Music Theory for Beginners - Lesson 1 - Learn the Steps of Major Scale on Piano
Summary
TLDRIn this DIY music theory video, the host introduces the basics of music theory, emphasizing its importance for piano players. Key concepts covered include whole steps and half steps, which are the smallest and largest movements on a piano keyboard, respectively. The video also explains sharps and flats, which adjust a note by a half step. A major scale construction formula is introduced: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half steps. The host promises to connect this theory with practical piano playing and encourages viewers to subscribe for more lessons on music theory and piano.
Takeaways
- đŒ **Music Theory's Role**: Music theory is essential for understanding how music is constructed and for playing piano effectively.
- đ **Understanding Distance and Movement**: Key aspects of music theory include the distance between notes and how they move in relation to each other.
- đč **Whole Steps and Half Steps**: A half step is the smallest movement on a piano keyboard, while a whole step is equivalent to two half steps.
- đ **Ascending vs. Descending**: When moving a half step up, you may hit a black key, but when moving down, you typically hit a white key due to the keyboard's layout.
- đ” **Constructing Major Scales**: Major scales can be constructed using a specific formula of whole and half steps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
- âïž **Enharmonic Equivalence**: Notes like E sharp and F flat are enharmonically equivalent, meaning they are the same note but represented differently.
- đ¶ **Sharps and Flats**: Sharps raise a note by a half step, while flats lower it by a half step, and they are commonly used in music composition.
- đ **Practical Application**: Understanding music theory aids in finger placement, recognizing correct notes, and composing music.
- đ **Formula for Major Scales**: The major scale formula can be applied to any starting note to construct a scale, emphasizing the importance of the starting note.
- đ **Continuing Education**: This lesson is part of a series that will delve into more complex aspects of music theory, such as chords and chord progressions.
Q & A
What is the purpose of this music theory course?
-The course aims to teach the basics of music theory, focusing on how music is structured and the relationships between notes and chords. It is designed to complement the 'Do-it-yourself Learn to Play Piano' course.
Why is music theory important when learning to play the piano?
-Music theory helps pianists understand what they're playing, improving their ability to play the correct notes and compose music. It also aids in analyzing music and learning from other composers.
What are the two main concepts introduced in this lesson?
-The two main concepts discussed are 'distance' between notes and 'movement' of notes, which are essential for understanding how music is structured.
What is a 'half step' in music theory?
-A half step is the smallest movement on a piano keyboard, moving to the closest adjacent note, either black or white.
What is a 'whole step' in music theory?
-A whole step is the distance of two half steps combined. On the piano, it involves skipping one note between the starting and ending notes.
Why are some half steps between white keys and some between a white and black key?
-Some white keys, like B and C, or E and F, are next to each other without a black key between them, so half steps between these are from white to white. Other white keys have black keys between them.
What is a 'sharp' in music theory?
-A sharp (âŻ) raises a note by one half step. For example, C sharp is the black key directly to the right of C.
What is a 'flat' in music theory?
-A flat (â) lowers a note by one half step. For example, D flat is the black key directly to the left of D.
What are enharmonic equivalents?
-Enharmonic equivalents are notes that sound the same but are written differently, such as D sharp and E flat.
What is the formula for constructing a major scale?
-The major scale formula is: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. This formula helps create the correct intervals between notes in a major scale.
Outlines
đ¶ Introduction to Music Theory and Its Importance
The video introduces the do-it-yourself music theory course, which complements the piano-playing course. The instructor explains that understanding music theory is essential for advancing piano skills and composing music. Music theory involves understanding the relationships between notes and chords, primarily focusing on note distances and movements. This knowledge helps with playing correct notes and creating music. The first lesson will cover whole steps, half steps, major scales, and introduce sharps and flats, which are key concepts in music theory.
đ” Understanding Half Steps on the Piano
This section explains the concept of a half step on the piano. A half step is the smallest possible movement between two notes, moving either up or down the keyboard. For instance, moving from C to the nearest black key is a half step up, while moving down from C to B is a half step down. The instructor demonstrates this using different notes like D, E, and A, highlighting how the presence or absence of black keys affects the direction of the half step. The key takeaway is that half steps are the smallest increment of movement on the keyboard.
đč Exploring Whole Steps and Their Role in Music Theory
The video continues with an explanation of whole steps. A whole step is made by combining two half steps. For example, from C, moving up two half steps brings you to D, and a whole step below C is A#. The instructor walks through various examples on the keyboard using notes like D and E. This section emphasizes that a whole step spans two half steps, and understanding this is fundamental for navigating between notes in music theory.
