Other theory books available from Dark World International

Music Theory: The Language of Sound – Quick Reference is a condensed full-color graphic reference companion work to "The Language of Sound". The Quick Reference edition covers the first six chapters. Chapter divisions and section titles in the Quick Reference correspond to the same chapters and sections in the full text.

Music Theory: The Language of Sound – Quick Reference
(spiral bound book in English - ISBN 978-90-828536-1-2)

Music Theory – Quick Reference magazine
(stapled magazine version in English - ISBN 978-90-828536-3-6)

Muziektheorie: de taal van geluid - Naslaggids
(spiral bound book in Dutch - ISBN 978-90-828536-0-5)

Muziektheorie - Naslaggids tijdschrift
(stapled magazine version in Dutch - ISBN 978-90-828536-2-9)

Music Theory:
The Language of Sound

music theory for guitar and bass guitar
Beginner / Intermediate

1st Edition

written by

KarrArikh Tor

Music Theory: The Language of Sound

Copyright © 2021 Dark World International

Author: KarrArikh Tor

Print: Pumbo.nl

Cover design: KarrArikh Tor, Pumbo.nl

Interior design: KarrArikh Tor

Photography: RonvanRutten.com

Music theory / education / guitar and bass guitar

ISBN 978-90-828536-8-1

NUR 663

No part of this publication may be reproduced by means of print, photocopies, automated data files or in any other manner whatsoever without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Why do we need Music Theory?

Beginning with the language

Dividing the Octave

Writing the language onto paper

Treble Staff/Bass Staff

Alto/Tenor Staff

How do we measure Time on a Staff

When to use the Grand Staff

Chapter Two

Working with String Instruments and Tablature

Notes found on a standard tuned Guitar

Notes found on a standard tuned Bass Guitar

What is Tablature?

Chapter Three

What is a Scale?

Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half

Positions to play the C Major scale

Pattern 1

Pattern 2

Pattern 3

Pattern 4

Pattern 5

Looking at Intervals & the Major Key Scale

Chapter Four

What is a Chord?

Inversions of C Major

Chords built from the Root

Triad Chords

The Major chord

The minor chord

The diminished chord

The augmented chord

Seventh Chords

Suspended Chords

Add Chords

Extended Chords

Ninth Chords

Eleventh Chords

Thirteenth Chords

Enharmonic Chords

Chapter Five

Chords built from our Major Key scale

Chords occurring in the Key of C Major

Triad chords in the Key of C Major

Seventh chords in the Key of C Major

Suspended chords in the Key of C Major

Added chords in the Key of C Major

Extended chords in the Key of C Major

Finding Chords on Guitar and Bass Guitar fretboards

Chords for the Guitar

Bar chord Form I

Bar chord Form II

Chord Form III

Power Chords

Chords for the Bass Guitar

Bass chord Form I

Bass chord Form II

Bass chord Form III

Extended Chords

Chord chart

Using Chord Forms

Chapter Six

Using Key Signatures

Sharp Major Keys

Flat Major Keys

Circle of Fifths/Circle of Fourths

Modes of the Major scale

Modified minor Keys (Harmonic minor & Melodic minor)

