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 anyone help me understand F#ø7 - F7 - Asus - AM7 - D7 - Em?
I'm trying to understand what's going on in this small piece written for Genshin Impact game, the song's name is "Pure Sky" is about 1min long and you can listen to it here (the part I'm ...
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Usage of sharpened subdominant in minor key: what is the diatonic function?
The piece Für Elise uses a D♯ in the key of A minor in the first bar, which is the sharpened subdominant. (I'm focusing on the first part, up to halfway through bar 23 in this score.) D♯ and G♯ are ...
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How are 4th and 2nd species counterpoint combined?
I've gone through all five species of Fuxian counterpoint, and I'm moving into combined species. I remember hearing that one of the most important forms of combined species is the combination of ...
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Does energy in Spotify api featrue mean arousal? [closed]
I have a question about the spotify api feature.
The spotify api has valence and energy features. Is it correct that energy means the arousal of valence-arousal?
Thank you for your reply.
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When is the "d" in "Goldfinger" sung?
I noticed that some choirs will synch up their consonants while singing. Is there a standard approach for timing consonants? For the sake of example, here's a cropped portion of sheet music (source):
...
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Semitones vs perfect fifth
This website:
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/intervals/perfect-fifth/)
is saying that:
"A perfect fifth is an interval of 7 semitones between 2 notes."
The ...
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How exactly does Bach modulate from Dmin to Gmin here?
In 'Von den Stricken meiner Sünden' from the St. Johannes passion. Ignoring the strange B.C. realisation (why all the accidentals and intervals not matching the figuration?), I'm very confused about ...
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I cant understand these Pythagoras octave ratios
So the book I am reading has this paragraph
This book mentions Pythagoras ratios 1/8 , 1/4 , 1/3 , 1/2 , 2/3, 7/8 , 1
now when I go online, i can not find these ratios anywhere online.
All online ...
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Clarification of modes, mixed understanding of how they work
I'm just diving into music theory having largely ignored it in my playing up until now. I believe I've got the basics down of how to move modes around the finger board. But, there is some "...
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Consonant vs. Dissonant Major Thirds: Historical Process and Significance of Tuning System
In the comments to the question Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance?, I wrote
A 5:4 third was considered dissonant until musical tastes changed and declared it consonant.
To ...
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Identifying Period Type
I've attached a music excerpt that's been stumping me. Is the attached passage a parallel period or a contrasting period? The rhythmic repetition makes it seem parallel, but the chord progression and ...
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When would I write E sharp and when would I write F natural? [duplicate]
My song is in E Major. The notes go as follows: A, G#, F#, E#/F natural, F#. My instinct is to do E# so that I don't have to put another accidental on the next note. Is there a specific reason to use ...
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How to compose like Liszt? [closed]
I've been trying to compose like him for a long time but I've got no idea where to start. What are some of his most used chord progressions? Info like this would help.
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Do classical musicians sometimes go deliberately out of pitch?
Can anyone explain to me what's going on?:
I am not and have never been a professional classical musician, but I don't think you need to be one to see that something ...
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How does bass music make vibrations? [closed]
Please explain to me how bass music from one house makes another house vibrate, they are roughly 10 feet apart. Thanks for answering!
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What exactly are the different staccatos and are there any examples? [duplicate]
I am pretty new to piano and am starting to work on Moonlight Sonata. (I just finished Alfred's Level 1 book for context).
My book (Beethoven Moonlight Sonata Alfred Masterwork Edition) says there are ...
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What chords are considered acceptable as passing chords in common-practice-period tonal voice leading?
I want to move from an FMaj to an Fmaj(6) chord. Putting a passing chord in between, a CMaj(3/4)(A second inversion dominant 7th) chord seems to work nicely. But these chords, at least in the common-...
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Can anyone identify what's going on with this rhythm? Is it syncopated, odd time signature or are the instruments out of sync?
I'm currently transcribing the outro section of the song "Even the Gods Must Die" by Nile and I've been trying to figure out how to approach the feel of the rhythm. It seems like the drums ...
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How to restart my guitar studies from scratch?
I have being playing the guitar for quiet a while now(12+ years but more dormant years within this). I am able to deduce guitar tabs of a given song on my own(mostly with some minor errors). I have ...
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am i right with this track's scale? [closed]
hi can you please help me about this track's scale ? i think it might be c# mixolydian as i tried to play the notes along the track am i right about it or it is something else - i'm a beginner by the ...
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What is the meaning of the two added time signatures?
If my understanding (just being based on the number of counts in each measure in the given staff) is right then two added time signatures only mean that in one measure, there will be 6 beats and a ...
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Why are diminished fifths called tritones?
The word "tritone" basically means three whole tones. In the C major scale, we find this between F and B as F-G-A-B. This interval is also called an augmented fourth. However, a diminished ...
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Why can't we spell a diminished 3rd or an augmented 5th using only the notes in a major scale?
This might be a silly question, but why can't we spell a diminished 3rd or an augmented 5th using only the notes in a major scale?
I think what I'm really confused is that, for example, A to F has 8 ...
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What do you call it when two different melodies are combined? [duplicate]
Say that Alice has a theme song with a certain melody. Also, Bob has his own theme with a certain melody. But during a scene where Alice and Bob are together, both melodies are played together at once ...
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How do I play these chords? (Parentheses around chord symbols) [duplicate]
How do I play the chords I marked with red dots? First, in measure 4, can I alternatively play C#m7 and F#7? Why does it sound off with the melody then? Second, the chords in measures 8, 9 and 10, how ...