⯠Sharps, Flats, and Enharmonic Equivalence
This section introduces sharps and flats, which modify notes by a half step. A sharp raises a note by a half step (e.g., C to C#), while a flat lowers a note by a half step (e.g., D to Db). The instructor explains enharmonic equivalence, where two notes, like E# and F, sound the same but are named differently. The concept is demonstrated with various notes, reinforcing the idea that understanding sharps and flats is crucial for reading music and playing accurately on the piano.
đŒ Constructing the Major Scale Using Whole and Half Steps
The video discusses the C major scale and its construction using whole and half steps. Starting from C, the pattern follows two whole steps, a half step, three whole steps, and another half step to return to C. This formula can be applied to any major scale as long as the order of whole and half steps remains consistent. The instructor demonstrates this by constructing a D major scale, explaining that the same formula works, but the resulting notes will differ due to the starting note.
đ¶ Wrapping Up Lesson One: Basic Music Theory Concepts
The instructor concludes lesson one, recapping the key concepts of whole and half steps, their application in building major scales, and the role of sharps and flats. These concepts are foundational for understanding music theory and will be essential for future lessons, which will explore chords and chord progressions. The instructor encourages viewers to practice these basics and promises to cover more advanced topics in the upcoming lessons.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄMusic Theory
đĄWhole Steps and Half Steps
đĄMajor Scale
đĄSharps and Flats
đĄEnharmonic Equivalence
đĄIntervals
đĄPiano Keyboard
đĄScale Formula
đĄChords and Chord Progressions
đĄDo-It-Yourself (DIY) Learning
Highlights
Introduction to a DIY music theory course designed to complement piano learning.
Explanation of music theory as a method to describe and understand music composition.
Importance of understanding the relationship between notes, chords, and other musical elements.
The significance of distance and movement between notes in music theory.
How music theory aids in playing music by improving understanding and finger placement.
The role of music theory in composing music and understanding its structure.
The concept of enharmonic equivalence and its application in music theory.
Introduction to whole steps and half steps as fundamental movements in music theory.
Practical demonstration of identifying half steps on a piano keyboard.
Difference between moving up and down the piano keyboard in terms of half steps.
Explanation of whole steps as combinations of two half steps.
The formula for constructing a major scale using whole steps and half steps.
The role of sharps and flats in music theory and their impact on note pitch.
Practical demonstration of sharps and flats on a piano keyboard.
The concept of enharmonic equivalence between sharps and flats.
Guidance on applying the major scale formula to any starting note.
Mistake clarification regarding the starting note in the major scale formula.
Anticipation of lesson two focusing on chords and chord progressions.
Transcripts
[Music]
hi everybody back again uh this is my uh
do-it-yourself learned music theory
course I guess that's the title uh I'll
figure out an official title later um
but anyway this is supposed to be like
kind of its own mini course um but it's
also supposed to it's intended to be
used uh along with the do-it-yourself
learn to play piano course um and I and
I'll add uh annotations to the videos to
tell you when you should be watching ing
these videos uh before you continue with
your progress with your piano playing
because music theory uh and playing
piano kind of go together and to
continue on and learn new things you'll
have to know some music theory uh as
well uh so what is music theory well
music theory is basically a way to uh
describe music a way to look at music in
a way that music is put together uh by
looking at the relationships between
notes chords and all sorts of things um
two of the main things you're going to
be looking at when we're looking at
music theory or two of the things you're
going to be observing is uh the distance
between notes and the movement between
notes uh it gets a little more
complicated than that but for now we're
going to be talking about those two
things distance and movement where notes
are moving to uh music theory is very
helpful in playing music uh in that you
have a better understanding in what
you're playing
um and that kind of helps you with with
where your fingers have to go where your
hands have to go um understanding if
you're playing the right notes or not um
because you know if so you know
something's supposed to sound like a
major chord and it sounds sad uh you'll
know that you're not playing it
correctly another useful thing it's uh
good for is constructing music if you
understand uh the components about how
music is put together you can compose
your own music uh takes a little while
and finesse to uh figure out how to do
that and of course there are many styles
of music and different kinds of music
theory but it's useful for uh composing
as
well um and and then like also like I
said it's very useful in just kind of
analyzing music and kind of copying what
uh some ideas from other composers when
you're either playing your own stuff or
composing your own stuff so that's why
we're learning music theory uh just to
get a better understanding about music
in general uh so like I said this this
is its own series but it also goes along
with the other series I've been doing uh
the learn to play piano do-it-yourself
series um as well um so there you have
it um this is the first lesson and in
this lesson we're going to be talking
about uh whole steps and half steps and
I'll explain what that is uh and we're
also going to talk about how to
construct a major scale using whole
steps and half steps there's a formula
that we use uh so we'll be talking about
that as well um so that's uh where we'll
go with the first lesson and then we'll
go uh from other places from there to
other places oh also we're going to be
