KVR Audio

shonoob · Post by **shonoob** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 8:40 pm

I am talking about simple things as a complete beginner like learning major/minor scales, and also how long does it take to get familiar with the keyboard notes, and chords? Chords always seem easy in concept but the black keys are still mixing me up. Also, how does one know what key a song is in (is it based off of what the root note in a chord progession/scale is)?? Sorry if the question is a little stupid.

Thank you very very much.

ariston · Post by **ariston** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 9:06 pm

Basic music theory isn't exactly rocket science, so you can learn it pretty quickly. But you will have to gain experience in applying that theory, until it becomes second nature. That can take anything from a year to a whole lifetime. The theory itself will tell you nothing. Learning an instrument (with a real-life teacher) will help a lot, and playing with other (real-life) musicians is invaluable.

You can read dozens of books about swimming, but you still need to jump in and start paddling in order to learn it. There are no short cuts here, sorry. (And god help you if Jancivil gets a whiff of this thread).

shonoob · Post by **shonoob** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 4:05 pm

ariston wrote:Basic music theory isn't exactly rocket science, so you can learn it pretty quickly. But you will have to gain experience in applying that theory, until it becomes second nature. That can take anything from a year to a whole lifetime. The theory itself will tell you nothing. Learning an instrument (with a real-life teacher) will help a lot, and playing with other (real-life) musicians is invaluable.

You can read dozens of books about swimming, but you still need to jump in and start paddling in order to learn it. There are no short cuts here, sorry. (And god help you if Jancivil gets a whiff of this thread).

Jancivil? lol

Also, another super beginner question; in order for my bassline and melody and chorus etc all to sound good together, do they all have to be in the same key?

thecontrolcentre · Post by **thecontrolcentre** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:28 pm

shonoob wrote:in order for my bassline and melody and chorus etc all to sound good together, do they all have to be in the same key?

You can change key at any time during a song if you want to ...

Robert Randolph · Post by **Robert Randolph** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:31 pm

shonoob wrote:I am talking about simple things as a complete beginner like learning major/minor scales, and also how long does it take to get familiar with the keyboard notes, and chords? Chords always seem easy in concept but the black keys are still mixing me up. Also, how does one know what key a song is in (is it based off of what the root note in a chord progession/scale is)?? Sorry if the question is a little stupid.

Thank you very very much.

I can teach you in about an hour, if you'd like. If you have skype or whatever, let me know.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:38 pm

I like the analogy of reading books about swimming.

Another would be the question "How long will it take me to learn the basics of mathematics?" Doesn't that depend on what you consider basic? And individual aptitude? And practice time?

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:02 pm

shonoob wrote:
ariston wrote:Basic music theory isn't exactly rocket science, so you can learn it pretty quickly. But you will have to gain experience in applying that theory, until it becomes second nature. That can take anything from a year to a whole lifetime. The theory itself will tell you nothing. Learning an instrument (with a real-life teacher) will help a lot, and playing with other (real-life) musicians is invaluable.

You can read dozens of books about swimming, but you still need to jump in and start paddling in order to learn it. There are no short cuts here, sorry. (And god help you if Jancivil gets a whiff of this thread).
Jancivil? lol

Also, another super beginner question; in order for my bassline and melody and chorus etc all to sound good together, do they all have to be in the same key?

Aww lay off. He's a good guy. Every writers club needs a grammar Nazi who understands subjunctive and things. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'm glad we have someone so knowledgable to turn to here.

Anyway, you might take a look at this: http://www.8notes.com/theory/
Learn what the terms mean. Intervals, key signatures, octaves... They are very simple concepts with complicated words referring to them.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:05 pm

You generally want to stay in the same key, yes. Clashing notes literally sound harsh.

herodotus · Post by **herodotus** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:07 pm

I'd say to start by learning to read music. It's a more limited goal to set for yourself, and a useful skill whether or not you go on to learn any advanced theory. You will have to learn a decent amount of basic theory in the process anyway, which may be all you ever need.

You can start with this free e-book.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:09 pm

shonoob wrote:I am talking about simple things as a complete beginner like learning major/minor scales, and also how long does it take to get familiar with the keyboard notes, and chords?

It's pretty simple, if you learn C major and C minor you basically got it all covered, as you just need to transpose the keys with one semitone to get to the next major/minor scale.

There are twelve notes in total in an octave, playing note 1+4+8 gives you a basic minor chord, playing note 1+5+8 gives you a basic major chord

shonoob · Post by **shonoob** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:38 pm

Robert Randolph wrote:
shonoob wrote:I am talking about simple things as a complete beginner like learning major/minor scales, and also how long does it take to get familiar with the keyboard notes, and chords? Chords always seem easy in concept but the black keys are still mixing me up. Also, how does one know what key a song is in (is it based off of what the root note in a chord progession/scale is)?? Sorry if the question is a little stupid.

Thank you very very much.
I can teach you in about an hour, if you'd like. If you have skype or whatever, let me know.

Damn, that is such an amazing offer man

, thank you so so much . I am currently busy however!!

shonoob · Post by **shonoob** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:42 pm

arkmabat wrote:You generally want to stay in the same key, yes. Clashing notes literally sound harsh.

I see! But if I am not super knowledgeable as to what key it is, and it sounds good to my ear, does that mean that the keys aren't too discordant?

arkmabat wrote:Aww lay off. He's a good guy. Every writers club needs a grammar Nazi who understands subjunctive and things. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'm glad we have someone so knowledgable to turn to here.

Anyway, you might take a look at this: http://www.8notes.com/theory/
Learn what the terms mean. Intervals, key signatures, octaves... They are very simple concepts with complicated words referring to them.

That looks like a great link, im going to bookmark it and look through it all religiously later. cheers

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:30 pm

A song can change key, but everything needs to change with it. You don't want a bass part in another key, completly different from the melody for instance.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:32 pm

If it sounds good then you're on the right track yes, though I will sometimes still be technically one note out of key. But you can check that with what you learn from reading.

Numanoid · Post by **Numanoid** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 7:33 pm

arkmabat wrote:A song can change key, but everything needs to change with it. You don't want a bass part in another key, completly different from the melody for instance.

Well, it can work pretty well keeping the main riff in C, if for instance one varies a base line between C and G.

How long does it take to learn basic music theory?