What was the first thing you've learned in music theory?

[someone called simon]

One 'ah ha!' moment was after my guitar teacher showed me that if you're playing an open C chord, and you raise the Top E to F, it's a Csus4. I came back the next week and played an A chord, raising the top E to F in similar fashion, and asked if it was an Asus4 (duh). Then he explained why it wasn't and what it was.

And certain things like hearing how (for eg) in C, a G7 resolves into C, and how the same melody will most probably resolve into Am, so its the same, but different... that whole sound and mood of melodies over differing chords became very important to me and helped me to develop a really good ear for chord relationships and discerning what's going on... I think of this as theory, though its all a self-taught understanding based on listening and copying.

[Integratron]

It's easy to play the synth... you just have to hit the right keys at the right moment!

[debra1rlo]

First thing i learned in my first theory class what that 8 am is far too early for theory class, especially if you were up all night working beforehand.

you where working at 4 years old?

no, probably just apprenticing then

[dalor]

Started with 8-bit homecomputers typing chords(arpeggions) in sourcecodes, I find it much easier to work with note offsets than complicated chord descriptions. e.g:
37, 47, 49, 57, 59 etc.. If I hear a chord I can clearly tell all its note offsets but no idea about the names (e.g. Chord 37 is much clearer to me than 'C minor'). Too complicated

[Gimme]

@rbarata

ref: iBreatheMusic Forums

thankyou

[jdt]

The first thing I ever learned in Music Theory (besides the names of lines and spaces on the Great Staff, of course) was "B-E-A-D-G-C-F
[pronounced beed-gah-seff] and B-E-A-D-G-C-F backwards. The first being the order in which flats are notated, the second of course the order of sharps.
My theory teacher told me if I could remember that, I could figure out anything else reading and writing music. We actually wrote things out long-hand then, transcribing works as daily assignments.

I was like " oh, I see! That's why the key of F maj has a Bb." After that tons of things just made sense...that was like 37 years ago.

[stanlea]

The first thing I learned (I was very young) is that a white equals two blacks because in french a half note is called a "white" (blanche) and a quarter note is called a "black" (noire). Obviously, I thought that it was some kind of racial discrimination.

[xtp]

"B-E-A-D-G-C-F

Thats an interesting way to remember. The method I use [find easy to remember] for major scales is;

Sharps; Start @ C. Build the next scale on the 5th and sharpen the 7th.

Flats; Start @ F, flatten the 4th then make that the tonic of the next scale.

[Hink]

What was the first thing you've learned in music theory?


Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge... WHERE'S MY FUDGE?

The conclusion, obviously, is that you WEREN'T a good boy. I don't know how you live with the shame.

I was sentenced to 8 years to life on KvR, isn't that enough?

[DF2R]

What was the first thing you've learned in music theory?


Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge... WHERE'S MY FUDGE?

Wait, you were promised fudge? I was only promised fruit! Which was nowhere near enough motivation, fudge might have been more effective.

[tapper mike]

Were you good?

[rbarata]

Do you mean fugue? Counterpoint and fugue it's great!

[vurt]

What was the first thing you've learned in music theory?


Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge... WHERE'S MY FUDGE?

The conclusion, obviously, is that you WEREN'T a good boy. I don't know how you live with the shame.

I was sentenced to 8 years to life on KvR, isn't that enough?

every good boy deserves "futility".

[Doug1978]

What was the first thing you've learned in music theory?


Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge... WHERE'S MY FUDGE?

The conclusion, obviously, is that you WEREN'T a good boy. I don't know how you live with the shame.

I was sentenced to 8 years to life on KvR, isn't that enough?

every good boy deserves "futility".

Genuinely, my piano teacher's saying was 'every good boy deserves freedom'.


I didn't ask her about her past...

[jancivil]

the first thing I remember as a music theory principle that meant something quite real was the fact that my instrument was a Bb instrument, meaning that if I played off of sheet music for a regular C instrument the C on the page didn't sound a C, but really a Bb.