talking about uh Sharps and flats which
you will see quite often uh in the music
you'll be playing and the uh examples
I'll put together for you uh later on
all right so today I'm going to teach
you a little bit about music theory and
some of the very basic uh aspects of it
um so one of the first things we're
going to talk about today is the
difference between a whole step and a
half step um so let's take a note here
let's play C you know the one we all
know and love there we go um and let's
say we want to move a half step up which
means a half step towards the higher end
of the piano so what you want to do is
you want to take your C and you want to
hit the next closest note touching to C
which actually is this black key right
here the closest one to it that it's a
half step is the smallest movement you
can make on the keyboard um so that is a
half Step Above C now let's take C again
and let's do a half step below
C so uh you may be asking well how come
when we were going up a half step we
were hitting a black key and we're going
down a black step we're hitting a white
key well um so when we're going up the
next closest note is this black note
here but notice how when you're moving
down there is no uh black note between B
and C so uh the closest note below
C is that b right there so that's why
when moving up you hit a black key and
moving down you hit a white key uh well
when we start with C when you start with
a different note uh it changes which
I'll show you in a second so let's say
we have D
here let's say we want to move a half
step up uh up this way so we've got our
half step is right here this black key
there so that's a half Step Above D so
let's take D again let's go a half step
below D well unlike last time there is a
black key separating the two white keys
so our our low the next closest lowest
note um next closest note sorry um I had
to struggle with words there is actually
going to be this note here um because
they're touching the closest note um so
just remember that a half step is the
smallest movement you can make on the
piano keyboard um so let's take
e well a half Step Above e is actually
going to be uh f um and it's going to be
another white note because we don't have
a black note separating them um so a
half step below E which is down this way
um is going to be this note
here uh because there's a black key
separating the two white keys so let's
take one more um here we have an
A and uh half Step Above would be this
note half step below would be this
note so the the main thing you want to
get out of the half step is that it's
the smallest increment of movement on
the piano um so we're going to talk
about whole steps now so let me just ask
you this question what happens when you
put two halves together you get a hole
right um so
let's take C again let's play a whole
Step Above C well there's a half step
plus another half step is a whole
step uh back to C again now let me ask
you this is this a whole step below
C well nope uh because it's only a half
step between those two because there's
no Blacky in between so a whole step
will actually be this one right
here let's try another another key shall
we uh let's pick
D sounds logical um so a whole Step
Above D is going to be e because we have
a black note in between whole step below
D is going to be which note take a
second to think about it remember that a
whole step is two half steps
so right there so a whole step below D
is going to be c um so that's the
explanation of whole steps and half
steps uh I will explain later
uh exactly what that's for um I
mentioned before that music theory is a
lot about um the distance between notes
and how notes move together um so using
half steps and whole steps is just a way
to uh describe uh you know the the
distance between two notes um so there
you have it whole steps and half
steps okay here in front of me we have
this uh interesting symbol here um it
looks like a number sign and this is
actually what's known as a sharp um and
you'll usually find this right before a
certain kind of note uh now I think I'll
release some uh practice uh examples
with these in it so I'll show you
exactly what I mean in that um but but
this is a symbol it means sharp and I'll
tell you what sharp actually means so
whenever we're talking about sharp a
note that's sharped we're talking about
moving it one half step this way towards
the top of the piano so let's say we
have the note C sharp well the first
thing you want to do is you want to find
the note
C and then you're going to Sharp it so
you're going to move one half step this
way like
that uh let's say we have e sharp right
actually let's skip that one that one's
a little bit different we'll do that in
a second so let's do FSH so here's F and
there's F sharp just moving one half
step this way uh what about a sharp
here's an a uh and then and here is a
sharp now let's do e sharp I mentioned
that this one's a little bit different
so here's e and where's e sharp well
remember before I was talking about
whole steps and half steps and how some
of the notes don't have a black note in
between so an e sharp is actually going
to be F and that term we have for that
is enharmonic equivalence or just
equivalence uh if you don't want to
sound too fancy or can't remember the
whole thing
um so e sharp is f so enharmonic
equivalent now let's take this
one uh the
flat and let's find a uh so a flat let
me explain the concept of flat whenever
we have a flat we're going to take the
note and move a half step the other way
towards the bottom of the piano so let's
say we have a d flat so whenever you
hear d flat or D sharp the first thing
you want to do is you want to find the
Basse note which is
D so d flat is going to be right there
so that's d flat what about G flat well
here's G there's g
flat what about F flat here's F well
there's no black notes in between those
so F flat is also e so enharmonic
equivalence again so let me uh tell you
another thing that'll blow your mind or
not so let's uh let's find a note so D
and let's find D sharp so remember sharp
is this one looks like a number sign D
sharp is
here so recognize where that is now
we're going to go back to the flat which
actually looks like a little B and let's
