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Learn the basics of music theory for beginner guitar players. In this lesson, you will learn what is music theory, what are the notes in music, triads in music theory, octaves, how notes are arranged on a guitar and piano, music intervals and how to begin ear training.
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00:00 Intro
01:13 What Is Music Theory, and Why Learn Music theory?
04:24 Notes In Western Music
06:29 Octaves
07:06 Sharps and Flats
10:08 How Notes Are Arranged On A Guitar Fretboard
10:45 Open String Notes
11:15 Notes on 6th String Of A Guitar
12:49 Octaves On A Guitar String
13:39 Notes On 5th String Of A Guitar
14:24 Notes On 4th String Of A Guitar
14:59 Notes On 3rd String Of A Guitar
15:28 Notes On 2nd String Of A Guitar
16:00 Notes On 1st String Of A Guitar
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1:00
kind of feel
1:02
Anyways, in this listen, we are going to learn the basics of guitar theory, not the guitar theory
1:09
So in this lesson, we are going to learn the basics of music theory. When anyone says music theory or whenever I say music theory in a class or in a workshop and in a session
1:21
the expression on student face goes, or it goes like a boring topic
1:29
Music theory is not just theory that you might never require. It is the essential building blocks that you need to grow as a musician
1:40
to communicate with other musicians, to become a better session player, and eventually to make better music
1:47
Think of it as like the easiest language actually that you can learn
1:53
So if you take music theory and if you break it down, and you compare it to other languages that you have
2:00
out there, let's say English. If you think of it as like you're starting to learn English
2:06
and you need to learn the 26th alphabets first, right? Whereas in music, if we talk about the alphabets
2:14
there are just 12 alphabets. And these 12 alphabets, they make such a beautiful world
2:20
with just 12 alphabets. On the contrary, you have 26 alphabets, a billion words to make sentences
2:29
Now here we have 12 alphabets that make the whole world limited vocabulary
2:36
Basically vocabulary is something you can keep on building unlimited vocabulary, I would say music as well
2:42
But phrasing and sentences really becomes easy once you get hold of the theory behind what makes those sentences theory
2:52
It is fun to learn if you think of it as a language that you are learning
2:56
Something new that you are learning. just theory. The word theory gives it like a boring kind of thing, but it is not. It's a new
3:04
language that you are learning. So you are going to learn a lot. And music theory is not something
3:11
that you will learn it in a day. It will take you around three, four months to get acquainted
3:17
and build it into your brains. The neurons will develop and all that things that go in there
3:23
They will start developing. You will get acquainted. You will start getting grasp of the very
3:27
basic things and then you will slowly grow and you will become in a year or so I would say
3:34
you will be like getting a very good hold of music theory and you will keep growing with
3:41
every other day I would say in just few months one month I would say you will be having a good
3:48
hold because as of today if you're watching this very first as a very first music theory lesson
3:54
this is completely new to you think of it as as some new foreign language that you're going to start learning
4:01
And what you need to do is you need to stay patient, you need to be humble with yourself and give yourself time to learn it
4:09
All right? So music theory is required if you want to grow as a musician
4:14
Keep that in mind. That should be your goal to grow as a musician and become a better musician
4:19
and play along with other musicians and communicate better with them. So to start music theory
4:25
the first thing that you should know are the musical notes. that are there in Western music
4:29
Now when I say Western music, it is the same for British, American and every place
4:35
On the eastern side of the world, that is India that where I belong actually
4:39
We have a different theory here. We have the Indian classical theory here, which goes with the notes
4:46
Saragama, Pada and Nisa, but we are not going with that, we are not going to learn that
4:50
What we are going to follow here is the Western music theory that is more popular
4:54
and that is what the guitar is actually based out of. eventually because it's a Western musical instrument
5:01
it's a Spanish instrument to say. But this is how we're going to start from
5:06
We are going to start with the Western Music Theory. So the very first thing to know about Western Music Theory are the notes
5:13
So there are in total of 12 notes in Western Music Theory. Now to understand that better, let's move over to a piano and have a look at the notes
5:23
So on a piano, if you see, there are two black keys, three black keys
5:27
and then again comes two black keys and three black keys and this pattern keep on repeating
5:33
Now we have all the white keys laid out. If you look at the two black keys, to the left of the two black keys, the very first white key that is there, that is the note C
5:44
The very first note in music theory is C. So we have a total of seven natural notes that is C, D, E, F, G, A, B
5:55
these are the seven natural notes and we have a total of
5:59
five accidentials that is C sharp D sharp F sharp G sharp
6:05
A sharp so these are the five exedentials now we have these two black keys
6:10
and to the left of these two black keys the very first white note that we have
6:14
there is C now C is the very first note after that the next white key is D
6:19
and after that the very next white key is E and so on
6:23
we go over to F G, A, B. And after this, comes back against C
6:31
So the difference between the C on the left and the C on the right is that it's on a higher octave
6:37
That is, the C on the right will be higher in pitch as compared to C on the left
6:43
The C on the left will always be a lot more base here
6:47
And C on the right as we keep on going up in the piano, it will keep on repeating
6:53
And these are called octaves. The C on the left is the lower octave, C on the right is a higher octave, the C on the left is basier and the C on the right is always more terribly
7:05
Now other than the white notes, if you look, there are black notes as well
7:10
Now these black notes are called accidentials or sharps or flats. Now what are sharps or flat
7:17
It's basically C sharp, D sharp, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp
7:22
These are all the sharps that we have, in total five sharps. or flats or extenance
7:28
Now when we are moving from C to D, the black key in between is called C sharp
7:35
Similarly, when we are going from D to E, the black key in middle is called as D sharp
7:41
We do not have any E sharp note. Then we have the F key on the keyboard
7:46
And when we move from F to G, the middle black key is called F sharp
7:51
And when G to A, the middle black key is called G sharp. A to B, the middle black key is called A sharp and we do not have any B sharp, we directly go to C
8:01
Now when we are coming back that is we are coming from B to A Now the middle note that we have the black note the key that we have there it will not be called as A sharp rather it will be called as B flat
8:16
This seems a little bit confusing to beginners that there's a flat and the same note is also called as sharp
8:23
But this is how it works. So when we are going up the order
8:27
these excedentials are called sharps. And when we are descending down the pitch
8:33
or descending down the octave, notes, then it's called a flat. So basically what I mean here, when we are moving from B to A, the sharp will convert into a B flat
8:43
And when we are going from A to G, it will be called as a A flat
8:48
When we are going from G to F, it will be called as a G flat
8:53
And when we are going from E to D, it will be called as a E flat
8:58
And when we are going from your D to C, it will be called as a D flat
9:03
Moving up the keyboard, the exudentials now are called as sharps. And moving down the keyboard, these same note
9:12
same, everything remains the same, but you give them a different name so that it's easy to understand whether you are moving up the scale or down the scale
9:20
So then, when you're going from up to down, so moving down the keyboard
9:25
these sharps will be called as flats. I hope till now you are understanding the notes on the piano
9:32
So total of 12 notes. 7 natural notes, 5 exudentials, which are referred to as sharps or flats
9:39
depending on whether we are moving up the scale or whether we are moving down the scale
9:44
Now these 12 notes keep on repeating themselves throughout. Now when these 12 notes repeat, so what I mean here when we move from C to C
9:52
then again from C to C, from C to C, or from D to D to D, then D to D up the octave or D to D
10:00
These things are called octaves. So these 12 notes make one octave and these octaves keep on repeating themselves
10:09
Now the same theory, the theory for the musical notes remain the same
10:13
We have the same notes. We have the same octave concepts. But what changes in guitar that we need to learn
10:22
In guitar, these notes are not arranged symmetrically as they are arranged in a piano
10:29
In a guitar, these are arranged in a different manner. And that is something we need to learn
10:34
This is called us learning the threadboard basically. So let's figure out where the notes are on a guitar
10:42
First thing you need to do is figure out the notes of the open strings
10:47
That is what are the notes that first string to six strings are tuned
10:52
I'm pretty sure you know that if you know how to tune a guitar. So the first string that we have that is this one
10:58
