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Video tags
Subtitles
Russian
00:00:01
context for this video it is a complete00:00:04
walkthrough of the basics of music00:00:06
theory in half an hour also sprinkled00:00:07
throughout are some exercises that you00:00:09
can do that will help you internalize00:00:10
these concepts because once they're in00:00:13
here once they're natural to how you00:00:15
operate it's like a superpower you'll be00:00:17
able to come up with more ideas you'll00:00:19
be able to work faster the things that00:00:21
are in your head you'll just be able to00:00:22
do it's magic I love music theory I'm a00:00:25
huge nerd I actually made this video as00:00:27
a piece of bonus content for my online00:00:29
class which you can find out more about00:00:30
at learn monthly calm slash Andrew I00:00:33
just wanted to have this there so that00:00:35
all the students would have the same00:00:36
foundation before heading into the rest00:00:38
of the course which is much more about00:00:40
music production and songwriting and00:00:42
mixing and that kind of thing but when I00:00:44
finish putting this lesson together it00:00:46
really felt like a great thing to just00:00:48
share for free on YouTube a crash course00:00:50
on music theory so I hope it's helpful00:00:52
for you and if you're interested in a 2000:00:54
lesson course about my whole approach to00:00:56
music making more info about that at00:00:59
learn monthly comm slash Andrew here's00:01:02
the theory lesson so what is music00:01:04
theory it's essentially the language00:01:06
behind music it gives you the tools you00:01:08
need to understand and interpret and00:01:10
communicate about music everyone in this00:01:12
class is mastered talking whatever your00:01:14
home language is it's second nature to00:01:16
you now you can use it without thinking00:01:17
about it and it's an incredibly powerful00:01:19
way to interpret the world around you00:01:21
and communicate with other people relate00:01:23
to them express yourself music theory00:01:25
does the same thing for music it'll help00:01:27
you understand how chords and notes and00:01:29
rhythms and melodies all work together00:01:31
and as you get good at the language00:01:33
you're able to use it really effectively00:01:35
without thinking about it I hear from a00:01:37
lot of people that they get stuck in00:01:38
this place with music theory where it00:01:40
feels like it's just work and it's00:01:41
really cerebral and it's all about what00:01:44
key am I in and what chord is this and00:01:46
what scale should I be using and I00:01:48
really want to stress that there is a00:01:49
place beyond that where if you use it00:01:52
enough it becomes as natural and fluid00:01:54
as talking I know that when you're00:01:55
talking you're not thinking about do I00:01:57
use past tense or present tense or like00:01:59
what is the word for this very common00:02:02
item that I use every day you're a00:02:04
natural at it you just look at this and00:02:06
your brain goes up it's a cat with00:02:08
enough experience you can absolutely get00:02:09
to that same level of natural automatic00:02:12
use of music theory00:02:13
similarly with language sometimes we00:02:15
come across a word or a concept that we00:02:17
don't know but we can learn it if it's00:02:19
explained to us using the words and the00:02:21
concepts that we already do understand00:02:23
in music if I come across something00:02:25
really advanced that I don't understand00:02:27
it's the music theory fundamentals that00:02:29
allow me to figure it out and learn it00:02:31
and add it to my arsenal so we're gonna00:02:33
start right at the beginning and talk00:02:35
about notes what is a note well sound is00:02:38
made up of vibrations and our ears and00:02:41
brains are really good at interpreting00:02:42
those vibrations when the vibrations are00:02:44
faster we hear them as being higher and00:02:47
when the vibrations are slower we hear00:02:49
them as being lower if the vibrations00:02:51
happen at a consistent rate then we00:02:53
perceive them as having a consistent00:02:55
pitch or frequency or a note so for00:02:58
example if I play this guitar string00:03:00
it's vibrating it's physically moving00:03:02
back and forth in this case a hundred00:03:04
and ten times per second and that's00:03:06
quickly traveling through the air and00:03:08
reaching our ears and we perceive that00:03:10
as the note a now in case you aren't00:03:14
aware the vast majority of popular music00:03:16
is made using only twelve notes almost00:03:19
all the music you've ever heard is made00:03:20
up of these twelve notes and how they00:03:22
relate to each other because as a00:03:24
