Music theory- a very crucial part of playing guitar passed a beginning level. Ever wonder how guitar players like Kirk Hammett, Randy Rhaods, Michael Angelo, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Alexi Laiho, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Dimebag Darrell, etc play such kickass solos and leads?

Well, it's most likely that they understand the concept of theory.

This thread will be about theory- from fairly simple to pretty complex.

Try NOT to learn it all at once, because it is a process that takes an immense amount of time. But, in the long run, you'll be glad that you learned it.

and another thing- music theory is all based on notes, something that almost all instruments (with an exception to percussion instruments) have in common meaning that it can be very beneficial to your playing if you play more than one instrument.

But even knowing theory can help you out with percussion and being able to understand beats, note rhythms, and tempo.

So good luck, read on, and hopefully you will have learned something!

First off- I will explain things based on the major scale, then perhaps later I will move onto exotic, symmetrical, and complex scales.

This is a list on how many sharps or flats are in each major key:
1 sharp: G
2 sharps: D
3 sharps: A
4 sharps: E
5 sharps: B
6 sharps: F#
1 flat: F
2 flats: Bb
3 flats: Eb
4 flats: Ab
5 flats: Db
6 flats: Gb

Relative minor is important to know, especially in metal. Relative minor is the 6th note in the major scale.
For example:

C D E F G A B C

A is the 6th note in C major, which makes it the relative minor.

Also, there are modes.

Modes are basically segments of the major scale, basically what determines a mode is what note you start on and what note you finish on.

so if you are playing: D E F G A B C D

You are playing in D Dorian

if you are playing: E F G A B C D E

You are playing in E Phrygian

This pattern continues. The mode names (in order): Ionian(aka major scale), Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.


For some of you people that already know that, you might know degrees, if not, then read on.

Ionian - degree is I
Dorian - degree is ii
Phrygian - degree is iii
Lydian - degree is IV
Mixolydian - degree is V
Aeolian - degree is vi
Locrian - degree is vii˚

You may notice that I, IV, V are capitalized. This is because the modes are major.
The other 3 modes are minor.
Locrian is diminished.( I have no clue why.. perhaps someone can fill me in)


If you are caught up with all of this.. perhaps we can talk about minor #7 chords, 6th chords, 9th chords, suspended chords, augmented chords( ), diminished chords, etc..

Formula for major scale (which you should remember):

Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half..


example: C D E F G A B C

or.. Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab

C to D is a whole step
D to E is a whole step
E to F is a half step
F to G is a whole step
G to A is a whole step
A to B is a whole step
B to C is a half step

there's also the circle of fifths, but that would just confuse the hell out of... probably all you

Chords:

A chord, i hope most of you know, is a combination of 2 or more notes played together.

Forming chords is about as easy as adding 2 and 2.

Lets use.. a Csus4add13

You might ask, how the fuck would i play that?

There are many ways to play it actually.. the problem is finding the notes..

since the root (i would hope you know what the root is) is a C chord, we will use the C major scale.

the C major scale is: C D E F G A B C

a formula for a suspended chord is 1,4,5

add13 means adding the 13th note in the scale...

you would think, wait a minute.. there's only 8 notes there..

What you do is: make it 2 octaves: C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C

Count up and the 13th note is an A

(but wait a minute.. A is also the 6th of C.)

That's true, but the reason why it's an add13 and not 6th is because if you add A to that Csus4 chord, making the notes: C F G (A)

(If you were to play a Cmaj6 chord then it would be: C E G A)


maybe next i'll go into applying modes to chords?

Somebody plays this chord example:

Am, Em, Dm, C

and you want to solo over it.. but how?

Pretty simple, considering the notes are all in one key- A minor(or C major)

The mode for A minor is also A aeolian (A B C D E F G A)

So soloing over that is pretty simple if you know the A aeolian mode. You just have to play the notes in A aeolian and try to match the notes in the chords with what you play.

But soloing is also adding more harmonics to the chord progression.

If you are into jazz, you would know that instead of playing only the notes in the Am chord (A C E) then only the notes in the Em chord(E G B), you can use other notes as well to create a unique sound.

Lets say the Am chord is played, you can play a G note.. this will create a 6th harmonic. Then the Em chord is played, try using a D note.. this will create a flatted 7th harmonic.

It is important to know that each chord itself creates it's whole scale, so the possibilities of soloing over them are endless. It takes practice to nail of insane solos, so take your time.

Next, I'll probably discuss key changes within chord progressions.

First off, I should explain how key changes within progressions work.

Say I'm playin the chords: Am Dm Bm Em

But wait.. Bm isn't in A minor.. so how does that work out!?

B minor is called a borrowed chord (a chord in another key)

But then you may ask, what key would that chord be in!???

