Music Theory 1 -The Structure of Music Alan Cohen

Music Structure Everything built has structure.

Music Structure Everything built has structure.  Buildings

Music Structure Everything built has structure.  Buildings  Bridges

Music Structure Everything built has structure.  Buildings  Bridges  Stories

Music Structure Everything built has structure.  Buildings  Bridges  Stories  Movies

Music Structure Music is built on a structure.

Music Structure Music is built on a structure. Music is built on scales and chords.

Music Structure Scales are the building blocks for melodies.

Music Structure Scales are the building blocks for melodies. Melodies are horizontal.

Music Structure Scales also provide the building blocks for chords.

Music Structure Scales also provide the building blocks for chords. Chords are vertical structures.

Music Structure Scales also provide the building blocks for chords. Chords are vertical structures. They provide harmony.

Music Structure Rhythm is also part of the structure of music.

Music Structure Rhythm is also part of the structure of music. Rhythm determines:

Music Structure Rhythm is also part of the structure of music. Rhythm determines:  How long sound is played

Music Structure Rhythm is also part of the structure of music. Rhythm determines:  How long sound is played  How often you hear patterns of sound

Music Structure Rhythm is also part of the structure of music. Rhythm determines:  How often sound is played  How often you hear patterns of sound  How often you hear sections of silence

Music Structure The structure of music consists of melody which consists of patterns of sound, silence, and rhythm.

Music Structure The information in this course explains Western music theory. Scales, rhythms, and harmony are different in different cultures.

Musical Structure

Scales Music either begins with scales or rhythmic patterns.

Scales Music either begins with scales or rhythmic patterns. We will begin with scales.

Scales Without scales, there is no melody.

Scales Without scales, there is no melody. Just as we use letters and sounds to form speech, we use music notation and scales to form melodies.

Scales A scale consists of 8 notes, seven individual notes and the first note repeated at the octave.

Scales A scale consists of 8 notes, seven individual notes and the first note repeated at the octave. An octave is the same note played higher or lower. For example, if I play a C scale (in an ascending pattern) C D E F G A B C is the beginning of the next octave higher. If I do the same (in a descending pattern) C B A G F E D C is the beginning of the next octave lower.

Scales While an octave or scale (in Western music) consists of 8 notes, there are actually 12 notes within an octave (in Western music).

Scales Imagine a piano keyboard.

Scales Notice there are some black keys.

Scales Notice there are some black keys The black keys represent sharps and flats.

Scales There are 7 different white keys in an octave (C D E F G A B) and the 5 black keys (C# D# F# G# A# or Db Eb Gb Ab Bb)

Scales There are 7 different white keys in an octave (C D E F G A B) and the 5 black keys (C# D# F# G# A# or Db Eb Gb Ab Bb) These notes form all of the scales.

Scales Note: On a piano (harpsichord, organ, or other keyboard instrument) the same key represents a sharp or flat. However, for string and wind instruments this is not true. For example, on those instruments an A# and Bb are different as are E natural and Fb.

Bb or A#E or F flat

Scales What are sharps?

Scales What are sharps?  Sharps raise a note half a pitch.

Scales What are sharps?  Sharps raise a note half a pitch. What are flats?

Scales What are sharps?  Sharps raise a note half a pitch. What are flats?  Flats lower a note half a pitch.

Scales When people ask what is the key of the song, they are asking what scale the song is written in. Key and scale are the same thing.

Scales A musical scale is a set of notes, usually not arbitrary, of which most notes in a piece of music might be chosen. There exist many scales with highly distinctive sounds, though some are much more common than others. the term "scale" comes from the latin word 'scala' meaning 'ladder'. Thus a scale is a ladder of notes.  en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Music_Theory

Scales Scales are built by a formula that defines the distance between notes or steps on the ladder.

Notes under blue arrows are 1 whole step apart, notes under purple arrows are ½ step apart.

Scales The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display the C major scale.

Scales The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display the C major scale. The distance between a white key and a black key is ½ step.

Scales The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display the C major scale. The distance between a white key and a black key is ½ step. The distance between 2 white notes is a hole step except between E and F and B and C. They are a half step.

Scales The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display the C major scale. The distance between a white key and a black key is ½ step. The distance between 2 white notes is a hole step except between E and F and B and C. The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide can create any major scale.

Scales The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display the C major scale. The distance between a white key and a black key is ½ step. The distance between 2 white notes is a hole step except between E and F and B and C. The combination of whole and half steps in the previous slide display can create any major scale. It just depends on the note where you start.

E Major Scale

Scales A musical scale defines the vocabulary of the song or composition.

Scales A musical scale defines the vocabulary of the song or composition. It defines the notes and chords that fit within that scale.

Scales A musical scale defines the vocabulary of the song or composition. It defines the notes and chords that fit within that scale. In theory, any note or chord can be played in any scale.

Scales A musical scale defines the vocabulary of the song or composition. It defines the notes and chords that fit within that scale. In theory, any note or chord can be played in any scale. However, depending on the scale, certain notes and chords will sound wrong or out of place.

Scales Why?

Scales Why? There are a variety of reasons.

Scales Why?  culture

Scales Why?  culture Western music scales are based on equal temparement a system of tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. In equal temperament tunings an interval — usually the octave — is divided into a series of equal steps (equal frequency ratios). For modern Western music, the most common tuning system is twelve-tone equal temperament, sometimes abbreviated as 12-TET, which divides the octave into 12 (logarithmically) equal parts. It is usually tuned relative to a standard pitch of 440 Hz. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament

Music Theory Art

Websites To Learn Music Theory

Music Theory Online viewkey=a5c2725af6803f43f343 viewkey=a5c2725af6803f43f343 _en.html _en.html