could you recommend a good music theory book? I am interested in chord progressions, scales, modulations and so on, especially about how they apply to pop/rock/blues music (jazz maybe, but I fear it might be a bit too complex for now). I am reasonably decent on pianos/keyboards but can only hack a few chords on the guitar, so I’d definitely prefer a keyboard-oriented book for the examples.
Also, does anybody have some good ideas on how to get into my head C-D-E-F-G-A-B vs do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si which I grew up with? It’s driving me nuts to always have to ‘convert’ when I see, say, an Eb in mib by going c-d-e → do-re-mi… I swear becoming fluent in English has been a ton easier than changing my brain music notation circuits.
I'm not exactly sure what you are looking for or what you know, but the one thing that helped me the most...beleive it or not....was learning American Pie by Don McClean. The song has most common guitar chords in it and follows a pretty good progression. You'll need to pick up a chord chart on the internet to learn the fingerings.
Beyond that, just remember (my apologies if you already know this) that a "key" can be associated with a scale (ie C major = CDEFGAB or Bflat major = Bflat C D Eflat F G A). Then there are typicaly 7 3 note chords that fit into that key, each associated with each note in the scale. As to weather or not the chord is major or minor depeends on how it fits in that key. For example, the root chord of the key of C major is.....C major (CDE). Your 5th chord will also be major...Gmajor (GBD). However, if you were to play the 6th, you'd get a minor chord.....A minor because ACE is minor. Notice that the 6th of Bflat major is also minor...G Bflat D.
Does any of this make sense or help?......or is this not at all what you are looking for?
Back in the day when I was a music major, our theory book was from a series called Music in Theory and Practice by Bruce Benward and Gary White. Pretty much everything you would want to know is in these books. THey are certainly geared towards the piano. Plus, the best part about them, is that they are don’t have a binding (they have one of those plastic pinders with holed pages) so the book will stay open on a piano.
My kids are both in band. Their instructor teaches the first few months everything by wrote and in do-re-mi. He starts teaching them to read music after a couple of months of hearing the sounds. I see the sense in that. You are correct though, it is a lot like learning a new language. I have been reading music since I was 5 years old and it is just second nature to me. Luckily, my kids seem to come by it pretty easily as well.
If I had anything at all to offer as far as learning the notes, I would sya not to get too hung up on converting notes and chords to the do-re-mi. C is C and Eb is Eb. Where they fit in a song is a completely different matter, but they are always on the same place on the clef. Also, if you are learning to “hear” the music, start at the bottom (the low notes). You usually get a whole lot more information there, especially in jazz and improvisation
to clarify what I’m looking for: I already know chords, some scales, a little theory behind keys, but I’d like something to be able to tie everything together and to explain all sorts of chord progressions (I-IV-V, …) but not in a mnemonic way but more in a ‘this is why things work this way behind the scenes, why certain progressions work, why some other don’t’ and ideally also how this is usually applied in pop/rock/blues…
I’ve seen a lot of interesting stuff (although tendentially for guitar) on this site
and I was wondering if there are books that expand on this (possibly with a piano/keyboard) slant. As much as yes, I am trying to learn to play the guitar a bit better, this request is really unrelated, it’s more of a music theory/composition type thing.
Edley’s Music Theory For Practical People. Best $$ you will spend on music theory instruction. Well written and well organized. Not geared to any specific instrument.
to clarify what I’m looking for: I already know chords, some scales, a little theory behind keys, but I’d like something to be able to tie everything together and to explain all sorts of chord progressions (I-IV-V, …) but not in a mnemonic way but more in a ‘this is why things work this way behind the scenes, why certain progressions work, why some other don’t’ and ideally also how this is usually applied in pop/rock/blues…
Marco,
I know the books I recommended have that exact information. Of course it is very much oriented towards the theory side of music.
Part of the reason why these chord progressions sound good to us, is because that is the kind of music (Western) that we have been raised with. Eastern music has a completely different set of rules and tones (think third tones instead of half). If you stroll down music history lane you’ll see that Bach’s rules stemmed from modal music (Ionian, Dorian, Aeolian, etc.). Once you learn how to hear those, you’ll be able to pick out examples of them in many songs. Ionian mode is comparable to the Western Major scale, and the Aeolian mode is the minor scale (with a “te” instead of a “ti”).
I had to take a piano class when I was in college too, the text we used for that class was Piano for the Developing Musician by Martha Hilley and Lynn Freeman Olson. It has a lot of what I think you are looking for, especially if you are looking for a more practical text that you can learn/read/play at the same time. If you are looking for a book that you can read in a chair and learn this stuff without the doing part, I don’t have any specific references. I’m sure they are out there though.
