Contents Articles Music Theory 1 Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common Practice Music 3 Music Theory/Harmony 4 Music Theory/Counterpoint 4 Music Theory/Introduction 5 Music Theory/How to read Music 6 Music Theory/Music Notation Systems 7 Music Theory/Rhythm 10 Music Theory/Scales and Intervals 12 Music Theory/Modes 18 Music Theory/Chords 20 Music Theory/Chord Structures 24 Music Theory/Consonance and Dissonance 26 Music Theory/The Physics of Music 27 Music Theory/Finding the Key and Mode of a Piece 28 Music Theory/Playing by Ear 29 Music Theory/Complete List of Chord Patterns 30 Music Theory/Modulation 36 Music Theory/Chromaticism 37 Music Theory/Syncopation 38 Music Theory/Blues 38 Music Theory/Dance 41 Music Theory/Folk 41 Music Theory/Hip Hop 42 Music Theory/Hymn 44 Music Theory/Jazz 44 Music Theory/Metal 46 Music Theory/New Age 52 Music Theory/Pop 53 Music Theory/Reggae 58 Music Theory/Rock 59 Music Theory/Ska 60 Music Theory/Baroque 60 Music Theory/Classical 61 Music Theory/Romantic 61 Music Theory/Atonal 63 Music Theory/Celtic 64 Music Theory/Chinese 64 Music Theory/Eastern European 65 Music Theory/Indian 65 Music Theory/Necessary Tools 66 Music Theory/Software Needed 66 Western Music History 67 Writing Effective Songs 68 Writing Effective Songs/Rock Album Arranging 73 References Article Sources and Contributors 75 Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 77 Article Licenses License 78 Music Theory 1 Music Theory This book discusses tonal music theory, specifically of the common practice period onwards, including jazz, blues, rock, and other modern styles. It focuses mostly on Western (i.e., Western European, Euro-American, and Afro-American) styles, however, all styles of music are discussed. Common Practice Styles • /Fundamentals of Common Practice Music/ Tones, overtones, and harmonics • /Harmony/ • /Counterpoint/ • /Form/ Basics • /Introduction/ • /How to read Music/ • /Music Notation Systems/ • /Rhythm/ • /Scales and Intervals/ • /Modes/ • /Chords/ • /Chord Structures/ • /Consonance and Dissonance/ Beyond the Basics • /The Physics of Music/ • /Finding the Key and Mode of a Piece/ • /Playing by Ear/ • /Complete List of Chord Patterns/ • /Modulation/ • /Chromaticism/ • /Syncopation/ Modern Styles • /Barbershop/ • /Blues/ • /Country/ • /Dance/ • /Folk/, Old Time, Bluegrass, etc. • /Funk/ • /Hip Hop/, Rap, etc. • /Hymn/ • /Jazz/, incl. Swing Music Theory 2 • /Metal/ • /New Age/ • /Pop/, Pop/Rock, etc. • /Punk/, Hardcore, Pop-Punk, etc. • /Reggae/ • /Rock/, Hard Rock, etc. • /Samba/ • /Ska/ • /Miscellaneous Styles/ • /R&B/ • /Reggae/ Styles in the Western Classical Tradition • /Plainsong/ • /Early Western European/ • /Renaissance/ • /Baroque/ • /Classical/ • /Romantic/ • /Atonal/ • /Serialism/ • /Spectralism/ Traditional and Folk styles • /African/ • /Arabic/ • /Calypso/ • /Celtic/ • /Chinese/ • /Eastern European/ • /Indian/ • /Japanese/ Composing • /Necessary Tools/ • /Software Needed/ • /Four Part/ • /Melody(Soprano)/ • /Phrasing/ • /Bass/ • /Alto And Tenor/ • /Counterpoint/ Music Theory 3 Further Reading • Western Music History • Writing Effective Songs Appendices • /Authors/ • /Real Book Errata/ Music Theory/Fundamentals of Common Practice Music /Notation/ This section is intended for those without any experience with Western music notation and associated practices. Humans with the ability to hear experience sound when delicate structures inside their ears detect waves of pressure traveling through the air (or any other medium to which they are mechanically coupled). When these waves are regular, and arrive at intervals that fall within a certain range, we recognize a tone, or note. Notes are the basic elements of Western music. /Pitch/ When the waves causing a note are close together, and so cause more vibrations per second in our ears, we say that tones have a higher frequency or pitch. Pitch is measured in Hertz (Hz). When the waves are further apart we say they have a lower frequency or pitch. When we hear series of higher and lower notes either singly or in groups, themselves spaced out at different points in time and of different durations, and the variation in their frequencies, spacing, and lengths are patterned in ways that correspond to established rules, we recognize the sound as music. Music Theory/Harmony 4 Music Theory/Harmony Harmony is the underlying foundation of Western art music. Harmony is the study of how particular sonorities are related and function with respect to a primary tonal region based upon a central pitch class. The Mathematical definition of harmony: Presume that waves X and Y are of wavelengths A and B. In other words X(nA) = X(mA), and Y(nB) = Y(mB), where n and m are any 2 integer numbers. Now, presume that wave Z is a combination of X and Y. In other words Z(n) = X(n) + Y(n), where n is any number. Because Z is a function of X+Y, Z only repeats at any point where X and Y both repeat. This point is the lowest common multiple of A and B, which will henceforth be