés and idioms on other instruments are simply different than they are on guitar, so that can help to see melody from a different perspective. Trumpets and saxophones, in particular, sit in a similar range to the guitar but have ...
30
This is a D melodic minor scale (The root of the scale would be D since this Bach), which alters depending on if it is descending or ascending. When ascending the 6 and 7th degrees are raised, and then decending they are lowered. So when descending it is the same as a natural minor scale.
These are pretty common in classic music and are often standard of ...
26
These are also known as augmented and diminished notes, respectively.
Often it has to do with altering notes in a key that are already sharpened or flattened, such as a harmonic minor in a key where the 7th is a sharp. You could write F## (or Fx) as a G, but then your scale would have no F note in it but two different G's. Every time you put down an G ...
25
This requires an excursion into musical history.
Originally, instruments were made to simply play notes that sounded "right" together. Why some notes sounded right and others wrong wasn't a great concern for most of humanities history, until Pythagoras, (yes, the guy with the theorem) noticed that it had to do with intervals, and made a music theory based ...
25
Music, as an art, is in the ear of the listener. As a musician, I can say there are definitely times when a song sounds "better" in one key than another.
The primary reason this is so is when the key fits the "natural" range of a singer or instrument. A song may sound perfect when sung by a female alto, but as those notes sung verbatim would be at the top ...
25
Do-re-mi-etc. is "sol-fa" or "solfege".
Sol-fa represents a major scale, with Doh being the first note, Re being the second, and so on. I'm sure you can sing that scale.
The A-G note names are absolute names for a certain note. An 'A' is an 'A' no matter what key you are performing in.
There are two variants of sol-fa. Fixed doh and Movable doh.
Fixed ...
24
First, a key is only really a basis. You can have an F# in a piece written in C Major without having the piece "switch" keys.
Second, keys are defined arbitrarily. Sure there is theory about what sounds good and that sort of thing, but at the end of the day it's just a group of notes that's just as valid as any other group of notes. This is made clear by ...
21
Begin by learning the open strings. Then picture the relation of each string to the next string (ie "-5" frets and "-4" between G and B). Picture an octave on two adjacent strings ("+7" frets or "+8" between G and B), and then on two strings a string apart (ie "+2" frets "+1" string except, you guessed it, where G and B are involved). Then learn fret 9 or ...
21
To understand the answer to this question you need and understanding of these concepts:
Key center
Tonality
Chord progressions in functional harmony
A song is regarded as being in the key of C major if the pitch C is its key center, if the notes in the song chiefly fall in the C-major scale (as opposed to the C-minor scale, or one of the other ...
20
It depends on the tuning system being used. If you're tuning by perfect intervals, i.e. intervals in which the ratios of the frequencies are in whole-number pairs, then Gb isn't exactly the same as F#.
For example, say you're tuning to A440 and using perfect intervals. Then the E above the A is tuned to 440 * 3/2 = 660 Hz. The B above the E is tuned to ...
20
An "open tuning" is one where the open strings, when strummed, are tuned to form a chord. So an "open D tuning" is going to something along the lines of (low to high) D A D F# A D -- that's a D major chord.
There are certainly more common open tunings than others but the range of open tunings available, even with a standard set of guitar strings on a ...
20
I have always viewed the rock/pop type guitar solo as being all about tension and release.
You want to build to a climax, with any combination of speed and phrasing and note choices that fall slightly outside the chord structure, and then release that tension by resolving to something that is central to the song's melody or at least the chord changes that ...
20
Essentially all instruments produce overtones, which are frequencies other than the dominant frequency of the note. When one or more overtones is a multiple of the base (or fundamental) frequency, it's called a harmonic. Some instruments like drums do not generally have harmonic overtones. Others like guitars, violins, and flutes do have have them; more ...
20
Listen to as much music as possible in as many styles as possible and force yourself to listen to music that you aren't familiar with or even don't like. You can't progress from a point of no reference. Like when you learn to speak, you learn vocabulary from practice and by emulating others. Then, after you've built up a broad vocabulary, you can start to ...
17
An arpeggio is simply a chord played one note at a time. So if you're playing in an arpeggiated style, then instead of strumming the chords, you'll play each note of the chord one at a time. You mention Peter Buck, whose playing on "Everybody Hurts" is a perfect example of arpeggiated playing.
Strumming a D-chord:
$D.0.$G.2.$B.3.$e.2 $D.0.$G.2.$B.3.$e.2 ...
17
Musical memory comes in two flavours: unconscious (muscle) memory and conscious (mental) memory.
Muscle memory comes with repetition and can prove to be surprisingly long-lasting - provided it has had sufficient reinforcement over time. It's something that gets ingrained every time you play a piece - provided you know it well enough to play it without ...
17
Yes. It has to do with the ratio of their frequencies. Essentially, the smaller the numbers involved the better.
The perfect unison, with a 1:1 ratio (e.g., C played with the same C), has perfect consonance. C to the next G has a 2:3 ratio; the perfect fifth is the next most consonant. The minor second (e.g., C to C#) is the most dissonant in Western ...
16
I think this is a common problem with guitarists, we all at some point or other run across this. Some of the things I have have learned to push past this are as follows.
String skipping
String skipping is a good way to mix up your scale runs, its a good idea to find a pattern you like the sound of and try moving it around, applying this to arpeggios is ...
16
In modern Western music, we use equal temperament where all keys are basically equivalent. Notes are based on 2 n/12. Using A440 as a base, you get the following:
A = 440 Hz * 2 0/12 = 440 Hz
B♭ = 440 Hz * 2 1/12 = ~466 Hz
B = 440 Hz * 2 2/12 = ~494 Hz
etc.
Historically this was not the case, however. Just intonation ruled the world, where notes ...
16
The natural sign next to the C is a "courtesy accidental". It is there only to make it absolutely clear to the player that the C is not to be sharp.
It is correct that an accidental only carries through the bar, and thus that the one here is not necessary. But were it not there, though the note would be a C-natural, it would be easy upon sight-reading to ...
16
You need both ear training and music theory.
Ear Training
By "ear training", musicians mean the ability to identify musical intervals, chords, scales, etc. It means developing your relative pitch as opposed to perfect pitch. Perfect pitch is the ability to hear a tone and be able to identify what note it is ("is it a C# or a Bb?"). Relative pitch is the ...
16
Max
has been around for 20 years.
Max gives you the parts to create unique sounds, stunning visuals, and engaging interactive media. These parts are called ‘objects’ – visual boxes that contain tiny programs to do something specific. Each object does something different. Some make noises, some make video effects, others just do simple calculations or ...
15
There are the tuning differences, as already mentioned.
Then there is the function difference. If you have an entire piece in D major, using the tones in D major, seeing a D♭ instead of a C♯ would be very awkward.
When writing music, the rules (simplified) are:
use the tones of the key currently in use (could be a different key than the main key, the ...
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