CHAPTER 0

THE CHAPTER EVERYONE SKIPS

A journey of one thousand miles
must begin with a single footstep.
� Lao Tzu c 531 B.C.
Welcome to Basic M us i c T h e o r y !
Why B a s i c M u s i c T h e o r y ?
W h a t � s I n s i d e
The Icons
B a s i c M u s i c T h e o r y : O v e r v i e w
H o w t o U s e t h e S p e c i a l F e a t u r e s

Moving On
CHAPTER 0
AN ULTRA-BRIEF HISTORY
OF MUSICAL NOTATION
History doesn�t repeat itself,
but it does rhyme.
� Mark Twain
Hear, There, Everywhere
Music Performed
The Future
CHAPTER 1
LINES, LINES, EVERYWHERE
All music is folk music. I ain�t never
heard no horse sing a song.
� Louis Armstrong
THERE�S LINES
E v e r y t h i n g Y o u D o n � t H e a r
The Staff
Moving On
C h a p t e r 2 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 2
MORE LINES
Can we ever have too much of a good
thing?
� Cervantes, Don Quixote
No Holds Barred
Moving On
C h a p t e r 3 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 3
Days full of wanting.
Let them go by without
worrying that they do.
Stay where you are inside
such a pure, hollow note.
� Rumi
WHERE�S THE BEAT?
The Beat Goes On
The Notes
The Note Head

The Stem

Put Your Stems Up, Put Your Stems Down

Moving On

Chapter 4 Review
CHAPTER 4
The rest is silence.
� Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act v, sc.2
THE SOUND OF SILENCE
T a k e a R e s t
T h e R e s t s o f t h e S t o r y
Moving On

Chapter 5 Review
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 5
All times are not alike.
� Cervantes, Don Quixote
METER
Not the Metric System
4/4 Time
2/4 Time

3/4 Time
Moving On

Chapter 6 Review
CHAPTER 6
I like to see you move with the rhythm;
I like to see when you're dancin' from
within.
� Bob Marley
DOWN WITH THE COUNT
C a n Y o u C o u n t t o 4 ?
Tap Your Foot

Quarter Note Count

Half Note Count

Whole Note Count

C o u n t t h e R e s t

All Together Now

Moving On

Chapter 7 Review
CHAPTER 7
Indeed, what is there that does not
appear marvellous when it comes to our
knowledge for the first time?
� Pliny the Elder
NEW NOTES
E i g h t h N o t e s a n d R e s t s
Sweet Sixteenth Notes
H o w t o F i g u r e o u t a T o u g h R h y t h m

Moving On
C h a p t e r 8 R e v i e w
CHAPTER 8
We see things not as they are, but as we are.
� H.M. Tomlinson,
Out of Soundings
SEEING DOTS
Y o u A r e N o t S e e i n g T h i n g s
The Dotted Whole Note

The Dotted Half Note

The Dotted Quarter Note
Dotted Eighth Note
Dotted Rests

Moving On

Chapter 9 Review
CHAPTER 9
TRIPLETS
People are flowers.
Music is water.
Musicians are the hose.
� Carlos Santana
G e n e r a l T u p l e t I n f o rma t i o n
E i g h t h N o t e T r i p l e t
S i x t e e n t h N o t e T r i p l e t s
Q u a r t e r N o t e T r i p l e t s

Moving On
C h a p t e r 1 0 R e v i e w
Whew! You Made It

The Review
CHAPTER 10DON�T SAY PRACTICE
I never practice; I always play.
� Wanda Landowska, 1952
D o n � t S a y t h e P Word
C o m e o n B a b y , L i g h t m y D e s i r e
How to Get Better
Start a New Habit

Where to Do It
How to Do It
T h e I d e a l S e s s i o n
Other Ways to Play
Some Instruments
CHAPTER 10
THE WIND-UP AND THE PITCH
Making music should not be left to
the professionals
� Michelle Shocked
Spaced Out and L i n e d U p
T h e H i g h a n d t h e L o w l y

What? More L i n e s ?
Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 2 S t u d y G u i d e
Home, Home on the Ranges
CHAPTER 12
A NOTE BY ANY OTHER NAME
WOULD SOUND AS SWEET
Sweetest melodies
Are those that are by
distance made more sweet.
� Wordsworth, Personal Talk.
What�s in a Name?
Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 3 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 13GOING OVER
THE CLEF
Sometimes it takes a long time to play
like yourself.
� Miles Davis
What�s a C l e f ?
C C l e f s
T r e b l e C l e f
B a s s C l e f

