Template:Portal:Theory/Featured Lesson

Revision as of 17:17, 15 November 2009

Degrees of the Scale

"In this multi part lesson we are going to build on our knowledge of the major scale, and start looking at a couple of key concepts around chord and harmony construction. When we are done, you'll be able to understand complex relationships between notes, harmonize a lead line, construct a B augmented chord, and leap tall buildings in a single bound ..." (more)

Simple Harmonies

"Today we are going to look at how we can put the knowledge we have so far to good use and learn a little about harmonization. This is a fascinating subject, and we are going to look at the basics in this lesson, and then some more complex ideas in a later lesson.

A lot of you probably know what harmonization is when you hear it but how to explain what it actually is? Well, in simple terms it is enhancing a melody line by playing notes at the same time either higher or lower than the melody note itself. OK, that is a simple explanation and not exact by any means, but it gets us started. The next question is which notes? Will any notes do? For harmonization, no, we have some specific ways of picking out the notes we use - they all have a very definite relationship to the melody we are harmonizing..." (more)

Modal Pentatonics

"Modal Pentatonics are a very different way of recycling and re-using your old pentatonic patterns in a new context to get a fresh sound without learning a lot of new scales. Although the theory behind them is a little complex if you aren't familiar with the major modes, by the end of the lesson we will have a list of rules for the use of Modal Pentatonics, so that you can work out which scales work in which context..." (more)

Triads

"Hi all, if you have been following along so far, you now know about the degrees of the scale and intervals. We're now going to start putting this to work for us in part 3 of the series - triads.

First of all, what is a triad? Well, its the simplest type of chord, one consisting of 3 distinct notes. Another way to look at it is as 2 intervals stacked on top of each other, sharing the middle note of the three. Basic chords such as C, F, G, E etc all qualify as triads, because although you may be able to play them on all 6 strings in some cases, there are only 3 distinct notes, some of which may be repeated. As the simplest of chords, triads are probably among the first chords you learnt as a beginner. In fact, triads are very versatile, and you can go a long way with them..."(more)

Harmonics

Want to learn the theory behind harmonics? Check out Andrew's lesson.

Natural harmonics, pinch harmonics, artificial harmonics, tapped harmonics - what are they? What is a harmonic anyway? Lets see ..." (more)

Cadences

Cadences can be seen as 'musical punctuation'.

A cadence is a formula that signifies the end of a musical phrase, like punctuation in written language. For our purposes a cadence may be regarded as a harmonic formula, usually consisting of a pair of chords, that also often has the important function of defining the key of the music.

Cadences give phrases a distinct finish, which can, for example, show the listener whether the piece is to be continued or concluded..." (more)

Minor Scales Revisited

Want to learn more about Minor Scales. Then check out Andrew's lesson Minor Scales Revisited.

In the natural minor scale lesson, we briefly touched on the fact that there were a number of different scales. The reasons for this are fascinating, and we now have enough theory to understand a bit more about why this might be. In adition, we have also spoken about various modes of the major scale being minor in nature. Lets pull all of this together and look a little more into minor scales..." (more)

Intervals

In part one of this series we learned about degrees of the scale. We are now ready to take the next step, and talk about intervals. Intervals are the building blocks of chords and harmonies, and we will introduce some language that lets us describe the relationship between any notes, and in the next lesson we will be able to move onto chord construction..." (more)

Reading Scale Diagrams

Seen scale diagrams but don't understand them? Try reading Andrew's lesson on Reading Scale Diagrams.

"A first look at a scale diagram can be daunting, but don't worry, they are very easy to read and understand and also particularly useful for practicing!...(more)"

Seventh Chords

Learnt about power chords and triads, but don't know where to go next? Check out Andrew's lesson on Seventh Chords.

"Power chords and triads are both relatively simple types of chords, yet they account for the majority of chords in use in popular music with one exception; that of the 7th chord. In this lesson we are going to look into the various types of 7th chord, and then in the next lesson move on a step to look at extended chords which are used a lot in Jazz..." (more)