culture we've discovered that that00:03:26
generally sounds better than frequencies00:03:28
that don't relate together in that way00:03:29
and there are actually mathematical00:03:31
ratios that explain why all those00:03:33
relationships sound good together but00:03:34
for the purposes of this course we don't00:03:36
need to get into that we've given the00:03:37
notes names so it's easy to refer to00:03:39
them and the names relate to the layout00:03:41
of a piano keyboard so the white notes00:03:43
are named a through G00:03:45
[Music]00:03:48
the Black Keys are named relative to the00:03:50
white keys with the words sharp and flat00:03:52
sharp means higher and flat means lower00:03:55
so for example with this note it's above00:03:57
an F so it's an F sharp but it's also00:04:01
below this G so in some situations you'd00:04:04
call it a G flat as you can see there00:04:07
are a lot more than just twelve keys on00:04:09
this keyboard but the same notes00:04:10
actually repeat themselves higher and00:04:13
lower that's the one mathematical ratio00:04:18
that I'll get into here and it's00:04:19
actually kind of fascinating but our00:04:20
brains can tell when a vibration is00:04:23
twice as fast as another one it sounds00:04:25
like the same note if I play an A here00:04:27
and an A here it's the same but one's00:04:31
higher and ones lower it's crazy and by00:04:34
the way this distance of going twelve00:04:36
notes up or down to the next identically00:04:38
named note is called an octave the00:04:40
increment between each individual note00:04:42
is called a semitone or a half-step and00:04:44
the increment between two half steps is00:04:47
called a whole step or a whole tone or a00:04:49
tone so music is then built on the00:04:51
relationships between these notes and00:04:53
there are common combinations of notes00:04:55
that we call a key not to be confused00:04:57
with the word key when we're referring00:04:59
to a piano key a key is sort of like a00:05:01
guide of what notes will sound good00:05:02
together in a piece of music and most00:05:04
pieces of music use only one key if you00:05:07
remember when I said most songs don't00:05:08
even use all twelve notes most commonly00:05:11
they would use seven and that's because00:05:13
there are seven notes in major and minor00:05:15
keys which are the most common keys so00:05:17
let's look at an example of a key the00:05:19
easiest one is C major because it uses00:05:21
all the white notes00:05:25
so when I play the notes out like that00:05:26
that's called the C major scale and the00:05:29
word scale and key are often used00:05:31
interchangeably but for your knowledge a00:05:33
key is more like the home base group of00:05:35
notes that a song is based on and a00:05:37
scale is a set of notes that you would00:05:39
play in conjunction with that so a lot00:05:42
of times you're playing the exact scale00:05:43
that matches the key that you're in but00:05:45
sometimes depending on the flavor that00:05:47
you want or the genre that you're00:05:48
working with you'll use a different00:05:50
scale over your home key so for example00:05:53
a lot of blues music is written in a00:05:55
major because that's like the standard00:05:56
tuning of a guitar but blues solos00:05:59
typically happen with the e blues scale00:06:02
or a pentatonic minor scale those scales00:06:04
have some of the same notes as a major00:06:06
but some that are different and that's00:06:08
what imparts the bluesy flavor but let's00:06:11
look at the C major scale again and the00:06:13
relationships between the notes so if00:06:15
we're in the key of C we call C the root00:06:17
note and that's the note that we start00:06:19
the scale on00:06:22
notice that as we go up the scale the00:06:24
notes have a spacing of whole whole half00:06:27
whole whole whole half starting here you00:06:30
go up two up two up one up two up two up00:06:35
two and up one whole whole half whole00:06:37
whole whole half that is the formula of00:06:40
a major scale so if your song is in C00:06:42
major you'll know that these are the00:06:43
notes that you'll mostly or maybe00:06:45
exclusively use because they'll sound00:06:47
better than the notes that aren't in C00:06:49
major it's also common practice and really00:06:51
helpful to number the notes of the scale00:06:52
starting with one at the root so if C is00:06:55
our 1 then D would be our 2 or the00:06:58
second degree or just the second e would00:07:00
be the 3 or the third degree or the00:07:02
third and so on practice applying the00:07:06
major scale formula to a few different00:07:07
notes remember that the spacing between00:07:09
the notes in the major scale is whole00:07:11