Well, you can play it in any key where Bm would be present..

It would just depend on what kind of tone you are looking for..


But say I'm playing: Am D Em Dm

D isn't in A minor, so it is also a borrowed chord..

Let's try to figure out what key the D major chord is in:

We'll use the principle chords for C major(I, IV, V chords):
C F G

now we'll break down the chords in F and G major:

F . G . A . Bb . C . D . E . F
A . Bb . C . D . E . F . G . A
C . D . E . F . G . A . Bb . C

G . A . B . C . D . E . F# . G
B . C . D . E . F# . G . A . B
D . E . F# . G . A . B . C . D

D is present in both F and G major.. but since D is a principle chord in G major, it is considered borrowed from the G major scale..

Degree wise, it is a IV/V

or a 4th of a 5th.

Now... To apply this:

It's simple, the same way you play in one key, you play in two keys- play the notes of the chords, use harmonics, etc..


Next, I'll talk about complex chord progressions with key changes.

Thank you for making a new thread just for it. Also add a small introductory about theory so that people that don't know what it is can understand it better. If this thread progresses nicely and gets positive feedback then ill either merge it with the scale thread or just make it its own sticky. But if it goes no where and no one seems to be reading it, ill just close it. And don't think you are mocking me when you say "on topic". Its what the rules say which keeps things in order and in line.

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Locrien is dimenished because of the flatted fifth, like a dimineshed chord.

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Complex chord progressions and key changes:

Let's try playing an A minor based chord progression.

So here: Am Bdim C7 Dm/F#

C7 = C dominant 7th chord

Degrees are 1,3,5,b7

Dm/F# is an D minor chord with an F# bass (I think thats how it goes.. not sure)


A minor and B diminished chords are good.. but C7..

there's a problem there- There's no Bb in A minor

and with Dm/F# - There's no F# in A minor either

Again- these chords are borrowed chords, even though the root note are in A minor, the other notes change what key the chord is in.

I'm not going to figure out what key the chords are actually from, because I'm assuming you can figure it out. But the most important thing is applying leads/harmonics to these chords. How do you do it?

Well, the reason why chords like C7 and Dm/F# are used is to "flavor" the chord progression. So if you are playing chords like that, you would want to accent the b7 and the F# bass by playing those notes (not necessarily in the same place) when you go to think up of leads/solos.

I'll probably explain harmonics(not artificial/natural/harp harmonics) next.

Personally, I would rather not have you integrate this thread with your Scales and sweeps thread.

For one reason- theory in itself is a very crucial part of music and requires no ability at all to perform to be able to understand theory. Sweeps are an advanced skill and require a high performance level to be able to pull them off. They are 2 different subjects when it comes to the guitar.


I'm thinking that you want to mix the threads together because they both pertain to "scales"

Yes, scales are apart of theory- but theory is not only apart of scales, so I would rather not have you mix them..

Well really because I didn't want to clutter the forum with anymore stickys.

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If you excuse me for being a little contradictive, I would like to say that I think it would be good if this thread was kept clear of non-Kjeldgor-replies, just to make sure no-one goes in and confuses every one. So, if someone posts a reply (like damonta did), I think that Kjeldgor should edit the reply in which the information belongs, tell the other "replyer" that the post is edited, and the other "replyer" should delete his reply. So we won't have lots of info popping up again and again, and so we won't have incorrect info...

And about the sticky stuff, I'd like to see this one made sticky, but not merged with the scale thread, because both are (or are likely to become) quite big threads, and merging them might make a mess of things. If the number of stickies is too high, I think you might want to consider merging "why we have gear talk" and "stay on topic".

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Actually, before I jump into harmonics, I will explain Intervals.

An interval is the difference in pitch between any two notes measured in whole and half-steps. The lower tone is considered the Root(or tonic) and the upper tone is considered the interval.

When two tones of difference pitch are played in succession(note followed after note), it is called Melodic Interval.

When two tones are played together, it is called a Harmonic Interval.

Intervals are identified by their position in the eight-note Diatonic(Major) scale.
They are named according to their distance from the tonic note.

We will use C major as an example for understand intervals:

C D E F G A B C

C will be the tonic note.
So if we play C then D, D is the second interval
E is the third interval
The distance between C and the 4th note is F- the 4th interval
So on so forth..
The last interval is called the octave- the eighth note of the scale- it is the same note, different pitches.
and playing 2 of the same note is called Prime or Unison (unison bends..)

Now we have many different forms of intervals. We will identify them now:

Perfect Intervals:

When an interval is the Prime, Fourth, Fifth, or Octave and they are of the same scale( some intervals will NOT be in the scale.. I will explain this probably next post), then they are called Perfect Intervals.

