Music Theory Basics: A (Not Boring) Breakdown

Before we get into the elements of music theory, there are some key definitions that you will need to know. These are the basics...

A note is just a pitch - a sound at a specific frequency. A note will have a pitch and a length. These are the building blocks of your melodies, chord progressions, etc.

Notes have names depending on where they are on your piano. The white keys use letters from A through G. The black keys are named in relation to nearby white keys.

Drop one black down from a white key and you have a flat marked with a little 'b' character (like Bb - B 'flat'). Jump up one black key and you have a sharp marked with a pound sign (like C# - C 'sharp).

An interval is simply the 'distance' between two notes. It's like subtraction - where 6 - 5 = 1. An interval of one is pretty small, and small intervals sound smoother. But 6 - 2 = 4 is a larger interval, and those can sound more dramatic.

A scale is a group of notes - that's it. Most Western music uses seven notes, but a scale could be whatever. You want to pick 7 random keys on your keyboard and call it the Embervane scale? You can.

A chord is more than one note playing at the same time. The most basic and stable chords are going to skip steps in that scale note grouping.

A key is nothing more than the agreed-upon scale for a song with a 'home base' note. As notes are selected, they either move us further from the home base, which creates tension, or they move us closer to the home base to create release.

Tension in music is a sense emotional instability - that sound when some note or chord just feels like it should go somewhere else and if it doesn't it leaves us hanging, which is unsettling. Think of this like breathing in - if we get surprised, we normally breathe in.

Release in music is a feeling of emotional resolution - what it sounds like when things settle back to home base. Think of this like breathing out - when we are relieved, we normally breathe out.

We just learned that scales are just a group of notes. That's really it. You can set whatever notes you want in a scale and you will get different results. That's because scales aren't rules - they're vibes, man.

Scales are just your emotional palette.

Just like different color palettes, different scales will tend to evoke different emotional responses.

The red arrows show a whole step move and the blue arrows show a half step move. (Notice that the red whole step moves up to the next black key and then again to the next white key.)

Why is this important? Because where those half step moves sit in typical Western scales sets the tone for the whole set of notes.

Major scales use a pattern that has a half-step between the 3rd and 4th notes and the 7th and 8th notes of the scale. Everything else is whole steps. And that ends up giving you something like this:

C Major = C-D-E-F-G-A-B-(C)

That one is all the white keys on the keyboard.

Start on a different note and you get a different set with the exact same half-step location.

C# Major = C#-D#-F-F#-G#-A#-C-(C#)

That one uses all of the black keys.

When you listened to both of these examples, did you notice that the major scales tend to feel pretty happy and energetic?

Pro Tip: Did you notice that I put the 8th note of the scale in parenthesis? That's called an octave, which is the same note but at double the frequency.

Did you notice that when I wrote out the notes of the C# Major scale that we ended up with two F notes (F & F#) and two C notes (C & C#)? Well, that kind of layout drives the academic textbook types completely insane.

Because they insist every scale must use every letter of the alphabet exactly once, they will literally force you to write the scale like this: C#–D#–E#–F#–G#–A#–B#–(C#).

Think about how detached from reality that is. An "E#" is literally just the physical F key on your keyboard, and a "B#" is just the physical C key. Forcing yourself to think in fake notes is pure madness when you are trying to write a track. Screw the textbook rules: use your ear, map the grid, and focus on the emotion.

Pro Tip: If you want to use this exact set of notes without the mental gymnastics, just switch the scale name to Db Major. You get a beautiful, clean lineup: Db–Eb–F–Gb–Ab–Bb–C–(Db).

The academics stay calm, your DAW grid stays clean, and you get straight to making music.

Minor scales use a pattern that has a half-step between the 2nd and 3rd notes and the 5th and 6th notes of the scale. Everything else is whole steps.

And that ends up giving you something like this:

C Minor = C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-(C)

Now we end up with a mix of white and black key groupings.

A Minor = A-B-C-D-E-F-G-(A)

What the fritz? Those are the same all-white keys like with C Major!

Pro Tip: Using the notes of one scale while starting on a different note is called a mode - we'll talk about that in the next section.

When you listened to both of these minor scale examples, did you notice that they tend to feel kind of sad or melancholic?

Understanding the emotional core of your song can help you with which scale might work best for you.

So, are there other scales beyond major and minor? Absolutely!

Do you need to worry about them right now? Absolutely not!

Here is the cheat code for other scales: Remember that placement of the half-step move? Well, if you fiddle with it, you create other scales.

