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Easy Music Theory Newsletter Free, from Spring Day Music
June 2002
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The Easy Music Theory Newsletter
June 2002 A Publication of Spring Day Music www.EasyMusicTheory.com (c)2002 Spring Day Music
Welcome!
You're receiving this newsletter because you own Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory on CD-ROM, or because you've signed up through our web site. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter.
In case you were keeping track, things have been so busy here at Spring Day that we decided to forego the May newsletter and give you the June one instead.
We have a winner! The April Easy Music Mix contest was won by Jean Russell of Notts, UK. We were looking for the key of a clip of music, and she (among many others) gave us the correct answer. Congratulations, Jean. A CD of fine music is on its way to you now. Go to our contest page at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/contest.html to find out the answer.
This month's Easy Music Mix listening challenge is very interesting. Just go to http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/contest.html and maybe you'll be our next winner.
============= **FREE guitar chord chart. Yes, our guitar chord chart is still available by sending an email to articles@easymusictheory.com with the three words, guitar chord chart, in the subject line. =============
For those of you who may be wondering just how good our CD-ROM course is, we've added a Testimonials section to our web site. We constantly get letters from people who really think a lot of the course. You can read a few of these testimonials at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/testimonials1.html
=========================== In This Issue
1. Think of it! 2. Hum a bass line. 3. Rhythm troubles? 4. Home schooling. 5. Use Summer to Your Advantage 6. Question of the Month: What are jazz scales, and how can I use them? 7. Skill-Testing Question =========================== 1. Think of it!
Many of you reading this newsletter already own the Easy Music Theory course on CD-ROM, and you're ready to get moving with it! We designed Easy Music Theory to take you from zero to completion in just 25 lessons. What's zero? Zero is nothing. Zilch. Nada. We don't even assume that you've even seen a note of music before!
What's waiting at the end of this course? Knowledge. Skills. Even the ability to complete a college entrance exam in music theory, if you want.
Yes, that's right. If you've purchased the Easy Music Theory course, you are no more than 25 lessons from the mountain top. And it's not just about being able to write that exam - because many of you will never need to write that exam.
Instead, you'll be using your new-found skills in music theory to do real world tasks such as:
1. Write out a piece of music that's been bouncing around in your head 2. Home-school your kids in music with amazing results 3. Actually understand the music you're playing or singing 4. Be an honest-to-goodness godsend in your community choir 5. Give your band some real musical direction 6. Take a piece of sheet music and write a chord chart for guitar
In a nutshell, you're no more than 25 lessons from being the resident music expert that others WILL come to rely upon. So get moving! Take it a step at a time, and you'll succeed.
Think of it!
=========================== 2. Hum a Bass Line!
You know, music theory teaches you how music works. It gives you the tools you need to understand what you're doing.
The goal of studying music theory is to become a better musician. So make sure that you apply what you're learning.
In Lesson 17, on triads, and in Lesson 21, on triad inversions, you learn how all about triads in music. One good way to begin to apply this knowledge is to *actively* listen to music that you hear on the radio, in church, at concerts, wherever you can! One helpful exercise is to focus on the bass line. What's a bass line? It's the music being played by the bass, or lowest, instrument in a group. In a band, it's usually the bass guitar. Begin humming that line as you listen, and you'll soon hear how that line is moving. (By the way, humming during some concerts will get you kicked out!) The idea with this exercise is to hear the note in your head, not necessarily pick it out on an instrument.
By doing this, you'll become more accustomed to chord changes in a piece of music, and you'll also begin to hear the chord inversions as well. (Chord inversions are taught in Lesson 21.) Watch the video for lesson 21 too. In that video we play several chords and their inversions.
Now, if you've never actively listened to the bass line in a piece of music, don't despair if you feel that you can't hear it. It's like anything - a little practice is needed first. Just keep at it - actively listening.
Even if you can pick out only one single note in the entire piece, keep at it!
Make *active* listening a habit.
=========================== 3. Rhythm troubles?
If you play in a band or orchestra, and have trouble with a particular rhythm, here's one way to solve your problem.
[This short article includes some graphic examples. To read this article online with the graphics, go to http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/rhythm.html ]
Let's say that you're having trouble with the rhythm formed by a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth. Well, just get a piece of staff paper, and begin writing out exercises based on that rhythm.
(Oh yes - it is important that you first take your problem rhythm, and study it carefully to make sure that you really understand it in your head without playing it. If you don't understand it "mathematically", then get that resolved first. Go to Easy Music Theory lessons 4 and 5, and review.)
Here's how to write out exercises to help you with a rhythm. Let's say you play the flute. Take your staff paper and draw a treble clef at the beginning (that's Lesson 1). If you want, choose a key with a couple of sharps or flats (Lesson 9). Then choose a time signature (Lesson 13).
Now, place notes in random fashion on the staff (Lesson 2) using simple rhythms (like quarter notes and eighth notes, Lesson 4), with your problem rhythm mixed in. For example, Your first beat might be two eighth notes, followed by your dotted eighth and sixteenth note pattern. By the way, in composing melodies (even random ones like we're doing here), a lot of stepwise motion rather than constant leaps works better.
