Hello! This open hour live stream is for supporters -- Sunday, February 25 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
No planned presentation -- just answering any questions you have and chatting music theory / songwriting.
If you can’t join this week’s Q&A, post your questions here in advance. See you then.
Here's the link to join:
Here's a look at the music theory behind the chords of the Ionian mode (in C). (In both their diatonic and tertian order.)
🎥 This video explains:
📎 And this PDF shows how to play the patterns yourself.
Hi everyone,
I have been studying the CAGED system lately, and working off paper diagrams of the scale intervals. The whole thing was very frustrating using static diagrams so I pulled an all-nighter last night to build this tool to assist in my understanding, and I think it would resonate with the community here.
Upon landing you are greeted with a typical fretboard diagram and all of the colours/shapes of the notes are lifted directly from the ColorMusic system
Then the CAGED system part: For each of the keys (CAGED), play the major scale, the pentatonic major scale, arpeggiated triad for the tonic note, and arpeggiated triads for each of the chords in the key (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°)
https://caged-practice-tool.vercel.app/
I think this is a really nice intersection of some more conventional tools and the awesome ColorMusic system. If it gains any traction I’ll get a permanent domain name for it, but it’ll always be free if anyone wants to use it. Also, if I got any of ...
I'm still here thinking about the standard tuning of the guitar. Something that stood out to me about EADGBE tuning is that while standard tuning IS the Phrygian Mode Axis point, it also has an inherent hidden chromaticism in it's ordering.
I listed below all the notes of the standard tuning with asterisks and all the non-standard tuning (chromatic) notes in bracketed parenthesis that shows that the Phrygian mode itself as standard tuning is derived from the Chromatic Scale.
I know this is probably obvious but I'm totally having a nerd moment here because I never really saw this in this way. As basic as this is, it's still really cool.
Also, as I understand it the I chord in the Phrygian Mode in all 12 keys is always MINOR and interestingly follows the Circle of Fifths pattern which to me is straight up mind blowing. I can't quite articulate why right now but I should be able to show why this is the case.
I haven't explored how this relates to the Aeolian mode which IS the minor mode but I bet there is ...
Music theory is NOT confusing ... but the SYMBOLS people typically use to understand it are.
In this video, we look at how to quickly understand the patterns of music using COLORS and SHAPES.
https://youtube.com/live/mSWUhD0wDiQ
In other posts here, I explain the benefit of color to see music theory. But people often ask, “… but what’s up with the shapes? Why also use these alternating squares and circles?”
So here’s a synopsis of why the shapes are so helpful, which summarizes key points in the video.
Traditionally, musicians try to picture the invisible patterns of sound using uniform black dots … along with letter and number symbols:
The result is a visually complex system of blotches and squiggles that’s confusing and even counterintuitive.
But when you get down to it, the two most fundamental labels used to communicate musical ideas is those letters and numbers.
And together, these two symbol sets — letters and numbers — are meant to illustrate the musical relationships or patterns, which is what music is all about.
But while the letters do at least a decent job of distinguishing each note from the next — like C versus C# versus D, etc. — the colors visually clarify which notes are which more vividly and immediately.
And the color-note assignments here are based on applying the color wheel to the circle of fifths — where both patterns follow the exact same structure and sequence.
For example, in the center image below, the major scales of each key overlap in music to form the circle of fifths. And just as all the keys in music form this daisy-chain pattern, all the colors in the color wheel also bleed seamlessly into one another....
We're hanging out via live stream Saturday, February 15 at 9:00 a.m. (UTC-7) -- to play with the ChordMap (sevenths version). Chat Live or post questions on Locals in advance.
This stream is for supporters. THANK YOU!
And here's the link to join:
To understand music, you must start at the beginning -- by asking the basic question, "what exactly is music theory?"
The answer may surprise you, as this lesson explains.
In this live stream, we walk through the main points of Lesson 1 from the Guitar Theory course, followed by a Q&A.
Join us Saturday, January 4 @ 9:00 a.m. (UTC-7). Here's the link:
