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Music Theory - Grade 1

by JazzMaverick

18 Jun 2009
Views: 88427

This is for those who want to be graded, or for those who are just generally keen on learning.

This lesson took FOREVER to write because I needed to write out each example over and over again, apologies for the long wait!

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To start things off before we get into the grading; in order to fully understand these basics, it's important you already know the following:

- Major scale
- Minor scale
- Major Keys (sharps and flats)
- Able to read the notes on notation. (even though I cover them)

If you do not already know this... please look back at my lessons:
Major Scale & Modes
And look at the first position - The Ionian (Major) Scale.
Also:
Keys
And look at the first one again.

If you don't know how to read notation, I recommend you visit: Music Theory

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So, let's start!

This should cover close to all of the requirements for the official grading from companies, but each year supplies new targets and expectations, so keep that in mind.

The Stave (or Staff)



We're all familiar with the notes A - G, but just incase, in Music we refer to our musical notes from seven letters in the alphabet, these are repeated and they represent the same notes at a higher/lower level.

The Octave (eight) is the term for the same note, higher or lower containing the same letter name. E.G. A-A, D#-D#, etc.

The word "Pitch" is used to describe how high or how low a sound is, and in music this is shown with Notes:








etc.
These notes are placed on the Stave.
The Stave consists of a series of five parallel lines. Notes can be placed on the lines or in the spaces between them. The lines and spaces are always reckoned from the lowest upwards.
Lines:



Spaces:



G and F Clefs


All of these notes can have no certain pitch or name until some distinguishing mark is placed at the beginning of the stave. The mark is called a Clef (which translated means "Key") and the clef then lets you know what notes are what on the Stave.

Treble Clef

The Treble Clef, which was originally a capital G, circles round the second line and fixes that line as G, so any note on that line represents the note G. Originally the Treble clef was known as G clef. Now because this clef is placed here, we are now able to define what the pitch is.

Treble Clef:




Bass Clef

The Bass Clef contains two dots, these dots are always either side of the fourth line, which defines F. Originally the bass clef used to be a big F. But now the bass clef is written like this:




The notes which are on the bass clef are:




So now that we've seen these notes, there's one note that's missing from both of these clefs, that's "Middle C". It's called middle C because it's the note which is nearest to the middle of the piano. It's written on a line bolow the Treble and a line above the Bass.




So both of these clefs (with the exception of middle C, because it's outside of the Stave) will be:




All of these notes I've just shown you can be shown on all of the white keys on a piano.




The smallest distance between two notes on the keyboard is called a semitone. There are semitones in the picture above; C-C#, C#-D, E-F, etc.

A Tone consists of two semitones; C-D, E-F#, G#-A#, etc.

Sharps, Flats and Naturals

The Sharp (#) raises a note one semitone in pitch:




The Flat (♭) lowers a note one semitone:




And The Natural (♮) returns the note to it's original note:




Construction of the Major Scale



I'm sure most of us know what a scale is, but for those who don't: A scale is a group of notes which can be ascending or descending from the starting note. It depends on the key to determine what scale is going to be used.

So let's start with C, the white notes on a piano all form a scale known as the Major Scale (this is the only scale I'll be talking about for this lesson by the way)







How to play this on guitar:

Think of it like a position where you keep your hand still and each finger is tied to that individual fret. So the 7th fret's notes will always be played with the first finger, the 8th fret's notes will always be played with the middle finger, 9th the ring finger, and 10th with the little finger. On this site, as I hope you already know, the low E is always the bottom string and the high E is always the top string.

Now on notation, these eight notes can be divided into two groups, each have four notes. This is known as a Tetrachord. Which is the Greek term; tetra meaning four, chorde meaning string or note.




So as you can see, the two semitones are in the same place, and between all other notes the interval is a tone.

Now we can move onto the second of the two tetrachords, which may now be taken to form the first or lower tetrachord of a new major scale. All you need to do (in notation) is to add four notes above it. Like so:




But in order to preserve the correct order of tones and semitones, the distance between the third and fourth notes of the second tetrachord should be a semitone, not a tone. So for us to correct this notated piece, we need to put a sharp (#) before the F to raise it a semitone.

Therefore, in every major scale, except C Major, there's at least one note which will need to be sharpened or flattened whenever it occurs, this is necessary for us to preserve the correct order of tones and semitones.

