If you find your performances or songwriting is in a rut, one way to add diversity is to use a bit of music theory. Let me start out by saying this is an absolutely huge topic and I will only go over what I consider the bare minimum to help performers and song writers. There are people who have whole careers dedicated to this topic. So, for anyone who wants a more rigorous treatment of the subject, I would refer you to one of the many excellent music schools and teachers throughout the country.
For the basics of Western Music, let us first make some definitions:
Given two sounds of different frequencies, the higher frequency one is higher in pitch.
Given two pitches, the distance between them is called an interval.
The smallest interval is the half step (denoted H) , the next is the whole step (denoted W and made up of two half steps).
A scale is a pattern of intervals (or groupings of half and whole steps).
There are 12 notes available to make scales and chords – A, A# (or Bb), B (or Cb), C (or B#), C# (or Db), D, D# (or Eb), E (or Fb), F (or E#), F# (or Gb), G, G# (or Ab) .Each successive note is separated by a half step.
The degrees of a standard major or minor scale start from one and go to eight by counting notes sequentially.
A chord is a grouping of (typically three or more) notes or scale degrees played simultaneously.
A major scale is defined by the pattern of intervals W W H W W W H
A major chord is defined by the simultaneous playing of degrees 1, 3 and 5
A key is a shorthand way of describing how many sharps & flats are used.The key of C has no sharps or flats.
Application 1: Performance
Let’s say a song has a C major chord in it and the performer is trying to decide what to play.
Written as intervals, notes and degrees, this chord can be examined as
The C major chord is defined by simultaneous playing of the degrees 1, 3 and 5 (or the notes C, E and G)
So as a performer deciding what notes to play for a solo, bass-line, guitar lick, or a keyboard line it would be helpful to emphasize the 1, 3 and 5 degrees of the scale as this defines the chord.However, any of the notes in the C scale will work when played during the C major chord.By way of contrast, if the performer were to play an Eb, it would sound out of place (or “dissonant”) because it is not part of the C scale and would clash with the E of the C major chord.
Application 2: Songwriting
For the ending melody of the song “Happy Birthday” which is sung “Hap-py birth-day to you”, the notes are as follows when played in the key of C:
Notice that all of the notes are within the C major scale and that the 1 and 3 degrees of the scale are used (among others). This is part of the reason the melody is pleasing to the ear.Thus, it can be helpful to know the basics of music theory to come up with melodies which sound pleasant over chord progressions.
In conclusion, using basic music theory can help make performances and songwriting more interesting.A bit of study of this topic will go a long way in making your music sound more pleasant, engaging and interesting.
This is merely scratching the surface and I plan on going into more detail in the future. For further reading, check out:
Kerman, Joseph. Listen: Second Edition. New York: Worth Publishers, 1992.
Berle, Arnie. Theory & Harmony for the Contemporary Musician. New York: Amsco Publications, 1996
