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200 | M.C. Escher and Music Theory
Exploring Escher's artwork to master music
March 31, 2023
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If you want to understand music theory, study the works of M.C. Escher.

Escher is the greatest graphic artist of all time. (In my opinion anyway.) He lived from 1898 to 1972 in the Netherlands and was, for lack of a better word, amazing.

But the thing is ... he wasn't even a musician. Not really. He dabbled with the piano. He practiced the cello a bit (but didn't excel due to having small hands), and even tried the flute (despite his thin lips). Yet he always loved music and was an avid fan, listening to records of Bach for hours on end as he crafted his art.

And wow, his art. It was good -- like unbelievably good -- for at least 3 reasons:

1. Because it's mind-bending, with images that explore (and defy) the nature of space and time ... like these, for example:

2. Because it's also true craftsmanship ... since Escher didn't use a computer to produce his prolific output. Instead, he created these surreal images by hand as woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. 

3. But the reason Escher's art is especially inspiring is because of the way it provides insight into the nature of music theory. For real. Let me explain.... 

Back in the day, when I was first wandering into the thorny underbrush of music theory -- venturing into its dense thicket of musical symbols and arcane rules -- it all felt overwhelming.

Frustratingly so, since music itself has always sounded so simple and intuitive.

But in the process of exploring various musical relationships, studying scales and chords and notes and intervals, one thing became evident:  Music is just patterns. Clear and predictable patterns. Repetitive, logical, and simple patterns that all began to hint at an underlying framework of natural beauty.

And while pondering this nature of music, walking through the hills staring at an early diagram of note patterns, a lovely thought arrived -- which was that the diagram I'd printed (a rudimentary dissection of the guitar fretboard) looked an awful lot like one of Escher's woodcuts ... the tessellation called "Sky and Water I" from 1938:

And with this realization, that there's a kind of order to music -- an order and structure that can be graphically depicted, explored, and mastered -- I immediately became obsessed with charting this unseen musical territory.

In that moment, it suddenly became possible to see sound, to pick it apart and reassemble it using its own natural patterns. To discover (and truly understand) the order of music within the chaos of sound. And to see that music is the audible convergence of space and time.

In fact, it's surprising that it took 200 posts to finally mention M.C. Escher here (!). Because his art and perspective directly (and indirectly) inspires many of the diagrams you'll find here in the community.

To show you what I mean, the following are a few examples. And I highly recommend exploring all of his works -- because they'll help you find further connections -- drawing more inspriation in this journey of discovery we're on:

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216 | Introducing the ChordMap

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212 | The NEW Website

Introducing the new site.
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211 | Updates Live Stream

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No Live Stream Tonight

Heads up -- I will not be streaming on YouTube tonight as previously planned. As you know, my studio involves a lot of equipment, and I need to do a couple of things to make sure I can go live over there as here on Locals.

I'll post an update here when that live stream is scheduled. 🤘

ChordMap Live Stream - Sunday

Hey! Join me for a live stream today (Sunday, May 28) @ 5:00 p.m., UTC. We will:
-- take a look at the new ChordMap
-- explore how to navigate the circle of fifths
-- and walk through a great song example using this tool

See you then!

You can get your ChordMap here: https://shop.mycolormusic.com/products/colormusic-chordmap-circle-of-fifths-tool

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Hi! Can I find somewhere a pdf with the mega pattern with circle of fifths and circle of thirds above each note?

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218 | Key of E - Chord Inversions (Guitar)
finger positions on the fretboard

Here's how to play all 7 chords in the key of E -- in any position on the fretboard.

Each harmony is formed from the underlying scale of the key. In this case, the E major scale:

And on the guitar, all of these chords follow a predictable (CAGED chord shape) pattern up the fretboard....

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217 | ChordMap Quick Start
how to navigate the map

Here's a quick intro to navigating your ChordMap™ -- to crack the code to songwriting. With it, you can identify the key, mode, and chord progressions in a song. Here’s how it works:

Parallel Modes

In the circle of fifths, the chords in each key are grouped. Parallel modes (which share the same tonic) are all neighbors in the circle of fifths. These parallel modes are a common source of borrowed chords in songs. Using the key of C, for example:

  • Rotate the numerals layer to align “I” next to C (the red square in the inner ring). This will also position all of the other numerals with their respective chords.

