/r/musictheory
/r/musictheory is a community for the discussion of music theory and related topics.
Please know that Wikipedia and chatGPT are especially bad for music theory topics. The above-listed resources are a thousand times more reliable!
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/r/musictheory
I don’t understand the meaning of syncopation well solely on google, so could someone give me an easy way to unserstand it?
What happened to Toby Rush's website, tobyrush.com? I was hoping to download the updated version of Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People. Does anyone know where to access more of his work on music theory? Alternatively, are there other authors who explain music theory in a similarly artistic and engaging way?
What number 2 in front of E note means?
I tried too google it and if I understand correctly it should be open E string (6th string) in standard tuning. But when I look at people playing this song it seems they play E note on D string. Also, later through song there is 1 in front of some notes. How should I play that on guitar?
Hi guys. I like to practice music by playing along to my favourite songs, but most of them don’t have tabs / chords available online. Is there an app that can tell me what a songs key is or its chord progression, or am I stuck with just using my ear? Thanks!
im on guitar and I've started learning simple songs by ear, but some theory, basic amount for start, would be nice as i don't have any other fellow musician around me. alot of the musicians i look up to were self taught more or less but they always had the common point of learning from other fellow musicians around them and learning, something i dont have, so as long as im alone i would like to develop further than just stagnate
(Excerpt is in D major)
I couldn’t find anything online about this and I’m super confused how a bracket changes the V6 chord from A Major to B minor, I’m definitely missing something. Also I have no idea why there is a random “2” after the ii.
Music is Eiene Klein Nachtmusik, Exposition: 2nd theme part B.
I've recently started using the Complete Ear Trainer with no prior familiarity or formal ear training. I'm very curious how we learn. Is it thought we perceive and store away the color of an interval, its affective quality? I also whistle the intervals, and wonder if we associate the air velocity and relative tongue position with interval distance. There's also a rational component -- where I've first impulsively identified a fourth, with repeat listening I can argue that, no, it's a fifth, that the interval is simply too wide, the second note too far away (this is typically at extreme registers, where the color is less perceptible). The argument "simply too far away" is more to exclude a possibility, not confirm.
What faculty for others is most important, eg affect, mechanical, rational, relative width etc? That is, what do you rely on most when naming an interval, what's the basis of your confidence?
Are the ear trainers mostly games or do we really get better at identifying (outside the rapid-fire game setting) intervals out of context?
Hi guys, happy new year to everyone!
I'm improve my knowledge of music theory and joined some classes. At the same time, I would like to know if you guys have any recommendations if I wanted to focus on music theory that's a bit outside the conventional uses of pop songs: music theory (harmony, melody, functional chords, rhythm etc.) used in genres such as industrial or so. For instance, this sort of analysis of the flat sixth chord, or this one analysis of a song (with the interrelationship of the synth and bass, syncopation, dissonance and intervals in the vocals etc.) I find fascinating, and is in fact something I would like to incorporate into my own music writing. Ixi is a great communicator and I love her analyses (if you didn't know her, check her out), so I'm already joining her Patreon.
I was wondering if you guys would have any recommendations of courses/youtubers/patreons besides her that delve into such topics or would be helpful to learn music theory in that style?
Now, don't get me wrong, I know the "you must first know the rules to break them" and I know it's essential to know basic western music theory before moving ontro trying to go beyond conventions. But some courses or methods I've tried feel like they go over the basics over and over, or if they go beyond that, use examples from classical music or jazz (nothing wrong with that at all, I love both genres, but for my writing I think the examples are not as useful).
I would like to know if you got any recommendations for stuff (courses, methods, channels...) that follows a similar style/focus to Ixi's channel?
As the title.
In E. Prout's "Musical Form" (available on the Internet Archive) in Chapter 2 §37 the author claims:
Dr. Riemann in his 'Catechismus der Phrasiereung' proves that the whole of Chopin's well-known Nocturne in E flat (Op. 9, No. 2) is wrongly barred.
In addition, he shows extracts from Shubert's Impromptu, Op. 142, No. 3 as yet another example of "wrongly barred" music.
His reasoning here is that the I of a V-I cadence must fall on a stronger beat than the V and also that the I6/4 that procedes the V must fall on a stronger beat than the V. He calls this a "rule" and quotes one of his other books.
He mentions the existance of "femenine endings" but writes them off as an edge-case.
Is he right? And if so, should these pieces be played with the accents reversed?
So far I haven't given much attention to either of these when I'm transcribing the harmony, but I'm starting to suspect this isn't the best way to go about it. But I also don't want to take forever figuring out the entire voicing, so would knowing the inversion be sufficient?
Not sure if this is related but I've often noticed my transcribed progressions sounding "wrong" or just really awkward despite playing all the right chords. Do inversions/voicings have such a big effect?
I've got a few tips for interval quality from some video: basically, if there's an F or a B, watch out. From F to B without accidentals is an augmented 4th, from B to F without accidentals is a diminished 5th. All other 4ths and 5ths without accidentals are perfect.
Something I figured out myself is about 2nds and 3rds featuring a half-step, that is, from E to F or from B to C. Without accidentals going to be minor.
