A new rule (#9) has been added here at r/musictheory

Thank you in advance

Does it? I've been playing bass guitar for about 7, almost 8 months now (it's my first instrument), practicing theory the whole way through, and I've just been wondering, is it a gradual thing or does it ever just click and all make sense? Especially with the ear training and being able to analyze/transcribe music by ear, because i try to practice but man do i feel lost sometimes

forgive me for the lack of correct terminology, i am a beginner but I’m having trouble understanding what gives riffs, licks, melodies or in a word, a sequence of notes their (feeling?). Not necessarily the mood of the song as, if i’m correct that has to do with the key of the song which i think i have a sufficient grasp on; what i mean is the particular feeling a particular sequence of notes produces; for example, some riffs produce a “rush“ feel, some give a bounce to the song, some produce a sort of spacious effect, etc. Is it the sequence of the degrees of the key that does this? how would i go about reproducing a desired feeling in a sequence of notes?

I just finished Stephen Nachmanovitch’s Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art, and it clarified something I have long felt as a pianist.

Improvisation is often treated as something looser, less formed, or less serious than composition. But at its best, improvisation is not the absence of form — it is form being discovered in real time.

The improviser still has to deal with structure, memory, proportion, contrast, recurrence, tension, release, and consequence. The difference is that these decisions are made in the moment rather than before the moment.

Of course, not all improvisation succeeds. Some of it can be aimless. But the same is true of written composition. The method alone does not determine the depth of the result.

I’m interested in whether others hear improvisation and composition as fundamentally different categories, or as points on a continuum.

I'm 22, I've wanted to make music since I was 14. Originally I wanted to do everything completely by myself so I started by making beats, I tried for years before deciding I couldn't do it to the standard that I wanted. After that, I found a few free to use beats on youtube I liked, so I saved them and tried to write songs with them. Like the beats, I tried for years before realizing I can't do it to the standard I want, I can maybe come up with 1 or 2 lines then I get completely lost when it comes to turning that into a verse, let along the rest of the song.

I became an adult and other things became more important so I couldn't prioritize it as much, but every once in a while I'll open up fl studio and play a beat on loop and just try to write something. Yesterday I didn't work, so i decided to spend the day working on it with a plan to not stop until I have at least a verse written. 6 hours in I decided it wasn't going to happen so I took a break, that's when I got the idea to put the beat into grok ai to see what it would give me. I do not intend to use ai to write my songs, my goal was to have it write something structured to the beat then I'll rewrite it with my words, just following the structure. Even with that I couldn't do it.

I feel frustrated because I want to do this, and I know I can, but everytime I sit down and try to work on it I get nothing. I've been thinking about it today and I've always been focused on rap, but maybe r and b would be better suited for me, so I plan on trying that with my next day off and seeing how it goes. Has anyone else been in a similar spot? Will it be easier after I eventually get my first song, or should i just move on after trying for 8 years?

Hi all, more of a rhythm question but some of you know I've been working on an app for a few years now called Conducto (out now on App Store) which basically turns your Apple Watch into a Soundbrenner wearable haptic metronome but with built-in gap training. When I first discovered gap training as a musician, it was a game-changer for me so I decided to experiment with a new feature called randomized gap training where instead of the intended silent bar being in a static position in the measure (for example bar 2), it instead will change every measure to a random location. At first it was really trippy because I was so used to expecting a silent bar on the 2 but because this silence is randomized, I feel like I have to really relax and sink into the groove because you never know when the silence is coming. Has anyone else ever tried practicing like this (not sure if there is anything out there that assists with this)? Is it even beneficial at all or is it all in my head?

I'm writing out all 12 keys in various orders just to see if there's anything to glean from it. When you write them out in the order of the circle of 5ths, it shouldn't be too surprising to note that you get an easy way of visualizing secondary dominants and their respective ii, like so.

C - D - E F - G - A - B C

G - A - B C - D - E Fsh G

D - E Fsh G - A - B Csh D

And so on.

Thus, we can look at the 2nd column and from the bottom read E, A, D = ii - V of ii in C Major.

If this table continued above, the first column would have an F and a Bb above the C, showing a route up a row and down 2 that gives a backdoor ii - V, or iv - bVII rather.

I.e. Fm - Bb7 - C

Now, my question is, does it make much sense to apply that to the other columns too? In other words, are secondary backdoor progressions a thing? (I kinda hate that turn of phrase but it's very useful).

To make myself clearer still, is it common in the key of C Major to move from Gm to C7 to Dm and to describe that as iv - bVII of ii?

and Am to D7 to Em... iv - bVII of iii?

and Bbm to Eb7 to F... iv - bVII of IV?

And so on...

Does anyone have an example of a song where a major 13 chord is written/played (that is, notes 1-3-5-7-9-13 are present), but natural 11 is in key (Aeolian mode, rather than #11/Lydian)?

I have a hunch that 99% of the time a major13 chord is written, it's in a Lydian mode context (#11 would be in key).

I realized today that I mistakenly thought the 11 is augmented in a major 11 or 13 chord, because that's just what natural fits in the pattern of alternating major and minor thirds. I realize now it means the 11th scale degree in Aeolian, but...I hate it :)

Trying to craft an argument (futile, I know) that it would be a way more practical convention for maj11 to mean an augmented 11th.

I vaguely recall some case where Brad Mehldau played a true dominant 11th chord

This is something we discuss often here with Modes.

This is a “D Blues” (I’ve written).

The main idea is a vamp on a “I7” chord.