You can do the same with any instrument, of course.
Write out 8 or 16 bars of a melody that uses your troublesome rhythm in every bar, and play it several times. It should feel brutal! It may sound awful! It doesn't matter. Just do it. Think carefully about the rhythm.
Review your music theory if you have to. When you're done, play the band or orchestra music that was giving you trouble. You'll be amazed at how much easier it will seem.
===================== 4. Home Schooling
If you have decided to home school your children in order to give them personal attention that focuses on their own strengths, we think that's great! And Easy Music Theory on CD-ROM makes it easy to have a music expert around. With the CD-ROM based videos, and your own guidance and zeal, your children will receive expert musical training that is easy, a lot of fun, and takes them beyond most public school training.
If you're planning to home-school, or if you know anyone who is, make sure that you check out our article specifically about this topic, at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/homeschool.html
===================== 5. Use Summer to your Advantage!
Most of our customers are experiencing summer right now, and what better time is there to dig in and GET AHEAD! That's right, load up a video of a lesson, watch it, then spend some time sitting on the deck with your binder and a cool glass of lemonade. There's nothing finer! You know, you can use the summer to your advantage. For many, the pace is a bit slower and the stresses are a bit less, and that means that you can concentrate better.
So take advantage of it, and make your way through a few lessons over summer. And when you're back in the swing of things in the fall, think how much farther ahead you are! It works! If you don't have the course, then just go to http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com and get it!
===================== 6. Question of the Month: What are jazz scales, and how can I use them?
If you've read Lesson 8 from the "Easy Music Theory" course, you know that a scale is "a series of notes that proceeds upward or downward by step." Usually the kind of "step" we are talking about is either tone or semitone. And depending on the actual configuration of these tones and semitones, we've learned how to create major and minor scales. In actuality, there are dozens of different kinds of scales, and although major and minor are by far the most commonplace, discovering and experimenting with other scales can add colour and imagination to your music.
There is no specific scale called a jazz scale; but there are scales that form the basis for many different jazz forms. Of course, chromatic scales (scales that use every semitone of the octave) are important in jazz. Here are some others for you to try out:
1) Perhaps one of the most popular "jazz" scales is the so-called blues scale. The interval pattern is: T+st W st st T st T. If that looks strange, read Lesson 8! That pattern means that the interval between the first and second notes is a tone-plus-semitone, and the interval between the second and third notes is a whole tone, and so on. In C, the notes would be: C Eb F Gb G A Bb C. Match this scale against the T+st (etc.) pattern shown above - you'll get it.
As you can see, it doesn't follow the "rule" of one letter name for each pitch. But that's because the blues scale is actually a modification of a minor scale and another type of scale called pentatonic.
2) The pentatonic scale is, as the name suggests, a five-note scale. There are two types: the major pentatonic and the minor pentatonic. A major pentatonic scale starting on C will be as follows: C D E G A. The minor pentatonic: C Eb F G Bb.
3) The diminished (octatonic) scale. This is an interesting one. It consists of eight tones, and is built by alternating whole tones and semitones. Starting on C gives us: C D Eb F Gb Ab A B.
4) The Whole tone scale. This scale is made up entirely of whole tones. Beginning on C, that would give us: C D E F# G# Bb.
Jazz is full of other kinds of scales, and it's impossible to list them all. They are mostly derived from major, minor, pentatonic, chromatic or whole tone scales. So how do we use these scales when we compose or improvise? Actually, these scales are used in much the same way that Classical composers use major or minor scales. Jazz scales are used to add jazz "flavour" to the music, and relies heavily on "feel" rather than obvious rules.
As an example of how one might "jazz up" a bar of music, go to http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com/jazz.html. You'll see two musical excerpts. The first one is a simple scale-like pattern written in a traditional compositional style. The next except shows this pattern with jazz scale modifications. You'll see that rhythm also plays a role in making something sound jazzy. Click on the play-bar to listen to the difference.
Jazz is a great example of a genre that is better learned by simply listening to great jazz writers. That's not to say there aren't important guidelines, but learning how to use jazz scales is very much like learning to speak a language - you need hear it and use it in context.
=========================== 7. Skill-Testing Question
When a Bb trumpet plays a C, it matches a Bb on a piano. To transpose a piece of piano music so that the trumpet can play along, do you transpose it up, or down? By how much? The answer can be determined by studying Lesson 20.
===========================
That's it for this month's Easy Music theory Newsletter. Questions or comments? We're all ears at emtinfo@easymusictheory.com.
=============================== Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory represents the finest in music theory instruction. If you play an instrument or sing in a choir, you can expand your musical horizons by learning music theory.
Get all the information at http://www.EasyMusicTheory.com ===============================
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This newsletter is copyright (c) 2002 Spring Day Music, a division of Corporate Impact Inc. Contact us at 902-830-3994, or emtinfo@easymusictheory.com
Newsletter editor: David Ewer Music education content: Gary Ewer and David Ewer
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©2001 Spring Day Music. All rights reserved Gary Ewer's Easy Music Theory is a trade mark of Spring Day Music, a div. of Corporate Impact Inc. Contact us at emtinfo@EasyMusicTheory.com