Rhythm Clef
Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 4 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 14
NO TROUBLE WITH TREBLE
The flute is not an instrument which
has a good moral effect; it is too
exciting.
� Aristotle, Politics
G o l l y G
Moving On
C h a p t e r 1 5 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 15
THE BASS OF THE CLEF
Never look at the trombones. You�ll only
encourage them.
� Richard Strauss
T h i s C l e f i s N o t a F i s h !
Nmore Mnemonics
Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 6 S t u d y G u i d e
CHAPTER 16TO
FATHOM THE RHYTHM CLEF
Music is nothing else but wild sounds
civilized into time and tune.
� Thomas Fuller, History of the
Worthies of England.
N o L e t t e r s W i t h t h i s S t a f f
Why No Note Names?

T h e O n e - L i n e S t a f f w i t h R h y t h m C l e f

I n s t r u m e n t s , n o t P itches
T h e 5 - L i n e S t a f f w i t h R h y t h m C l e f
Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 7 R e v i e w
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 17MUSICAL TERMS
The mind is a musical instrument
with a certain range of tones, beyond
which in both directions we have an
infinite silence.
� John Tyndall (1820 - 1893)
Music a l T e r m s a r e D irec t i o n s
Tempo
Dynamics
A r t i c u l a t i o n s
G e n e r a l M u s i c a l T e r m s

P e t e a n d R e p e a t
Moving On
CHAPTER 18
Roaming through the jungle of "oohs" and "ahs,"
searching for a more agreeable noise, I live a life
of primitivity with the mind of a child and an
unquenchable thirst for sharps and flats.
� Duke Ellington (1899 - 1974)
ACCIDENTALS ON PURPOSE
A c c i d e n t a l s A r e N o A c c i d e n t
G e n e r a l A c c i d e n t a l I n f o r m a t i o n

F l a t s
Sharps

Naturals
M o r e A c c i d e n t a l R u l e s

Moving On

C h a p t e r 1 9 R e v i e w
CHAPTER 19
Music is perpetual, and only the hearing
is intermittent.
� Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
THE PIANO KEYBOARD
Why Learn the Keyboard?
Note Names on the Keyboard
F l a t N o t e s o n t h e K e y b o a r d

Sharp Notes on the Keyboard

Enharmoni c Notes
Half Steps and Whole Steps

The Chromatic Scale

Moving On

Chapter 20 Review
CHAPTER 20
Without music, life would be a mistake.
� Nietzche
MAJOR SCALES
The Major Scale
The C Major Scale
Octave

S c a l e s w i t h A c c i d e n t a l s
M a j o r S c a l e s w i t h M a n y A c c i d e n t a l s
Moving On

C h a p t e r 2 1 R e v i e w
CHAPTER 21
UNLOCK THE SECRET OF
KEY SIGNATURES
Servant and master am I: servant of those
dead, and master of those living. Through
my spirit immortals speak the message that
makes the world weep and laugh, and wonder,
and love, and worship.
I am Music.
� Anonymous
K e y S i g n a t u r e s
F l a t K e y S i g n a tures
F i n d t h e N a m e o f a F l a t K e y

C o n s t r u c t a F l a t K e y
Sharp Key Signatures

F i n d t h e N a m e o f a S h a r p K e y
C o n s t r u c t a S h a r p K e y

T h e K e y o f C
The Major Keys to the Kingdom
T h e C y c l e o f F i f t h s
Moving On

Chapter 22 Review
CHAPTER 22
THE GUITAR FINGERBOARD
Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not
wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is the best.
� Frank Zappa
B a s i c G u i t a r D e t a i l s
T h e S t r i n g s o f t h e G u i t a r

H a l f S t e p s a n d the Gui t a r
A l l N o t e s o n G u i t a r
S c a l e s o n G u i t a r
C h o r d s o n G u i t a r
Moving On
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 22
My idea is that there is music in the air,
music all around us; the world is full of
it, and you simply take as much as you
require.
� Sir Edward Elgar
INTERVALS
Intervals by the Number
I n t e r v a l Q u a l i t y
A l t e r i n g P e r f e c t I n t e r v a l s
A l t e r i n g M a j o r I n t e r v a l s
F i n d i n g a n I n t e r v a l
A B r i e f N o t e o n E a r T r a i n i n g