Major Intervals:

Major intervals are the second, third, sixth, and seventh. Major intervals are formed in the major scale when the lower note is the tonic.

Minor Intervals:

When notes of a major interval are brought closer together, we have a minor interval. This may be accomplished by lowering the upper tone a half-step, or raising the lower tone a half-step. ( An example would be the degrees for a minor chord- 1,3,5 is the major chord, the third is the major interval, so lowering the 3rd a half step creates a minor chord- degrees being 1, b3, 5)

Next, I'll explain more on intervals. Then perhaps harmonics. Sorry for the delay, but intervals are essential in learning how to solo and play in harmonics.

You are funny Darko. Obviously you don't understand what I mean by harmonics

Here's a brief summary on harmonic soloing:

Lets say I'm playing this:

e-12--14--15--14-12~---------------
B-----------------------------------------

and another guitarist is playing this:

e---------------------------------
B-13--15--17--15-13~-------

What I am playing are 3rd harmonics..

or..

say im playing:
A-----------------------------
E-5-7-8-10-8-7~----------

and another guitarrist is playing:
A-7-9-10-12-10-9~--------
E------------------------------

The other guitarrist is playing 5th harmonics..

This is just two easy examples of harmonics- they get more complex than that and if you are into jazz, you'll see many different harmonics present.

But intervals is a must to know before learning how to solo in harmonics. These are just examples of playing a single-key. Harmonics can be completely out of key if it's really necessary.

Another form( I guess) of harmonics would be composition(I think that's the word..not sure)..

Maybe someone else could help me out. This is a style that's present in a lot of classical music. What composition playing does is it takes certain phrases and ideas and builds upon them. One phrase can be an ascending riff, but I can be playing a descending riff and together, it will sound good.

Composition is also present in jazz improvisation (I think).

i knwo you said you did not want this cluttered up but can you explain why they are 3rd and 5th harmonics? ( sorry if i should know this but i dont know shit about theory so thanx for all the info you have been putting in here!)

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That's a good question and the reason why I posted information about intervals before harmonics was so you could get an understanding of the pitch spacing between two notes...


Today I've went through my notes on intervals and here's a quick reference on what is what:


Based on half-step incriments:
Minor Second - 1 (Augmented Prime)
Major Second - 2
Minor Third - 3 (Augmented Second)
Major Third - 4 (Diminished Fourth)
Perfect Fourth - 5 (Augmented Third)
Tritone -6 (Augmented Fourth, Diminished Fifth)
Perfect Fifth - 7
Minor Sixth - 8 (Augmented Fifth)
Major Sixth - 9
Minor Seventh - 10 (Augmented Sixth)
Major Seventh - 11 (Diminished Octave)
Octave - 12 (Augmented Seventh)

I will explain what the Augmented and Diminished mean:

The Diminished interval is obtained by bringing a perfect interval or a minor interval one half-step closer.

When the interval between two tones is expanded, the interval is called augmented. This applies to both the major and the perfect intervals.

The Tritone Interval:
The Interval between the fourth and fifth is called the tritone. Because of the "enharmonic (which i will get to someday)" spelling, the triptone interval may be called either an augmented fourth or a diminished fifth.

How to Determine an interval:

When a major interval is lowered a half-step, it becomes a "minor" interval.
When a minor interval is raised by a half-step, it becomes a "major" interval.
When a major interval is raised by a half-step, it becomes an "augmented" interval.
When a minor interval is lowered by a half-step, it becomes a "diminished" interval.
When a perfect interval is raised by a half-step, it becomes an "augmented" interval.

So, answering your question, 3rd harmonics are when the notes are spaced either 3 or 4 half-steps away from eachother.

In the first note of the first example, notice that the root note(lower tone) is a C and the interval note is an E

C C# D D# E <-- This means that they are a major third interval because it takes 4 half-steps to go from C to E.

For fifth harmonics:
The first note in the second example, the tonic note is an A, and the interval note is an E

A A# B C C# D D# E <-- There are 7 half-steps to get from A to E, and looking at the reference(above), it says that it is a perfect fifth interval.

I'll probably go more in depth with composition soloing next and/or more harmonics.

the locrian mode is not diminished, is HALF diminished, or flat 7th flat 5th (-7b5)

is half dim 'cause has:

tonic
minor 3rd
dim 5th
minor 7th

diminished is:

tonic
minor 3rd
dim 5th
dim 7th (is a 6th major, but is called dim 7th just for the name)

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harmonies, dude, not harmonics.

harmonies are playing several notes at the same time, which is what is being discussed.

harmonics you get when you fret an open E string and tap the strings above the 12th fret, or 7th fret and so on. its a note above the natural note.

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