Note Progression TheoryThe Un-orthodox Way.

By:Anurag

Gurung.Simplifying Music Theory for all

30th Nov-09

The Note Progression TheoryThe Un-orthodox Way Music is a universal language, a language of complex yet simple human emotions. Emotions that cant be defined but that can be felt. A perfect music is an excellent blend of arts and science that work together to create a language of expression. The Arts behind this magnificent creation is very hard or impossible to explain but the science behind it can be explained on the grounds of empiricism.

Music may be defined to be a combination of several notes that are aligned in a perfect and systematic manner of intervals, crescendos with or without accompaniment and etc, and that when processed in a timely manner produces sounds and harmonics of what is generally termed as music. Please not that this view on music is suitable only when one looks at music through an empirical observation. This book tries to explain to students of music the complications behind the functional structure of music

namely the note progressions and variable scales and its implications in a Very Simplified Manner and for this very reason only it may be in an Un-Orthodox Way....

Reason Behind:The reason behind writing this short book on the concerned criteria is to help those who want to learn about note progressions, structures, scales and its practicability in a very simple and easy method as possible without much knowhow on Music Theory. This initiative of mine was because of the problem that I faced while was doing my graduate courses on Music. The problem that I faced was in understanding the Music Theory, to be more specific on the Note Progressions, the structure of various scales and the way to recall it in time of need. Later, i found the same problem that my students were facing.

About The Book:The book is written under the basis of Western Classical Music; and the method and knowledge that the book seeks to provide may be applied universally in all genres and sub-genres of classical as well as contemporary music i.e. classical, Alt-Rock, country etc. The book provides a very simple approach in understanding Note Progression Theory and various

Scales mostly applicable on practical grounds. This book is provided free of cost because of my personal belief that music is a Divine Boon for us and hence it cannot and should not be priced. Please, do note that my view is personal and may be in variance with that of others that I respect. The book provides several charts, figures and examples that will ease and facilitate the concerned in understanding note progressions and various scales. The language used, is made as simple as possible for readers ease.

Prerequisites:Before we begin, I assert that the concerned is aware of the basics of music theory like knowing the seven major notes and have some basic ideas about accompaniment. So with this minimal prerequisite lets begin.

The Fundamentals:As we all know, a 1-Octave melody (melody-combination of several notes) includes 7 notes. (Octave-a set of melody) as shown in Fig-1.

In Fig-1, the root note (root note- a prime note that forms thebasis of a chord or scale) is taken as note

Now with the increase in an octave of a note or a melody there will also be an increase in the pitch of the note or the melody and vice-versa. This phenomenon is illustrated in Fig-2.

C-major.

However in between these major notes there are halfnotes or semitones, but all Major notes do not have their semitones as illustrated in Fig-3.

Thus chromatically there are 12 notes as shown in Fg-3. The Notes that are marked (#) means that it is a sharp note. (#-Sharp Note- is a note that is a pitch higher than its and B, does not have any semitones. Thus in a chromatic melody consisting of 12 tones there would be increment or decrement in its pitch equivalent with the increase or decrease in its octave. Now let us assume that in a chromatically manner, fromnatural pitch). But note

E

note

C to D, there are 3

notes as shown in Fig-4.

Let us now assume that the values of all major notes in 1chromatic octave with note C, as the Root Note be [0], a zero in color Blue- as shown in Fig-5.

In view of Fig-5, if we count the difference from first Major note i.e. C to another note D, taking note C to be Zero (0); the difference would be two (2) as shown in Fig-6.

Now, in a full chromatic scale with note C, as the Root note; if we count the difference between two Major notes from beginning till the end of a complete chromatic octave, it will be as illustrated in Fig-7.

[ Please note that the explanation provided by Fig-7, is Very Important, thus it is very important for the concerned to clearly understand and embody the idea that Fig-7 seeks to provide. ] Fig-7 highlights 12 chromatic notes, altogether 7-Major and 5-Minor notes. The zero in blue color (0) is

0 is the starting point of any Major note. Note C is designated the value 0, since it is a major note. C-major is counted as 0, C# as 1 and D-major as 2. Hence from C-major to D-major, thedesignated only to the major notes. count goes like; 1-2-3 successively through notes C - C# -

D. But since D-major is a major note, note-D is again counted as

0

and from

D

to the next major note .i.e.