But then, if we were to sharpen or flatten notes each time they occur, it would just get complicated and very confusing, so the sharps or flats are grouped together and written immediately after the clef at the beginning of each line. This is what indicated the key; which is the set notes of which the piece is built, with each note having a definite relation to a note known as the key-note. The group of sharps or flats is called the Key-signature

So any sharps or flats occurring in the course of a piece other than in the key-signature are called accidentals.

So when it comes to the G Major scale, it can then be written like this:




!!!NOTE!!!
If you're thinking about taking an exam in music theory you should know that you're sometimes asked to write a scale without key-signatures. So if that happens, write out the notes of the scale needed (e.g. D Major) and place the accidentals before those notes which need them. Like so:




If you were to write D Major with a key-signature, you would then write it like this:




F Major without key-signature:




F Major with key-signature:




Tonic Triads (In C G D F)



The Tonic is the key note, the root note. The tonic triad in a major key is a chord of three notes, consisting of the tonic, third and fifth of the scale (doh-me-soh).

Tonic Triad of C Major:




As you can see from this image, if the tonic is on a line, then the other two notes will be on the next two notes above; similarly, if the tonic is on a space, then the two remaining notes will be on the two spaces directly above the key-note. Like so:




Time Values of Notes
Dotted Notes and Rests



The length of sounds is shown by notes of different shapes, which I mentioned near the beginning of the lesson. Periods of silence are shown by signs called Rests.




There are four other notes which I haven't put on here because they aren't used in modern time, but just so you know what they are:

Longa (AKA Quadruple Whole Note):




This is 4 times as long as a Semibreve.

A Breve (AKA Double Whole Note):




This is twice as long as a Semibreve. It's Rest note is:




A Hemidemisemiquaver (AKA sixty-fourth note):




This is the second fastest note in notation. It's Rest is:




A Quasihemidemisemiquaver (AKA one hundred and twenty eighth note):




The reason why the four of these are no longer used in modern times is because they're too slow and fast for modern music, which is why it died out around the romantic era.

A now here's a table showing the number of notes which are broken down from one semibreve:




When we listen to music, usually we can feel a place where we can usually clap. This is called the Pulse or Beat of the music.

If you listen closely to some songs in music, some beats can be stronger than others, and those are called Accents.

The beats almost always fall into a regular group of two or three, the first of each group being an accent.







The number of beats from one accent to the other splits the music into equal measures, each of which is called a Bar. In order for us to know where these splits are, a line is placed across the stave, which is called a Bar-line.




This tune will therefore be in two time.




This will be in three time.

At the end of a piece of music, or a section of a piece, two bar-lines are placed across the stave. It's called a Double Bar. The time of a piece of music is shown by the Time-Signature, and this is ALWAYS placed immediately after the key-signature at the beginning of the piece.




So by looking at these time-signatures, you can see that the numbers are placed one above the other. For now, it's best to think of the top number as showing how many beats there are in a bar, and the bottom number as the value of each beat.

So, 2/4 indicates that there are two crotchet beats in each bar. Similarly 3/2 means that there will be three minim beats in each bar.

So, in the two examples I mentioned a little bit before, 2/4 indicates that there will be two crotchet beats in each bar, and 3/2 indicates that there will be three minim beats in each bar.

Similarly,

3/8 means three quaver beats in a bar.
3/4 means three crotchet beats in a bar.
4/4 means four crotchet beats in a bar.
2/2 means two minim beats in a bar.

4/4 time is also known as Common Time especially in old music, and instead of figures (4/4) it's shown by the sign "C". Here's where I should point out that C is not a capital letter for Common Time. In early days music in three time was represented by O, the circle or symbol of perfection; music in two or four time by C, the imperfect or incomplete circle.

2/2 time is often called Alla Breve, and is shown by the sign:




I advise you not to use these old signs, even though their meaning should be known, but they often lead to confusion. There can, however, be no doubt about:

4/4 (four crotchet beats in a bar)
2/2 (two minim beats in a bar)
4/2 (four minim beats in a bar)

Dotted Notes and Rests



The value of a note or rest can be increased by placing a dot after it. The effect of the dot is to increase the length of the note or rest by half its original value.

Therefore,
is equal to the value of 3 quavers.


is equal to the value of 3 semiquavers.

The value of a note may also be increased:

1) By a Tie or Bind.


= a crotchet plus a quaver. The first note only is sounded, but it's held on for its own length plus that of the following tied note.

