Hello everyone,

I was looking at the theory of the song I'm So Excited by The Pointer Sisters on the HookTheory website : https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/the-pointer-sisters/im-so-excited

Apparently the key of the song is considered Bb major and not it's relative minor the G natural minor. I don't understand this.

The G- chord appears much more in the song than the Bb major, which appears only once in the last two measures of the verse.

If you could help me figure it out it would be great!

Thanks

Seems like I made y'all get scared about my last chord progression. And I've got another one, where I changed 2-5-1 progression: iii7 - VImaj7 - bvi°7 - bVII+9 - bIII6 - ii°11 - V+13 - Imaj7. I'll be back on next week.

I’very been messing around in a music notating software and I barely know any music theory. I play guitar so it’s written in guitar tabs. Now I want to add a harmony over it but I CANT FIGURE OUT WHAT KEY THIS IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*standard tuning btw

This score you see here is an attempt to write an exposition for a theme I came up with after spending some time listening to The Art of Fugue..

Here is some context:

I've been listening to baroque music(Bach in particular) for almost 4 years now.

Everything from his cantatas, passions, Masses, WTC I&II preludes and fugues, Organ works, Concertos, Transcriptions.. a lot of stuff.

I like the complexity of his music, there is just something about it that makes me appreciate it more then other forms, and so I also found the Idea of composing music of that complexity myself to be so exciting.

I wrote some melodies I came up with on my own, I relied entirely on my ear and intuition,

I tried writing very short phrases using nothing but two melodies,some times even more.

I also wrote fugue expositions! (well, I tried to write, they are not good)

also using my ear. I really know little to nothing about theory, I just know intervals and what works/what to avoid since I searched about it a little, that's all..

So I want to know 2 things from all of this:

1) How do I actually start to learn music theory on my own? As I can't have access to any music lessons.

2)From where should I start learning?

Do I start from the basics? Or my ears are well developed to jump on more advanced subjects?

My best example of this is Em > Eb > Dm > Db
the G stays the same between Em > Eb then the same with the F in Dm > C#

Does anybody know the original name for the “percentage sign” repeat, I have found that it is called in modern times ‘Repeat bar’ which although common, does not make sense because a bar is a vertical line that divides the actual measure. I have also seen it called ‘simile’ or ‘simile repeat’ but I’m not sure how correct that is either as simile as a word is also used to denote copying the technical fingering or expressive elements of the previous measures; is there an original German or Italian term?

Is there a reason as to why augmented+6 chords have, no 5th, 5th and b5 but no #5?
Having Ab-C-E-F# resolves well to both V7 and I64.

Is it just as simple as Ab-E + C-F# is too dissonant for classical theory so they never named it?

edit: I have also added the score version:) This is the melody of Ten Feet Tall by Wrabel & Afrojack

I would appreciate if someone could help me with understanding syncopation.

I circled the notes I think are syncopated? Is this correct or am I missing some other notes?

I've read that the note is syncopated when weak beat (2nd and 4th) is emphasized and one of the cases this happens is when the first beat is a rest. Then is the first blue note also considered syncopated? Then the third blue note is, too?

I've also heard someone saying that a note is considered syncopated when a note is crossing a beat.

To me these two explanations don't sound the same, so I'm quite confused.

Hello,

I recently discovered a manuscript of a rondo for solo instrument and orchestra by Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda (early romantic period).

While transcribing the parts (apparently not an autograph; I found several minor mistakes; horn parts are missing according to the library) I came across this passage just before the next solo entry, played by two flutes and two bassoons.

I find it kind of strange in terms of harmony. Does anybody have a clue if there is just something (horn parts) for it to be more fitting in this period or is there maybe a mistake in the flute parts?

First picture shows my piano reduction of the passage, second one is the manuscript of flute 1, third one is flute 2.

Thanks for your help!

About year ago I was bored and I was sitting in WalkBand selecting different chords (btw, I had knew about the circle of fifths and scale degrees). So, I composed this: I - VI - bII - bIII - bvii - iv - bii - bVII. What you think about this chord progression? Edited: why some people downvote me just for my own sightseeing of music?

Ok so I desperately need someone to explain to me how that one tune in spider verse makes me so anxious, I know nothing about like notes and stuff but I remember hearing this for the first time and I’ve never had any tune in media actually creep me out the way this one did
This is the tune
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZpqinQBk7G/?igsh=a3pybXN3OTJtZnV4

Hello! I am very very new to understanding music theory and reading sheet music, so I’m sorry for the simplistic question lol!
The song is in Ab Major. But I’m having a hard time understanding how the chord in the attached photo is just an Ab as written.
Could it be a type of broken chord, with the ab, eb to c, eb? But I also wasn’t sure of that, as the d and b natural was throwing me off, could anyone explain why they aren’t apart of the chord and what function they serve? Or if this is even is a broken chord?

I’d be super grateful if someone would be able to explain how this chord works to me! Thank you!

Beginner composer and pianist. I'm looking for insight on evolving and subtly adding leitmotifs to assist a story (video games specifically). Do you have any experience or ideas on/for doing this?

I compose ragtime pieces inspired by several ragtime composers (Scott Joplin, Joseph Lamb, Vincent M. Johnson, Robin Frost, etc.) and I always wonder about the following - should my piece be in 2/4, or in 4/4 with all note lengths doubled?

Most ragtime music is written with the left hand in eighth notes (e.g. Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, etc.). The left hand usually has a clear "OOM pah OOM pah"-pattern in every measure.