Advanced Chapters

Chapter Seven

Additional Notations for our Staff

Staff volumes – Forte, Mezzo-forte, Piano, Mezzo-piano

Crescendos and Diminuendos

Fermata, Sforzato, Staccato, Tenuto, Portato, Marcato

Octave shifts using 8va, 8vb, 15ma, 15mb, 22ma, 22mb

Grace notes – Acciaccatura, Appoggiatura

Tied notes and Slurs

Repeat measure symbol,

Barlines, Brackets, Braces

Prima Volta, Seconda Volta

D.C. (Da Capo), D.S. (Dal Segno), Fine, Coda, Segno

Additional Notations for Tablature

Chapter Eight

Adding chord arrangements to a melody

I-IV-V⁷ chord progression in C Major

Adding Bass…

Adding other instruments…

Transposing songs from one Key to another

Running through Modes with Guitars

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Variations in G Major

Chapter Nine

Naming Groups of Notes as Chords

Examples of naming note groupings into chords

Chord One

Chord Two

Chord Three

Chord Four

Chords Five/Six/Seven

Appendices

Appendix One – 15 Major Key Signatures

A♭ / A / B♭

B / C♭ / C / C♯

D♭ / D / E♭ / E

F / F♯ / G♭ / G

Appendix Two – Open chords for guitar

A, A⁷, Am, Am⁷, Asus², C

CM⁷, D, D⁷, Dm, Dsus⁴, E, E⁷, Em, Em⁷, G, G⁷

Appendix Three - Tempo Chart for setting effects

60 bpm – 76 bpm

78 bpm – 130 bpm

132 bpm – 184 bpm

Bibliography / Acknowledgements

Index

Chapter One

Why do we need Music Theory?

A musician does not need to know music theory to perform with an instrument. Most guitarists and bassists begin playing music by ear, rather than learning how to play music through a structured class or program in school. Music Theory helps create a common ground for musicians of different instruments to talk to each other. Musicians need Music Theory when performing music in an orchestra, band, or group. It is the common language between instruments. It helps explain why some combinations of notes sound good and soothing, and why some combinations are upsetting and may sound harsh and disjunct. Music Theory should be called Music Language, as it is more about getting musicians to perform together, playing a song with confidence, or saving and preserving a song for others to perform later.

Common modern instrument ranges compared to a Grand Staff and an 88-key piano keyboard

If you presently perform with an instrument, you are already using Music Theory, whether you knew it or not. The concept of being ‘in tune’ is a product of Music Theory; without Music Theory we would not know to what an instrument should be tuned. Music Theory gives us the names for chords. It tells us what chords are and how they may be used. Music Theory tells us what notes a standard instrument should be able to play when performing music from Western Musical Traditions. It is used in designing instruments, including guitars and bass guitars, giving us reasons for the proper division of a fretboard. The size of the frets is different moving up and down the fretboard, but the tones they produce will play the appropriate notes of equal temperament. Music Theory is not a collection of absolute rules of how to play. Music Theory is a language used to define sound, so that musicians on different instruments can perform a song together (even if the musicians have never heard the song before). Music Theory can not describe every sound, but it does give us a template to work from.

Beginning with the language

All languages have symbols, which are used to represent sounds or actions. Music Theory is no different. It also uses symbols to represent sounds or actions. It uses letters and symbols to identify tones, and symbols to describe the timing of the tones [A note’s “tone” is also called a note’s “pitch”, as tone = pitch. This text will be using the term tone but using the word pitch would also be correct.] First, we shall describe the symbols for the separation of tones. In trying to describe tones, we begin with defining the octave. An octave note is a note which sounds similar (with human ears) to a second note but is half or double the frequency of the second note.

Sound travels through the air in waves, rising and falling in cyclic patterns. The distance between the peaks of the waves is the frequency, given in Hz (Hertz, which is cycles per second), the standard unit of measurement for frequency. High tones will have shorter distances between wave peaks than lower sounding tones. A note which has half or double the distance between wave peaks than another note is an octave of that other note. In Western Musical Traditions we divide an octave by twelve equal sounding divisions, with these tones being called steps. A two-step movement is called a “whole step” and a one step movement is called a “halfstep”. Not all areas of the world use 12 divisions to the octave, but Western Musical Tradition does, so the Music Theory that is used to describe this also uses 12 steps of equal temperament to an octave.

If the frequency of our note is equal to “2x” (the center wave), then a 2nd note with frequency “x” (the top wave) is one octave higher than our note, and a 3rd note with frequency “4x” (the lower wave) is one octave lower than our note.

(Optional reading) The science and mathematics expanded

Physics is the science which studies soundwaves. The mathematical relationship between frequencies is where we derive the concept of an octave, at least on paper. Most octave notes you will deal with will be half or double the frequency, but there are more octaves than just these two. This is always easier to see on a piano, with an 88 key piano having seven octaves which can be played physically. A guitar has only four octaves maximum, and these octaves are not as easy to see on a fretboard as they would be on a piano keyboard. To discuss any octave-to-octave movement on a piano, we would need more octaves defined than the two covered in the “half or double frequency” definition. If we describe an octave note to include all possible octave notes on a piano keyboard, then any 1st note is an octave of any 2nd note whose frequency is equal to the “1st note’s frequency times 2N” or the “1st note’s frequency divided by 2N” (where N is any positive whole number). This will include all possible octaves. This can also be stated in only symbols and numbers, but this is not a physics nor mathematics text and the equation would be intimidating for the uninitiated. It is more important to understand what an octave note can be.

