music theory

[funkmod]

does anyone have any good free videos you could recommend to me on music theory???
Or anything along those lines talking about melodies , structures ,and such

 

[Krispy]

I've found this site extremely helpful so far with structure

http://www.djmandrick.com/html/djtutorials/understanding-dance-music.htm

Also check out....

http://www.tarekith.com/assets/arranging.html

 

[richie_stix]

good post... the music theory side of things is what i struggle to get my head round massivly!

for example key, I understand it exists and what is 'in key' (or not), but i have no idea how to write a track in a certain key, and when chords get thrown into to key mixture i just go blank!

 

[Jwood27]

you doing any of the exams? or just want to brush up on the general ideas of it.

i hated transposing with a passion, sticking something in F sharp minor up two octaves screwed with my mind

 

[richie_stix]

you doing any of the exams? or just want to brush up on the general ideas of it.

i hated transposing with a passion, sticking something in F sharp minor up two octaves screwed with my mind

transposing i get... it's quite simple really! each time you go up an octave, you are increasing the key along the piano... it's easy when you visualise a keyboard and phyiscally moving the 'note' up 2 octaves...

 

[Woodz12]

good post... the music theory side of things is what i struggle to get my head round massivly!

for example key, I understand it exists and what is 'in key' (or not), but i have no idea how to write a track in a certain key, and when chords get thrown into to key mixture i just go blank!

http://www.pianoworld.com/fun/vpc/piano_chords.htm

might be helpful!

 

[kama]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/5220863/Ravenspiral-Guide-to-Music-Theory-06

 

[boobjunkie]

does anyone have any good free videos you could recommend to me on music theory???
Or anything along those lines talking about melodies , structures ,and such

anything specific you wanna know bro? i can probably help you out if there's something you don't understand

 

[moriaty]

ahh, music theory, an almost lost value in rave music. tell you what, i finished a music degree with a good mark, but im still baffled by most theory..
it seems very daunting when you're an absolute beginner, as there so much to learn. but it is not necessary to know everything. just like there's no need for an author to become an linguistics professor to write a book, there have been many great performers that couldnt even read music, just knew how to play their instruments. and of course the countless electronic producers who have no idea what a Cb7sus4 is..not that is necessary, just saying..
the good thing about composing according to musical rules, is that you can go as deep or as superficial as you want. especially for more novice musicians, you can start writing music by just following a key's notes, and then go into learning chords, roman numerals, substitutions, dissonance, resolution, the rabbit whole goes very, very deep.

here's a few links that i found invaluable whilst studying:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory
good ol' wiki has some good explanations on each area of music theory. make sure to check all the subjects on that page.

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/
similar to Woodz12's link, interactive piano roll which shows all keys and chords you'll ever need.

http://www.good-ear.com/
essential ear training website, with audio and examinations of varied levels.

http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/011274/details.html
http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/011275/details.html
these two books are the standards for university tuition. well worth to have for referencing.

to be perfectly honest, it is no often that you hear a rave tune with intricate chords or adventurous progressions. i suppose trance makes good use of theory, and styles that incorporate live instruments. but in the more techno orientated styles, many great tunes have been completely atonal or dissonant as hell. if they were written on manuscript they would seem to be completely wrong, if we were supposed to stick within musical rules of keys and limited notes. but the final outcome works fine.

theory isnt very dissimilar to production; they both use particular terminology, they both entail following a very strict set of rules, and in both you can throw away the rule book and create something completely new. i believe that learning basic music theory is the turning point for a bedroom producer getting more serious with his art. so when you spent a few hours reading about compression and equalising, dedicate a few minutes every day to learn a few theory techniques and terms, and to train you ears. it will boost your confidence in identifying samples and acapellas in terms of pitch and key, you'll learn great tricks for creating tension in your tunes, and it will make you a more complete musician.

(blah blah blah, i shut up now...)

 

[RevTech]

ahh, music theory, an almost lost value in rave music. tell you what, i finished a music degree with a good mark, but im still baffled by most theory..
it seems very daunting when you're an absolute beginner, as there so much to learn. but it is not necessary to know everything. just like there's no need for an author to become an linguistics professor to write a book, there have been many great performers that couldnt even read music, just knew how to play their instruments. and of course the countless electronic producers who have no idea what a Cb7sus4 is..not that is necessary, just saying..
the good thing about composing according to musical rules, is that you can go as deep or as superficial as you want. especially for more novice musicians, you can start writing music by just following a key's notes, and then go into learning chords, roman numerals, substitutions, dissonance, resolution, the rabbit whole goes very, very deep.

here's a few links that i found invaluable whilst studying:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory
good ol' wiki has some good explanations on each area of music theory. make sure to check all the subjects on that page.