Moving On
Chapter 24 Review
CHAPTER 24
A painter paints pictures on canvas, but
a musician paints pictures on silence.
� Leopold Stokowski
MINOR SCALES
G e n e r a l M i n o r S c a l e I n f o
T h e N a t u r a l M i n o r S c a l e
The Harmonic Minor Scale
T h e M e l o d i c M i n o r S c a l e
C y c l e o f F o u r t h s R e v i s i t e d

Moving On
Chapter 25 Review
CHAPTER 25
Musical innovation is full of danger to
the State, for when modes of music
change, the laws of the State always
change with them.
� Plato, The Republic
SCALES A LA MODE
What is a Mode?
The Modes
F i n d i n g Mod e s i n Other Keys

Modes Using Other S ca l e s

Moving On

Chapter 26 Review
CHAPTER 26
BLUES TO BEBOP
AND BEYOND
Jazz isn�t dead, it just smells funny.
� Frank Zappa
G e n e r a l B l u e s S c a l e I n f o
T h e B l u e s S c a l e
Other Crazy Scales
Moving On

Chapter 27 Review
H o w t o S i n g t h e B l u e s ( N o t R e a l l y )
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 27HOW TO CONDUCT YOURSELF

Conductors must give unmistakable
and suggestive signals to the
orchestra, not choreography to the
audience.
� George Szell
G e n e r a l C o n d u c t i n g I n f o r m a t i o n
C o n d u c t i n g P a t t e r n s
The Left Hand
Moving On
CHAPTER 28
Music
Which can be made anywhere, is invisible
And does not smell.
� W.H. Auden
TRIADS
G e n e r a l C h o r d I n f o
The Triad

Major Triads
M i n o r T r i a d s

D i m i n i s h e d T r i a d s

Augmented Triads
Moving On

Chapter 29 Review
CHAPTER 29
CHORD EXTENSIONS
I don�t care too much about music. What I like is
sounds.
� Dizzy Gillespie (1917 - 1993)
G e n e r a l C h o r d E x t e n s i o n I n f o
Seven t h C h o rds
Ninth Chords

Other Chords
Moving On

Chapter 30 Review
CHAPTER 30
CHORD INVERSIONS
See deep enough, and you see musically;
the heart of nature being everywhere
music, if you can only reach it.
� Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and
Hero Worship
More General Chord Info
F i r s t I n v e r s i o n
Second Inversion
I n v e r t ing Seven t h C h o rds

H o w t o F i n d a C h o r d �s Name

Moving On
C h a p t e r 3 1 R e v i e w
CHAPTER 31
CHORD PROGRESSIONS
Do you know that our soul is composed
of harmony?
� Leonardo da Vinci
W h a t i s a C h o r d P r o g r e s s i o n ?
C h o r d P r o g r e s s i o n G e n e r a l G u i d e l i n e s
The I IV V7 I P r o g r e s s i o n
T h e i i V 7 I P r o g r e s s i o n
T h e i i i v i i i V 7 I P r o g r e s s i o n
P l aga l C a d e n c e s ( IV-I)

T h e 1 2 B a r B l u e s
Moving On
Chapter 32 Review
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 32
FASTER NOTES AND
DOUBLE DOTS
You are the music while the music lasts.
� T. S. Eliot
Shorter Notes
Double Dotted Notes
Moving On

Chapter 33 Review
CHAPTER 33
DOUBLE FLATS,
DOUBLE SHARPS
If I were to begin life again, I would
devote it to music. It is the only cheap
and unpunished rapture upon earth.
� Sydney Smith, 1814
Double Your Fun
D o u b l e F l a t s

Double Sharps

A W e r d o n S p e l l i n g K o r d s
Moving On

Chapter 34 Review
CHAPTER 34
MORE METERS
After playing violin for the cellist Gregor
Piatagorsky, Einstein asked, �Did I
play well?�
Piatagorsky replied, �You played relatively
well.�
Beyond 4/4 Time
C u t T i m e , o r 2 / 2 T i m e

6/8 Time
Odd Meters
Moving On
Chapter 35 Review
Whew! You Made It.

The Review
CHAPTER 35WHAT COMES NEXT
Too many pieces finish too long after
the end.
� Igor Stravinsky
So Much More
T h e o r y A i n � t E v e r y t h i n g

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