Questions tagged [theory]
For questions about how music works, seeking to identify structures and patterns in music. Used to indicate questions about musical concepts and structures, as opposed to techniques and execution.
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Can you give me feedback on an interval training game I'm building [closed]
I'm building some free web tools for musicians and one of them is an interval training game. https://guitarapp.com/chords/interval-trainer
The game is at the top of the page and beneath that, there ...
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Why is it the C Major scale that is played without accidentals, instead of A [duplicate]
Why is it C's Major scale that comes without accidentals instead of A?
The C Major scale is played C D E F G A B C
The C chromatic scale is played C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
Why was it decided ...
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i need help me harmonize this barline [closed]
this is a soprano line needing to be harmonized.
Im not sure how to harmonize it though.
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Anyone know what key this cadence from the SimCity 3000 theme is in? [closed]
I'm currently analyzing the SimCity 3000 theme (
). I've noticed that the chords for the intro (by figuring out the notes for each chord and then looking the note ...
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What do you call it when a song constantly adds prominent rests? (like the example given)
Check out the first 25 seconds of
(Romance in the Night Sky [Touhou]). As is immediately obvious, it keeps hitting you with rests in a weird rhythm that completely ...
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How to Identify & Complete Sequences
I'd like help understanding the concept of sequences. I know it is considered a form of repitition, but not much else.
Below is an excerpt from Bach's Invention in Dm.
I am told this excerpt includes ...
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"approved ultra-nationalist style" of soviet symphonies during Stalin time
In a "keeping score" video about 5th Symphony by Shostakovich a director Michael Tilson Thomas says the following:
Instead of writing in the approved ultra-nationalist style, Shostakovich ...
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Call and response
What makes some songs good on call and response like autumn leaves. But other such as days of wine and roses not work so good?
Just to be clear, with call and response I mean playing melody and chords ...
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Why aren't clefs aligned with octaves? [duplicate]
It looks like my questions is largely answered by Why not use only octave clefs?. I'm going to leave this here anyways in case it's useful for others.
Hello!
I've got a genuine question, although I'm ...
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Creative Ideas for Teaching Musical Ornaments to Kids [closed]
I am a music teacher planning to introduce the concept of musical ornaments to a group of young children. I want to make this educational experience engaging and fun for them, and I'm seeking creative ...
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How do you recognize open-position chords by ear?
So, in my ear training class, we're seeing open-position triads. Major, minor, and diminished in all inversions.
I can't for the life of me identify these chords by ear. I just hear a random string of ...
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(re)Harmonising simple tunes
(don't delete this post, this question phrased like this hasn't been asked before) I know about music theory, chord functions and chord substitutions. But more in general terms. When I ask different ...
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ii-ii6-I progression
I've heard this progression many times and in many ways over the course of my life, but I can't seem to assign a name to it or find out any further information about it or its history. It goes as ...
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What would using only one Solmization(Solfège) syllable to sing the lyrics to a song be called?
For example, if one were to sing la or al (or other 1 consonant and 1 syllable combinations) to replace every morpheme of the words in a song. Is there a name for that idea, or is the closest thing ...
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How to use modes to create chords
OK I know major and minor modes will produce different chords but what about other modes? How to derive chords from dorian, phrygian? Lydian? Mixolydian? Locrian?
Edit: The chord order in A minor is i ...
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The Newton Brothers "I'm the candy Man" chord progression analysis
I've been listening to "I'm the candy man" from The Fall of the House of Usher this morning and am hitting a little roadblock trying to think of the theory behind the chord progression.
It ...
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What should this chord be called?
In a piece that I'm composing, I use a very weird chord (arpeggiated) in bar 3 of the below excerpt:
The chord progression is G - C♯7 - ??? - A.
How should this chord be named, and does it include the ...
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What is the name of this musical scale: E, F, G, G#, B, C#, D?
What is the name of this scale? As far as a root note goes, I think these three arrangements of it sound like they have a root.
E, F, G, G#, B, C#, D...
D, E, F, G, G#, B, C#...
B, C#, D, E, F, G, G#....
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Why do the chords of one song work with the melody of the other perfectly
Specifically, these 2 songs:
Redbone:
(Chords are B, C#, D#m in original key)
Snooze:
(Chords are G#m7, A#m7, Bmaj7 transposed + 6 ...
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How does swapping parts affect an arrangement
So, thinking about a typical arrangement structure, from what I know, is built from bass parts to effectively soprano ones. So within a group of instruments, let's say trumpets, you could have 4th ...
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Emulating a 415 Hz tuner?
Is it possible to use a standard 440 Hz digital tuner to emulate a 415 Hz tuner, even if it doesn't explicitly support setting the A4 frequency?
I'm learning to play the viol, and I can't find a good ...
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Does melody come from root progressions?
I’ve noticed that in a melody certain notes stand out and it’s always the root of the current chord or arpeggio. (also, are arpeggios only descending/ascending or can they be in a random order?)
In ...
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Why does a guitar scale shape have more than 7 notes?
As the title suggests, I wonder the number of notes in a scale shape on guitar.
Let's take the G major scale in 2 octaves: G A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G, there are 15 notes. I found that in many ...
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Why are these two songs nearly identical for 20 whole seconds? Could there be a theoretical explanation?
Disclaimer: this question is not about copyright. I am trying to understand why the voice melodies of the two songs are so similar. I thought the chord progression could be classical, and that there ...
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Purpose of ascending and descending scales?
I understand that ascending scales go from a lower pitch class up to the next pitch class with the same letter name. For example, C to C'. For descending scales it is the reverse.
What I don't get is ...