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/
similar to Woodz12's link, interactive piano roll which shows all keys and chords you'll ever need.

http://www.good-ear.com/
essential ear training website, with audio and examinations of varied levels.

http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/011274/details.html
http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/011275/details.html
these two books are the standards for university tuition. well worth to have for referencing.

to be perfectly honest, it is no often that you hear a rave tune with intricate chords or adventurous progressions. i suppose trance makes good use of theory, and styles that incorporate live instruments. but in the more techno orientated styles, many great tunes have been completely atonal or dissonant as hell. if they were written on manuscript they would seem to be completely wrong, if we were supposed to stick within musical rules of keys and limited notes. but the final outcome works fine.

theory isnt very dissimilar to production; they both use particular terminology, they both entail following a very strict set of rules, and in both you can throw away the rule book and create something completely new. i believe that learning basic music theory is the turning point for a bedroom producer getting more serious with his art. so when you spent a few hours reading about compression and equalising, dedicate a few minutes every day to learn a few theory techniques and terms, and to train you ears. it will boost your confidence in identifying samples and acapellas in terms of pitch and key, you'll learn great tricks for creating tension in your tunes, and it will make you a more complete musician.

(blah blah blah, i shut up now...)

good advise from a man with a good sig.

cheers.

I'd like to put in my own 2 cents worth now,

I think relative pitch and perfect pitch are nice to have honestly. perfect pitch ear training is a good audiobook on it. eartraining.com or something.

So basicaly, every note has a certain quality to it. Like a d or what (a blind example) would sound soft and dark compared to a g, which is twangy.

 

[moriaty]

So basicaly, every note has a certain quality to it. Like a d or what (a blind example) would sound soft and dark compared to a g, which is twangy.

no note has a specific sound by its self, you're referring to intervals. like a perfect 4th sound happy and majestic, and a diminished 5th sounds evil.

 

[dj_bmc]

good post... the music theory side of things is what i struggle to get my head round massivly!

for example key, I understand it exists and what is 'in key' (or not), but i have no idea how to write a track in a certain key, and when chords get thrown into to key mixture i just go blank!

pick a key, say, g minor, go on wikipedia, search for g minor, it'll tell u wot notes are in that key, (G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G) and voila. if u want to know chords learn the triads (simple 3 note chords). for instance the first chord of g minor is, in fact g minor: G B♭ (the little black key between A and B) and D. Basically a chord in the key of gminor will be any combination of notes from that list, although they won't always sound good, so play around.
EDIT: That's the melodic minor i think, so u might wanna start with the major scales coz they're a bit easier.

 

[boobjunkie]

no note has a specific sound by its self, you're referring to intervals. like a perfect 4th sound happy and majestic, and a diminished 5th sounds evil.

you're right, though some people say specific keys have different sounds i.e the modes of the Cmin scale are mean't to be the most menacing of all simply cos everyone's so used to hearing Cmaj, and Dmin is historically the most commonly used key for sad songs so it feels pretty sombre
good analogy on the flat fifths, there was a period in medieval times where they used to hang organists if they played diminished 5th intervals cos they thought it was a sign of the devil

 

[logikz]

i gives a fuck about music theroy. proof is in the pudding. although i will keep modes of the Cmin scale in mind. what is that actually?

 

[boobjunkie]

i gives a fuck about music theroy. proof is in the pudding. although i will keep modes of the Cmin scale in mind. what is that actually?

some old church bullshit lol modes basically mean there are 7 different scales for each natural minor scale, you play exactly the same notes you just make a different note your root note

C natural minor example:

aeolian mode (fancy name for natural minor scale): C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

D locrian mode: D Eb F G Ab Bb C D

Eb ionian mode (fancy name for a major scale): Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb

etc etc going on through dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian and back to aeolian when you reach the octave. same notes as the basic major or natural minor scale just starting on a different root note

 

[logikz]

ah of course dorian. did you know these (ionian, dorian etc) are all names for different ancient greek fresk styles

 

[kama]

just load up fruity piano roll, and in the menu select the chord/scale. No need to learn all that boring technical knowledge....

 

[logikz]

phew! close call. almost had to study. study bad.

 

[boobjunkie]

ah of course dorian. did you know these (ionian, dorian etc) are all names for different ancient greek fresk styles

interesting i didn't know that, d'you have any other pearls of wisdom to share with us bro?

 

[logikz]

dont know what happened tbh, someone mustve written that on my laptop when i was away. but two Ls in spanish is pronounced J, not many people know that i think.