A tone with the frequency of 440Hz (“A” note in the 4th octave, written as A₄ when discussing individual notes) is an octave to the tones 55Hz (A₁), 110Hz (A₂), 220Hz (A₃), 880Hz (A₅), 1760Hz (A₆) and 3520Hz (A₇). Human hearing varies between people (and varies with the volume or amplitude of the frequency, and varies with the age of the person), but it is generally thought that humans hear sounds from around 20Hz to 20kHz. Don’t overwork your mind with memorising frequencies, we use other methods to name tones. The rest of this book will refer to the octave as a tone which is half or double the frequency of another tone. There could be other options, but these are the most common octaves used, described, or performed. If necessary, an octave number will appear in subscript following the letter, but only when discussing individual notes and not chords.

In Europe there is more than one name given to a tone. The name depends on the country you live in. In English and Dutch speaking regions, the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are used to name tones. This gives us a total of seven notes with different names. The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G are used to describe the white keys on a piano keyboard. Notice how the letters repeat themselves. Every octave contains each of the seven letters.

We number the octaves based on the progression of the C-to-C notes. On an 88 key piano, the lowest note on the keyboard (furthest left) is an “A” note, in octave zero. It is written as “A₀”. The next white key to the right is “B₀”, but the following white key to the right is “C₁”, the beginning of the 1st full C to C progression on a piano. The highest note on an 88 key piano is a “C₈” and is the only note in the 8th octave on a piano keyboard; therefore, full numbered octaves playable on a piano are “C₁” thru “C₇”. The Key of C Major is comprised of only the white keys on the piano keyboard. A song performed in the Key of C Major needs only these seven notes, but there are more than white keys on a piano keyboard (the progressions of notes we call musical scales and Keys will be covered in later chapters).

So far, we have ignored the black keys, but they are also notes. A letter appears only once per octave, but we have 12 divisions to name. Other symbols are added to the letters to create names for the notes in between the white keys (the black keys on a piano) when they appear. Guitarists may be beginning to think that Music Theory might relate only to pianos and orchestras. This is not true, but when first learning about notes and octaves it is easier to see these on the piano keyboard. For tuning, it is good for guitarists and bassists to have some knowledge of the notes on a piano keyboard, at least knowing where the notes of open guitar and bass strings are located on a piano keyboard. Notes on the fretboards will be fully explained later.

When you are writing down a melody comprised of individual notes, the octave number can be placed on the right side of the letter, but the use of octave numbers should be stated somewhere above or below your melody. Numbers are also used in naming chords in a Key. Someone could read “C7” as a C note in the 7th octave or as a dominant seventh chord built off the C note. This text will use subscript when showing octave numbers. When we write any melody onto staff paper, the octave number is no longer written. The octave is noted in another manner which will be covered later.

(Important reading) About using an H for the B

It should be noted that Music Theory in Germanic regions, Scandinavia, and in Central and Eastern Europe will sometimes use the letter H instead of the letter B for a natural B note (B♮), with a B flat note (B♭) still using the letter B (instead of the letter H) but without the flat symbol. This can get confusing which is why many musicians in Germanic regions today are simply using the B letter as it is used by musicians in English and Dutch regions. This text is written using the English/Dutch manner. The general theory and relationship of notes and chords is the same, but looks different, A, H, C, D, E, F, G. (Just substitute an H for the natural B♭ and use the B without a flat symbol for a B♭ if you need to prepare notes for these regions. If you have sheet music from one of these regions, substitute a B for the H and add the flat symbol back onto the B♭).

To summarise Beginning with the language, we begin identifying notes by establishing the concept of an octave. A note is an octave of another note if the frequency of the 1st note is half or double the value of the 2nd note’s frequency. In Western Traditional Music we have twelve notes of equal temperament to each octave. To describe these notes, we use letters and symbols. Seven letters are used by English and Dutch speaking regions in identifying notes, these letters are A, B, C, D, E, F and G. This text is written using the English/Dutch manner. And finally, a two-note movement is called a “whole step”, and a one note movement is called a “halfstep”.