Give it a try if you want - take a minor scale and move the second half-step to the 7th note instead of the 6th. What does it sound like to you? Can you hear how the emotion of the notes changes?

Do you remember how the A minor scale used the same notes as the C Major scale? Well, it turns out that if you know any major scale, you automatically know another minor scale.

That's right - all you have to do is shift the start note of the scale to the 6th note of the major scale and boom - you have a minor scale.

That shift in the start note is called a mode.

Check this out:

C Major scale = C-D-E-F-G-A-B-(C)

Let's keep following the notes further up: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-(C)-(D)-(E)-(F)-(G)-(A)

Okay, now let's just start from the A and go up one octave.

We end up with: A-B-C-D-E-F-G-(A)

Look at that - we have the exact notes of the A minor scale.

Pro Tip: This cheat code works on every major scale - give it a try for yourself!

So, get this - you are not limited to only starting with the 6th note. You can start with any of the notes and just extend the major scale and you end up with a different flavor of sound.

Think of the possible combinations you have unlocked here! If there are twelve major scales and each one of them has seven different starting points, you have loads of different scales you can use right off the bat.

And all of this works because it nudges the placement of those half-step moves - that's it!

Let's look at some key modes to know:

All of the modes have Greek names assigned to them. These specific names are not important right now, but what they represent is important.

With the Dorian mode (that's its Greek name) you just start on the second note of the scale. It is pronounced Door-ee-an.

Take the notes of C Major and extend them an octave up to D and you get C-D-E-F-G-A-B-(C)-(D)

That makes D Dorian = D-E-F-G-A-B-C-(D)

That's it - just start on the second note. Dorian modes tend to have a bit of a half-minor kind of feel. It's still minor, but is kind of hopeful at the same time.

Face it - it's hard to get a cooler name than Mixolydian (Mix-oh-lid-ee-an). I remember when I was playing in a jazz band in high school and the song we were working on was called Mixolydian Soul Frog. It's pretty hard to forget Mixolydian when you are playing a song like that.

Mixolydian starts on the 5th note. Taking our C Major notes and starting on the fifth gets us starting with G like this: G-A-B-C-D-E-F-(G)

You have the cheat code to make whatever mode you want. Go nuts and have some fun playing with this.

Listen carefully to how these make you feel, because your ear and your gut are the ultimate judges of whether you should use one scale over another for whatever song you are going to work on next.

Chords are nothing more than a grouping of notes played together. They could be two notes or a handful of notes - it doesn't matter: they are just groups of notes.

And the most stable chords typically just skip over every other note in a scale. So, if you know the notes of the scales that we already worked through, you can get your chords going very quickly.

Let's break this down with C Major once again.

We take the scale and start with playing C, skip D, play E, skip F, and play G.

We play three notes, and that is called a triad. (That's a fancy word to say 'three notes played.)

It looks like this on the piano keys:

You saw how many combinations of scales we have with modes. Well, with chords it gets even crazier.

Because you don't have to use three notes and you don't have to skip every other note either. You can play two notes together - you can play five notes together - whatever you want as long as it sounds good and serves your song.

Play more notes and you can get into the jazzy territory. Play fewer notes and you can get effective simple chords like a guitar power chord.

You can move the middle note up or down a little - you can move the third note up or down a little.

You can even play some notes that aren't in the scale! That's right - pretty cool, eh?

Pro Tip: If you do start moving to notes that are not in the scale, it is best to do this with only one note - leave the rest where they should be, so you don't lose touch with your home base. (More on that in a little bit.)

Dig this: These different chords you can play - if you play them in specific orders you are creating what is called a chord progression. That's just a fancy word to say you played more than one chord - literally.

Chords can be numbered depending on which note of the scale they start on. It is typical to use Roman numerals here. Each chord is numbered like this: I-II-III-IV-V-VI-VII

That C Major C-E-G chord would be a I chord. If you started on G, you would have a G-B-D (the V chord here as G is the 5th note of the C Major scale). Start on the F with an F-A-C and you have the IV chord as F is the 4th note of the C Major scale).

Now, play those in order and you get I-V-IV. And that is a chord progression.

Play with different orders of chords to get a feel for how your emotions move. Where do you feel tension building up and where do you feel it releasing?

Here are some example chord progressions:

I-V-vi-IV - (the 'every pop song ever' progression)

i-VI-III-VII - (trap, EDM, cinematic)

ii-V-I (jazz, neo-soul)

Pro Tip: Did you see how some of those Roman numerals were written in lower case and others in upper case? That is a shortcut way to know if you are playing a major (upper case) or a minor (lower case) chord.

