Merkaba

I'm making this thread for those who love music but know nothing about it. I post based on what I like when I listen to something, but I can't compare piece A with piece B because I know nothing about technicalities of music. For example why is Neil Peart better then John Bonham? I couldn't tell you, my answer would be such and such because he sounds better.

Some stuff is probably impossible to explain without having a basic understanding of an instrument in the first place, but for those that know their stuff, would you mind helping some of the less informed out a bit.

Things like Scales. And Time Signatures, I know what 4/4 is but I'm not too sure about things like 7/8 or 11/8? Those sorts of things. Also "fills" with drumming etc etc.

Basically, for those that can, can we make this the Music Dictionary.

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bungalow

I was actually going to make a thread exactly like this. The only problem is, when someone begins to explain it all, it will undoubtably go over my head (and maybe yours too)

Merkaba

Haha thats what I was getting at with this part:
Perhaps the ones that do know their stuff, please define things as if your trying to explain something to a 4 year old.

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bungalow

Yeah, I play the guitar, and I'm not too bad at it, but I'll be damned if I can explain what mixolydian means, or playing in the 'key of g' or any other lingo that theorists use.

mosesandtherubberducky

When you are playing in the key of something you are playing in the notes from that scale. Like most of the White Stripes' songs are in the key of A if you look at the chords used and look at the notes in the major scale all of the chords should be in the major scale (going by root notes of the chord) oh and a drum fill is exactly what it is. A fill, it fills in space and can sound pretty cool. Normally it is a couple of hits on each drum head with out cymbols.

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Merkaba

Cheers moses, thats pretty simple isn't it. Hey so how do you know when they're doing a fill, is it just whenever they're holding that steady rhythm until like a chorus or something?

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mosesandtherubberducky

Fills are not on the normal tempo of a song. They can be up-tempo or down-tempo. I can't think of a song right now that would have lots of them but the are present.

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Crawldaddy

lol I've been playing for years, and although I can do solos, I have no idea how I managed to do it (which so far has been in the major/minor pentatonic scale).. probably due to musical influence? I love Led Zep and AC/DC.. maybe that rubbed off me.

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DontRunMeOver

Kind of like Moses said, a fill is not the same as the normal beat of a song.

To start at the beginning... For most songs, you can count to four throughout the song (i.e. '1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4'). For this description I'll call each section of counting '1,2,3,4' a phrase. Some people would call it a bar but that wouldn't strictly be true, so for now its a phrase.

If you listen to a simple rock song, the higher, more metallic 'tap' or 'ding' sound that usually you hear playing the quickest, most regular beats is the cymbal - usually a hi-hat or ride cymbal.

You'll hear a deep thudding sound, usually on the first beat of each musical phrase and then maybe addition thuds at different points during each phrase. This thudding noise is the bass drum.

The last drum that you'll almost always hear is the one which makes a noise like a snap or crack, usually on the 3rd beat of each phrase. This is the snare drum.

Fills are most often played on the 4th beat of the phrase and tend to use a combination of the snare drum and tom drums, with a few cymbal and bass drum beats added for good measure. Tom drums make a mid-pitched 'boing' noise. One drumkit can have many tom drums attached, allowing for complicated fills, with lots of different pitches and tones involved.

If you listen to a song with a pretty simple drum beat then you'll usually be able to spot the fills, because they are the part where the snare drum departs from its usual regular beat and the tom drums suddenly jump in with their noises. Easiest of all, if you hear a little extra drumming on the 4th beat of a phrase, its probably a fill you're hearing.

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If you listen to the song "Backseat Retribution" on my band's webspace, there are definite fills after the 4th "just tear the place up" in the first verse and after the word "wayside" in the 1st bridge section (there are more further on, but these are obvious ones.

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swim

i wrote this for people who vaguely know a little,

cut time
written as a C w/ a vertical line through it or 2/2
a half note recieves a beat
a quarter note recieves half a beat
if you understand 4/4 then this makes sense, everything gets half the value that it would in common time, other word for 4/4
triplet
is when three notes of equal length hit in designated time
ie, triplet eighth notes are equal to a quarter note
triplet quarter notes are equal to a half note
triplet half notes are equal to a whole note
6/8
usually directed in two but if the music is slow enough directed 6
because the bottom number in cut time is 2 a half note recieves a beat, because the bottom number in common time is 4 a quarter note recieves a beat and, because the bottom number in 6/8 is 8 an eighth note recieves a beat. and for common knoledge the top number tells you how many notes are in a measure.
6/8 has a triplet feel when direct in 2. and if you think about it, it makes sense. there a six beats per measure and youre dividing in 2, that give you 3 beats for each time the conducter's hand hits and three beats in a designated time is a triplet. (i have to explain dots to make this make sense)
o.
l
we're going to pretend that looks like a dotted half note.
a dot takes half of the notes value and adds it to the note.
so in common time a dotted half note would equal 3 beats. a dotted whole note equals 6. and a dotted quarter equals 1 and a half beats aka 3 eighth notes.
so wtf did i go on a tangent for that. a dotted quarter in 6/8= quarter in 4/4
7/8 and other wtfs
9/8 and 12/8 are read exactly the same as 6/8 but with added beats, 9/8 has a 3 beat feel, and 12/8 has 4 beat feel.
5/4 is read exactly like 4/4 except with an added beat
7/8 is a bitch for me to explain because ive only played a little in it. go listen to pink floyd-money.
unlike 6/8 in 7/8 it is very common for each note to be directed. usually in paterns of 2,2,3.
...7 eighth notes per measure is really the best way i know how to explain this
why are there so many differnt time signatures if many are similar
the emphasis on notes, it would be ridiculous for a waltz to be written in 4/4