Dividing the Octave

We stated that in Western Traditional Music we have 12 notes to each octave but use seven letters to describe the notes. If we had a step between each of the seven notes, we would have 14 notes in total. This is two notes over our octave; therefore, two pairs must have no notes between them. There is no note between the B and C notes, and the E and F notes.

Earlier we stated a two-note movement is called a “whole step”, and a one note movement is called a “halfstep”. The movement between a C and D note is called a “whole step”. The movement between the notes, D to E, F to G, G to A, and A to B are all whole step movements. This means there is a note located between each of these pairs. The B to C and E to F movements are called “halfstep” movements, with no notes located between these two pairs. On a piano keyboard, a whole step is moving two keys (left or right, counting both white and black keys) and a halfstep is moving one key. On a guitar and bass fretboard, we have frets instead of keys. On a guitar or bass, the movement of one fret (up or down) is a halfstep and moving two frets is a whole step. The whole step and halfstep concept will continue to be used, so it is an important concept to memorise.

Names for the white keys on a piano keyboard

The last five steps in an octave are noted by using letters with an added sharp or flat symbol following. A sharp accidental symbol raises the note one step higher than the note would normally sound (a halfstep movement), where a flat symbol lowers the note one step lower than the note would normally sound (also a halfstep movement). The symbol for a sharp note is ♯, and the symbol for a flat note is ♭. So if we begin with a C note, the 12 steps become; 1st step is C, 2nd step is C♯ or D♭, 3rd step is D, 4th step is D♯ or E♭, 5th step is E, 6th step is F, 7th step is F♯ or G♭, 8th step is G, 9th step is G♯ or A♭, 10th step is A, 11th step is A♯ or B♭, and the 12th step is B. The 2nd, 4th, 7th, 9th, and 11th steps are known by two names (a name with a sharp accidental and a name with a flat accidental) and represent the black keys on a piano. Both names are correct. We will learn which name and when to use it after we have learned about the progression of notes called Scales and Keys.

Names for the black keys on a piano keyboard

We can have more than just sharp and flat notes; we can also have double sharp and double flat notes. A double sharp will raise a note two steps (a whole step movement), where a double flat will lower a note by two steps (also a whole step movement). A natural will remove a sharp/flat from a note in a measure. These symbols, known as Accidentals, will be shown again. They will become more important after we have defined the Key.

(Important reading) Musical Keys vs. Piano keys

Musical Keys are not to be confused with piano keys (white and black levers used in playing a piano). Piano keys will be noted using lowercase letters. When the word Key is capitalised, it will refer to a progression of notes which we will define in Chapter Three.

To summarise Dividing the Octave, on a piano keyboard there are no black keys between the B and C notes and the E and F notes. The black keys are named with letters and a sharp or flat symbol. The symbol for a sharp note is ♯, and the symbol for a flat note is ♭. Notes can have more than one name (this will be expanded later). Each black key commonly has two names, one sharp and one flat. This is one of the first areas of Music Theory where we just need to memorise. It is uncommon to divide anything like we divide octaves; it is only found in Western Traditional Music.

Writing the language onto paper

If we have a melody in our head and wish to write it down, knowing the notes which make up the melody can help us record it to paper. We begin looking at the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, because we can play this melody with just six notes. If we begin our melody on the C note, the melody goes:

C C G G A A G F F E E D D C G G F F E E D
G G F F E E D C C G G A A G F F E E D D C.

Each letter stands for one performed note in the song (even though nothing in our notation tells us this). If a performer knows this melody, they would be able to play the song from this notation, but only in the manner they think it should be. Two people may have two different views on how the melody should sound. If we did not know the song, we would not know the octave that each note should be played, nor understand how fast or slow the notes should be played. If a writer wishes to make a quick notation for their own use, using a simple method like this may work, but information is missing. All the notes look the same length in this manner; the timing of the melody is missing from our notation. The original melody has the first note as the lowest note in the melody. We could write:

C₄ C₄ G₄ G₄ A₄ A₄ G₄ -, F₄ F₄ E₄ E₄ D₄ D₄ C₄ -,
G₄ G₄ F₄ F₄ E₄ E₄ D₄ -, G₄ G₄ F₄ F₄ E₄ E₄ D₄ -,
C₄ C₄ G₄ G₄ A₄ A₄ G₄ -, F₄ F₄ E₄ E₄ D₄ D₄ C₄ -.

