Music Theory Comprehensive: Part 2 – Chords, Scales, & Keys

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For years I've been teaching Music Theory in the college classroom. These classes I'm making for Slam Academy use the same syllabus I've used in my college classes for years, at a fraction of the cost. I believe anyone can learn Music Theory - and cost shouldn't be a barrier.
Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation's Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I'm taking those classes to Udemy in an online format in order to reach more students, and give them the joy of Music Theory.
My approach to music theory is to minimize the memorization. Most of these concepts you can learn by just understanding why chords behave in certain ways. Once you understand those concepts, you can find any scale, key, or chord that exists. Even invent your own.
This class is a Comprehensive class - it will have many parts, going through my entire annual curriculum.
This class is Part 2: Chords, Scales, and Keys.
Throughout this class, I'll be providing you with 8 worksheets for you to practice the concepts on. If you get stuck, you can review the videos or post a question, and I'll back to it as fast as possible. Also in this class I have several complete analysis projects that we will complete together - just like in my college classes.

What will I learn in this Course?

  • My approach to Music Theory
  • Tools you will need to learn Music Theory quickly and efficiently
  • Chromatic and Diatonic scales
  • Ordered Pitch Class Collections
  • The pattern of a Major Scale
  • Scale Degrees
  • Solfege
  • Writing melodies with major scales
  • Analyzing melodies
  • What it means to be "in key"
  • Key signatures
  • How to identify key signatures
  • Popular song analysis
  • Building triads (chords)
  • Diatonic chord progressions
  • Roman numeral analysis
  • Inversions
  • Finding chords by formula
  • The thirds inside of a chord
  • Finding fifths by finding thirds
  • Diminished triads
  • Augmented triads
  • Chords on the guitar
  • Full Analysis: Canon in D (Pachabel)
  • Full Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach)
  • 7th Chords
  • Major 7th Chords
  • Minor 7th Chords
  • Dominant 7th Chords
  • ...and much, much more!

Course Outline

  • Introduction
    • Tools We Will Use in this Course
    • [Download] Staff Paper
  • Chromatic & Diatonic Scales
    • Definitions: Chromatic and Diatonic
    • Ordered Pitch Class Collections
    • Chromatic Scales
  • The Major Scale
    • Scale Degrees and Tonic
    • Scale Degrees and Solfege
    • How to Practice
    • Worksheet No. 1
  • Scales and Keys
    • Melody Analysis
    • What Does it Mean to be “In Key”?
    • Worksheet No. 2
  • Major Keys
    • Major Key Overview
    • What is a Key Signature
    • Identifying Key Signatures
    • Worksheet No. 3
  • Chords!
    • Song Analysis
    • Triads
    • Building Triads
    • The Diatonic Chord Progression
    • Inversions
    • Roman Numerals
    • Song Analysis, Version 2
    • Worksheet No. 4
  • Dissecting Triads
    • The Inside of a Triad
    • The Third Holds the Power!
    • Finding Chords by Half-Steps
    • Finding Fifths by Thirds
    • Worksheet No. 5
  • More with Triads
    • Diminished Triads
    • Augmented Triads
    • Adding More Octaves to Triads
    • Chords on the Guitar
    • Worksheet No. 6
  • Pieces for Analysis
    • Analysis Overview
    • Analysis: Canon in D (Pachabel)
    • Non-Chord Tones
    • Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 1
    • Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 2
    • Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 3
    • Download: PDF of Full Analysis
    • Worksheet No. 7
  • 7th Chords
    • What are 7th Chords?
    • The 4 Types of 7th Chords
    • Major 7th Chords
    • Minor 7th Chords
    • Dominant 7th Chords
    • Download: PDF of Minuet in G including 7th Chords
    • Blues and the Dominant 7th Chord
    • Worksheet No. 8
  • Wrap Up
    • What Comes Next?
    • Thanks and Bye! (For now…)
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Course Information

Estimated Time: 5 Hours

Categories: ,

Course Instructor

Jay Allen Author

J. Anthony Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer, and a PhD in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater. He currently is an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and is the CEO and co-founder of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

 

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Introduction

Welcome & Introduction

Welcome to the class! Here is a quick overview of what we will cover, and a little previous of what is to come!
Tools We Will Use in this Course

A little bit about some tools we need!
[Download] Staff Paper

Download and print a few copies of this for taking notes.

Chromatic & Diatonic Scales

What are Scales, and Why Do We Care?

Scales are the basic building blocks for musical keys and chords.
Definitions: Chromatic and Diatonic

Two important words that we need to learn ASAP: Chromatic and Diatonic.
Ordered Pitch Class Collections

“Ordered Pitch Class Collections” is sort of a fancy term for a scale, but its important to know.
Chromatic Scales

Chromatic scales can be both the easiest to understand and the most complicated.

