Table of Contents

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Music Theory 5

Chapter 1: What Is Music Theory, Anyway? 7

Unearthing Music Theory’s Beginnings 8

Putting the Spotlight on Music Theory Fundamentals 9

Understanding the foundation: Notes, rests, and beats 9

Manipulating and combining notes 9

Studying musical form and compositions 11

Seeing How Theory Can Help Your Music 11

Chapter 2: Determining What Notes Are Worth 13

Meeting the Beat 14

Recognizing Notes and Note Values 15

Examining the notes and their components 15

Looking at note values 17

Checking Out Whole (Semibreve) Notes 18

Homing in on Half (Minim) Notes 19

Considering Quarter (Crotchet) Notes 20

Examining Eighth (Quaver) Notes and Beyond 20

Extending Notes with Dots and Ties 22

Using dots to increase a note’s value 22

Adding notes together with ties 23

Mixing All the Note Values Together 23

Chapter 3: Giving It a Rest 27

Getting to Know the Rests 28

Whole (semibreve) rests 28

Half (minim) rests 29

Quarter (crotchet) rests 30

Eighth (quaver) rests and beyond 30

Extending the Break with Dotted Rests 32

Practicing Beats with Notes and Rests 32

Chapter 4: Introducing Time Signatures 35

Decoding Time Signatures and Measures 35

Keeping Things Easy with Simple Time Signatures 37

Using measures to count in simple time 38

Practicing counting beats in simple time 40

Working with Compound Time Signatures 41

Using measures to count in compound time 42

Practicing counting beats in compound time 43

Feeling the Pulse of Asymmetrical Time Signatures 44

A Short Discussion about Conducting 46

The beat 47

Phrasing, articulation, and dynamics 49

Cueing 49

Chapter 5: Playing with Beat 51

Creating Stress Patterns and Syncopation 51

Placing stress: Knowing the general rules 52

Syncopation: Hitting the off-beat 52

Getting a Jump on Pick-Up Notes 54

Exploring Irregular Rhythms: Triplets and Duplets 55

Adding interest with triplets 56

Working with duplets 57

Part 2: Putting Notes Together 59

Chapter 6: Music Notes (and Where to Find Them) 61

Meeting the Staff, Clefs, and Notes 62

The treble clef 63

The bass clef 63

The grand staff and middle C 64

C clefs: Alto and tenor 64

Identifying Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Accidentals 65

Working with half steps 66

Taking whole steps 68

Changing pitch with accidentals 70

Finding the Notes on the Piano and the Guitar 72

Looking for notes on the piano 73

Picking out notes on the guitar 73

Using Mnemonics to Help Remember Notes 75

Chapter 7: Mastering the Major and Minor Scales 77

Following Major-Scale Patterns 78

Working with major scales on piano and guitar 79

Listening to the major scales 82

Discovering All That Minor Scale Patterns Have to Offer 82

Playing natural minor scales on piano and guitar 83

Having fun with harmonic minor scales on piano and guitar 84

Making great music with melodic minor scales on piano and guitar 86

Listening to the minor scales 88

Chapter 8: Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths 91

Understanding the Circle of Fifths and Recognizing Major Key Signatures 92

Sharps: Father Charles Goes Down and Ends Battle 93

Flats: Battle Ends and Down Goes Charles’s Father 94

Finding Minor Key Signatures and Relative Minors 95

Visualizing the Key Signatures 96

C major and A natural minor 96

G major and E natural minor 97

D major and B natural minor 97

A major and F sharp natural minor 98

E major and C sharp natural minor 98

B/C flat major and G sharp/A flat natural minor 99

F sharp/G flat major and D sharp/E flat natural minor 99

C sharp major/D flat and A sharp/B flat natural minor 100

A flat major and F natural minor 101

E flat major and C natural minor 101

B flat major and G natural minor 101

F major and D natural minor 102

Chapter 9: Intervals: The Distance between Pitches 103

Breaking Down Harmonic and Melodic Intervals 104

Quantity: Counting lines and spaces 104

Quality: Considering half steps 106

Naming intervals 107

Looking at Unisons, Octaves, Fourths, and Fifths 107

Perfect unisons 108

Augmented unisons 108

Octaves 108

Fourths 110

Fifths 111

Recognizing Seconds, Thirds, Sixths, and Sevenths 112

Seconds 112

Thirds 115

Sixths and sevenths 117

Building Intervals 117

Determining quantity 118

Establishing the quality 118

Showing Major and Perfect Intervals in the C Major Scale 120

Checking Out Compound Intervals 121

Creating a compound interval 121

Returning a compound to its simple state 122

The Nashville Number System 123

Chapter 10: Chord Building 127

Creating Triads with Three Pitches 128

Roots, thirds, and fifths 128

Major triads 130

Minor triads 132

Augmented triads 133

Diminished triads 135

Expanding to Seventh Chords 136

Major sevenths 137

Minor sevenths 138

Dominant sevenths 139

Minor 7 flat 5 chords 139

Diminished sevenths 140

Minor-major sevenths 141

Looking at All the Triads and Sevenths 141

A 142

A flat 142

B 142

B flat 143

C 143

C flat 143

C sharp 144

D 144

D flat 145

E 145

E flat 145

F 146

F sharp 146

