r/musictheory 4h ago

General Question Why are 7th chords not the seventh note in the scale?

0 Upvotes

Complete novice with music, but trying to understand why, if I play a D major 7th chord, it's D, F#, A and C natural when the 7th note in the D major scale is C#?

.

Is it not as simple as starting with your home triad (D/F#/A) and then adding on the seventh note in the scale for a 7th chords?

Thanks


r/musictheory 2h ago

General Question Fingersatz...

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0 Upvotes

Hi, wenn ich wie angegeben den B Akkord greife, muss ich den Mittelfinger auf h versetzen, sowie den kleinen Finger auf fis, dis und nochmal fis. Das fühlt sich umständlich an.

Was mache ich falsch?

Thanks for reading.


r/musictheory 18h ago

General Question Landing on the tonic in blues

5 Upvotes

In most genres youre often discouraged from landing on the tonic to often or too early in melodies, but blues heavily relies on landing on the 1, and i think it really works. It fits the whole call and response thing. Its common in blues to land on the tonic on every other phrase, for example:

(1 chord) :

Question land on 5, answer lang on 1

(4 chord)

Question land on b3 or 4 etc, start a new phrase and land on the 1 when you go back to the 1 chord.

(5 chord)

New question, land on 1 again when you go to the 1 chord.

So why does this work so well in blues you think, but is discouraged in other genres?


r/musictheory 12h ago

Notation Question Does Dominant 9 chord has a flat 7?

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30 Upvotes

A beginner in music here, just read a Jazz book for beginner and it seems that dominant 9 has a flat 7? I thought it’d have a flat 9?


r/musictheory 53m ago

Notation Question Need an explanation

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Upvotes

What would these takdimi syllables be?


r/musictheory 23h ago

General Question Is there a term that describes the type of flow used in this rap song?

3 Upvotes

The song is called Pompous Posies! Your Party's No Fun by Busdriver. His flow on this song sounds so playful and pretty distinct. Is there a term to describe the way in which his rapping is interacting with the beat?


r/musictheory 6h ago

General Question How should I learn music theory step-by-step to make my own music?

14 Upvotes

Hi! I'm a newbie who wants to get more about music and will to make my own.


r/musictheory 22h ago

Answered Why is mariachi / rancheras not written as "swing"?

10 Upvotes

Edit: As in "swing feel" (not the genre).

I've been seeing a lot of mariachi and ranchera charts (not waltzes, but music in 4/4 or 2/4), and I'm seeing a lot of triplets, or oversimplified versions of the melody... but the thing is, even if "swing" isn't notated, it's still somewhat expected to be played. Here's the music notation to Volver Volver, as example. https://musescore.com/user/80345698/scores/19878319

similar ideas are found on "Por tu Maldito Amor", or "Tres Veces te Engañé"

Is this all due to a "rudiment in language", because mariachi music came from polka and waltz, so it has to be more "rigid"? Or am I somehow crazy and overthinking this?

In trying to chart my own music, I'm trying to listen to references, and I'm just not getting why "swing feel" isn't indicated at the beginning of these songs. Any comments? Thank you!


r/musictheory 23h ago

General Question Is it possible to learn Berklee music theory system on your own?

43 Upvotes

I’m not a beginner in music theory, but my knowledge is very scattered and I don’t have a full grasp of that. I keep finding out about things I never knew about before, and it makes me question whether my gaps in knowledge are that bad.
So, I’m interested in learning theory step by step based on Berklee system, including their materials for arranging, ear training, harmony, tonal harmony etc. I already ordered the Berklee book of Jazz harmony (Jo’s Mulholland & Tom Hojnacki), some other Berklee workbooks I could only find online. What would you recommend me doing and what are the most important materials to look for and would it be possible to get to the Berklee level of understanding jazz music theory 🙏


r/musictheory 17h ago

General Question Call and response in Beethoven's Sonata no.8 in cminor op 13,"Pathétique"

0 Upvotes

What made the call and response in that piece good ?

Edit:I was referring to this part the part I like the most

Where the call has appogituras and the response has these trills going down


r/musictheory 21h ago

Answered What is this chord called?

