Basic Music Theory
Music Theory and Guitar
Music theory is essential for anybody seriously interested in learning their instrument. Music theory is defined as the study of how music works and for guitar music theory is your key to unlocking the fretboard and be able to play practically any song at the drop of a dime.
While music theory consists of several aspects such as pith, rhythm, melody, harmony, scales, modes, texture, timbre, ext.. I will focus on scales, modes, and harmony as are a good foundation to start and will help you better understand the fretboard.
The first key element to understanding music theory is to know how a Major scale is constructed. A Major scale is made up of 8 notes. In the scale of C Major these notes consist of C-D-E-F-G-A-B-D. These notes are given numbers that correspond to each note or scale degree.
In the key of C
C=1
D=2
E=3
F=4
G=5
A=6
B=7
C=8
and each note has a particular distance between itself and the root.
C=P1 -Perfect 1st
D=M2 -Major 2nd
E=M3 -Major 3rd
F=P4 -Perfect 4th
G=P5 -Perfect 5th
A=M6 -Major 6th
B=M7 -Major 7th
C=P8 -Octave
This theory is very important to understand especially for the guitar, because if you understand one scale and can play that scale anywhere on the fretboard you theoretically play any other major scale. This is because you know that there is a certain, unchanging distance, between all of the notes and since this is true you can simply move the scale so the root lines up on a different note hence creating a different scale. I have added some tabulator to help you understand this concept a little better.
C Major Box One
E I-7-8—10—I
B I—8—10—I
G I-7-8—10—I
D I-7—9-10—I
A I-7-8—10—I
E I—8—10—I
D Major Box One
E I-9-10—12–I
B I—10—12–I
G I-9—11-12–I
D I-9—11-12–I
A I-9-10—12–I
E I—10—12–I
A Major
E I-4-5—7—-I
B I–5—-7—-I
G I-4—6-7—-I
D I-4—6-7—-I
A I-4-5—7—-I
E I—5—7—-I
As you can see the pattern of the scale will remain the same.
More to come shortly!!