On Feb 12, 4:15 am, Dylan <DDawso...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a newbie to this group and to music theory in general. I have high-
> school experience of music theory in that I can read sheet music and
> understand the definitions of some music terms.
>
> I'm trying to learn a new instrument, without instruction. I want to
> be able to play improv.
>
> I have a question, or two, below.
>
> "The degrees of the traditional major and minor scales may be
> identified several ways...in English, by the names tonic, supertonic,
> mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, (subtonic or leading
> tone)...These names are derived from a scheme where the tonic note is
> the 'center'. Supertonic and subtonic are, respectively, one step
> above and one step below the tonic; mediant and submediant are each
> one third above and below the tonic, and dominant and subdominant are
> one fifth above and below the tonic." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> Scale_degree)
>
> Q: The degrees of the scale are described here as steps above/below
> the tonic, why does this conflict with my thinking that tonic is the
> first note of the scale? Isn't sub-dominant the middle note in the
> scale?
>
> Kind regards
> Dylan
Hi Dylan,
I understand that in many schools, and for that matter, many people
rely on Wiki for information. Although there is much good information
in Wiki, try to get used to the notion that much of it is not the BEST
or most USEFUL information, but is information posted by who ever
takes the time to post it! My advice is to use Wiki as a STARTING
POINT for your research and after that, then follow the links and
Google things mentioned until you get an idea of what is im****tant.
The info in this particular information is not incorrect with regard
to the names of the notes. You seem to be confused a bit as you ask
why the sub dominant is middle note of the scale. As you list them,
it is in the middle ( not counting the chromatic mid point of the aug4/
dim5th mid point) The Dominant is a fifth above the tonic and the sub
dominant is a fifth below the tonic. When reduced to the octave and
arranged in a linear manner, you get the listing that you have in
Wiki.
The manner that the tones of the scale are numbered are not the most
useful way to use these and indicates to me that this was taken from
an old theory book and not really very useful for you as you study the
common usage or FUNCTION of the chords built on these notes of the
scale. It is more useful to think of these levels in Roman Numerals;
Upper Case for Major Chords built on these steps and Lower Case for
minor chords built on these steps. The Arabic (another misnomer, but
not originated by Wiki lol) Numbers are sometimes use as scale steps
for melodic singing instead of Solfeggio (sometimes called SolFa) in
order to use Movable Do principles when the context is the European
style of using Fixed Do. In general, theory uses the RN UC/LC for the
chordal function and the numbers for melodic notations. (this is the
basics You will find the Major/Minor supplemented by Augmented chords
UC and add a "+" sign, and diminished LC and a little degree circle
and the half diminished with the lowercase and a line through the
degree circle.
I would suggest that you look at a site like <www.musictheory.net> and
follow the lessons in order to get a basic perspective as to the
things that you will be talking about and how they fit into the whole
picture. Some freshman level theory books or books used in the IB and
AP music cl***** may also be useful to help you get started.
To get to the other questions you posed:
Yes, the Tonic note is the first note of the scale or mode. C is the
tonic of the Cmaj scale ( C D E F G A B C) but this same set of white
notes can have the Relative minor scale of Amin as a tonic (A B C D E
F G A ) as well as the D as the tonic of the D dorian mode ( D E F G
A B C D ) and each note can be a tonic IF it is used in that manner in
that particular example. Music is the combination of MANY very simple
things that become very complicated when they are not put in the
proper perspective. Please use the above link or some other reference
to start to get an idea of what you are beginning to study in order
not to waste your time and learn things wrong.
Question: I can not think of an instrument that you would be learning
that depends on information related to what you have asked in this
post. The question you posed is a theory question and has no direct
relation to the technique of any instrument. It is an early step in
learning terms that will apply to the study of theory rather than an
instrument. If you are trying to learn the Piano, a teacher is
particularly something good to think about finding and it is the
instrument that may be best to learn the theory concerning
improvisation, but if you already know how to play a melodic
instrument, this can be very useful for learning how to improvise and
can be used with recordings of the harmony or with midi files written
by various programs that will serve as a background for your melodic
improvisation studies.
This post is a short answer to your questions as I see them, and are
by no means complete. I hope that it will help you to find out what
you want to learn and offer some suggestions as to how to approach
them. Do not hesitate to ask me for more specific information as you
start to put music theory in to perspective.
LJS
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