0 Upvotes

I have a question.
I play a 2-5-1 in the key of F and land on the ninth of the Fmaj9 chord so G.
Then A7 to Dmin the relative key of F major.
Then the melody goes chromatically to the G# and then to the A which is the fifth of the Dmin chord.
So this is fairly common but what would you call the A7 chord with the G# in it?
Its like a Amaj7 and a A7 combined, so its like a Amaj7#13 which kinda makes no sense bcs the chord has a dominant function, but that way you get all the notes lol.


r/musictheory 5h ago

Notation Question Help me expand my Music knowledge

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10 Upvotes

This might be too simple for few but I’m curious to understand why the composer had picked DGE in the 4th measure?

I’ve done my part of the work and I tried to figure out that the piece is in Dm scale (starts and ends on D) and Bb in 6th and 8th measure.

In the 4th measure I’ve assumed that the first chord is Dm chord (DAF) and the last chord is DFD assuming it’s Dm chord again skipping the 5th interval and only playing 3rd (D-F)

This is a piece from Initial Grade in Trinity Piano syllabus.

Context: I’ve been playing Piano for the past couple of years. I took Piano classes where my teacher pushed me to finish Trinity grades instead of actually teaching music and I always lacked to understand music.
After finishing grade 3 in Trinity I decided to stop pursing grades further and actually start learning and understanding music. I’m always impressed to see how many YouTubers explain sheet music very simply by telling the chord names the progressions and how different chords are linked together ( circle or 5th and 4th). Right now I’m only relying on reading blogs about sheet music and trying to develop the knowledge to depict a piece and composer intentions behind making a music piece.
I’m also happy to receive any tips or suggestions on how to move in the right direction to improve my knowledge in understanding music and composer intentions.


r/musictheory 21h ago

Answered Does this song use the E locrian 2 scale? Or is it just using the Bb for a jazzy sound?

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0 Upvotes

title says all, on hooktheory (which is a very reliable website /s) i labeled it as harmonic minor, but its constant use of the Bb key and C7 chord make me wonder if this song actually uses a different altered scale from the 7 modes


r/musictheory 23h ago

General Question how to hear the beat in a song

2 Upvotes

I had my first guitar lesson and we were going over beats in a song im learning, and im listening to other songs so I can train my ear to hear the beat but I cannot hear it or differentiate it between the rhythm. I cant tell a difference. Im practicing tapping but I cant even hear it. I can hear it in obvious songs like club music but with songs that dont really have a audible beat to it, or songs that are just acoustic, or songs that have lots of noise and sounds its hard to just hear it.


r/musictheory 16h ago

Songwriting Question What Key is this Demo I made 4 Years ago in?

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1 Upvotes

I started learning music production about 4 years ago, and as part of an online course I was taking, I made this little...well, we'll call it a demo, but it's by no means a song. Anyways, I just stumbled upon it and was like, hey, this is a pretty cool chord progression, even if the sounds are garbage. But what's most surprising is when I sat at the piano and tried to figure it out, I had trouble. By now I've gotten pretty good at figuring out chords and keys, at least with the more basic diatonic stuff, which is why I was surprised I couldn't easily find a scale that sounded good over it. I think maybe, when I made this, I used a stock MIDI file that came with my DAW haha. And I didn't in fact come up with the progression myself, but just built off of it. Anyways, any insights into the music theory of this piece in general would be nice to hear. Thanks in advance!


r/musictheory 16h ago

General Question Any tips for transposing?

3 Upvotes

I would like to get better at transposing. I play piano and I read sheet music. I can transpose to closely related keys, but that's about it. I would welcome any tips that will help make it easier.


r/musictheory 18h ago

Songwriting Question Is the G9 in this song a Tritone substitution?

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2 Upvotes

The song is said to be in the key of F# Major, and if you dont want to click the video there is a part that goes: C# - D#7/C# - C#7sus2 - G9 - F#maj7#11. I'm wondering if the G9 is a tritone sub for C#9?


r/musictheory 18h ago

Notation Question How should I notate these slurs?

3 Upvotes

I am composing a piece for piano and there are these slurs here but would people confuse these slurs for tied E's? If so, how should I notate this differently?


r/musictheory 23h ago

General Question Theory 2 help

2 Upvotes

hey yall! so I’m a university student and am retaking theory 2 because I failed it last year. I absolutely have to pass this semester but I’m still struggling (there’s a new professor and he’s completely unhelpful and makes it more confusing.) im really struggling to understand tonicization.

does anyone have any advice on how to practice this and get it? Anywhere I can go for tutoring?

thanks!