E,

D-D#-E. Now note-E note-F being major notes are designated as 0the count goes-1-2-3- likewise and

and

respectively, and one notable thing is that in between

E

F, there is no Sharp note hence both the notes are designated as 0, and the count goes 0 - 0 likewise E-F. Following the last end of the scale in Fig-7, note-B is not but may be designated with 0 as ones like.A closer analysis of Fig-7 will yield the following generalization shown in Fig-8.

B in Fig-8 are all major notes. NoteC is designated with 0 and the rest of the major notesThe notes from to with Black color. Now a question may be raised as to why,

C

D-

being a major note is not designated with

0

as done

with note

C.?

In this respect, note-D is attributed with

0 which starts with note-C and the count goes C - C# - D likewise 0-12. Now, D being a major note is counted as 0 and thus note-E gets the number 2 i.e. D- D# -E likewise 0-1-2. Next, note-E is attributed with number 0 and since in between note E and F, the count goes, 0 for note-E and -1 for note-F. This same pattern of counting and numbering is followed till note-B. This explains thethe number that is in continuation with generalizations made in Fig-8.

The Musical Equation

Now after understanding, arranging and analyzing thenature of all the notes, the next step will be to proceed towards the method of understanding and using a very

simple but yet quick and precise Musical Equation. Now dont scratch your head worrying about this Musical Equation, because the equation is as simply as a 4th Grade math equation. Enough said; now here is the equation as shown in Fig-9.

In Fig-9, X- denotes the Root Note that can be any of the 12 chromatic notes. For example, if you want to find out the notes comprising

F# Minor Scale, then the root note,

that is

F# Minor, would take the place of X as shown in

Fig-10.

Similarly if you wanted to find out the notes comprising

Dof

Major Scale, then note

D

Major would take the place

X

as shown in Fig-11.

The six Roman Numbers form I to VI enclosed within the brackets denotes the six Unknown Notes that comprise the scale of the Root Note. For example; if you wanted to

F# Major Scale, then F# Major being the Root note will take the place of X, and the remaining six unknown notes of the F# Major Scale is represented by the Roman Numbers from I to VI asfind out the notes in an shown in Fig-12.

The numbers in green indicate the total number of notes in a scale of any note. Thus a complete C Major scale in the Musical Equation Diagram would look like the one as shown in Fig-13.

Now you are supposing what the numbers in Red color i.e. 0-2-2-1-2-2-2 represent. But in the first place, what are these numbers in Red..? Well these numbers in Red represent the Differences between major notes from the root note of Fig-7 and Fig-8.

C

Major Scale as shown and explained in

NOTE - The numbers shown in Fig-7 and Fig-8 are inBlack color, but dont be confused because the numbers shown in Fig-7, Fig-8 and Fig-9 are the same, just the color of the numbers have been changed from Black to Red so as to highlight their importance more.

Thus in a nutshell, the Musical Equation shown in Fig-9 is made up of basically;

X-

which is the root note of the

scale that you want to find out, the Roman Numbers indicate the unknown note of the scale of which X is the Root note. The numbers in the Red color represent the differences between all major notes in the scale of C Major. Lastly, the numbers in Green represent the total number of notes in a scale including the Root note. Well now you have fully understood composition of Musical Equation and the equation diagram i.e. Fig-9. The next step would be the practical application of the equation with the help of the diagram i.e. Fig-9.

Practical ApplicationMusical Equation:

Exercise-1> Find the notes comprising a

E

Major Scale.?

Step-1)Let X be the root note i.e. E Major. Then the diagram would appear as shown in Fig-14.

Now the Value of count from value of

I

in Fig-14 is

2 and E

is

0. Step-2)Nowwhich has

E

which has the value of

0 to I

2; The count wil be as shown in Fig-15.

Therefore from the above Fig-15, I is F#, then the Musical Equation Figure would look like as shown in Fig16.

Step-3) [Changing the Value]-Now as you remember, the

0 as in Fig-16, note E which was also the root note of the E Major scale. But now since the value of (Roman Number) I has beenvalue of every known note becomes

obtained as

0

not

F#, therefore F# will now have the value of 2 since the value of I is now known.