It's tuned to a E, second to the B. third to the g, fourth to the d, fifth at a, and back sixth at e
11:09
Now this e and this is e again, but both on a different octave
11:15
What we can do is we can figure out each individual strings first
11:20
So let's start from the sixth string. So the open note on the six string is an e
11:26
So what notes comes after e is an f. and f there is no e sharp so if i frit the first frit on the six string now this is an f note if i move up
11:40
half a step that is one frit one fret moving one frit up is called this half step this note now
11:47
becomes f sharp now if again i move up half a step it becomes g so basically if i move from
11:56
f that is the first frit of the sixth string to the third fret of the six string it becomes a g this is a one step when you moved up two frits this is called as one step so moving from first frit on the six string to the third fret on the six string you're moving up a step now the first fret is f third frit is g similarly fourth frit is g sharp fifth frit is a then we have
12:26
A sharp, then we have B, then we have C, on your 9th fret it is C sharp, then on the 10th, D
12:39
then on the 11th fret it is D sharp of the 6th string, and on the 12th fret of the 6th string
12:45
this E. So this E, when it's open and the C, it's an octave. If you listen, this is Bessie
12:56
This is more tripley. Alright. Now, if I keep on moving up the 6th string in this direction
13:11
again, we have the same note as F, F sharp, G. And it keeps on going
13:18
In an electric guitar, there are two octaves complete. You have 24 frits. Here, I just have 19 frits
13:24
so that that does not complete the second octave. But this is one octave from here open to the 12th fret
13:35
All right. Now, we have E on the 6th string. Similarly, we have open
13:41
When I pick the 5th string open, it's an A note. All right
13:46
So when I fret, the very first fret, it becomes A sharp right
13:51
You're right here. Then I frid the second, fret it's become b similarly c c sharp d d sharp e f f sharp g g sharp and on the 12th fret again on the a string i have
14:10
back to a so open fifth string and 12th fret first thing it's a note and this is an high octave high again
14:22
Then comes the fourth string which when played open is D. So on the first thread we have D sharp, second fratits E, third frit it's F, fourth frat, F sharp, fifth is G, G sharp
14:38
On the seventh we have A, A sharp, B, B, C sharp, and your D
14:47
There is no B sharp, which I was accidentally going to say, but there is no C shape
14:52
B sharp. So back to D. All right. Now we have covered the top three strings
14:58
That is 6, 5 and 4. Similarly, look at the third string
15:02
It starts at G. Open string is G. Then we have G sharp, A, A sharp, B, C, C sharp, D, D sharp, E, F sharp, and back to G
15:17
That's an octave. Now, if I keep on moving, then again, G sharp, A, A, S sharp, B, C, C sharp, and it keeps on going
15:28
Similarly, when I pegged the open second thing, it's B, right? After that first fret is C, second is C sharp, third is D, fourth is D sharp, fifth is E, then F sharp, F sharp on the seventh, G, G sharp on the ninth
15:46
a then you have a sharp on the eleventh and back to b on the twelfth and this is an octave again and higher up again the octave will repeat itself and the first string is actually the notes are same as the sixth string because both are tuned to e the only difference is octave this is two octaves higher
16:09
the first thing is actually two octaves higher so the notes will a note will remain the same when i fret so on the first we F G G sharp A A sharp B C C sharp D sharp and your E
16:27
So these are the basic note laid out on the guitar frid board
16:31
We move higher up the octaves when we move from left to right. And when you move vertically from top to bottom, then again your octaves will increase
16:40
So basically you are moving higher up the pitch. So if I play the G note here and I need to cover the major scale
16:46
we will cover the major scale in a bit. But for now, major scale is Saragama Pada Nisa in Indian classical music
16:54
and in your western music it is Dooremi. So if I need to play the G major scale, I can go up down the fretboard
17:02
like higher up the fretboard in the horizontal direction and play the major scale like this
17:08
So back to G. So this is an octave for the G major scale that we can play
17:19
Or I can also go down in the vertical direction and play the G major scale as well
17:25
And then it will go like, right? We have an octave from here till here as well
17:36
This is G as well. octave. What does this mean? This means that on the piano you have only one choice to move from
17:46
left to right or right to lift. But on a guitar you can either move from left to right and you're
17:51
going higher up the pitch or you can as well move from up to down and still go higher up the pitch
17:59
So basically if I pick the C note that is here, this is a C note. So what? So what