You might remember from the definitions section that the key of the song is the 'home base.'

That means this is the note that is the musical home. It is both the note and the scale that your song feels anchored to.

If you want the largest release, just remember to 'go home.'

Let's say you have a chord progression you worked out but you don't know what key it's in. No problem - time to use your ear and gut check this thing.

Play the chord progression one chord at a time. After each chord, ask yourself, does it feel like I came home?

If it feels like you are still on a journey, then try the next chord. One of those chords is going to feel like you have arrived home.

That is your key. It is the resolution that makes you feel "I'm done... I came home from the trip."

With your key locked, that means you can take that note and choose the scale you are playing in. If you have your chords already, make sure the notes match. Otherwise, if you are starting from a key you can select the type of scale (and mode if you are using one) to use.

Here are the cheat codes for emotional movement:

When you move from a major key to a minor key, the map stays the same but the weather changes, flipping some of the chords. Pay attention to the iiº, v and VI chords here:

Your i chord is your home base, but home base is kind of dark and the mood is more serious.

Your iiº and VII chords will feel like deep wilderness - you definitely will move to someplace else from here.

Your III chord feels like a temporary sanctuary. It's a resting spot and it feels pretty sunny, but it's not home.

Your iv and v chords will feel like you are going somewhere - through the wilderness. It kind of demands that you end up somewhere safer.

Your VI chord will feel like a lift - a lookout tower. It feels good to be up there, but you can't stay there.

These analogies are meant to give you a sense of being in the wilderness (tension) and coming home (release). You are not limited to only using these chords, but they do create a kind of traditional marker for emotional movements.

Play with the chords and how they feel. Play one and then another and see if it feels like you are getting to home or the lookout tower or the sanctuary.

With time and experimentation, using these chords will become more comfortable. And always use your ears and gut to feel out what makes sense - that is your best guide.

Just like with storytelling of any kind, controlling tension helps to create emotional build-ups and impacts during a song.

The goal is to add tension when you want energy or emotion. Then, release that built-up tension when you want a payoff.

Too much tension or holding tension for too long will not feel comfortable. And too much release will steal the excitement from your track. Just like a good roller-coaster ride, there needs to be some gaps between the big thrills or they lose impact.

Some of the ways to use tension are:

Did you know you can borrow chords from other scales when you are playing and they can sound good? It's true!

Borrowing a chord has a fancy name: modal interchange. But that term doesn't really matter - what matters is what you get when you do this.

Let's imagine I have a chord progression like this: I-ii-V-I

That sounds like this:

Now, check this out - let's take that ii minor chord and swap it with a II major chord - that means our D - F - A notes of the ii chord switch to D - F# - A.

Check out how it sounds now:

Whoa! Did you hear how that changed the feel? Your brain goes, "Hey! That F# isn't supposed to be there," and then it feels a rush of relief as the tension resolves into the V chord (G Major).

You can download both of those chord progressions in one MIDI file right here - go play with them and check it out for yourself:

There is a pretty wide range of targets to borrow chords from but remember - use this only here and there. If you overdo it, you lose the home base of your key. This is a powerful accent move to help drive tension and release.

You can borrow from some of the following sources:

Borrowing chords works because unlike those crusty academics, your ears don't care about rules, man. Your ears and your brain only care about the emotional journey they are experiencing.

You can add surprise, drama, freshness, movement, and color to your songs using this technique.

But remember - keep your home base solid. You key is your home; don't be too good for your home.

You don't need a wheel to pull off a massive, explosive Whitney-Houston-style key change, and relying on a wheel to match sample keys is a fast track to muddy basslines.

Here is how to actually map out chords in way that should feel more intuitive:

Do you remember the descriptions around your key's home base, lookout tower and wilderness zones? Well, these areas can be grouped into zones that you can work with:

These are your anchor chords. When you play a Landing Chord, the music should feel like it has pulled into a garage, hit a checkpoint, or returned safely to home base.

These chords are meant to provide release.

These are your engines of tension and movement in the song - they make you feel like you are going somewhere. The second that you hear a Travel Chord, you have left the driveway and are moving through the world.

The music is now feeling like it's going somewhere - this is part of tension.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what tool or technique you use to learn how chords sound - you just need to feel them.

When you practice listening to your chords and how they feel as you move from one to another, you will get a sense for the chords that make you feel like they want to go somewhere and the ones that feel like you have arrived.

The more you learn to write music by ear instead of by doing math, the more productive your music workflow will be.

By the way, if you want to hear the power of a key change hit from Whitney, listen from 3:00 through about 3:12 in this video: