Since we have begun to get a lot of great information from our members, I though I'd try to capture it all in this one sticky.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Theory from Waybe Gabree
Lesson one:
"In the beginning was the note - perfect and true. But the note wanted company, and so, the creator of all created the octave - the most perfect companion to the note. Not identical to the the original note, but so compatible that when the two were heard together, they were as one."
Now, play the low E string on your guitar - you have to actually do this, or it won't make sense....
Now, play the low E fretted at the 12th fret and hear how similar they sound, but the second is higher. Try playing other notes on the low E string and hear how they aren't as compatible.
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------
-0- -12-
Now, finger the D string at the 2nd fret and play the low open E string and this note together at the same time. Hear how nicely they sound.
--------
--------
--------
---2----
--------
---0----
Try other notes and see that they aren't quite the same sounding - nice, yes, some not nice at all, but not as compatible.
This is the Octave - the difference in the frequency of vibration between the low note and high note of the interval of an octave is 1:2 - the high note is exactly twice the frequency of the lower note.
The other notes in between are the other ratios that divide the octave, just like the hours on the face of a clock divide the day, and the months divide the year. And there are 12 of them - the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, called semi-tones or half steps. After you go from one note up to the octave, it repeats again - twice the frequency, or down, half the frequency. So there are only 12 different notes, with their octave mates, in all of western music.
End of lesson 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson two:
"The note and octave pair were as harmonious as could be, but like they say, "girls just wanna have fun", they needed something to spice things up. Perhaps something fun like a game of "see-saw" would do the trick! Enter the fulcrum, the 5th degree or dominant!"
So last time we took the open E string and then halfed it by fretting it at the 12th fret, producing the Octave (1/2 of the string is left to vibrate).
Now, will further divide the string by 1/3 (allowing 2/3 of the string to vibrate) by fretting at the 7th fret. This is the 5th degree, also known as the dominant.
Get out the guitar and try this out:
Play the open low E string, then play the low E fretted at the 7th fret, and finally play the low E fretted at the 12th fret:
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-0---7---12-
Listen how there is a natural tendency for the 7th fret note to lead to the 12th fret note.
Imagine you have a "see-saw" with the open E and the 12th fret E as the ends, and the 7th fret B as the fulcrum. Play it back and forth.
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
--0----7-----12----7----0----7-----12----7----0--
Listen to how the note at the 7th fret wants to lead to open note and the note at the 12th fret.
The 5th is called the dominant because of it's natural tendency to resolve back to the tonic (fancy name for our love birds on the open string and 12th fret).
You may even recognize this as the beginning motif for The Who's Baba O'Reily (Teenage Wasteland).
And for blues, this explains why the V chord leads back to the I. It's kinda like a law of gravity for sound!
Have fun trying this out on the other strings!
Recap so far:
1. A note that vibrate twice as fast as the original note is an octave and has the same letter name as the fundamental or tonic (original) note. On the guitar, you do this by dividing the string in half, allowing one half to vibrate by fretting at the 12th fret.
2. The vibrational space between the octave is equaling divided into 12 notes in the western musical system. There are only 12 notes in all, repeating in octave after octave in increasing and decreasing frequencies (high and low).
3. If you divide the octave by a ratio of 2:3, you get the most important division of western harmony - the 5th or Dominant, which as an almost magnetic tendency to resolve to the original note (1:1 tonic) and it's octaves. You get this note by fretting at the 7th fret and allowing two thirds of the string to vibrate.
07-16-10 Wayne's Home From Work Blues Lesson:
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1279310144
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Theory from Waybe Gabree
Lesson one:
"In the beginning was the note - perfect and true. But the note wanted company, and so, the creator of all created the octave - the most perfect companion to the note. Not identical to the the original note, but so compatible that when the two were heard together, they were as one."
Now, play the low E string on your guitar - you have to actually do this, or it won't make sense....
Now, play the low E fretted at the 12th fret and hear how similar they sound, but the second is higher. Try playing other notes on the low E string and hear how they aren't as compatible.
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------
-0- -12-
Now, finger the D string at the 2nd fret and play the low open E string and this note together at the same time. Hear how nicely they sound.
--------
--------
--------
---2----
--------
---0----
Try other notes and see that they aren't quite the same sounding - nice, yes, some not nice at all, but not as compatible.
This is the Octave - the difference in the frequency of vibration between the low note and high note of the interval of an octave is 1:2 - the high note is exactly twice the frequency of the lower note.
The other notes in between are the other ratios that divide the octave, just like the hours on the face of a clock divide the day, and the months divide the year. And there are 12 of them - the octave is divided into 12 equal parts, called semi-tones or half steps. After you go from one note up to the octave, it repeats again - twice the frequency, or down, half the frequency. So there are only 12 different notes, with their octave mates, in all of western music.
End of lesson 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lesson two:
"The note and octave pair were as harmonious as could be, but like they say, "girls just wanna have fun", they needed something to spice things up. Perhaps something fun like a game of "see-saw" would do the trick! Enter the fulcrum, the 5th degree or dominant!"
So last time we took the open E string and then halfed it by fretting it at the 12th fret, producing the Octave (1/2 of the string is left to vibrate).
Now, will further divide the string by 1/3 (allowing 2/3 of the string to vibrate) by fretting at the 7th fret. This is the 5th degree, also known as the dominant.
Get out the guitar and try this out:
Play the open low E string, then play the low E fretted at the 7th fret, and finally play the low E fretted at the 12th fret:
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-------------
-0---7---12-
Listen how there is a natural tendency for the 7th fret note to lead to the 12th fret note.
Imagine you have a "see-saw" with the open E and the 12th fret E as the ends, and the 7th fret B as the fulcrum. Play it back and forth.
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
--0----7-----12----7----0----7-----12----7----0--
Listen to how the note at the 7th fret wants to lead to open note and the note at the 12th fret.
The 5th is called the dominant because of it's natural tendency to resolve back to the tonic (fancy name for our love birds on the open string and 12th fret).
You may even recognize this as the beginning motif for The Who's Baba O'Reily (Teenage Wasteland).
And for blues, this explains why the V chord leads back to the I. It's kinda like a law of gravity for sound!
Have fun trying this out on the other strings!
Recap so far:
1. A note that vibrate twice as fast as the original note is an octave and has the same letter name as the fundamental or tonic (original) note. On the guitar, you do this by dividing the string in half, allowing one half to vibrate by fretting at the 12th fret.
2. The vibrational space between the octave is equaling divided into 12 notes in the western musical system. There are only 12 notes in all, repeating in octave after octave in increasing and decreasing frequencies (high and low).
3. If you divide the octave by a ratio of 2:3, you get the most important division of western harmony - the 5th or Dominant, which as an almost magnetic tendency to resolve to the original note (1:1 tonic) and it's octaves. You get this note by fretting at the 7th fret and allowing two thirds of the string to vibrate.
07-16-10 Wayne's Home From Work Blues Lesson:
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1279310144