18:08
If I need to do again the C major then I can either go back to C or I can also go down the
18:19
frame down the fridboard that is so what this teaches us is pretty interesting it teaches
18:27
us that octaves on a guitar frid board are placed out both vertically as well as horizontally
18:33
now once we know the music notes after that we need to learn
18:38
the intervals. What are intervals you would ask? Intervals are basically the distance between two nodes
18:46
So in total we have 12 notes and if you look at the distances between them
18:50
they are denoted by the terminology that is small M and capital M with the number like 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and so on
19:00
So in total we have 12 intervals starting from unison. Unison is the same key as the root note
19:06
root note is basically the very first note of any scale that you have
19:11
So the very key you are in, that is called as the root note. So after unison, we have the minus second M2, which is donated by smaller M2
19:19
and then we have the major second which is denoted by capital M
19:24
So if I start at the note C and after that I play the note C sharp
19:29
now this is called as the minor second interval. And the way I'm playing them are called as melodic interval
19:35
That is, I'm picking out the each note individually. And if I play the C back again and then I play the D
19:45
now this is a major second interval. Now, if you hear to these intervals
19:54
each interval is having a different tonality. Each interval is having a different tone characteristic
20:03
Now, these characteristics are really, important to understand that these intervals are having now from c to c sharp it's a dissonant
20:13
tone quite dissonant by mean there's fighting kind of and from c to d the dissonance to dresonance
20:25
decreases now there's less fighting than c to c's sha c to d right
20:35
The tonality is very important when you are understanding intervals. So C to D is major second interval, right
20:46
Then C to D sharp is the minor third interval. I can play it here or I can even play it here
20:56
Now if I play both these notes together, if I play them like this, like a chord, this is
21:02
called as harmonic intervals. If I pick them out individually, it's called as melodic intervals
21:12
Played together, harmonic intervals. Now, the interesting part again with intervals is the tonality
21:19
Now, this is what a minor third interval sounds like. Kind of suspense and sad in a way
21:31
Right. after the minor third interval comes the major third interval which is
21:36
now listen to this again this is c to an e this is your third
21:45
after that we have the fourth that is the perfect fourth interval
21:56
p4 now p4 is because it's really happy and consonants kind of no dissonance
22:04
dissonance is getting resolved these are not notes are not fighting and p4 and p5 are basically called perfect intervals
22:12
rather than major and minor this is because you are going to find p4 and p5
22:17
that is perfect fourth and perfect 5 in nearly every key and scale
22:22
other than a few modes so we will cover that in very advanced topics
22:27
forget that for now but p4 or p5 you will find nearly in every key and scale
22:32
That is why perfect fourth and perfect five. And this sound, together when played in like harmonic interval kind of way
22:39
the sound well as well. This is the fourth interval. That is the C2F
22:47
Now the sound together, the tonality, a lot of consonants, a lot of constructive
22:53
They're not fighting. Then I have the augmented fourth or the dimnished five interval after the perfect fourth
23:04
This sound is like the most dissonant sound you will hear there
23:10
If you are into making some horror movie, this will work. Then we have the fifth interval, which is the perfect fifth
23:24
Like the perfect fifth is the perfect sound you have. After the perfect fifth comes the minus sixth
23:35
Now the perfect fifth from C to G. After that we have G sharp, minus sixth
23:41
Again, some sad and dissonant sound. So after the minus sixth, we have the major six, which is C-to-en-A
23:53
This is the A note here. If you think, G, G, G-G-sharp, A
23:59
So C to A, the sixth. Your major sixth. Again, consonant sound
24:13
Then we have the minus seventh. Again, some part of horror stories
24:19
Then you have the major seven, that is B, C to B. And after major seventh comes your octave This is your octave C to C
24:34
Now, I covered all the intervals with you. It was time taking and it was a little bit tedious as well
24:42
but the major important part that you need to understand here is
24:45
intervals relate to tonality. Now, whether I'm starting on a C or on a A or on a B or F sharp
24:53
when I'm moving from one particular note to a given interval, that is if I start at, let's say
25:00
rather than starting at C, if I started at C, a D. Right
25:04
And from D, I move to E. This is a major second interval, right
25:09
