A Quick Reference Guide for Musical Theory
When it comes to learning how to read music and understand it you
will find that it can be quite daunting at times. But you will also
agree that it is very much worth the time and effort you put into it to
be able to belt out the ¨Stairway to Heaven¨ riff on your guitar at
home. With that said, the following will be a bit of information about
music theory. And while this article does not delve into it as far as
you may like, it does give you a great basic understanding to head out
from there.
 Major Chord
You will find that when ever you see a letter on its own in this article
it will represent the Major chord. For instance, if you see just a ¨G¨
then that will mean a G Major. Minor Chord
On this article whenever you see a letter that is followed by a small m
then that will represent the minor cord. For instance, if you see a Gm
then that means G minor.
Although there are loads of different cords out there, you will only be
learning about the minor and major on here. One of the reasons is
because the two discussed are the ones you will run into most of the
time, and therefore they are important, and because for all the others
you can always run out and get information dedicated to just those
specific notes.
Major Scale
The major scale looks like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, and then goes back to 1. This
scale is also considered the basis for all music theory, but rather than
numbers there is another way to recognize it. When you are looking at
the Major scale you may also know it as Do – Re – Mi – Fa – So – La – Ti
– Do.
Minor Scale
With each major key there will be a corresponding minor key to go with
it. These minors are easy to find as they are all on the same key
signature and also have the same notes as the majors. What you will find
is different however is the fact that these keys do not start on the
same note. For instance, if you have a C Major then the minor key would
be A minor.
Key Signature
The first to be discussed would be the semitone. The semitone, or
rather, half step is the smallest of increments when it comes to certain
instruments like the guitar or piano. On the guitar it would be shown as
going from one fret to the next while on the piano it is going from one
key to the next.
Here are two examples of certain keys and the corresponding key
signature.
G Major
The music notes that go with the G Major are G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp,
G. The key signature for this is one sharp on the F line. And for the
chords within that key you will find G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, and F sharp
that is diminished.
D Major
The music notes that go along with the D Major are D, E, F sharp, G, A,
B, C sharp, and D. The key signatures for this of course would be the
two sharps on the F line and C line. And the chords within this key are
d, Em, F sharp minor, G, A, Bm, and C sharp diminished.
Again, these are just a few quick basics to help guide you through when
you come up against questions on the Major and Minor chords. And you
will find that once you get this down you will have an easier time
writing music as well as composing.
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