Q. I want to learn more about chord structure works, how scales work, how most songs are written/ song composition and things like that because I want to have a better ability to make and write music. I'm a novice when it comes to guitar as I have only been playing for a year. Any other suggestions on things I should learn or what order or something I should learn things in would be much appreciated as well!
A. Hey there, my name's Garrett. I'm glad you're looking into ways to educate yourself in the technicalities of music theory in approaching writing songs! Many people take off without learning some basic fundamentals and hit walls because they are not able to completely understand what they are playing.
Probably the best way to understand music composition is obviously professional instruction. But because many people do not have the time, means, or financial capability to do that, I'll run through some other alternatives.
Honestly, some of the best free sources of music theory come from people uploading things on YouTube. Just run a search for "beginning music theory guitar" or something like that.
If you have a few dollars to spend, go into any guitar center or bookstore and look for orchestration or composition books. Even though these books may be geared towards different instruments, that is ok. Music theory is music theory. The first few chapters will always be about how music is arranged and how chord structure works. It doesn't change instrument to instrument, and it will still give you a solid foundation for applying anything to the guitar.
Personally I would recommend learning theory first by looking at the piano instead of the guitar. This may seem foreign and weird at first, but let me explain. Piano is unique in that there is a visual for every note that is played (in other words, there is a single key for a single note). And these notes are lined up lowest to highest, from left to right. Guitar doesn't offer that. You can play a note on the low E string that is higher than the open D string, and you can play the same note in a multitude of different places on the guitar. Piano is not like this. Piano is very straightforward. You literally are able to see the intervals.
Here's a crash course to solidify what I am saying. I will get to how this applies to writing songs on guitar, promise!
A major scale is composed of these intervals - whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
Whole meaning a whole step. This means that you move two keys on the piano (including black keys) for every note you move up. A half step means you only move up one key.
A C major scale is the simplest, so I'll use this one as an example. Start on C, then whole step (skipping the black key) to D, then another whole step to E, then half to F, and so on, following the whole-half structure I indicated above.
If you do this right, you notice that you didn't hit any black keys and the scale sounds happy and familiar. This is why C is the easiest. There are no sharps and no flats. If you start on the note D and play a D major scale, following the whole-half structure, you'll notice that you will hit F# and C#. This is where sharps and flats come from.
Now lets see how this applies to creating a song, and chord structure. Lets start at C again. Play a C chord, then an F chord, then a G cord, and an A minor chord. These all sound good together, right? That is because all of these chords are in the same key; the key of C. The C chord is the I chord, the F chord is the IV chord, the G chord is the V chord and the A minor is the VI minor chord. If we go back to our scale, you'll notice C is the first note you hit in the whole-half pattern, F is the 4th, G is the 5th, and A is the 6th. You can mix these chords up any way you want and they will sound good. Thousands and thousands of songs have been written based on these chords alone. For now it is not important to understand why the first three chords are major and the 6 chord is minor, but you will get to that if you decide to pursue your musical training.
If you want to play in a key other than C, you look at the same pattern, just with different notes. For example, the I chord in the key of D is D. The IV chord is G, the V is A, and the VI is B minor. These are the same intervals as the chords in the key of C, just played in the key of D.
Of course you are not only limited to the I, IV, V, and VI chords in making a song. You don't even have to play chords. The great thing about music is that it is always up to the artist's choice. Chords are just a good place to start. As you learn more, you will learn the other chords that can be played in a specific key to sound good and how to add "accidental" notes and move in and out of keys, use passing chords, etc etc.
But start with knowing chord structure and what chords will sound good together and why. Then you can find intervals and grooves you like, put some lead guitar on top of the chords, or incorporate whatever you feel is best.
I know I practically just wrote a novel, and I'm sorry for that. But I really love this stuff and I like showing it to people too. I hope some of that made sense. Read up and you'll understand this stuff in no time!
What instrument is better piano or guitar?
Q. i aldready play the violin so i want an instrument that will benefit me, and help me improve in my technique. I also want to know what is relatively easier to learn. Please tell me why you think the instrument you chose is better.
A. No instrument is better than one another. They will both require years of practicing and both can sound amazing and very nice if played correctly and well. As for improving your technique on the violin, guitar would be best since you are practicing strumming the strings and doing Pizzicato a lot, which is also commonly done on the violin, but not as much. If you are really passionate about the violin, guitar would be the most beneficial to you. However, if you want a change in instruments and want to play something different than the guitar that can still play the same basic things as piano like rock music and pop music, including classical music which can also be done on the guitar, piano would be a good idea. Since you already have a basis for classical music on the violin, you may find guitar a wiser decision because you will be exposed to a lot of interesting types of music and have a variety of music to play. However, piano would be a good choice if you are truly passionate about playing classical music like on the violin. Piano is easier to learn at first as far as where the notes are located because there are thousands of chord combinations on the guitar and the notes aren't laid out for you on a guitar like on a piano, but once you know where the notes are located on the guitar, guitar gets easier and you can play songs with chords very easily. Piano involves a lot more simultaneous playing and thinking than the guitar for most songs and pieces. Whichever instrument you choose to learn, good luck learning it!
Maxwell
How to learn and play piano (keyboard)?
Q. I have been in choir for three years through middle and high school and I can sightread at an intermediate level. I have had a keyboard for a few years and I would like to learn how to play. However, I'm not sure what notes are what (if that makes any sense) and that's really what I think I need to learn. I would like to eventually play and sing some songs together. Any ideas? Websites, books, etc.?
A. I'm 56 now, but I can still remember pulling myself up at the age of 2 and touching my first piano keys. Knowing even then that I wanted to learn how to play that "thing" one day. A rough life prevented me from ever getting near a piano again, but I did manage to teach myself some guitar over the years. In the 80's I managed to take two semesters of piano at a community college. But they only focused on music theory with little to no time actually playing a piano. I didn't remember a thing and still can't read sheet music without a major struggle.
Last year I got a good ebay deal ($35) on a new Casio CTK-5000 keyboard, thinking, "Now, at last, I will learn how to play." I got frustrated soon and set it aside, with only having myself to teach myself, as has been my whole life. (Disabled, can't afford lessons. Buying that keyboard was even a stretch.) Last week I picked it up again and thought, maybe there's a better way. So I just tinkered around on it, picking out tunes by ear, entertaining myself with all that these new keyboards can do. Then I stumbled on two short e-books I found online in some binary newsgroups. "How to Play Popular Piano In 10 Easy Lessons" by Norman Monath, and "Play Piano in a Flash" by Scott Houston. I read the second one because I had seen him do a pledge-drive show on PBS, and lights went off. All the chords were just simple repeating geometric patterns! A thousand times easier than learning all those complex guitar chords. Then I read about half of the first one "Popular Piano In 10 Easy Lessons" and it explained the patterns to all the chords that the "Piano in a Flash" book didn't cover.
That was 2 days ago. Last night I thought I'd put what I had read to a test. I got out one of my guitar cheat-sheets (I've played guitar by ear for ages). My cheat-sheets are just chord names and words, no notes, no other notation. From that alone and what I learned from those two small books I was able to play "Vincent - Starry, Starry Night" by Don McLean on a keyboard from start to finish. Not fast, not without mistakes, but recognizable, and it still sounded really nice even when played that slow my first time. Here it is over half a century later since first wanting to play piano/keyboard and it only took TWO DAYS to figure out how to play one! If only someone would have told me so long ago what I just learned in only two days.
Get those two small books, read them.
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