Music Theory for Electronic Musicians 1: Basics and Major Keys

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This class is designed for the electronic musician that wants to take their tracks to the next level.
In this class we will focus on learning how to organize pitches and rhythms to make dynamic and interesting melodies and harmonies. No experience with music theory is necessary. Playing an instrument and reading music is also not necessary. We will be focusing on how to use your DAW as your instrument to create with.
For years I've been teaching Ableton Live in the college classroom. As a University Professor, my classes are sought after, and, frankly, expensive. I believe Music Theory can be learned by anyone, and cost shouldn't be a barrier.

What will I learn in this Course?

  • Using the Piano Roll Editor
  • Octaves
  • Finding C and Middle C
  • The Perfect 5th
  • What it means to be "in key"
  • Moveable Patterns
  • Major and Minor Intervals
  • Building Triads
  • Chord Progressions
  • 7th Chords
  • ... And much more!!!

Course Outline

  • Welcome & Overview
    • Welcome!
  • Understanding Music Theory from an Electronic Music Perspective
    • Octaves
    • Using Octaves
    • The Black Keys (Not the Band…)
    • Finding C and Middle C
    • Section 1 Summary
  • The Perfect Fifth
    • Finding Fifths
    • Being “In Key”
    • The Pattern of a Key
    • Fifth Examples
  • More with Keys, The Third, and the Basic Triad
    • The Major and Minor Third
    • Building Triads
    • Chord Progressions
  • Diatonic Chord Progressions
    • Finding All the Chords
    • Roman Numerals
    • Example Song Analysis No. 1
    • Inversions
  • 7th Chords
    • 7th Chord Introduction
    • Diatonic 7th Chords
    • Maj7 (Major 7) Example
    • Dominant 7th Chords
    • Blues and the 7th Chord
  • The Other Intervals
    • The Fourth
    • The Second
    • The Sixth
    • Song Analysis No. 2
  • Wrap Up
    • That’s it (for now!)
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Course Information

Estimated Time: 3.25 Hours

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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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Welcome & Overview

Welcome!

Let’s start with an overview of what we will cover in this class, tools we will be using, and how we will be covering this information.

Understanding Music Theory from an Electronic Music Perspective

The Piano Roll Editor

First, we need to understand the Piano Roll Editor – where it comes from, and how it works.
Octaves

Our first interval: The Octave.
Using Octaves

Octaves just by themselves can be quite interesting. Let’s play around with them a little bit here.
The Black Keys (Not the Band…)

Let’s talk a little bit about how the black keys work, and what we call them.
Finding C and Middle C

We use “Middle C” as our home base when working with notes. In this video, we will talk about how to find it.
Section 1 Summary

So far so good! We are on our way to understanding Music Theory. A little review before we move on.

The Perfect Fifth

The Perfect Fifth

Our next interval is the Perfect Fifth – slightly harder to use than the octave, but still pretty safe.
Finding Fifths

Finding the roots of triads, and building our basic triads.
Being “In Key”

In this video we look at what it means to be “in key”.
The Pattern of a Key

In order to find a key, all you need to do is remember this pattern!
Fifth Examples

A few examples of how fifths can work in context.

More with Keys, The Third, and the Basic Triad

Moveable Patterns

Music Theory is made up of a bunch of patterns – some of them are “moveable” – which can save you time when learning them!
The Major and Minor Third

The Third could be said to be our most important interval. It has 2 different types: Major and Minor.
Building Triads

Triads are the most basic (and most used in electronic music) type of chords. This is how to find them, and how to make them.
Chord Progressions

Music is made up of chord progressions: Sequences of chords that work together.

Diatonic Chord Progressions

What is Diatonic?

“Diatonic” is a fancy word that means “in the key.” But it is an important concept to know when putting together chord progressions.
Finding All the Chords

Another pattern to remember – this one tells us the quality (major or minor) of all the chords in a key.
Roman Numerals

In traditional music theory, we use roman numerals to label chords. We don’t care about traditional analysis, but this technique is useful to us for a few reasons.
Example Song Analysis No. 1

In this video, we will pick apart a track and see if we can find the chords, the key, and the chord quality for a section of it
Inversions

Possibly the most important thing you can learn in this class is inversions. This is the thing that makes your chord progressions sound amateur or professional.

7th Chords

7th Chord Introduction

When we build triads, we use the root, the third, and the fifth. With seventh chords, we go one more step.
Diatonic 7th Chords

We can build our diatonic chord progression sequence using 7th chords, and see how the three types of seventh chords work together.
Maj7 (Major 7) Example

One of my favorite examples of a major 7th chord, from a classic tune.
Dominant 7th Chords

Dominant 7th chords (the ones we just call “7th” chords) have a very important function. In this lessons I’ll show you how that works.
Blues and the 7th Chord

The Blues is a genre of music entirely built around the 7th chord. Want your track to sound a little bluesy? Use 7th chords.

The Other Intervals

The Fourth

The fourth isn’t used to build triads normally, but you’ve seen it before when we looked at inversions.
The Second

The second can be major or minor, and has an “evil twin” in the 7th.
The Sixth

We’ve seen the sixth before as well – a lot! Its inversion is a third.
Song Analysis No. 2

Now that we know how to find the key and the chords, lets dive in to another song and see if we can make sense of it.

Wrap Up

That’s it (for now!)

Thanks for hanging out – I have a few quick parting words to send you off with!

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