2 beat bar Strong Weak
3 beat bar Strong Medium Weak W
4 beat bar Strong Weak Medium Weak
6 beat bar Strong Medium Weak Strong Medium Weak

Major Scales
major scales are based off of a formula: wwhwwwh. ok, that doesnt mean anything to you. im pretty sure everyone knows wtf a guitar is and understands the concepts of frets, well, each fret you move up you move up a half step, and a half step is represented by h in the formula. every 2 frets you move up is a whole step, a whole step is represented by w in the formula.
tetrachord
a tetrachord is 4 notes with intervals wwh
when you put two tetrachords together with a whole step between them you get a major scale.
relative minor
relative minor is based off of major scales the formula is just slightly shifted
whwwhwww
(see determining what key you're in to see the difference between minor and major)
harmonic minor
there really isnt a formula for this one but for the sake of being consitent ill show what it would be, but there's an easier way for me to make sense.
harmonic a minor: A B C D E F G# A
whole
half
whole
whole
half
whole +half
half
the easy way is that just sharp the 7th degree.
chromatic scales
going up by half steps and coming back down. there is only one chromatic scale but when its played a piece
to be more coherant here's a list of "all" the notes with half step intervals
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A
now i half to explain enharmonics
an enharmonic is the same tone written a different way. i suppose ill just list them.
A#=Bb
C#=Db
D#=Eb
F#=Gb
G#=Ab
there are also double sharps and flats which is easy to understand if you understand what youre doing when you flat or sharp a note, when flat a note you lower the note by a half step and when sharp it you raise it. in my opinion double sharps and flats are ridiculous and the composer went wrong somewhere and is being lazy to fix it. if you want a list of these pm me but theyre useless. but just for example G##= A
-note- when there are no flat or sharps attached to a note it is called natural (ABCDEFG)
in orchestras it does make a difference if the note is Bb or A# because they use fretless instruments and there is a tiny tiny difference but to average ear theyre the same. a piano and concert bands use tempered scale- taking it for granted that both notes are the same
scale degrees
in major and minor scales there are eight notes in a scale. the scale degrees represent each note in the scale, in concert band usually 1-8 but it can go beyond.
ie C Major:
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
this is usefull when arranging music in changing key.
determining what key you are in
there are 36 keys that mostly used when writing music, most people stay in major, relative minor, and harmonic minor. (good job that means 12 keys for each)
key signature and chords determine what key you are in
key signature is b and e's are flat or f,c, and g's are sharp
there is an order to the flats and sharps. always the same, never changes.
(i could explain why it works but it would take for ever, maybe later)
order of sharps: FCGDAEB
order of flats: BEADGCF
youre, quick, that's right, theyre each other backwards.
a chord by definition is 1,3, and 5 played together.
youll see other things such as 1,3,5,7 or 1,3,5,8 or 1,3,5,7,9 or 1,3,5,9 and many others

Major scales
Cb Major: Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb Cb
Gb Major: Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb
Db Major: Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
Ab Major: Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
Eb Major: Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
Bb Major: Bb C D Eb F G A Bb
F Major: F G A Bb C D E F
C Major: C D E F G A B C
G Major: G A B C D E F# G
D Major: D E F# G A B C# D
A Major: A B C# D E F# G# A
E Major: E F# G# A B C# D# E
B Major: B C# D# E F# G# A# B
F# Major: F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#
C# Major: C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#

if you noticed when i gave you the order of flat and sharps it applys here.
the circle of fiths apply to major and relative minor scales
Major:
Cb- 7 flats
Gb- 6 fats
Db- 5 flats
Ab- 4 flats
Eb- 3 flats
Bb- 2 flats
F- 1 flat
C- natural
G- 1 sharp
D- 2 sharps
A- 3 sharps
E- 4 sharps
B- 5 sharps
F#- 6 sharps
C#- 7 sharps

if you look at this and start at F and look at the order of sharps, everytime you move done in the order you add a sharp
if you look at this and start at Bb and look at the order of flats, everytime you move done in the order you add a flat

Relative Minor scales

F Minor: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F
C Minor: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
G Minor: G A Bb C D Eb F G
D Minor: D E F G A Bb C D
A Minor: A B C D E F G A
E Minor: E F# G A B C D E
B Minor: B C# D E F# G A B

ill add minor and a bunch of other stuff later im kinda hungry ive been typing this for a while.