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Is there a name for this pattern of piano chord progressions? (Clementi Op. 36 No. 5 & 6)
I noticed in Clementi Op. 36 No. 5 and No. 6 there are these very similar and peculiar chord progressions (see image). Do those three chords often go together like that? Or is it more a Clementi style?...
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Open string call out does not match requested music note
I am learning guitar and recently came across a sheet requesting what I understand to be an open B string (red arrow), however the music sheet shows a C (blue arrow) note being played. What is the ...
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Translating Sheet Music to Guitar Tabs (without any software help (: ) [duplicate]
I have been playing guitar for a few months and have grown to love it. I played sports and participated in 0 fine arts growing up, so this is all very new to me. I was excited to initially learn ...
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Tremolo notation for Sixteenth note triplets
I'm wondering if there's a tremolo notation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tremolo) for a repeated Sixteenth note triplets like this one for example:
I've only seen the notation for regular rhythm ...
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Historically, what is the difference between the interval qualities "perfect" and "major"? [duplicate]
So I'm trying to wrap my head around intervals. I know that, for instance, a major chord is made up by the fundamental (I), a perfect third (III) and a perfect fifth (V). So, the "important" ...
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Why is it common to use slow practice when learning melodies on the piano but less common when learning to sing them?
I have been told by many piano teachers to practice playing melodies slowly, ie using slow practice.
I have never really been told by singing teachers to do slow practice.
Why is it common to use slow ...
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What is the difference between singing piano (dynamics) and how most adults sing softly (with lower volume) when singing eg. lullabies?
Many adults who sing lullabies for children use more of a soft voice with low volume.
What I have been told is that playing an instrument or singing in piano (dynamics) isn't that easy. My experience ...
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A#dim7 resolving to Amajor7
I'm working on a Neo-Soul tune that keeps preceding the Amaj7 (I Chord) with an A# dim7 and some variations. The key is really A Lydian. One time the A# dim7 is replaced by an A9(b5)...and another ...
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Can you explain why they have (in bar 7) a fifth interval moving in similar motion in this hymn arrangement?
When we study part-writing we often hear about how a two notes making up a fifth should not move in the same direction. I've been told not to do it, but I see professionals hymn arrangements breaking ...
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Question about beats and their inheritance of accents on the rhythm
I see that I've created a lot of confusion with my original question, so I have decided to send the author of "How to read Music in 30 Days, English 2022 Ed." a detailed question that should ...
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Harmony: why does transforming a ii minor chord into II major chord work?
I accidentally composed a song that uses the same harmony "trick" as the song The Odyssey from Symphony X. Both are in the key of Eb (I know it's C minor, but I like to think major for ...
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cut time vs common time [duplicate]
i understand that 2/2 or cut time has 2 beats as opposed to 4/4 or common time, but how does this actually sound different?
if you took a piece and played if it was notated as being 4/4 and then ...
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How to notate a non-standard hexatonic key
I am writing part of a piano piece in a hexatonic "key" containing these notes:
C - D# - E - G - Ab - B
(I say "key" instead of scale because I'm treating it like a key, deriving ...
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What would be the difference between using the laryngeal tilt and vowel modification for higher notes?
I have been told by singing teachers (all "classical") that I should sing down to the higher notes. To that sounds like they wanted me to use the laryngeal tilt.
I've been told that by my ...
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Is it correct to write C♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯♯ (twelve sharps) as C?
Let's say there is a song that starts at middle C and the next note is always the previous note raised by a perfect fifth or lowered by a perfect fourth to keep all notes within audible ranges. By ...
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Is an E augmented triad the same as a C inverted augmented triad?
I know that a C augmented triad is C, E, G♯ and an E augmented triad is E, G♯, B♯. However, I think we can replace the B♯ in the E augmented triad by its enharmonic equivalent, a C. Is it appropriate ...
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Interesting symbol in a piece of piano music [closed]
A friend sent me this image and asked me to identify the symbol circled in red. I tried using Google Lens but no luck. Thanks for your help!
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Is there music that recursively subdivides the beat in odd subdivisions?
For example: 3/4 has 3 quarter notes per beat, and each quarter note subdivides into 2 eighth notes, 4 sixteenth notes etc. which makes the total count an even number (6/8 or 12/16 etc.)
Is there any ...
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Am I over simplifying what I think I know about keys
I've read a few threads about the same question and seem to have really missed something from music theory 101.
My question is around, for example, Cant you See by Marshall Tucker. Very simple ...
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What is the definition of folk music and how does it differ from traditional music?
I've been thinking about the terms folk music and traditional music.
Traditional music seems in most cases to mean music without a known author or composer (or sometimes a tune writtten by a person, ...
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What is it that makes I närvarande parter a polonaise?
Bellman's I närvarande parter is a polonaise. What is it that makes it a polonaise?
In this video (at 1:31):
it is explained that a polonaise should be based on a ...
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1564 (I V vi IV) chord progression for Minor
Many of I-V-vi-IV chord progression examples are C major. My question is Minor. For example of Am key signature, the 1564 is Am , Em, F, Dm; however, I-V-vi-IV should mean major-major-minor-major. May ...
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Fux Counterpoint
In Fux's study of First Species modal counterpoint, why is it permitted to raise the 7th as he approached the final cadence. I realize that allowing that creates a leading tone which sounds better, ...
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Question on the definition of a dissonant passing/neighbor tone?
I am currently trying to teach myself counterpoint following Jacob Gran's videos. When I was analyzing my exercises today, I thought of this question. If the first two notes of a dissonant neighbor(or ...
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Key for Am-G-F-D [closed]
writing a song, verse in key of F, F Dm Bb C then the chorus is Am-G-F-D... I know Dm is the vi of the F key, but Dmaj sounds like I want. Tried 7ths and other combos but this sounds best for my song....
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