But then there's 6ths and 7ths, and the only tip I got is to invert and take the opposite quality. That is, if you've got C to A, invert to A to C, that's a 3rd featuring a half-step, so it's a minor, so C to A is going to be major.
But that's a bit of a process. Is there no faster way? Or am I supposed to just develop an instinct with practice and grind my teeth through the calculations in the meantime?
For a long while I've wondered but don't really have anyone to ask who would know. I know it from 2 places. The Last of the Mohicans where I fell in love with it and someone put it over the battle scene from Macbeth. The song worked in both cases but that doesn't mean it's a "march". If it's not a march what would it be?
Hi everyone,
I want to know what is helpful for learning keyboard and ear training.
I'm currently developing an open-source ear training and keyboard training website, and I'd love to get additional features I could consider. The core features are already implemented, and I'm now focusing on improving the experience for users(only me for now😂).
Are there any additional features you think would be valuable for ear training and keyboard training?
I'm looking for open-source sheet music or chord progressions to incorporate real melodies and chord sequences for practice. Does anyone know of open repositories for jazz, classical, or pop music that would be suitable for my project? I find a openbook repo on github and fakebook site. don't know whether I can use them. I just mail their authors. I think doing transcription on real music is more helpful than my basic games.
Do you know of any open-source sheet music resources I could use to add real musical content to the site?
Some pictures of my website.
some predefined levels of ear training based on my poor understanding
a training mode that generate random major chord.
Thank you guys!
looks like i should not post any links.
And how was tonality maintained throughout a piece?
Happy New Year!!
Bassicly, I was playing around with some ideas for composing and I found something that I really like. Bassicly, take a minor scale and raise the third. Just curious if that sort of scale has an actual name or not. Thanks in advance
I'm new to making music – just covered a piece of music from a film a few days ago with some help from Hook Theory, but I'm having to learn this particular piece by ear and I can't seem to get it right.
It's not very long. There's the piano-type notes for the first half, then a faster repeating pattern that fades out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sa1d7B3_QQ
Could anyone please write the notes out for me? A>E>G, etc...
Or even point me in the direction of some software or an app that could transcribe it? I've tried Transcribe, but it wasn't very accurate.
Thank you.
This is the place to ask all Chord, Chord progression & Modes questions.
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Please take note that content posted elsewhere that should be posted here will be removed and requested to re-post here.
I’m trying to learn music theory and I keep seeing people talking about the first to the third to resolve to the fifth and bla bla bla(example)and I’m wondering how do I know if the thirds a minor or major or 7 chord? I know it’s an A but what type of A😞
I’ve been playing a lot of Santana, Kyuss, QotSA, and baroque folk in DADGAD tuning, so a lot of weird scales and modes being used in all that. I was jamming and using a lot of drones/open strings and this sounded pretty exotic. Can anyone identify what exactly I’m using?
I am self teaching myself piano. I've been playing guitar, bass and drums for years and I'm getting okay at piano. But I have a question. I was looking up blues scales on https://www.pianote.com/blog/blues-scale-formula/
And I played the A major blues scale. Why does it sound like the scale starts in the middle of what it should be? Like if you start at A and end on A and then play it backwards, it feels like you haven't made it home. Like you got to the driveway but not the front door. It has tension. Like jumping up and not quite falling back down. It feels like it should start on F#.
Same with the B Major scale. It feels like it should start on G# is it meant to be this way?
The other day, my friend improvised this chord progression on the piano in a downward motion:
A | G | D/F# or F#m | F
For some reason, even though the key signature is "technically" D Maj, tonic feels very much like its A Maj. What's crazier is F Maj feels like it's Dominant chord. I know there is probably some modal mixture, but that doesn't explain why the F Maj (or bVI chord) is functioning more like a V chord.
Could it really come down to voice leading? Or am I misunderstanding the function of these chords?
Edit: an embarrassing typo, eliminating redundant text, and adding more information for analysis
One of my favorite songs that seems to have a LOT going on melodically and harmonically.
There are countless ridiculously catchy vocal lines and they just keep coming and they're all different. It's like Aphex Twin's drums but vocally.
Am I correct that it keeps on changing keys using the circle of fifths?
To me it seems incredibly complex and I can't find the chords or tabs.
What mode is this in? Can anyone tell me what's going on this song? I would like to use it in my music! Thanks for reading
Im trying to transcribe No Way by Young Thug and I'm noticing a piano melody that seems like it could be put on the same clef with two different voices. Some of the rhythms in the 2nd bar however seem awkward if they were put on the same clef with 2 different voices. Would it be appropriate to leave the melody notated as such or put them on the same clef? Thanks
I'm new to music theory but I can't figure out what is this since all my chords are major (A-G-F∆-E) then I switch to (F∆-Dm9-G-Am7). Is something wrong?
I am trying to put two kinda little things I got going but ones I’m guessing in Cmaj (progression is Cmaj7 - D#maj7 -Fmaj7) and the other is in F#min (progression is F#min7 - Bmin7 - C#min7). I just don’t know how to modulate between them and I’m looking for help or ideas.