Victor Gann's "Beginning Theory" Lesson

From looking at the site there are some great shred lessons. I believe to get a better understanding of this and open up some doors we should shed some light on theory.

The ruling body of music theory is the major scale. The notes of the major scale in the key of “C” are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C (octave). Notice that in this key there are no sharps and no flats. There is also a formula in place. From the root note (in this case C) go up a whole step (2 frets), whole step, half step (1 fret), whole, whole, whole, half. This formula works for all keys. For example let’s look at the key of A Major. A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A.

An interval is the distance between two tones. For this example we will use the key of “C”. Also note that when the letter is by itself it is understood that we are referring to the major key. If anything is different from major it will always be designated. From the root note (C) to the second note (D) is the second interval. So if we go from (C) to (G) that would be an interval jump of a fifth.

We will now move to chord construction. All intervals will be relating to the major scale. Our intervals in the major scale are: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8va(octave). Our basic major and minor chords are made from triads (a group of three notes).

All examples in the key of “C”

Major Chord is built from the: 1 (C), 3(E), 5(G)
Minor Chord = 1 (C), b3 (flatted 3rd, D#), 5(G)

The only change between major and minor is to flatten the 3rd interval.

Think of modes as a flavor of the major scale. All modes contain the same notes as the major scale, just in a different order. Since there are seven notes in the major scale this means that there are seven modes.

The above formula is again true for all keys. Place in scale refers to the intervallic relationship that note has to the root of the key. Notice that the VI (A) in the key of “C” has a minor tonality to the root. The VI of any major key is referred to as the Relative Minor. What this means is that Am (m = minor) contains all the same notes as C, but again in a different order. Am is written as: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A. To take this a step further this means that we can play Am all day long over a progression written in C. When doing this we are playing the Aeolian mode.

This lesson is only designed to give you a brief understanding of how the major scale rules music. Feel free to contact me with any questions!

 Essential Victor Gann links:

www.victorgann.com

www.myspace.com/victorgannmusic

... and don't forget to buy "Victor Gann"!

-- Dave B.