G 146

G flat 147

Manipulating Triads through Voicing and Inversion 147

Taking a look at open and close voicing 147

Identifying inverted chords 148

Exploring Extended Chords 150

Ninth chords 151

Minor ninth chords 152

Major ninth chords 152

Ninth augmented fifth chords 153

Ninth flatted fifth chord 153

Seventh flat ninth piano chords 154

Augmented ninth chords 154

Eleventh chords 154

Thirteenth chords 156

Chapter 11: Chord Progressions 159

Reviewing Diatonic Chords, Chromatic Chords,

and Minor Scale Modes 160

Identifying and Naming Chord Progressions 161

Assigning chord names and numbers 161

Looking at chord progressions in major keys 162

Checking out chord progressions in minor keys 164

Adding a Seventh Chord to a Triad 165

Seeing (and Hearing) Chord Progressions in Action 167

Applying Chord Knowledge to Fake Books and Tabs 169

Modulating to a New Key 170

Reaching a Musical Cadence through Chord Progressions 170

Authentic cadences 172

Plagal cadences 173

Deceptive cadences 175

Half-cadence 175

Part 3: Musical Expression through Tempo and Dynamics 177

Chapter 12: Creating Varied Sound through Tempo and Dynamics 179

Taking the Tempo of Music 180

Establishing a universal tempo: The minim 180

Keeping steady time with a metronome 181

Translating tempo notation 181

Speeding up and slowing down: Changing the tempo 183

Dealing with Dynamics: Loud and Soft 183

Modifying phrases 184

Checking out other dynamic markings 185

Examining the piano pedal dynamics 186

Looking at the articulation markings for other instruments 188

Chapter 13: Instrument Tone Color and Acoustics 191

Delving into Tone Color 192

Attack: Checking out the beginning sound of a note 192

Timbre: Hearing the body of a note 193

Decay: Listening for the final sound of a note 194

Building the Band: An Acoustics Lesson 195

Part 4: Musical Expression through Form 197

Chapter 14: The Building Blocks of Music: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, and Song Form 199

Establishing Rhythm 200

Shaping the Melody 201

Complementing the Melody with Harmony 203

Working with Musical Phrases and Periods 204

Linking Musical Parts to Create Forms 206

One-part form (A) 207

Binary form (AB) 207

Three-part form (ABA) 207

Arch form (ABCBA) 209

Chapter 15: Relying on Classical Forms 211

Counterpoint as a Classical Revelation 211

Sussing Out the Sonata 212

Starting with the exposition 213

Moving on to something new: Development 214

Taking a rest with recapitulation 214

Rounding Up the Rondo 215

Figuring Out the Fugue 216

Combining Forms into a Symphony 217

Observing Other Classical Forms 218

Concerto 219

Duet 219

Etude 219

Fantasia 219

Chapter 16: Tapping into Popular Genres and Forms 221

Feeling the Blues 222

12-bar blues 222

8-bar blues 224

16-bar blues 224

24-bar blues 224

32-bar blues ballads and country 225

Having Fun with Rock and Pop 226

Improvising with Jazz 228

Twelve-Tone Compositions 228

Part 5: The Part of Tens 231

Chapter 17: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Music Theory 233

Why Is Music Theory Important? 233

If I Can Already Play Some Music, Why Bother Learning Music Theory? 234

Why Is So Much Music Theory Centered on the Piano Keyboard? 234

Is There a Quick and Easy Way to Learn to Read Music? 235

How Do I Identify a Key Based on the Key Signature? 235

Can I Transpose a Piece of Music into Another Key? 236

Will Learning Music Theory Hinder My Ability to Improvise? 236

Do I Need to Know Theory if I Just Play Drums? 237

Where Do the 12 Musical Notes Come From? 237

How Does Knowing Theory Help Me Memorize a Piece of Music? 238

Chapter 18: Ten Keys to Reading a Musical Score 239

The Basics 240

Lead Sheets 240

Full Scores 240

Miniature Scores 240

Study Scores 241

Piano Scores 241

Short Scores 241

Vocal Scores 241

Tablature 242

Figured Bass Notion 242

Chapter 19: Ten Music Theorists You Should Know About 243

Pythagoras (582–507 BC) 243

Boethius (480–524 AD) 244

Gerbert d’Aurillac/Pope Sylvester II (950–1003) 245

Guido D’Arezzo (990–1040) 246

Nicola Vicentino (1511–1576) 246

Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) 247

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) 247

Harry Partch (1901–1974) 248

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) 249

Robert Moog (1934–2005) 249

Chapter 20: Ten Musical Movements That Changed History 251

800 AD — England, Gregorian Chant 251

1100 AD — Organum/European Polyphony 252

1649 — England, the Diggers 253

17th Century: Italy, Opera 254

1789-1799: The French Revolution 255

1913 — Atonal Music and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” 255

1950-1990: Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, “Nueva Canción” (the New Song Movement) 256

1960s: U.S Civil Rights Movement 257

1980s: Estonia Singing Revolution 258

2010-2012: Arab Spring 259

Part 6: Appendixes 261

Appendix A: Audio Tracks 263

Appendix B: Chord Chart 267

Appendix C: Glossary 305

Index 309

About the Author

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.