referred to as value C. C is the combined wavelength of X and Y. The nature of tonal harmony is that the lower the value of C, the more harmonized the notes are. This is why octaves are the most harmonized; a note's octave repeats twice as often as the note itself, so if 2n is the wavelength of any note, n is its octave. Obviously, the lowest common multiple of N and 2N is 2N itself, which makes the wavelength of a note combined with its octave just the wavelength of the note itself, and the shortest possible combine wavelength of 2 notes. Music Theory/Counterpoint /Fugue/ Fugue is sometimes considered to be the goal of contrapuntal study. Its definition may vary, depending upon the person asked but this book will consider three definitions. Fugue (1) A formal compositional structure, consisting of a fugal exposition of a subject, a development with one or more middle entries, and a recapitulation (2) A compositional device for the elaboration and development of a single (or multiple) musical idea(s) (3) A texture within a larger compositional structure or form which utilizes fugal devices or parts of a formal fugue Traditional part writing is often based on counterpoint (adjective contrapuntal), in which a second melody is written to use harmonic intervals that create primarily consonant (good sounding) relationships between notes. First, a leading melodic line must be written, then contrapuntal methods may be used to add additional melodic lines. Consonants are further divided into perfect and imperfect consonants and contrasted by dissonance (which sound bad). Traditionally the unison, the octave and the fifth were considered perfect consonances while the third and sixth were considered imperfect consonances; the fourth was considered a dissonance if it was above the leading line but a consonance if below, though modern theorists have questioned the need for this distinction. Other notes are considered dissonant. Additional melodic lines beyond the second may be added by writing them in counterpoint to all the lines already written. In addition, the types of movement made a difference. In early theory there were three types of movement: direct, in which both melodic line move in the same direct, oblique in which one line moves and the other does not, and contrary in which both lines move in opposite directions. Some modern theorists further divide direct motion into similar motion, in which both lines move different distances in the same direction, and parallel motion in which both lines maintain the same interval between them. Early counterpoint texts (such as Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus ad Parnasum [1]) listed several rules for moving lines, however these can be boiled down to one: Don't move from perfect consonance to perfect consonance by direct motion. The addition of dissonance may be added on an off beat, Music Theory/Counterpoint 5 to be resolved on the next on beat. Large jumps are discouraged, and it is recommended that they be followed by stepwise motion in the opposite direction. The octave should be used vary sparingly and the unison avoided, however, as these tend to make the melodic lines blur together. Various rhythms could be used in the various melodic lines, and this was encouraged with the goal being "florid counterpoint" in which various rhythms are mixed in an elaborate way. If a smaller note is used in the following line then dissonance must be on the second note; if the following note starts after the leader, then it must start on the dissonance. Of course, neither have to be dissonant, and a consonance may be used in both places. A series of stepwise movements may also be used to move over several dissonances between consonances. However, two notes one semitone apart (sometimes described as "fa on mi") should always be avoided. Double Counterpoint is the practice of writing a line so that both the intervals and their inversion (usually octave inversions, but tenth and twelfth inversions may sometimes be used) follow an acceptable pattern of consonance and dissonance. This is done so that a transposed version of the resulting melodic line may be used as a separate part. This is especially common in classical and baroque fugues. Note that a modern composition that follows a chord progression may just write all parts to fit the same chord, however, use of contrapuntal principles may still be useful in order to make to melodic lines work better together. References [1] http:/ / www. amazon. com/ Study-Counterpoint-John-J-Fux/ dp/ 0393002772/ ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/ 103-2684630-4722241?ie=UTF8& s=books& qid=1179766505& sr=8-1 Music Theory/Introduction What is music theory? Music theory is the study of music; and while the term is often applied to the Western musical tradition (more on that later), there are also music theories in other traditions around the world. It is of interest to the reader to know that music theory emerged after the actual production of music.