The Major Scale

The Whole-Half Pattern

A major scale is little more than a pattern. If you understand the pattern, you can find any major scale.
Scale Degrees and Tonic

Tonic is another word for the first note in our scale. We label each note of the scale with a number called a “scale degree.”
Scale Degrees and Solfege

Do – a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun… This is solfege, and it can be a great way to learn to hear scales.
How to Practice

Throughout this course I’m going to give you a bunch of worksheets. In this video I’ll talk about how to use them and how to practice music theory in general.
Worksheet No. 1

Your first worksheet!

Scales and Keys

Using Major Scales (Writing a Melody)

Major scales are only useful if we know how to use them. In this video we will start by looking at writing a melody in a major key.
Melody Analysis

Next, lets look at a familiar melody and see how it uses the major scale.
What Does it Mean to be “In Key”?

You might be confused about the difference between “scale” and “key” – lets clear that up in this video.
Worksheet No. 2

Here is your second practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page. Challenge yourself! If you get something wrong, review the videos or post a question!

Major Keys

Major Key Overview

Time to talk about keys!
What is a Key Signature

Key signatures are the quick way to tell what key we are in.
Identifying Key Signatures

There are 2 important tricks to identifying a key signature.
Worksheet No. 3

Here is your third practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

Chords!

What are Chords?

Chords are the building blocks that create harmony. Without chords (or harmony), we only have melodies.
Song Analysis

Looking at a familiar song can help us to understand chords and harmony a little better.
Triads

The first type of chord we will focus in is a triad. Triads are the most basic of all chords, but all chords are based on triads.
Building Triads

Finding the pattern!
The Diatonic Chord Progression

How do we know what kinds of triads are in a key? Another pattern tells us the answer to all of that.
Inversions

Now it is time to make those triads sound a little better using inversions.
Roman Numerals

In music theory, we use roman numerals to label chords in a key.
Song Analysis, Version 2

Here is the song again, but now we know how to analyze chords. Let’s do a roman numeral analysis of this song.
Worksheet No. 4

Here is your fourth practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

Dissecting Triads

The Inside of a Triad

Time to open up these triads and see what is inside!
The Third Holds the Power!

The title says it all: The third holds the power.
Finding Chords by Half-Steps

We can always count half steps to find the notes we need in a chord.
Finding Fifths by Thirds

A faster way to find a fifth is to understand the two thirds that make up the full chord.
Worksheet No. 5

Here is your fifth practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

More with Triads

Diminished Triads

Time to go back and look at that odd Diminished triad.
Augmented Triads

The diminished triad has a cousin, and it is called the Augmented triad.
Adding More Octaves to Triads

How does adding more octaves to our triads effect their name?
Chords on the Guitar

Chords on the guitar behave oddly with octaves. Lets take a quick look.
Worksheet No. 6

Here is your sixth practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

Pieces for Analysis

Analysis Overview

Why do we analyze pieces? Why is this a useful exercise?
Analysis: Canon in D (Pachabel)

You’ve heard this piece a hundred times. Sometimes called “the wedding song”.
Non-Chord Tones

As we just learned, not every note of a piece will be in a chord. When it isn’t, we call it a non-chord tone.
Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 1

Get ready for a ride! We are going to go through this piece and look at every single note.
Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 2

Part 2 of our Minuet in G analysis.
Analysis: Minuet in G (Bach) – Part 3

Part 3 of our Minuet in G analysis.
Download: PDF of Full Analysis

Download and keep a copy!
Worksheet No. 7

Here is your seventh practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

7th Chords

What are 7th Chords?

We know about triads, but what if we add another note? Things get more complicated!
The 4 Types of 7th Chords

With 7th chords, we have four types that can happen.
Major 7th Chords

The “pretty” chord, and a little Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Minor 7th Chords

Minor 7th chords have a bit of a jazz quality to them, but can be useful in a few different ways.
Dominant 7th Chords

We’ve talked about “tendency tones” – and nothing is stronger than the dominant 7th chord when it comes to the tendency.
Download: PDF of Minuet in G including 7th Chords

Lets take another look at that Minuet in G, but this time consider 7th chords.
Blues and the Dominant 7th Chord

The blues is made up of mostly un-resolved 7th chords.
Worksheet No. 8

Here is your seventh practice worksheet. Please download it and use it to practice. The answers are on the last page.

Wrap Up

What Comes Next?

Music Theory is a huge topic. It typically lasts four semesters in college. We’ve made huge progress in this class, but there is more to come.
Thanks and Bye! (For now…)

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