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bonK's Guitar Theory for Assholes and Pederasts
Knob
TURN THE BEAT BACKInternetModerator Mod Emeritus
TURN THE BEAT BACKInternetModerator Mod Emeritus
Alright, everytime I read something about guitars on the internet I get mad, because it is overcomplicated as hell. It is like the people who write this shit actually don't want anyone else to know how to play guitars. So we're gonna try and fix that. I'll start simply and build on that okay
The Basics
a note on notes
A B C D E F G are your basic notes
you also got sharps and flats
altogether, there are only a total of 12 notes total
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab
and it starts over. flats and sharps are kind of stupid since an A# (A sharp) is the same note as a Bb (B flat)
Now each step between those notes represents the distance of one fret on your guitar. So first fret on 6 string would be F. 2nd fret would be an F# (or a Gb). 3rd is G. and so on. easy stuff.
One step on the chart is called a half step. Two is called a whole step. From A to B is a whole step, from G to Ab is a half step, etc. On your guitar, going from one fret to the next is a half step. The distance of two is a whole step. 2nd to 3rd fret? Half step. 2nd to 4th? Whole.
Okay now that that's out of the way, let's do the good stuff
Scales and modes for total dipshits
a scale is simply seven steps
all you need to know is this
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
W W H W W W H
That's a major scale
W is a whole step
H is a half step
I bet you already figured that out
We can use it to figure out any scale and key we like. What notes are in a D Major scale? Starting at D, and counting along the whole and half steps, we get D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, and the last half step brings up back to D
What chords are in the key of D Major? D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#
Fuckin' eaaaaasy
Modes and shit
Okay check this out
1 Ionian (Major)
2 Dorian
3 Phrygian
4 Lydian
5 Mixolydian
6 Aeolian (Minor)
7 Locrian
These are your modes
Remember this?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
W W H W W W H
We use that same fuckin chart for our modes and such! Just pick the number of the mode you want, and count from that number on the chart!
Say we want the notes in an E Dorian scale. we just count the chart like this
2 3 4 5 6 7 1
W H W W W H W
starting at 2
What if we want G minor? We count like this, starting at 6!
6 7 1 2 3 4 5
W H W W H W W
And now that we got the notes in a G minor scale, we also got the chords in the key of G Minor!
Using modes
alright we know some modes now, how do we use them
Let's say we're playing some 12 bar blues in the key of C Major and want to improv some hott lixx and such over it
We can play some C Major scales over C Major, but that gets fuckin' boring.
A C Major scale goes C, D, E, F, G, A, B
We can label those seven notes 1 through 7, like we have been, and compare them to the list of modes.
So 1 is C (Ionian or Major) - We can take notes from the C Major scale to improv over C Major. Fuckin' duh.
2 is D (Dorian) - Oh shit, we can play a Dorian scale with D as the root over C Major? Holy shit
3 is E (Phrygian) - An E Phrygian scale will also sound good! HOT PISS!
and so on and so forth
i think i explained this as easily as I could
I'll be back along in a little bit with the only scale chart you'll ever need, and also i'll teach you to make any chord you want
go ahead and ask queations is i wasn't particularly clear on something, sometimes i'm bad at explaining stuff
The Basics
a note on notes
A B C D E F G are your basic notes
you also got sharps and flats
altogether, there are only a total of 12 notes total
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab
and it starts over. flats and sharps are kind of stupid since an A# (A sharp) is the same note as a Bb (B flat)
Now each step between those notes represents the distance of one fret on your guitar. So first fret on 6 string would be F. 2nd fret would be an F# (or a Gb). 3rd is G. and so on. easy stuff.
One step on the chart is called a half step. Two is called a whole step. From A to B is a whole step, from G to Ab is a half step, etc. On your guitar, going from one fret to the next is a half step. The distance of two is a whole step. 2nd to 3rd fret? Half step. 2nd to 4th? Whole.
Okay now that that's out of the way, let's do the good stuff
Scales and modes for total dipshits
a scale is simply seven steps
all you need to know is this
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
W W H W W W H
That's a major scale
W is a whole step
H is a half step
I bet you already figured that out
We can use it to figure out any scale and key we like. What notes are in a D Major scale? Starting at D, and counting along the whole and half steps, we get D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, and the last half step brings up back to D
What chords are in the key of D Major? D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#
Fuckin' eaaaaasy
Modes and shit
Okay check this out
1 Ionian (Major)
2 Dorian
3 Phrygian
4 Lydian
5 Mixolydian
6 Aeolian (Minor)
7 Locrian
These are your modes
Remember this?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
W W H W W W H
We use that same fuckin chart for our modes and such! Just pick the number of the mode you want, and count from that number on the chart!
Say we want the notes in an E Dorian scale. we just count the chart like this
2 3 4 5 6 7 1
W H W W W H W
starting at 2
What if we want G minor? We count like this, starting at 6!
6 7 1 2 3 4 5
W H W W H W W
And now that we got the notes in a G minor scale, we also got the chords in the key of G Minor!
Using modes
alright we know some modes now, how do we use them
Let's say we're playing some 12 bar blues in the key of C Major and want to improv some hott lixx and such over it
We can play some C Major scales over C Major, but that gets fuckin' boring.
A C Major scale goes C, D, E, F, G, A, B
We can label those seven notes 1 through 7, like we have been, and compare them to the list of modes.