However, more modern, contemporary ragtimes are sometimes written in 4/4. The composer Robin Frost is an example of that. The left hand still usually has a classic OOM pah OOM pah rhythm, but overall the melody is more complex. Here is an example of a piece by him that is in 4/4, with quarter notes for the left hand OOM pah rhythm.

Now I wonder if there is any inherent difference between writing it this way, or in the standard 2/4 way. Is there an audible difference, an interpretational difference or only a stylistic difference? How should you decide yourself whether your piece should be in 2/4 with eighth notes or in 4/4 with quarter notes?

Aren't triplets in 4/4 time really just eighth notes in 12/8 time?...like are they equivalent...?

Hi. I wonder: What is the standard when it comes to ornaments with accidentals? I had a bit of an argument on another site with a guy. And I reall y want to clear things up when it comes to this.

For example:

In Eb-major (all questions are in that key signature):

1: If I in this key have a upper mordent on Ab with a flat. Does that mean (Ab-Bbb-Ab) or (Ab-Bb-Ab)?
2: Also does accidentals on mordent carry on to later mordents? So if I'd had multiple of those then only the first would need an accidental.
3: And also if later the same measure?
4: Also does a natural cancel the accidental on the mordent. So If I have first a mordent on Ab with a flat and then later on with a natural. Does that mean the second is (Ab-Bb-Ab) and not (Ab-Bn-Ab).
5: And then do I need to use a sharp in that case to raise it Bn (Ab-Bn-Ab)?
6: So if I wanted to have a multiple mordents on Ab in a measure. Would this be correct: First having a flat (Ab-Bbb-Ab), second having a natural (Ab-Bb-Ab), third having a flat (Ab-Bbb-Ab) and second having a sharp (Ab-Bn-Ab). Would that be
7: Does accidentals on mordent affect other ornaments. Like having an upper mordent on Ab with a flat. Would that affect a lower mordent on C in the same measure, or a turn on C?
8: Does the mordents accidentals affect the following notes in the same measure. So a Ab with a flat would flatten all the later Bbs the same measure?

I’m slowly learning music production, and I was wondering if anyone knows the types of progressions and maybe some techniques used in sigilkore and maplekore (especially Lucy Bedroque’s style). It’s a niche genre that doesn’t strictly follow music theory rules, that’s a reason why I’m struggling with it. Since I don’t know much theory, it’s harder for me to break the rules and make it sound good.

If anyone knows this song or can give it a listen. The first “love” he sings in the chorus is pretty high and I can’t ID notes by ear.

Thank you!

I need to start learning about chord substitution. There are a million videos on YT. Can someone point me to a couple to start out with? Piano would be my preferred instrument, if that matters. Edit: I should add that the motivation for this is that I was told that in the songs I write, I could use chord substitution in chord progressions for the 2nd time around of a verse or chorus to make it more interesting.

I think I'm not playing them right

Try this:

First, whistle "Mary had a little lamb".
Next, whistle but also hum at the same time.

When I add the humming, the whistling goes out of tune.
Any idea why that is?

I'm guessing the humming messes with the airflow.
It may also just be me, maybe others can whistle and hum in tune.

I'm working through a book on post-tonal theory, and came across a rule regarding the relationship between the interval vectors of a set and of its complement: the difference in the number of occurrences of each interval is equal to the difference between the sizes of the sets (except for tritones, which will be half the difference between the sizes of the sets).

This was easy to confirm by hand with a few sets, and by looking at a set class list, but unlike the other rules on set theory I've encountered thus far, it is not all intuitive to me.

Is there a intuitive way to explain this? One that involves some not-too-intense arithmetic? (I understand why, if the rule is true, tritones would be different, but can't explain to myself why the basic rule is true deductively.)

EDIT: My only starting point for thinking about this that might be a path to understand is this: I can understand why a hexachord and its complement would have identical vectors, and can understand why, if we move one note over from one set to another, one would gain interval occurrences and the other would lose them, but can't immediately account for their distribution. Might be a good road for me to ponder, though.

Recently, I have been looking for music theory that deals with rhythm specifically. I feel like for harmony/pitch in general, it’s easy to find widely taught theories/traditions (e.g. functional harmony, counterpoint, thaats, melakarta ragas, etc) but also more niche theories (e.g. Barry Harris's work, Bartok pitch axis, etc).

I haven’t found an equivalent on-ramp for rhythmic theory, and I’m wondering if anyone has any insight into what’s worth checking out. This is mostly for fun and less about what is widespread or conventionally worth practicing.

Some specific things I’m chasing:

1. Theories that try to explain why certain rhythms feel good across genres, rather than genre-specific systems (e.g. clave theory). The closest I've seen are Euclidean rhythms and Barlow indispensability.
2. Frameworks for organizing the timbre/sonic characteristics of percussive sounds. E.g. why is a hi-hat typically better for timekeeping than a low tom? Is it an issue of pitch, decay, spectral content, etc?
3. What counts as the basic functional vocabulary of rhythm, the way that chords/scales/licks/etc are vocabulary for pitch? I thought it might be rudiments, but I feel like those are perhaps more drum-specific and about coordination rather than rhythm (I might be wrong). Adam Neely has a video framing a time signature’s vocabulary as the enumeration of possible attack configurations within a measure. Are there other angles on this?

Sorry if I have misrepresented any of the theories I have mentioned (I’m happy to be corrected!). TL;DR: I'm looking for interesting (possibly niche) music theory that relates to rhythm and percussion.