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| INTRODUCTION | CHORD DIAGRAMS | SONGS | MUSICAL THEORY | TRANSPOSING |
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Translate this page into:
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| INTRODUCTION | CHORD DIAGRAMS | SONGS | MUSICAL THEORY | TRANSPOSING |
Music theory is like mathematics. You start off with a few basic rules of arithmetic, and before you know it you're lost in a quagmire of complicated mathematical equations that make sense only to the most dedicated professionals, and are no help at all when it comes to balancing your checkbook, or figuring out your change at the supermarket. The same is true with music. This discussion will be limited to the basic "arithmetic" of music, which is easy to learn, and all anyone needs to enjoy a lifetime of playing the guitar or any other instrument.
Just as the most complex mathematics is based on only ten numbers, the most complex music ever written is based on only twelve musical notes, shown above. These are the only musical notes there are. There are no others. All the music ever written in the entire history of the Human race consists of only these twelve notes.
The reason I call the above formula "secret" is that it is rarely if ever mentioned in most discussions on musical theory, and yet it is the eight note sequence for all the "major" musical scales, which compose about 90 percent of all the music ever written. The number two means the next note in the scale is two above the last note, and the number one means you only move one note up. If you refer to the list of notes above, you can easily figure out any major scale.
For example, the "A" major scale would be A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A. With an instrument in your hands, you don't even need to know the names of the notes. With a guitar, no matter where you start, the next note of the scale will be two frets up, then another two frets to the next, then only one fret, then two again, and so on. On a piano you would simply be using black and white keys instead of frets.
All you have to do is remember this very simple "secret" formula, and you can sit down at a piano, or pick up a guitar, and play any major scale like a pro. With some other instruments the notes may not be presented in such a straightforward manner, but the sequence is exactly the same.
Why are scales important? Because they tell you the eight notes (out of the twelve possible notes) that sound good together for any particular key. In the example above we figured out the eight correct notes for the key of "A". Perhaps the most important aspect for most guitar players is that scales also tell you which notes to play in a chord, and which chords to play together in a song.
Chords are special little animals that are made up of different combinations of only three notes, decided by the key (name) of the chord. Major chords consist of the first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale. These notes can be duplicated and played in any order, but most chords sound best when the lowest note in the chord is the root (first) note of the major scale. For example, an "A" major chord consists of the notes "A", "C#", "E", with "A" being the root of the chord.
To turn a major chord into a minor chord, all you have to do is drop the third note one step down, so that an "A" minor chord would become "A", "C", "E".
Here's another "secret". Most popular music only consists of three chords! And you can easily figure out which chords by the formula 1, 4, 5, with the first, fourth and fifth notes of the scale being the roots of the chords. In other words, most songs in the key of "A" would employ the chords "A", "D", and "E". It's that simple.
Now you know all you need to play the guitar. That wasn't so hard, was it? Below I've labeled the open strings of a guitar tuned in the normal manner (there are many different ways to tune a guitar). Depress the top or bottom "E" string before the first fret and you are playing an "F" note. And so on. Enjoy!
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