So 1 is C (Ionian or Major) - We can take notes from the C Major scale to improv over C Major. Fuckin' duh.
2 is D (Dorian) - Oh shit, we can play a Dorian scale with D as the root over C Major? Holy shit
3 is E (Phrygian) - An E Phrygian scale will also sound good! HOT PISS!
and so on and so forth
i think i explained this as easily as I could
I'll be back along in a little bit with the only scale chart you'll ever need, and also i'll teach you to make any chord you want
go ahead and ask queations is i wasn't particularly clear on something, sometimes i'm bad at explaining stuff
Knob on
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This discussion has been closed.
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i need to know where to start to learn basic music theory ie 4/4 time and how to go along with it etc..
ive been playing for a year and im afraid ill be impatient and give up so i need something thatll hold my interest
STEAM!
Dudes, listen. You don't need music theory. Just a bunch of acid.
That was great. I learned shit that I never picked up in years of hearing people talk about guitars (I play drums..)
What annoyed me about guitars is that my fingers would always be touching against other strings and fucking them up
If you play E phrygian over a C major chord, you're not playing E phrygian. You're playing the third shape of C major. It's still going to sound like C Major. Modes are all about context.
If you played E Phrygian over an E-b9 chord, you'd be playing E phrygian, because the context would be phrygian. It's important to seperate the scale shapes from the modes.
you see i thought that was the solution and all i did was learn songs note for note from tool pink floyd and led zeppelin
then i started learning blues guitar
and i found out i cant really tell the difference between quater/half/whole etc notes
and thats bad in my mind
STEAM!
A whole note lasts a whole bar, half note half a bar, etc.
i know that lol
i just cant listen to songs and tell when one measure starts and the next begins
or why they are even necessary
STEAM!
except, WHOOPS, they forgot to teach me how to read music
oh well, I guess
I can't answer that question because I can't fathom how you could possibly not find it necessary to know how long to play a note for.
That made me laugh way too much.
i know that lol
i just have a hard time understanding how people can listen to a song and say 'hmm thats in 7/8 time'
i know it has something to do with breaking the measures up, but i cant listen to something and know when separate measures start/stop
STEAM!
WOO FREEBIRD
Just count along with it. How many counts until it repeats?
If it's 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 it's in 4/4
if it's 1 2 3 1 2 3 it's in 3/4
That's all you really need to know to be honest.
Here's the thing -- if you're an amateur, don't worry about it too much. I'm an amateur. I can't count off a good number of Stereolab songs without an inordinate amount of study and concentration. I'm over it. Let the pros handle that shit, that's why they get paid.
Okay, maybe i am not so good with the contexts, I am basically just trying to demonstrate how very simple it is to derive modes from a basic major scale
would you like to play a major scale? Start at a 1, and follow the numbers until you reach another 1.
would you like to play a minor scale? Start at a 6, play to another 6.
This chart repeats in either direction and can be applied anywhere on the fretboard. If you place the chart so the 1 is on a D, that'll give you all your D Major scales. All of the 1s on the chart will be Ds.
I. . . . I . . . . I . . . . I
IV . . .IV . . . I . . . . I
V . . . IV . . . I . . . . V
STEAM!
I can no longer hear a song in my head when I look at the sheet music. Guess I'm out of practice.
I ought to get the ol' violin out and warm up with some easier songs, then try playing my favorite, more complicated pieces.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Okay let's take a look at this
1 Root Major chord
2 2nd minor chord
3 3rd minor chord
4 4th Major chord
5 5th Major chord
6 6th minor chord
7 7th diminished chord
Before, I said that in the key of C Major, the chords are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B
But that isn't exactly right. There's a little more to it. Run them across the chart above, and the actual chords in C Major are C, D minor, E minor, F, G, A minor, and B diminished
As before, we can start at different parts of the chart to get different keys. We know that 6 is Minor from before, right. So if we start at 6 and rearrange the chart like this
6 Root minor chord
7 2nd diminished chord
1 3rd Major chord
2 4th minor chord
3 5th minor chord
4 6th Major chord
5 7th Major chord
Then we can get ourselves the all the chords in a minor key
most of the time, chords are constructed of three notes, and so they are called triads
A Major chord is built from a major scale, specifically the first (root), third, and fifth scale degrees
So, since C major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, taking the root, 3rd, and 5th gives us C E G.
Play a C chord. Look at what notes each string is playing. You're only playing C E and G.
a minor triad is the same as a major triad, only the 3rd is flat. So a C minor would be C, Eb, and G
a diminished triad is a minor triad with a flat 5th along with the flat 3rd
an augmented triad is a major triad with a sharp 5th. C, E, G#
using the chart i showed you before, you should now be able to construct lots of chords and lots of crazy voicings for your chords
None of this makes sense to me
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
so a key is basically the note that a section of music is based around? i've never understood the what is this/why does this exist/what purpose does it serve behind keys and scales
The key essentially tells you what notes are going to be sharp/flat.
i am going to take music classes next semester hopefully
it is?
oh goodness
here i thought people might be interested
silly me
because his hands are communications devices
why are you trying to teach people things when I can teach them more, faster
LESSON 1) NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE PLAYING OVER, BENDING UP TO AN E FROM THE FIFTEENTH FRET OF THE B-STRING WILL ALWAYS SOUND GOOD
WILL ALWAYS SOUND GOOD