This may show the melody rising from the C note and may give the impression that all note durations are not the same (with the dash used in our layout), but it is still vague and unclear. Music Theory gives us suggestions how to show notes clearly, in a uniform manner that can be read and performed by many instruments. Notice how clean Twinkle Twinkle Little Star can look when written onto a treble staff.

So far, we have learned it is possible to write a progression of notes onto paper using only letters with octave numbers, but this method looks unclear in writing long progressions or using more than one note at a time. Two instruments performing together need to see their parts clearly and quickly. Music Theory uses a Staff to write notes down. A Staff is five lines running parallel across a page.

Each line and space represent only one note, a single frequency. A single staff can also be referred to as a stave, but two or more are called staves, not staffs. To read a staff and understand the notes, we need to define how a staff is used.

Symbols are placed at the beginning of the Staff, to tell us what notes the lines represent. A Grand Staff has two staves placed on top of each other and joined on the left and right side, for a total of ten parallel lines (eleven lines if we include the middle C). We read a staff from left to right and a sheet of music is read from top to bottom.

Grand Staff (top) compared to a Piano keyboard and a Guitar fretboard. C notes are shown on both the piano keyboard and the guitar fretboard, with the guitar having more than one place to play the notes.

Notes on a piano are comparable to notes on a guitar fretboard and on the Grand Staff. The top five lines record higher pitched notes, while the lower five lines record bass notes. Once a melody is written onto staff paper, the octave number is no longer written down. Both the octave number and the letter name of a note are known by the placement of the note symbol on the staves. Each line or space (between two lines) represents one letter. These lines and spaces represent white keys on the piano keyboard. To display a black key on the Grand Staff, we need the sharp symbol ♯ or the flat symbol ♭. We will now take the Grand Staff and separate the top five lines from the bottom five lines and explain how they are used. We identify each staff by a symbol placed at the beginning of each staff.

The symbols we use to identify a staff are called “Clefs”. The Grand Staff uses a Treble staff and a Bass staff. The Treble staff is begun with a G Clef. The Bass staff is begun with an F Clef. The C Clef is used to begin an Alto staff and a Tenor staff (although these staves are not commonly used).

Clefs (identify the staff)

Top of the Grand Staff – the Treble Staff

The top five lines of the Grand Staff are called the Treble staff. We place a G Clef at the beginning of the staff to represent the Treble staff. The clef is called the G Clef because the curl in the lower center of the clef symbol is placed over the G₄ note on the staff. The Treble staff displays the notes from a D note in the fourth octave to a G note in the fifth octave (as shown). Instruments which use this staff are Alto voice, Clarinet, Cornet, English Horn, Flute, Guitar (upper half), Harp (upper half), Horn, Mandolin, Oboe, Piccolo, Piano (upper half), Recorder, Saxophone, Soprano voice, Trumpet and Violin. This means the range of notes that these instruments play falls mainly within the range of the Treble staff with a G Clef.

Bottom of the Grand Staff – the Bass Staff

The bottom five lines of the Grand Staff are called the Bass staff. We place an F Clef at the beginning of the staff to represent the Bass staff. The name F Clef is used because the two dots in the clef symbol lay above and below the F₃ note on the staff (along with the top end of the curl also marking the F₃ note). The Bass staff contains the notes from a F note in the second octave to a B note in the third octave (as shown). Instruments which use this staff are Bass and Baritone voice, Bass Guitar, Contrabassoon, Guitar (lower half), Harp (lower half), Piano (lower half), Trombone, and Tuba.

What joins the Treble Staff and Bass Staff

Both the Treble staff and the Bass staff can be used separately. When they are combined, they are referred to as the Grand Staff. The Treble and Bass staves are separated by an invisible line, the middle C or C₄ note.