So, Music Theory, the baseline and core for song writing. Even just a basic knowledge of musical components and terminology, chords and keys, can get you very far, so here, in this post, I am going to be talking about some of the fundamentals of Music.
Dynamics - Dynamics are sometimes overlooked, it is the volume control over music, now I'm going to throw a few words and terms around here, crescendo, diminuendo, ff, mp... No I am not talking gibberish of a suburban branch of Greek-Latin. Allow me to Explain.
Crescendo - Imagine having a song on, but it is quiet, so you slowly turn it up, that, is a crescendo, controlling the volume of a piece to be louder, this can be over the course of an entire piece, a few measures, or even just a few notes.
Diminuendo - A diminuendo is essentially the OPPOSITE of a crescendo, it turns the volume of a piece down, again the same rules apply as they did to Crescendo, only the volume is decreased rather than increased.
But what about those strange letters? Those are also very important, They are used to control the volume immediately - not gradually like Crescendo's and Diminuendo's. They go in a scale of quiet to loud.
QUIET
p - piano - quiet
mp - Mezzo Piano - moderately quiet
pp - very quiet
LOUD
f - forte - loud
mf - Mezzo forte - moderately loud
ff - fortissimo - very loud
Note Duration -
Notes, the thing that makes music... well, music. Music is comprised of notes, ant their length variation provides atmosphere and can change the way a piece is played. Here are the names of the diiferent note lengths and how many of said note lengths fit into one bar (4 beats)
Semibreves - One
Minims - Two
Crotchets - Four
Quavers - Eight
Semi Quavers - Sixteen
Demisemi Quavers - Thirty-Two*
Note - Smaller notes last for a shorter duration of time, so A Semibreve's sound last's for 4/4 beats, whereas a Demisemi Quaver's* sound, would last 0.125/4 beats*. Varying note duration can add a lot to a piece, so use it wisely.
Rests - Similar to notes, rests vary in length too, form a whole 4/4 beats to just 0.125/4 beats*. They also have the same names as their note counterparts.
Keys - Keys, Keys, Keys... A Key is a family of notes, such as the most common key - C (C, D, E, F, G, A , B, C).
Keys are split, into Two categories - Major and Minor. Major Keys, tend to sound more, happy and bright, whereas Minor keys tend to sound more dark or sad. Keys are important to know and understand as what key a piece is played in dramatically affects the sound. here are Twenty Four keys in music - Twelve Minor and Twelve Major. Basically - Each Major key/note has a Minor Counterpart. Keys go in scales - and is the first thing you will learn when you play an instrument - Think of Do-Re-Mi. That is a tune in the key of C. You usually play a scale up and back down again, such as - C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C an octave above, B, A, G, F, E, D and back to that lower C. That pattern is the scale of C. From the lowest not in that scale C to the highest not in that scale; the C above that, is an octave.
Hope Part One of My Music Theory Lesson Helped, Happy Composing :)
(P.S, If some information is inaccurate, please state, I am only 13 and am using what I have learned over the past three years of music and piano lessons to help others in any way I can.)
* = Uncommon/Rarely Used
Dynamics - Dynamics are sometimes overlooked, it is the volume control over music, now I'm going to throw a few words and terms around here, crescendo, diminuendo, ff, mp... No I am not talking gibberish of a suburban branch of Greek-Latin. Allow me to Explain.
Crescendo - Imagine having a song on, but it is quiet, so you slowly turn it up, that, is a crescendo, controlling the volume of a piece to be louder, this can be over the course of an entire piece, a few measures, or even just a few notes.
Diminuendo - A diminuendo is essentially the OPPOSITE of a crescendo, it turns the volume of a piece down, again the same rules apply as they did to Crescendo, only the volume is decreased rather than increased.
But what about those strange letters? Those are also very important, They are used to control the volume immediately - not gradually like Crescendo's and Diminuendo's. They go in a scale of quiet to loud.
QUIET
p - piano - quiet
mp - Mezzo Piano - moderately quiet
pp - very quiet
LOUD
f - forte - loud
mf - Mezzo forte - moderately loud
ff - fortissimo - very loud
Note Duration -
Notes, the thing that makes music... well, music. Music is comprised of notes, ant their length variation provides atmosphere and can change the way a piece is played. Here are the names of the diiferent note lengths and how many of said note lengths fit into one bar (4 beats)
Semibreves - One
Minims - Two
Crotchets - Four
Quavers - Eight
Semi Quavers - Sixteen
Demisemi Quavers - Thirty-Two*
Note - Smaller notes last for a shorter duration of time, so A Semibreve's sound last's for 4/4 beats, whereas a Demisemi Quaver's* sound, would last 0.125/4 beats*. Varying note duration can add a lot to a piece, so use it wisely.
Rests - Similar to notes, rests vary in length too, form a whole 4/4 beats to just 0.125/4 beats*. They also have the same names as their note counterparts.
Keys - Keys, Keys, Keys... A Key is a family of notes, such as the most common key - C (C, D, E, F, G, A , B, C).
Keys are split, into Two categories - Major and Minor. Major Keys, tend to sound more, happy and bright, whereas Minor keys tend to sound more dark or sad. Keys are important to know and understand as what key a piece is played in dramatically affects the sound. here are Twenty Four keys in music - Twelve Minor and Twelve Major. Basically - Each Major key/note has a Minor Counterpart. Keys go in scales - and is the first thing you will learn when you play an instrument - Think of Do-Re-Mi. That is a tune in the key of C. You usually play a scale up and back down again, such as - C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C an octave above, B, A, G, F, E, D and back to that lower C. That pattern is the scale of C. From the lowest not in that scale C to the highest not in that scale; the C above that, is an octave.
Hope Part One of My Music Theory Lesson Helped, Happy Composing :)
(P.S, If some information is inaccurate, please state, I am only 13 and am using what I have learned over the past three years of music and piano lessons to help others in any way I can.)
* = Uncommon/Rarely Used