2) By placing two dots after the original note:

The effect of the first dot is to increase the value of the note by half, and the second dot adds again half the value of the first dot.
Like so:






Here's a table showing simple time signatures, which are ordinary notes like minim, crotchet, etc. The rest will be explained later on.




Since pictures can only do so much, I'll record a few examples so you can definitely understand the Time Signatures...

Note, these are all the same tempo; 120 BPM (beats per minute).


Even though I've put four notes in here, you only need to count 2 beats, so it's: 1, 2, 1, 2 (and so on)

























Hopefully it'll make more sense now.

Finding The Key Of A Melody



If a passage contains sharp accidentals only, you then need to find which sharp is the last in the key-signature order. The order of sharps (only two for this grade) are:




The last sharp is always the seventh degree of the scale, so the key-note will be a semitone above.




The last sharp in order in the above tune is C sharp; therefore the key-note (a semitone above) will be D, and the key D Major, because of the presence of F sharp in the tune.

But, if a passage only has flats (there's only one flat key in this grade) the key-note will be four notes below this flat.




The flat is B flat, therefore the key will be F Major.

WARNING!!!!!

A tune does not necessarily begin or end on the key-note. The second last tune (D Major example) does neither. The last tune ends on the key-note, but doesn't begin on it. Make sure you keep that in mind at all times!

So, this is all I'm going to cover for this grade, to learn the Italian words and abbreviations along with signs which are likely to be found in the music set for Grade 1, please look at my other lesson here: Music Theory - Grade 1 - Terms and Signs
As time goes on, this will be easier to remember, but for now, just keep recapping everything I've covered. Good Luck!


__________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, check out my music listed on Sound Cloud (link below) if you like it follow me on facebook! :)

JazzMaverick on Sound Cloud
JazzMaverick Music

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Comments:

01
06.18.2009
  macandkanga

Awesome lesson Jazz! This is so much better than what I was working on. I think by creating my lesson I learned more than it would have helped anyone else. In truth, I learned how much I did'nt know!

02
06.18.2009
  JazzMaverick

I'm glad you like it! It took ages to write out and think of examples, but it'll really benefit everyone who's interested.

03
06.18.2009
  Phip

Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally theory I can understand. Thank you very much Jazzy. This lesson is custom made for me. I acutally understand it, and that's saying alot.
Phip

04
06.18.2009
  JazzMaverick

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like it! Still, if you don't understand anything, I'm here to answer any questions.

I'll have more grades up eventually (probably have to wait a while though!)

05
06.18.2009
  JustJeff

Damn dude. Very impressive. Great introductory lesson on theory.

Does this site have anything about building chords and triads yet? Seems like that's a big gaping hole in a lot of people's theory to bridge this classical stuff to modern music.


Jazz, you are a beast. That is all :)

06
06.18.2009
  JazzMaverick

hahaha thanks Jeff :D I don't think there is anything on it yet, I know I'll be covering it in future lessons, but you're welcome to make one if you want :D

07
06.19.2009
  Guitarslinger124

As always, excellent lesson Jazz. Reminds of the first semster of music I took in school.

08
06.19.2009
  telecrater

wow, Jazz that is an awesome lesson. You really took some time in making this. It goes to show how much of an asset you are to this forum and community.

Can't wait to see Grade 2!!!!

09
06.20.2009
  JazzMaverick

Thanks a lot guys! I appreciate such a compliment Tele!

Grade 2 has been started, just going to be a while before it's completed, hope you don't mind waiting!

The Grade 2 terms will be up soon, probably by the end of today.

10
06.21.2009
  nikhil.sinha

wow! This is so inspiring n motivating. It reflects the passion wat u have
for music n help us to build same.
lesson is great n the way u have put it down makes really easy to understand n learn.
thanks
nikhil

11
07.25.2010
  nullnaught

Under Sharps, Flats and Naturals You mistake a G for a D.

12
07.25.2010
  GuitarJoe

I just want to say how great it is to have this much information in one place. I'm sure this will help a lot of people, and its extremely cool of you, JazzMaverick, to take the time to post this. I just wish this was around when I was learning this stuff lol.

13
07.27.2010
  Empirism

Fantastic lesson, respect.

14
07.27.2010
  btimm

"Fantastic lesson, respect."