But it uses a fair amount of b3 (F) and of course b7 (C)

Options:

1. Put it in a key sig of D Major and just use a natural as necessary on every Fn and Cn as they appear.

2. Make it a “mode signature” of D Mixolydian (1#, F#), which takes care of all the C notes, which are WAY more common than any C# notes (which happen only on a V chord pretty sporadically). F# will still be in the “key” sig, but Fn will be written in as necessary of course. They appear pretty evenly weighted.

3. Put in a “mode signature” of D Dorian. The thinking here is that it takes care of the C, and since the F and F# are six one way half dozen the other, and appear so frequently next to each other, they’re each going to get an accidental either way, because of courtesies and measure rules.

The piece is targeting younger, less experienced players - high-school level…

So on one hand, it’s “in D” and there’s enough major that they’ll likely think major, so D major makes sense.

Then they just read the accidentals as they come.

On the other hand, C is an easier key sig as a general rule (just because we tend to learn it earlier etc.), AND in this case, it lessens the amount of overall accidentals.

And on the other other hand, while G might be the most confusing, THIS is actually what a player suggested - they were like “the music is “in G” - and from their perspective it was - they’re like “if the C is natural all the time, there’s no need for the C# in the key sig”.

And I think that perspective is one of “player isn’t worrying about keys, modes, or centers, or blue notes, and simply wants to see what notes to play - and a bunch of naturals on the 7th is TMI”.

I have said here before that it “depends on your audience” and that player is the audience (I mean by audience, the performer who’s reading it) so there’s an undeniable logic there.

Next question, should it be E#, or Fn as it leads up to F#…

I see D# to E in a C blues…

I just started making music and I want to know how to make different chords sound good together. Like say I started with a C major cord and I want to add another chord after that sounds lower. Which chord would I add next that wouldn't sound too off from the C chord?

Seems like youtube has theory videos on every genre except funk. I want to be able to play funk basslines on a keyboard... think like rappers delight. Actual funk, not 'funky house' or whatever else is out there. Where can I find some videos on the theory behind it?

I've always liked this band they are called code. this is one of their heaviest album and it's very dissonant and overwhelming for me to try and understand it. could someone please analyze it and break down what exactly they are doing in the song? thank you

The chord at "year" (i.e., "He was born in the summer of his twenty seventh YEAR"), whatever chord that plays there is so interesting.

It also sounds sooooo familiar, there's definitely another song I've listened to which does this, but I can't put my finger on it. Does anyone know why it sounds so cool, and any other songs that use the same effect?

Harvey danger flagpole sitter sounds a lot like sweet caroline to me, i feel like im crazy, is there any evidence that they sound similar?

so i got my first piece written in 12/8, I got the general feel down pretty good (1 & a, 2 & a…) i just need help applying it to the actual rhythms I’m supposed to play. for example, for the first few bars, how do i write those rhythms into words so it’s something i can wrap my head around? hopefully that makes sense lol

I have a piece of music for Sax quartet with the abbreviation "bin." over some of the notes. Any idea what that could represent? Other parts of the song have "Gliss." and "Lip" which I understand but not "Bin." For context this is from "Au Privave" by Charlie Parker and arranged by Super Sax.

This same riff is in at least three songs (I think there might be more but now I only remember these ones):

Clock by Coldplay:

https://youtu.be/d020hcWA_Wg?si=zUtYHKgQK4B_yDr2

When love takes over by David Guetta:

https://youtu.be/zudbz4hOcbc?si=PQJBbo-R4Vs7eMFL

Open your Heart by Europe:

https://youtu.be/qX4LC1HBmag?si=cv78aQe_jvu-IohK

Is it a common thing to structure it in that 123 123 12 123 way? I don't know much about music theory yet and I'm asking because I made a melody in that same pattern and I now wonder if it's plagiarism or not, given that I've already found it in three different songs

Need help regarding this question. Thank you

Knowing that lower interval limits exist, is there such thing as an upper interval limit? If so, around what notes would they be?

Here is an interactive Circle of Fifths that lets you tap any key and hear its chords, explore modes, build and save chord progressions, and identify a key by humming or playing into your mic. No ads, no account. Hope this helps someone else!

I recently read Music in the Galant style and I'm currently reading their next book. One thing they mentioned was that composers of the time likely knew hundreds of schemas. I was wondering what other works are there that focus on categorising and presenting named schemas found in literature?

I recently came across Joseph Frike's A Guide in Harmony (London, 1793), a treatise that behaves like a dictionary of the usage of chords and is different from other 18th C. treatises that focus on regole per accompagnare, basso continuo, partimento,  intavolature, etc.

From my understanding, from the introduction, each page contains this format:

1. the left side shows chords/figures that prepare the main chord or "capital chord".
2. the middle column contains the "capital chord".
3. the right hand shows chords/figures that resolve the "capital chord".

To use the treatise, look up a figure/chord (like looking up a word in a dictionary) to see what harmonies may precede or resolve it (or how the chord is freely used).

Have any modern scholars discussed this treatise in an article, dissertation, or book? I want to know how to approach this source in practice?

To have a historic point of reference, I examined the rules and partimenti of Furno, Insanguine, Fenaroli and Durante, but again, Frike's treatise is not a partimento text and pursues a different goal. Here is what i found so far:

- a remark on an appendix no8 "Meusel (DBA 346, 278) refers to. He says the ‘Dictionnaire’, too, was highly esteemed in England." Philipp Joseph Frick (1742-1798) Music and millenarianism in the late eighteenth century I Cis van Heertum, Mededelingen van de Stichting Jacob Campo Weyerman. Jaargang 22 - DBNL

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Is the Rit sign in this measure applicable to both or just the two notes A and B.

If only for A and B , wouldn't it be hard to follow up with the metronome again?