whole half whole whole whole half so for00:07:14
example if you picked a major you would00:07:16
start on a and you would move up a whole00:07:18
tone so skip one and then play the next00:07:20
that's B then another whole tone00:07:22
skip one play the next that's c-sharp00:07:25
then just a half tone D another whole00:07:28
tone skip one play the e another whole00:07:32
tone skip the F play the f-sharp another00:07:35
whole tone skip the G play the G sharp00:07:37
and then finally another half tone to00:07:41
get back up to a00:07:43
also practice identifying the notes both00:07:45
using the absolute letter names that go00:07:47
with them as well as the numbered scale00:07:49
degrees that go with each key that00:07:51
you're in in a major scale each letter00:07:53
name appears exactly once no matter how00:07:55
many accidentals there are accidentals00:07:57
meaning a sharp or a flat so to name the00:07:59
notes in an a major scale we would start00:08:01
on a and go up alphabetically from there00:08:03
ABCD efg and of course G is the last00:08:07
letter that we use in music so be00:08:09
wrapped back around to an A over here00:08:11
but we also have to add sharp to the00:08:13
names of the Black Keys C sharp F sharp00:08:16
and G sharp so it's a B C sharp d e F00:08:21
sharp G sharp a so even though these00:08:24
notes are C sharp F sharp and G sharp00:08:26
because they're a half step above C F00:08:28
and G they're also a half step below D G00:08:32
and a so you could call them D flat G00:08:35
flat and a flat in a major we use the00:08:38
sharp names for these notes that way00:08:40
each letter name appears exactly once in00:08:42
the scale and it makes it easier to00:08:43
remember and communicate about these00:08:45
notes as opposed to if we use the flat00:08:46
names and then the scale was a B B flat00:08:49
D00:08:51
she flat a flat egg where you have skips00:08:55
between the letters and some of them00:08:56
repeat twice so to name the notes in the00:08:58
major scale you start at the root note00:09:00
and go up alphabetically and that's how00:09:01
you know whether to name the Black Keys00:09:03
as sharps or flats in a couple of00:09:05
special cases you might even name white00:09:07
keys sharp or flat for instance if you00:09:09
wrote in a sharp major your second note00:09:12
a whole tone up would be this which is a00:09:14
C but in a sharp major we would call it00:09:17
a B sharp00:09:19
because of this a lot of people prefer00:09:21
to refer to this key as b-flat which00:09:24
reduces the confusion of needing to use00:09:26
a sharp name on a white key I know this00:09:29
is a lot of information so don't worry00:09:30
if it takes you a little bit to get the00:09:31
hang of it but that's also exactly why00:09:33
practice is important naming the scale00:09:35
degrees is much easier obviously the00:09:37
root note you picked is the first degree00:09:38
and then you just count up for each00:09:40
consecutive note in the scale so an a00:09:42
major a is the first degree00:09:44
B is the second C sharp is the third D00:09:46
is the fourth he is the fifth f-sharp is00:09:49
the sixth and G sharp is the seventh so00:10:12
the next big piece of the puzzle for00:10:13
working with notes and making music00:10:14
sound good is chords chords are just00:10:17
multiple notes played at the same time00:10:26
they do most of the work of setting the00:10:28
emotion in the song and guide the00:10:29
listener through some kind of musical00:10:31
story since chords are made up of notes00:10:33
and notes are in keys chords are almost00:10:35
always in the same key if you randomly00:10:38
play a bunch of notes from C major00:10:40
you're playing some kind of chord from C00:10:42
major the most common chords contain00:10:46
three notes that have a very specific00:10:48
relationship to each other and we call00:10:50
that the root third and fifth so in C00:10:52
major I can play the root C the third of00:10:55
C major E and the fifth of C major G and00:11:01
that gives us a C major chord root third00:11:03
fifth you can think of this as playing a00:11:05
note from the scale skipping a note from00:11:07
the scale playing a note from the scale00:11:09
skipping a note from the scale and then00:11:11
playing another note from the scale this00:11:13
type of chord is also called a triad now00:11:15
we can take this triad shape and move00:11:17
the root so that it's any other note00:11:19
from C major and we'll get another chord00:11:21
from C major00:11:24
[Applause]00:11:26
so since this court starts on F it's an00:11:28
F chord but here's where we need to get00:11:30
a little fluid with our lingo because00:11:32
the root of an F chord is f the third is00:11:35