+1

15
07.27.2010
  MoshZilla1016

I wish I coulda got my hands on this 25 years ago. Great explanations.
Fantastic lesson, respect.

+2

16
07.27.2010
  JazzMaverick

I can't believe I made such a mistake - thanks Nullnaught for pointing that out. I'll sort that out as soon as I can.

I'm very glad to be helping you all out like this! There's no point in keeping knowledge to myself - and I'm not skilled enough to make a book, so I may as well share for free! =P

Glad it's helped =)

17
04.14.2011
  gshredder2112

hey,jazzy quik question. how do you know exactly which note to play on a stave?like say i just had a staff with just one G note on it.which string would i play that gnote on?

18
04.14.2011
  nullnaught

that comes with knowledge of the other notes around it and knowung what octave to play in, I could explain it better i f you want. You can pm me anytime.

19
04.14.2011
  gshredder2112

alright john i will,thanks.

20
04.16.2011
  JazzMaverick

@ G shred, where middle C is on a stave, that would be played on the B string, 1st fret. - Transpose how you will. But that's where it's originally played. I hope you can sork it out from there?

21
04.16.2011
  gshredder2112

uumm kinda not really,oh well i guess ill stick with tabs.

22
04.16.2011
  nullnaught

@ JazzMaveric

What if you have that middle C and a C two octaves above it in the same chord?

23
04.18.2011
  JazzMaverick

@ Gshred, that's disapointing that you'd give up so easily man. Depends if you want music to be your profession or not - but if you really want something, you should know you have to put in the effort to learn it. Sadly there is never an easy route.

@ Nullnaught,

You would then transpose it around the fretboard. So, play it on the G string, a few frets away and you have the exact same middle C.

This is something that's very important for every guitarist to understand.

A lot of people are talking about this so I'll try and write a lesson to make it easier for everyone.

24
04.18.2011
  JazzMaverick

Hang on a sec, why are you asking me Nullnaught? You told Gshred a few posts up that you knew how it worked and you were going to PM him about it. Busted! hahaha.

25
04.18.2011
  nullnaught

yes i did. . You shouldnt state a way to do something like its the only way to do it. You'll have exceptions to the rule. Thats all.

26
04.18.2011
  nullnaught

@ jazzmaveric.

Is there a way to post standard notation. It would be cool if we had licks in standard to practice with. But i just dont see how to do it without posting pictures. We should have standard notation exersizes too somewhere here mabey..

27
04.18.2011
  gshredder2112

jazzy,I normally wouldnt give up.so easily,but for.right now i have other pressing matters to attend to,i cna.read music and understand which notes to play just not where to playem.maybe ill give it another crack when i have time to really sit down and study.

28
04.23.2011
  JazzMaverick

OH my god! My lessons has had 15,702 views!! I'm glad people are taking a look at this! I'll try and get the rest of the lessons finished asap. I stopped writing them for a while because I lost Sibelius so once I get that up and running again I'll finish with the examples, and post the rest of the lessons. So glad it's helped people though. :)

@ Nullnaught,

The best thing to do would be to get a music program that focuses on musical notation, write it up that way and paste it into your lesson, topic, lick, and carry on that way. It's the same with Tab, but Tab technically isn't music to begin with, it's just a temporary easy way out of the real stuff... but it can't last, because tab is so very limiting compared to notation.

@ Gshred,

In truth, most people will not be motivated enough when just simply reading something - what you need is a real teacher, in front of you to show you what's right and what isn't. It's the only way you can be easily pointed out on your mistakes without the risk of waiting around, doing what's wrong and finding out months later via websites that you've actually been doing it wrong the whole time.

Teachers are a much better way to learn.

The lessons that are on here are just something to help guide you, but a teacher is a much better choice.

29
04.23.2011
  gshredder2112

ok jazzy.

30
06.21.2012
  georgezou

jazzy can you pliz upload a Grade2 guitar debut plizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsssssssssssssssssssssssss

31
06.22.2012
  JazzMaverick

It's on it's way, along with 3, 4, and 5 soon to be posted. :)

32
06.25.2012
  FiniteZer0

One comment I would like to add is this:

3/8 is typically considered a one beat measure (6/8 is a 2 beat measure; 9/8 a 3 beat; 12/8 a 4 beat; so on and so forth) but if you're doing a rhythm based on pulse (5/16 would be a great example of a rhythm based on pule) then 3/8 is a 3 beat measure as you have all ready described.



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