  • Holding the numeral layer in place, next rotate the grouping line layer to point at the “Lydian” label. This layer arrangement highlights the chords of C LYDIAN, which includes C major, D major, E minor, F# diminished, G major, A minor, and B minor – marked by numerals I, II, iii, #iv°, V, vi, and vii, respectively:

  • Continuing to hold the numerals layer in place, you can then rotate the grouping line layer counterclockwise in 30-degree increments. This highlights the other C parallel modes, including C IONIAN (a.k.a. “C major”) with chords C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, and B diminished – marked by numerals, I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii°:

  • C MIXOLYDIAN with chords C major, D minor, E diminished, F major, G minor, A minor, and Bb major, marked by numerals I, ii, iii°, IV, v, vi, and bVII, respectively:

  • C DORIAN with chords chords C minor, D minor, Eb major, F major, G minor, A diminished, and Bb major, marked by numerals i, ii, bIII, IV, v, vi°, and bVII, respectively:

  • C AEOLIAN (a.k.a. “C minor”) with chords C minor, D diminished, Eb major, F minor, G minor, Ab major, and Bb major, marked by numerals i, ii°, bIII, iv, v, bVI, and bVII, respectively:

  • C PHRYGIAN with chords C minor, Db major, Eb major, F minor, G diminished, Ab major, and Bb minor, marked by numerals i, bII, bIII, iv, v°, bVI, and bvii, respectively:

  • And finally, C LOCRIAN with chords C diminished, Db major, Eb minor, F minor, Gb major, Ab major, and Bb minor, marked by numerals i°, bII, biii, iv, bV, bVI, and bvii, respectively:

Again, by holding the numerals layer in place and rotating the grouping line counterclockwise, you can see each parallel mode – as this image summarizes:

Relative Modes

The ChordMap also illustrates all relative modes in every key, but moving in reverse. You do this by holding the grouping line layer in place instead and rotating the numerals layer. Using the key of C again, for example:

  • Rotate the numerals layer to align “I” next to C (the red square in the inner ring). As before, this will position all the other numerals with their respective chords.

  • Next, position the grouping line layer so that it is pointing directly up to the “Ionian” label. This again highlights the C IONIAN mode (a.k.a. “C major”) with chords C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, and B diminished – marked by numerals, I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii°:

  • Holding the grouping line layer in place, rotate the numerals layer 30-degrees in a counterclockwise direction to highlights the chords of F LYDIAN, which includes F major, G major, A minor, B diminished, C major, D minor, and E minor – marked by numerals I, II, iii, #iv°, V, vi, and vii, respectively:

  • Again keeping the grouping line in place and rotating the numerals 30-degrees clockwise past C Ionian, the G MIXOLYDIAN mode is illustrated, with chords G major, A minor, B diminished, C major, D minor, E minor, and F major – marked by numerals I, ii, iii°, IV, v, vi, and bVII, respectively: 

  • Rotating the numerals further clockwise by 30-degrees, the stationary group line highlights the D DORIAN mode, with D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished, and C major, marked by numerals i, ii, bIII, IV, v, vi°, and bVII, respectively:

  • Another clockwise rotation of the numerals by 30-degrees highlights the A AEOLIAN mode, which includes chords A minor, B diminished, C major, D minor, E minor, F major, and G major, marked by numerals i, ii°, bIII, iv, v, bVI, and bVII, respectively:

  • Yet another 30-degree clockwise rotation of the numerals in relation to the stationary group line highlights E PHRYGIAN, which includes chords E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished, C major, and D minor, marked by numerals i, bII, bIII, iv, v°, bVI, and bvii, respectively:

  • Finally, one more 30-degree clockwise rotation of the numerals highlights the B LOCRIAN mode, with chords B diminished, C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, and A minor, marked by numerals i°, bII, biii, iv, bV, bVI, and bvii, respectively:

To summarize, these are the seven relative modes of C major:

 

Parallel vs. Relative Modes

Because each layer of the ChordMap can move independently, these same relationships are shown in all 12 keys – whether the numerals remain stationary and the grouping line rotates to illustrate PARALLEL modes … or vice versa, with the grouping line made stationary and the numerals rotated in 30-degree increments to highlight RELATIVE modes. 

In the examples above, each PARALLEL mode of C is shown to be a permutation of seven other keys:

  • C Lydian = G Ionian

  • C Ionian = C Ionian

  • C Mixolydian = F Ionian

  • C Dorian = Bb Ionian

  • C Aeolian = Eb Ionian

  • C Phrygian = Ab Ionian

  • C Locrian = Db Ionian 

In contrast, each RELATIVE mode C is a permutation of the key of C:

  • F Lydian = C Ionian

  • C Ionian = C Ionian

  • G Mixolydian = C Ionian

  • D Dorian = C Ionian

  • A Aeolian = C Ionian

  • E Phrygian = C Ionian

  • B Locrian = C Ionian 

Again, these relationships are cyclical and symmetrical so you can quickly navigate the circle of fifths. Once you know how to move around the ChordMap, it’s easy to analyze chord progressions, including:

  • the use of parallel modes for borrowed chords

  • the use of both parallel and relative modes for modal mixture

  • the use of modulation (shifting between modes within a composition)

  • etc.

There’s so much to explore. Enjoy!

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215 | The ChordMap is Available!
It's now in the shop

The ChordMap is now available in the Shop. You can get yours here.

I'll do live stream here later today or tomorrow to introduce it. (You'll get a heads up once the stream is scheduled.) We'll walk through the features, some examples of how to use it in songwriting. And I'll share a little bit about the process of creating it. Cheers!

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