Now the tonality of the two will remain the same. Tonality by tonality, I mean the way they behave together
25:18
The characteristics of this behavior will be the same as the characteristic
25:22
when I played from C to D. Now the tone is changing
25:27
but the characteristics of the tone, the behavior of that particular interval
25:32
that is the major second interval, will remain the same irrespective of where you start from
25:37
So if I pick the D here, and after that I do the minor third
25:46
it will be that sad tone of the minor. If I do the minor second
25:51
or if I do the perfect fifth, it will be that same perfect fifth tone that I'm getting on the scene
25:59
The characters of this interval and character of this interval will be the same
26:04
That is what you need to understand. Maybe I'm saying the word tonality wrong here
26:09
but the characteristics of the intervals remain the same irrespective of where you're starting from
26:14
That is why intervals are really important to understand. So the minus second will always sound like minus second
26:21
the major third will always sound like major third, perfect fifth will always sound like perfect fifth
26:26
So once you understand intervals, it is important to get your ears acquainted to what intervals sound like
26:33
So what I mean here is a little bit of ear training. Now to practice intervals and train your ears to start identifying intervals, let us learn the exercise that we need to do
26:44
You can start at C and from there, first of all, do the octave
26:49
That is from C to C. Now try to sing these octaves together
27:01
Now try to figure out if you can match the frequencies. Is it? Anything. E. E
27:09
Any sound that you feel, any syllable you can use
27:20
All you need to is just feel the frequency and give your ear some time to
27:32
Now this first I did harmonically, then I am going to do it melodic intervals
27:40
like picking the octaves out individually. Try to sing both the notes
27:50
No, not, na, na, na. Any sound you can match to it
28:11
Anything. Feel free to do whatever makes you happy. All you need to figure out is this is
28:20
This is... Once you get a hold of octave, switch to the fifth
28:30
Now, c to a fifth is G. This is a perfect fifth
28:34
So now again, in a harmonic fashion. right? Right
28:50
After that fourth Now I'm not a singer and I'm not a professional singer or anything
29:01
but I can practice intervals and train my ear to actually listen
29:06
to actually start listening and to train my ear, I actually need to sing it out
29:30
All right. So for the very beginners, it is advised to first practice octaves
29:35
then your perfect fifth and then your perfect fourth. These are easy
29:41
Once you start recognizing perfect the octave, like if I play from here to here or here it's an octave
29:52
is this an octave or is this an octave or is this an octave or is this an octave
30:01
None of this is an octave. This is an octave doesn't sound like
30:05
Now this is an E. Am I playing an E here? By no chance
30:12
What if I do? No, not an octave. An octave. See? An octave
30:26
An octave. All right? We have octaves laid out at a lot of positions
30:35
we can't figure that out later. But as of now, try listening to octaves
30:41
Am I doing octaves? Once your ear get acquainted to recognizing octaves
30:51
your perfect fourth, your perfect fifth, it is really a joy, and you can move on to other intervals
30:57
After that, you can do your major third and you move on to major sixth
31:01
And once you get acquainted with major third and sixth, do your minus second and your minus sixth
31:09
And once that is done, basically then the seventh is left. And recognizing that is pretty easy, I would say
31:16
But it will be very less used. So you need not bother about the seventh interval, I guess
31:21
For now, for beginners. All right. A lot to learn. A lot to go through for this lesson
31:30
And this is just part one of the music theory, basic music theory
31:35
And I have showed you the exercises that you need to do for the intervals. First, understand the notes, how they are laid out, get a hold of them, then move up to the intervals
31:45
Once you understand intervals, then you can move on to the next part
31:53
That is how scales are built. Now, there's a concept of a circle of fifths
31:58
We are not going into that as of now because I feel when you introduce circle of fifths to beginners, they get confused
32:05
As of now, this is the part one for the basic music theory for guitarist and know your notes
32:12
try to figure them out. Now, start with the, after that, start with intervals, try to recognize the voices of intervals
32:22
Now, interval ear training will take you time. It will take you month or so at least
32:28
So do it for 5, 10 minutes every day if you can. Do it on alternate tests if you want
32:34
whatever feels comfortable you, the main thing is to get started
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