Note- This trend of changing of values of the known notes will continue till all the notes in the desired scale are obtained.Hence after obtaining the first note of the which is

E

major scale,

F#, the Diagram will look as shown in Fig-17.

Step-4)Now since

II

has the value of

2,

count from the

value of F# which is 0 to II which has the value of and the count would look as shown in Fig-18.

2,

And likewise counting from

F# to II,

we get the following

shown in Fig-19. Now if we put the newly obtained note in our Musical Equation, then the diagram would look as in Fig-20.

Now since the value of initial value of

II

has been obtained, thus the

II

which was

2

has been changed to

0.

III is1, thus you have to count one (1) step forward from G# which has the value of 0 to III. Counting likewise the diagram would look likeStep-5) Now since the value of as shown in Fig-21.

Following the results obtained in Fig-21, the whole Musical Diagram would look like as in Fig-22.

Step-6) Now since the value of

I

is known, which is note

A, therefore A has now obtained the new value 0. Next, the unknown note IV has of 2. So from A, count two (2) steps forward to unknown note IV. Fig-23 will revealthe results of the counting.

II which is B, the value of B which was earlier 2 will now change to 0 since nowNow after obtaining the note of it is known. Then the diagram will look as in Fig-24.

Now the final task is to find out the unknown notes

VI. Step-5) The value of B is 0 and the value of next unknown note after it (V) is 2. Hence from B count two (2) notes forward to the unknown note Vcorresponding to and

V

And you will get as shown in Fig-25.

V has come to be known as C#, and thus the value of C# has now changed to 0. Step-6) Now from C# count two (2) notes forward to the unknown note VI since the unknown note has the value of 2. When count for, it will look like in Fig-26.Now the value of the

Now at last you finally have the complete set of notes in an E Major scale, a result of the usage of Musical Equation. A complete result of our task is shown in Fig-27.

Exercise-2> Find the notes in a

G

Major Scale.?

Musical Equation Diagram.

Step-1. The Root Not, G will take the place of the Figure would look like in Fig-A.

X, then

I the note difference is of two (2), so counting two notes forward from note G to I weStep-2. Now from to get the results in Fig-B.

G

A. Now since the value of I is known as A. therefore the value of A will be changed from 2 to 0. Then the incomplete Musical Equation Figure wouldSo the value of is look as in Fig-C.

I

Step-3. Now the difference from having a value of from

A

having value

0

to

II

2

is two (2). Thus counting forward

A

to

II, we get the unknown note shown in Fig-D.

Now the value of of

II

is obtained as

B

and then the value

B will change to 0. Similarly the difference from B to III is (1) since the value of III is1. Hence counting one (1) step forward From B to III, we get the result shownin Fig-E.

Hence we get the value of

III

as

C

as shown in

Fig-E. Now similarly to find the value of unknown note we have to count two (2) step further from note the value of the unknown note we get note

IV

C, since

IV

is

2

and in doing so

D

as shown in Fig-F.

V is 2, so we have to count (2) counts further from note D, and in doing so we get the unknown V note to be note E counting likewise D - D# - E. Now the V note of the G Major scale has come to be known as note E. Similarly the next and the last unknown note VI of the G Major scale has the note value of 2. Hence counting (2) steps further from note E we get F# likewise counting E - F F#. Finally after all these computations, we get all the notes in a G Major scale as shown in Fig-G.Next; the value of unknown note

Thus applying the Musical Equation theory, we have finally achieved the answers we were looking for. But as you know Perfection Demands Practice, hence in order to bring fluency in computing the Musical Equation theory, not in paper but in your mindOne must practice its usage; First in Paper and then in ones mind. Try to solve the notes of all the Major Scales in your mind and believe me when I say this, Within a day you will know all the notes of all the scales. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MUSICAL THEORY EQUATION AS SHOWN IN Fig-9 ONLY SOLVES TO FIND THE NOTES OF MAJOR SCALE NOTES ONLY AND NOT OF MINOR SCALE NOTES. IF THE READER IS INTERESTED FOR THE MUSICAL THEORY EQUATON THAT SOLVES MAJOR/MINOR DORIAN/LYDIAN etc, then forward his/her interest at my e-mail address below; anuragurung@gmail.com . Further any, interest, suggestions or criticisms are heartily welcomed on the same address. And finally; T hank You for reading.. Copy Rights rests with the Author.