find E flat so there's D sharp and
here's e and here's E flat flat so again
anharmonic equivalence or just
equivalence whatever you like to say um
so D sharp is equal to E
flat uh on the
keyboard uh so there you have it a brief
explanation of Sharps and flats you'll
see those a lot in music as we continue
on uh I'll add those in our examples uh
as we move forward um so uh like always
leave me any comments or questions that
I'll be happy to answer
uh and there you have it Sharps and
flats okay so before we were talking
about whole steps and half steps uh
remember that a half step is the
smallest amount of movement on the
keyboard uh to move a half step you just
find the next closest note uh you can
either move up this way or down this
way uh like so uh and there's also whole
steps which is two half steps put
together um just like that so I'm going
to play the C scale um first I'm going
to do it without any kind of fingering
at all um so all you do for C scale it's
a little bit different for every scale
and I'll explain uh but C is the easiest
because your first note is C and your
last note to C and you're just going to
play C to C in all the white keys in
between so you're going to play c d e f
g a b C like that and you can also go
[Music]
down there you go so there is a formula
for this scale and that formula we're
going to say in terms of whole steps and
half steps um so let's take the first
note here but what's the distance
between the first note and this the
second note um well that is a whole step
because we have two half steps in
between the next note is another whole
step what about this note between the E
and the
F that is actually going to be a half
step because there's no note in between
so we have another whole step another
whole step another whole step what about
this very last one
here that's right it's a half step so
the formula is you start from the first
note and then you start counting the
formulas whole whole half whole whole
whole half now if you use this formula
you can play any major scale starting on
any notes so long as you're careful to
keep consistent um the order of of whole
steps and half steps um so let's take D
for
example well remember the first one's a
whole
step and remember the second one's a
whole step
two so it's actually going to be there
so we're going to have an FP in the in
the D scale
um and then we have half whole
whole hole so we have a C sharp there
because we have another whole step and
then we
have a half step so the same
formula can be applied to any scale you
just have to remember to keep the uh
formula the same so again the formula is
whole step whole step half step whole
step whole step whole step half step
again whole step whole step half step
whole step whole step whole step oh wait
I messed up here oh that I know why
because when you start counting you want
to start from the first note first you
don't want to say whole step and play
the first note that's a little bit of a
mistake if you do that you it won't work
out quite well so you want to play the
note first the story note first and then
you want to say whole step whole step
step half step whole step whole step
whole step half step like that uh and
you can do that starting on any note you
can practice around with that um I will
I think later on I I'll show you the
correct fingering there's a fingering to
go along with the scales uh as well
which I'll talk about later um so there
you have it um how to construct uh and
by the way this is for uh the major
scale is what we're getting across here
um there's a different formula for the
minor scale and then there's a of other
different modes or different scales like
Dorian and lydian that you may have
heard about that are used in in pop uh
pop music um so there you go that is the
formula for the major scale and uh there
you have it that concludes uh lesson one
of the do-it-yourself learn music theory
course uh that we have I've put together
for you um so like I said it's uh its
own course but it also goes along with
the do-it-yourself piano course and I'll
leave uh little notes and annotations to
direct you from the piano course to the
theory course and back and forth uh like
so um so today we talked about some very
very very basic things in music theory
we talked mostly about uh distance and a
little bit about movement if you
remember those are two important things
when you're first learning music theory
uh we talked about whole steps and half
steps and that a half step is the
smallest amount of movement you can move
on a piano and a whole step is simply
just two half steps put together and you
can move either uh whole or half step
one way towards the top of the keyboard
or you can move another way towards the
bottom of the keyboard um and we also
talked about the major scale and about
how the major scale is made up of whole
steps and half steps remember the
formula is whole step whole step half
step whole step whole step whole step
half step so two whole steps a half step
three whole steps a half step you can
think about it that way if you want to
group them together just remember you
play the starting note first first if
you don't do that uh and you start
counting from the first note it won't
work out so you can rewatch the video to
to see what I'm talking about uh in case
you missed it uh and then we also talked
about Sharps and flats which is just
kind of another way of moving a half
step one way or another um yeah and
that's pretty much it so anyway I hope
you look forward to lesson two lesson
two we're going to be talking about
chords and chord progressions so it
should be kind of interesting uh anyway
I'll see you guys and girls next time
and if you would please you don't have
to uh but if you would like subscribe
comment uh any activity positive or
negative but positive
preferably uh would be very helpful to
me and and let me know if you have any
questions I like answering questions I
can't get to everybody if I forgot about
your question I'm sorry try try sending
again and maybe you'll I'll see it but
there are so many out there and I'm so
busy but anyway uh I hope everybody has
a good one and I'll see you next
time
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)