A little bit about how I teach music theory

Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician and philosopher was the first to wonder whether music contained mathematical relationships. He discovered that scales were actually based on numerical series. By medieval times it was commonly accepted that each planet played a part in a divine symphony called the "music of the spheres." Although the astronomical aspect proved to be untrue the study of music theory is nevertheless still based on physics and mathematics, and its application is both an art and a science.
I took piano lessons for ten years without a clue as to how music actually worked, so at age fifteen I started studying music theory. I learned counterpoint, four-part harmony, and composition, and started writing my own material when I was seventeen.
I majored in Music Ed. at San Francisco State with a concentration in Jazz Piano. I played Duke Ellington and Count Basie standards in the 17-piece jazz band there and I know both counterpoint and classical theory a.s well as jazz theory and terminology. Whether your goal is to improvise, to compose, or simply play sheet music, knowledge of music theory will helps you. .
From the harmonic gymnastics of Debussy to a basic blues riff, great music theory can be as candid or as nuanced as human emotion itself. The musicians who continue to play music their whole lives are usually those who understand music theory and can improvisIe. |

Children are actually better at identifying intervals and chords because they are more in touch with the emotional reaction to what they hear. It's never too early to learn theory and personally I only regret that I didn't start studying sooner. Before learning theory I learned pages of individual notes. It was obvious that there were underlying patterns to them but I needed training to pick them up. Not only did learning theory allow me to play sheet music more easily, but I became able to improvise and to talk about music theory with people of all different musical backgrounds.
Understanding theory, I began to appreciate music as a complete whole.

Bach Prelude in C Minor
To the left, Bach's Prelude in C Major is built on a on a typical chord progression from the classical period. The notes of each chord are played in a pattern, a "motif" that you can see changing measure to measure. The chords are notated in the classical style in Roman numerals. Although there are thousands of motifs and chord progressions they all follow basic rules that are fairly easy to learn
To the right, the title track from the film Round Midnight. It morphs through key changes using "pivot chords." The classical notation used above can't describe the entire complexity of the jazz harmonies, so the piece is written using the notation for the six jazz chords.
The jazz score consists only of the melody and accompanying chords (which are improvised). These might seem like very different forms of music, but they both rely on the circle of fifths. |
Bach would have no difficulty understanding the mechanics of jazz, and Theolonius Monk found inspiration listening to the romantic composer Debussy. On the left, the circle of fifths forms the basis for all harmony. The different key signatures, used in classical music, jazz, and everything else in between, are shown with their relative minor keys. Chords are simply constructions of three or more notes, picked from the different scales or "modes."
The modes that are used to play solos and to describe the melody by the jazz, gospel, and rock musicians of today were actually first formally identified by the Catholic Church in 1582 under Pope Gregory I (hence the music known as Gregorian Chant). In short, the history of music theory is part of human history as a whole. |