Music Theory in 5 Minutes

Consonance, dissonance & creation a first musical scale.

Today's topic is harmonics and overtones (harmonic and inharmonic) which are at the basis of sound design.

This video about Temperaments (ways of tuning an instrument) is the third episode.

nd today we'll tackle extended chords, we'll have a more detailed look at all the 7th chords and intervals. This is short, this is fast, use the space bar and left/right arrows if you need.

Today we see how the major and minor scales are built, and what are modes.

In this episode we see the different kind of triads (chords of 3 notes). We see the difference between major chords, minor chords as well as augmented ans diminished chords. We also cover how to find the chords that fit a scale. This is also an introduction to intervals (3rd and 5th), degrees and the dominant, subjects will cover more in details in later videos.

Here we'll see these tiny bits of chord progressions that have been used a lot to the point that they have become very recognisable : the cadences. They are several, each one its own taste, so you can use them in your own chord progression to lead the tone of your musical sentences, a bit like ponctuation.

Here we'll see why major chords are so effective in cadences (on the Vth degree) and often preferred even in minor tonalities, and how their dominant 7th form make them even more effective. We'll also see how it lead to new types of minor scales (natural, harmonic and melodic).

We'll have a look at the circle of fifths and see all the infos you can read out of it. This simple circle is probably one of the most powerful tool a composer can have as it can tell you which tonalities are close to each other, and even tell you the notes (and therefoore the chords) that are in each tonality (major and minor)

today we'll se different ways to make smooth modulations (switching from a tonality to another).

Today we are talking about Substitutions and Borrowings. Different ways to implement chromatic notes into your compositions. These chromatic notes are also called Accidentals, these are the notes that are outside of the tonality you are using. nb: "Accidental" can also refer to "accidental signs" which are the symbols ♯, ♭ or ♮. In this this episode we are talking about accidentals as the notes that are out of the tonality you are using.

- Neapolitan Sixth: In practice is it very similar to a trotonic substitution, which replaces the V in an authentic cadence by a bII. In theory it's considered to be a substitution of the IV, that then becomes a bII. It's often seen in a cadence as bII - I or bII - V - I - Picardy third: In a minor tonality, that when you replace the chord of Ist degree (that then should be minor) by a major chord, in a conclusive cadence. It's used at the end of a section or at the end of a whole music. In the XVIIIth century it was considered even more conclusive than a minor authentic cadence. - Faurean cadence: That's an alteration of the half cadence. Instead of going I - V, it goes IV - V, with the IV being a 7 dominant chord with the 5th at the bass

- Andalusian Cadence: Even if this have "cadence" in the name, it is not really a cadence. It is a chord progression, often played in loop, that is very popular in flamenco music. Because it is often played in loop, you can consider it in tonalities, depending on what fonction you assign to each chord. But what if we wanted to use it as a regular cadence anyways? let's put it to the test - sus4 Chord: The name may be not as sexy as the other ones on the list, it is a pretty interesting one. We didn't really have a closer look to it so what better time than now? It is a chord made of a Root note, a Perfect 4th and a Perfect 5th. Classically used as a transition chord, you can also use it as a regular chord to blur the boundaries between major and minor tonalities - sus2 Chord: Considererd less popular than the sus4, it is also classically a transition chord. It can bee just as useful as the sus4, and speaking of it here is a good opportunity shift toward voicings.

Today's topic will be inversions (we quickly briefly touched that point in other video) with 5 tips on writting better voicing. This is a good to talk quickly about parallel fifths, voices in a harmony (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) an dthe role of the bass in the harmony. Thanks for passing by and I hope you like wat you see.

They are non-chord tones (notes that are not part of your chords) that can help add interest to your melodies. We'll see: - Neighbour tones - Passing tones - Escape tones - Anticipations and Suspensions - Appoggiatura