a and the fifth is C but we're still in00:11:38
the key of C major where C is the root00:11:41
and F is the fourth in relation to C and00:11:43
a is the sixth in relation to see don't00:11:46
worry if this is confusing right now00:11:47
it's the kind of thing you get the hang00:11:48
of the more you use it but it's00:11:50
definitely helpful to get used to the00:11:52
numbered relationships within chords as00:11:54
well as how they relate to the overall00:11:56
key so there are two really common chord00:12:00
types in music and that's major and00:12:02
minor people usually say major sounds00:12:04
happy and minor sounds sad but there's00:12:09
actually a very specific relationship00:12:10
that makes up these chords if you take a00:12:13
chord like c e g that sounds happy and00:12:17
it is indeed a major chord and look at00:12:20
how the notes are spaced out we start on00:12:21
c we go up four three four to e and then00:12:26
we go up three one two three00:12:28
- G so the first two notes are four00:12:31
semitones apart and the next two notes00:12:32
are three semitones apart that's the00:12:35
formula for a major triad for then three00:12:38
major if a chord is three then four its00:12:40
minor so in this case if we change the e00:12:42
to an e-flat00:12:45
we've got C minor so major and minor00:12:48
scales actually have a really tight-knit00:12:50
relationship we say that every major00:12:52
scale has a relative minor scale so if00:12:55
we look at C major and play that scale00:12:57
[Music]00:12:58
just moving that down three semitones to00:13:02
an a gives us the relative minor and00:13:04
playing the same notes but starting on00:13:06
an a gives us the a natural minor scale00:13:09
[Music]00:13:11
so the relative minor always starts on00:13:14
the sixth degree of the relative major00:13:16
now going back to the key of c-major if00:13:19
you experiment with moving your triad00:13:20
shape around and you end up with the00:13:22
triad that starts on B you'll notice00:13:26
that's a three then three and that's a00:13:28
diminished chord and it's used so much00:13:31
more rarely compared to major and minor00:13:33
that we're just not going to get into it00:13:35
right now but it's there choose a few00:13:39
different major scales and practice00:13:40
making triads out of the first second00:13:42
third fourth fifth and sixth degrees so00:13:46
for example in a major I would start on00:13:47
a skip the next note in the scale play00:13:50
the next note in the scale skip the next00:13:53
note in the scale and then play the next00:13:55
note in the scale that makes an a major00:13:58
chord the second degree chord will be B00:14:00
minor so you're playing the second00:14:02
degree of the a major scale skipping the00:14:05
next note in the E major scale playing00:14:07
the next note in the E major scale00:14:08
skipping the next note and playing the00:14:11
next note B D F sharp B minor and that's00:14:15
how you'll go up and construct all the00:14:16
main triads from a major also practice00:14:19
naming each chord name both the root00:14:21
note and whether the chord is major or00:14:23
minor so going back to a major our first00:14:25
triad sounds happy and has a as its root00:14:28
which means it's a major the second00:14:31
triad sounds sad and it has B as its00:14:33
root making it B minor remember you can00:14:36
also identify major and minor by the00:14:37
spacing of the notes major is four then00:14:40
three so if we start on a and go up four00:14:43
one two three four we get C sharp up00:14:46
three one two three we get e so a sharp00:14:50
E that's an a major chord if we change00:14:53
that to three then for a00:14:55
one two three gets us to see one two00:14:58
three four gets us back to that e so AC00:15:01
e is a minor once you can identify all00:15:05
the first through sixth degree triads in00:15:07
a key you have an amazing starting point00:15:09
for creating songs you can even just00:15:10
pick three or four of those triads at00:15:12
random play them in a row and bam you00:15:15
have a nice sounding chord progression00:15:17
[Music]00:15:35
so these scale degrees the numbers that00:15:38
we've been using are really handy00:15:39
because they help us understand how00:15:41
notes and chords function within a key00:15:43
and they're also used as a shorthand for00:15:46
discussing chord progressions they help00:15:48
us understand how chords relate to each00:15:49
other relatively rather than absolutely00:15:52
so if you look at any major scale where00:15:54
you see again as an example the Triads00:15:56
are major minor minor major major minor00:16:03
diminished we don't need to finish so00:16:06
looking at the chord starting on degrees00:16:08
one through six of a major scale it's00:16:10
always major minor minor major major00:16:13
minor there's a common shorthand where00:16:15
you write these down using Roman00:16:17
numerals the number indicates the degree00:16:19
of the scale and capitals are used for00:16:21
major chords while lowercase is used for00:16:23
minor let's look at another example with00:16:25
a specific chord progression one five00:16:28
six four so if we're in C major it's one00:16:31
C 5 G a minor is the six and F is the00:16:39
four00:16:43
one five six four it has a certain00:16:46
emotional quality to it and we can00:16:48
replicate that now in any key because we00:16:50
can think one five six four in that key00:16:53
so for example in G we'll go one g 5 D 600:16:59
e minor and 4 C same progression00:17:08
different key now you may have noticed00:17:10
that both of these chord progressions00:17:12
contain both a C major and a G major00:17:15
chord but in each key those chords00:17:18
function totally differently in C major00:17:20
C is the root and G is the fifth in G00:17:30
major G is the root and C is the fourth00:17:38
as you use chords more often you'll00:17:42
start to get familiar with what the00:17:44
degrees are in relationship to certain00:17:46
keys and as you use the degrees more00:17:48
you'll start to understand how the00:17:50
chords function you'll know there's a00:17:51
certain sound when a 2 goes to a 5 or00:17:54
you'll understand the sense of yearning00:17:55
that a 4 can convey by thinking about00:17:57
chords and notes as scale degrees rather00:17:59
than just the letter names you're able00:18:01
to transcend the key that you're in and00:18:03
use what you learn in all keys for00:18:06
example if you only think about the00:18:07
letters and you find a chord progression00:18:08
you really like like let's say e f-sharp00:18:11
minor a00:18:13
you don't have any way to convert that00:18:16
to another key but if you think about00:18:17
that as 1 to 4 now you can understand00:18:19
how that could be played in any key you00:18:21
could do 1 to 4 and D 1 to 4 na and this00:18:30
is useful not only when you're creating00:18:32
music but also when you're learning from00:18:33
other songs if you can understand these00:18:35
scale degrees and decipher the songs00:18:37
that you listen to you'll start to00:18:39
notice patterns after all you only have00:18:42
these first through 6 scale degrees that00:18:44
almost every song is using to build00:18:47
their chords on so you'll probably start00:18:49
to notice I really like songs that are00:18:51
around the 4 5 & 6 or I'm not really a00:18:54
fan of the flavor of a 3 going to a 5 by00:18:57
using this number system you really00:18:58
allow so much more musical knowledge to00:19:00
accumulate and compound practice00:19:05
creating chord progressions based on00:19:06
numbers pick a random key and random00:19:09
number sequences between 1 and 6 and00:19:11
practice playing those chord00:19:12
progressions so for an example I'm gonna00:19:14
pick a key that we haven't seen in this00:19:15
lesson yet how about a flat major00:19:20
the 1st through 6th degree chords are a00:19:23
flat major f minor G minor a flat major00:19:29
B flat major and C minor so now if we00:19:34
pick random sequences of numbers between00:19:36
1 and 6 we can play them as chord00:19:38
progressions so how about 5 6 4 4 about00:19:47
4 3 2 100:19:52
how about that example from earlier in00:19:54
the lesson one five six four also00:20:01
practice the ciphering keys and scale00:20:03
degrees look up the chords to a song00:20:04
that you like you can usually just00:20:06
google song name + chords and see if you00:20:08
can figure out what key it's in with our00:20:30
triads we've covered the really00:20:31
important chord fundamentals but I also00:20:33
want to talk about inversions so that's00:20:36
when you change the position of one or00:20:38
more notes in the chord so that the root00:20:40
is no longer the lowest so if we look at00:20:42
C major c EG has c at the bottom but00:20:46
what if we move it to the top EG c or00:20:50
GCE00:20:53
these are the same notes so it's still a00:20:56
C major chord it's just inverted this is00:20:58
handy because with chord progressions it00:21:00
often sounds better to find inversions00:21:02
that have the notes closer together00:21:03
rather than what we were doing before00:21:05
moving the triad shape all around so for00:21:08
instance we played that one six five00:21:10
four and g g d E minor C why don't we00:21:15
move some of those chords around while00:21:17
we make some of them into inversions so00:21:20
that the notes are closer together and00:21:21
maybe we can find something that's00:21:22
easier to play and that sounds better so00:21:25
I think I'm still gonna start with this00:21:26
G triad this is called first inversion00:21:29
now to move to a D next I think instead00:21:32
of playing it up here with this f-sharp00:21:34
an a I'm gonna move both of those down00:21:36
to this octave and play this D so now00:21:40
we're going from G to D this D stays the00:21:44
same and the B moves to an a the G moves00:21:47
to an f-sharp it's a really nice00:21:48
movement from G to D in that inversion00:21:52
now from the D we want to go to an E00:21:54
minor and I think the most natural thing00:21:56
to do would be for these notes to move00:21:58
back up to G and B because those notes00:22:00
are an E minor and then we'll play this00:22:02
a up here00:22:03
[Music]00:22:05
that's probably the most natural00:22:07
movement from this inversion of D to go00:22:09
to an E minor so our whole progression00:22:11
right now is and from this Imai nur to00:22:17
go to a see it's super easy because00:22:19
again a minor and C share two of the00:22:21
same notes so we just need to move this00:22:23
B to a C and so now our chord00:22:29
progression which before sounded like00:22:30
this has become this it's nicer it00:22:41
sounds more natural and it'll also fit00:22:43
better with other instruments as they00:22:45
all occupy a bit more of a consistent00:22:47
range for themselves00:22:49
another thing about inversions is that00:22:50
they'll subtly change the flavor of a00:22:52
chord and we can emphasize this by00:22:54
reinforcing the lowest notes of our00:22:57
chords so for instance let's stay in G00:22:59
let's play a one to four so G to C with00:23:05
the added lower octave but what if I use00:23:09
G in second inversion with the B at the00:23:12
bottom of the G chord to move to that C00:23:15
now if we reinforce that with the lower00:23:18
notes00:23:19
[Music]00:23:21
I've always really loved that flavor of00:23:23
a one moving to a four but having the00:23:25
third of the one in the base00:23:28
[Music]00:23:31
try making a few different chord00:23:33
progressions and this time use00:23:35
inversions so that they're a little00:23:36
closer together and not just the same00:23:38
shape moving up and down the keyboard00:23:40
[Music]00:23:59
you now have the knowledge necessary to00:24:02
pick a key by picking a root and out and00:24:04
finding the other notes in that key00:24:06
using the formula for the major scale00:24:08
you're able to make chords out of those00:24:10
notes and you're also able to call those00:24:12
chords by they're numbered names and00:24:14
make chord progressions the next step is00:24:16
to look at melodies which are single00:24:17
sequences of notes played with the00:24:19
chords usually above them this is00:24:21
usually the thing that you would sing00:24:22
along to in a song but even in00:24:24
instrumental music there's usually some00:24:26
kind of lead melodic part that's the00:24:28
most interesting and the thing that's00:24:30
the most memorable for people to create00:24:32
a melody you already have all the raw00:24:33
ingredients you can just start stringing00:24:35
together notes that are in the key that00:24:37
you're in overtop of a chord progression00:24:39
but there is a really interesting00:24:41
interplay between what notes you're00:24:43
playing over which chords a lot of it00:24:46
has to do with tension versus stability00:24:47
and whether the note in your melody is a00:24:49
note that's in the chord that's00:24:51
currently playing melodies that only use00:24:53
notes that match the chords are usually00:24:55
pretty bland00:25:01
and it tends to be more interesting to00:25:03
use some notes that are outside the00:25:04
chord typically these are passing notes00:25:07
so notes that are in between two notes00:25:09
that are in the chord00:25:13
you00:25:16
you can even have a melody where none of00:25:17
the notes are part of the chords that00:25:19
they're played with00:25:21
[Applause]00:25:26
but that's pretty uncommon and typically00:25:28
you are playing with this tension and00:25:30
release of involving melody notes that00:25:32
are part of the chord and not part of00:25:34
the chord as one little tip often you00:25:36
would end on a note that's within the00:25:38
chord rather than ending on a note00:25:39
that's not in the chord00:25:42
another little shortcut to melodies that00:25:45
mostly sound good is if you use the00:25:47
major pentatonic scale so if we look at00:25:49
C major and we remove the fourth and00:25:53
seventh degrees so that's F and B then00:25:56
we just have this and if you play00:26:00
melodies with those notes over chords00:26:03
from C major typically it'll sound00:26:06
pretty good that's because overall those notes are00:26:08
the most stable over most of the chords00:26:12
pick a key and create a chord00:26:14
progression in that key then record that00:26:16
into your music software once you have00:26:18
that try to play some melodies over it00:26:21
thinking about what notes are in the00:26:23
court that's currently playing and maybe00:26:25
some that aren't but that can resolve00:26:27
two notes that are in the chord also try00:26:29
removing the fourth and seventh degrees00:26:31
from your major scale to make a major00:26:33
pentatonic scale and then try playing00:26:35
melodies using that scale you might find00:26:37
that it's even easier to get something00:26:39
sounding good for a quick example of00:26:41
finding a major pentatonic scale why00:26:43
don't we look at the key of F the notes00:26:45
there are F G a B flat C D E so if we00:26:49
number those it's one two three four00:26:52
five six seven B flat is the four e is00:26:56
the seven we'll take that out of our00:26:58
scale leaving us with F00:27:01
a CD that is the F major pentatonic00:27:04
scale00:27:05
[Music]00:27:26
the last component of theory00:27:28
fundamentals is rhythm and how to count00:27:30
it how do you tell when things are00:27:32
played whether that's chords or melodies00:27:34
or drum beats that's based on the00:27:36
musical counting system music is divided00:27:39
into equal sized portions called bars or00:27:42
measures and typically in western music00:27:44
you'll have 4 beats to a measure which00:27:46
we count 1 2 3 4 so if one note is the00:27:50
length of a bar we'd call it a whole00:27:51
note if it's 2 beats which is half of00:27:54
the bar we call it a half note and then00:27:56
each of those 4 notes that we were00:27:58
counting as beats in the bar are00:28:00
quarters of the bar those are quarter00:28:02
notes so you can have sounds instruments00:28:04
whatever playing on these beats or00:28:06
anywhere in between them and if00:28:07
something is on the beat then we would00:28:09
say it's on the 1 for example but if00:28:12
it's in between these beats then we need00:28:14
to do what's called subdividing which is00:28:16
like increasing the resolution of our00:28:18
counting if we subdivide beats in half00:28:20
we count it as one and two and three and00:28:23
four and and those ends are exactly00:28:26
halfway in between each of those beats00:28:28
so now that resolution is eighth notes00:28:30
we can subdivide further again getting00:28:32
exactly halfway in between our main00:28:34
beats and our ands so that would be 1 e00:28:37
and a 2 e and a 3 E and a 4 E and a so00:28:40
that puts us at 16th notes and even00:28:41
though you can keep on subdividing00:28:42
forever the main parts of songs are00:28:45
usually not played any faster than00:28:47
sixteenth notes and this really is a00:28:48
pretty universal system in western music00:28:51
if you're talking to anybody who's had00:28:52
some music education and you say00:28:55
something is on the TUI they'll probably00:28:57
know what you're talking about00:28:58
so getting used to using this counting00:29:00
system will allow you to play music00:29:01
better because you'll be able to better00:29:02
feel where you are within the beats00:29:04
it'll also allow you to interpret and00:29:06
decipher and remember different kinds of00:29:08
rhythmic material because it gives you a00:29:10
structure for those rhythms to live in00:29:12
so let's say you're out and about and00:29:14
you get an idea or you hear something00:29:15
that you want to try but you can't00:29:16
actually make it right then you can make00:29:19
a quick note of it using this kind of00:29:20
rhythmic note00:29:21
let's say we had a bead idea that was00:29:23
like we could jot that down into this00:29:26
number system I've made this one a00:29:28
little pretty for the video but you can00:29:30
do this really quickly freehand I do00:29:32
that all the time so I've got kick snare00:29:34
and a hat here and then a grid of00:29:36
sixteen spaces lining up with our00:29:39
one-e-and-a two-e-and-a three-e-and-a00:29:40
four-e-and-a bats well I know that the00:29:43
snare is on the end of one and the four00:29:47
I know there's a kick on one so it's00:29:52
gonna do two and three and then the high00:29:55
hats are 1e and a 2e I think it's on the00:29:59
2e that's yeah yeah that's our bead idea00:30:06
and the first few times you do this you00:30:07
might have to really slow it down and be00:30:09
counting along really deliberately and00:30:11
finding those beats and where they line00:30:13
up to what you want to do but as you do00:30:14
this more and more you'll get way better00:30:16
at it you'll get way faster at it you'll00:30:17
just know what it feels like to be on00:30:19
certain beats and you'll know how to00:30:21
make note of your ideas or again this00:30:23
grid is just like your dog you'll know00:30:27
how to input those beats into your dog00:30:28
really quickly for practice take a song00:30:32
that you like and select an element like00:30:34
one line of melody or a drum beat and00:30:36
see if you can write out its rhythm00:30:38
using this basic sixteenth note notation00:30:41
[Music]00:31:02
[Music]00:31:08
all right I know that's a lot to take in00:31:10
definitely try to make some time for00:31:11
those practice exercises and of course00:31:13
come back to this video as much as you00:31:15
want to use it as reference if you're00:31:17
interested in videos like this but about00:31:20
writing and producing and recording and00:31:22
mixing and mastering I have a very00:31:24
comprehensive interactive online class00:31:26
that runs a few times a year00:31:28
again you can learn more about that at00:31:29
learn monthly calm slash andrew music00:31:33
theory is the best I'll see you in the00:31:34
next videoDescription:
Order my book Make Your Own Rules! https://andrewhuang.com/book 20 more lessons like this about music production, songwriting, mixing, mastering, and more: https://studio.com/classes/andrew-huang/music-production?ref=ANDREW&code=a Subscribe → https://www.youtube.com/c/andrewhuang?sub_confirmation=1 Merch! https://andrewismusic.creator-spring.com/ Support my work on Patreon and be the first to get all my new music: https://www.patreon.com/andrewhuang Video chapters: 2:36 Notes 10:12 Chords 11:58 Major and Minor 15:36 The Number System 20:29 Inversions 23:59 Melodies 27:26 Rhythm ★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★ Instagram https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Twitter http://twitter.com/andrewhuang Facebook https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser ★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/7HifubxN0gO1nHbRIqWhrY iTunes https://music.apple.com/us/artist/andrew-huang/130057628 Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/theme/promotion_gpm_shutdown_ctp Bandcamp https://andrewhuang.bandcamp.com/ ★ JOIN THE 820 CREW DISCORD ★ https://discord.me/820crew ★ GEAR ★ Disclosure: Most of these are affiliate links - if you buy anything through them (even if it's not the linked item) I'll receive a small percentage, which helps support my channel. Keyboard https://shareasale-analytics.com/r.cfm?b=1177344&u=1854313&m=77930&urllink=&afftrack=&shrsl_analytics_sscid=61k8%5Ff68t&shrsl_analytics_sstid=61k8%5Ff68t Modular https://www.perfectcircuit.com/?clickId=4764555913 Headphones - lots of hype https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-Crossfade-Wireless-Over-Ear-Headphone/dp/B06XX1SR33?creativeASIN=B06XX1SR33 Headphones - super pro omg https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0142FEWD4?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0142FEWD4 Small audio interface https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0794P3R35?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0794P3R35 Big audio interface https://www.perfectcircuit.com/ua-apollo-x8p-heritage.html?clickId=4764555920 Analog preamp/comp https://www.perfectcircuit.com/universal-audio-la-610-mkii.html?clickId=4764555917 OP-1 https://www.perfectcircuit.com/teenage-engineering-op-1.html?clickId=4764555919 How I learned synthesis https://shareasale-analytics.com/r.cfm?b=1235453&u=1854313&m=77930&urllink=&afftrack=&shrsl_analytics_sscid=61k8%5Ff695&shrsl_analytics_sstid=61k8%5Ff695 Mic 1 https://www.perfectcircuit.com/shure-sm7b.html?clickId=4764555918 Mic 2 https://www.perfectcircuit.com/lauten-ls-208.html?clickId=4764555915 Vlog mic https://www.amazon.com/Rode-VMPR-VideoMic-Rycote-Shockmount/dp/B00YAZHRZM?creativeASIN=B00YAZHRZM Main camera https://www.amazon.com/Canon-Digital-Camera-Body-Black/dp/B01BUYK04A?creativeASIN=B01BUYK04A I use Distrokid to get my music on streaming platforms - get 7% off your first year here: https://distrokid.com/vip/seven/552266 -- If you're new here, my name is Andrew Huang and I'm a musician who works with many genres and many instruments - and I've also made music with many things that aren't instruments like balloons, pants, water, and dentist equipment. For more info visit my website: https://andrewhuang.com/ You can also stream and download my 40+ albums and EPs at https://andrewhuang.bandcamp.com/ or check out my other videos at https://www.youtube.com/andrewhuang Thanks for watching today and a big hug to you if you share this video with someone!
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