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What is mode borrowing?
There's a question asking me about to identify mode borrowing, how do I do it? What is mode borrowing, may i have some examples?
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Hexachordal solmization and the melodic minor scale
How does one sign an ascending melodic minor scale using hexachordal solmization?
Here is an example, it's the famous Bourreé by Bach, from the Suite in E minor, BWV 996:
We know that Bach used this ...
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Do 20th- and 21st-century concerti still follow the expected forms of the 18th and 19th centuries?
When looking at opening movements of instrumental concerti in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we see a pretty standard alternation of ritornello (orchestral-focused) and solo sections. These ...
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descending chord sequence from a bossa nova
IM LISTENING TO " MY LITTLE BOAT" bossa nova song.
it has a descending sequence in the verse:
Dmaj7 - Db7 -Cmaj7 -B7 -Bbmaj7 etc...
what's the best way to describe this theoretically?
(from ...
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When to use sixth in continuo according to Bianciardi?
From Bianciardi's Breve Regola (http://www.bassus-generalis.org/bianciardi/bianciardi.html): "But because some notes don’t have a fifth above, a sixth
is used in its place; this happens in those ...
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Can an imperfect (or half) cadence feel completely stable/finished?
A while ago I wrote a quartet (or attempted to) which contained an imperfect cadence in a minor key, specifically i - V. The V chord is simply a triad with no seventh. In the context that I wrote it, ...
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How does one resolve the conflict between Renaissance theory of Cadences and the contradictions against it in Bach Chorales?
A level pupil.
Made the mistake of learning Renaissance cadence voicing way before starting A-level harmony course. There's a conflict of interest between the cadential progressions of the renaissance ...
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Which is better in determining consonance in chords and in scales: The Harmonic Series or Simpler Ratios?
Is the answer to this question simply that both of these concepts aid in understanding which chords and intervals are consonant or is one of these discoveries actually better than the other?
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How did tetrachords become whole and half steps?
How did the ancient Greek concept of tetrachords evolve into the whole- and half-step model familiar today?
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Why did the ancient Greeks choose tetrachords?
Why did the ancient Greeks choose tetrachords as the basis for their musical theory rather than some other structure?
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History of Tetrachords [duplicate]
I posted a similar question not too long ago and it was suggested that I look into tetrachords and I quickly understood why, but now I have questions about tetrachords.
For what reason are diatonic ...
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How to identify the important order of each note in inversions? [duplicate]
Is A C E G with a root on E an Am7 or a CM6 inversion?
In this case why can A be the most important note or just a tension I could skip at the same time?
How should I identify the quality of a chord ...
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Harmonic Analysis of Commendatore Scene [closed]
Where can I find a good old fashioned roman numeral analysis of the Commendatore scene from Don Giovanni?
I know a fair amount of classical music theory (well, enough to be dangerous) and I've always ...
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Question about chord progressions and scales
recently I watched a Youtube Short of a short Bossa Nova chord progression, with the chords in order as follows:
Cm9 -> Fm7 -> Dm7b5 -> G7b13 -> Cm9
So I looked up the C minor scale. ...
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How can harmony be implied by melody [duplicate]
I'm just curious about allot of compositional techniques, and one of them is the concept of "implying" harmony because it can be useful for determining later harmonic lines for an already ...
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Why does this melody tend to be in the key of F Major rather than in the key of C Major
When composing, I generally start with C Major to be simple, but very often, I can hear that in the melody another key is suggested.
Here is such an example :
The melody starts by leaping to the VI ...
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How to tune a 2 stringed instrument [closed]
I just got a two string instrument. I’m trying to find out how to tune this,I’m assuming it’s High E and B not sure? Or should they be the same gauge again not sure?
Any experts?
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How to decide between half-, quarter-, and eighth-notes when transcribing a song
I am trying to transcribe a little song and I am facing a problem: I am realising that there are several ways to write it, 2 ways to be more specific; Here are 2 images (I just wrote the first few ...
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What does this T-with-a-bar-in-the-middle accidental mean?
I've never seen it before, and I found it on this video. I know it's an accidental, though.
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Why are triads considered perfect chords and the basis which all extensions are built off of?
Why are triads considered perfect chords and the basis which all extensions are built off of?
I'm sort of posting the question from an ignorant standpoint but I do already have some prior knowledge. I ...
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Trying to figure out how to count this measure!
I'm trying to get through measure 4 of the passage in the image below:
The relevant parts:
X:1
C: W.A. Mozart
T: Andante
M: 3/4
L: 1/8
K: A
( !mp! c3 d c2 | e4 ) ( e2 | !p! B3 c B2 | d4 ) d2 |
Can ...
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3rds and 6ths on guitar
I've been working on 3rds and 6ths and struggled at first getting my head around the 6ths since they are, as played on guitar, really inverted 3rds.
Harmonizing in 3rds follows the diatonic chords, i....
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How to identify voice of whole note
I've got a chord of whole notes and have no idea which voice they're in.
There are other chords in the sheet music that I looked at to try to figure out the voice, but this hasn't been conclusive. At ...
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Please list every type of interval, (Perfect, Major, minor, Augmented and diminished), from Most Consonant to Most Dissonant [closed]
Please list every type of interval, (Perfect, Major, minor, Augmented and diminished), from Most Consonant to Most Dissonant. I cannot find this information anywhere online.
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Parallel heptatonic modes ordered by changing one pitch at a time by half step in circle of fifths order [closed]
The major scale has a property, where we can arrange all of its modes in such a way where consecutive modes differ by only one note which itself only differs by one half step
Locrian
Phrygian
Aeolian
...
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