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Basic Stuff I Dont Understand

2326 Views 16 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  clnh5
I know this is a forum for jem guitars and that some of these questions seem very basic.
But i have no idea what these mean:
Diatonic Chords
Dominats
Modes of Magor scale: dorian, lydian, mixolydia, aeolian, phrygian, locrian
harmonic minor sacle
melodic minor scale
diminished scale
Arpeggios

I really have no idea what they mean and how to use them yet i have done ABRSM Theory Grade 5.

And if i were given a scale, to write a solo with. How would the scale matter? Dont get it...

Thanks
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Diatonic Chords - Chords or other musical elements that belong to a given key or scale. (Saying "this chord is diatonic to this scale" is the same as saying "this chord belongs to the key of")

Dominats - Chords that contain a Major 3rd and flat 7th or The fifth scale degree of the major scale.

Modes of Magor scale: dorian, lydian, mixolydia, aeolian, phrygian, locrian - Names give to the scales (modes) that would be created if each note of the major scale were used as the root note of it own.

harmonic minor scale - a scale with the formula 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 (Just another scale)

melodic minor scale - a scale with the formula 1-2-b3-4-5-6-7 while ascending and 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 when decending.(Just another scale)

diminished scale - A scale created by alternating half and whole step combinations (Just another scale)

Arpeggios - To pick out the notes of a chord individually rather than strumming the notes all at once. (thats all it means... there are ways to make this seem pretty seem fancy but there isn't much to the concept)

Make sure to check out my site if you do start getting into this cause it help http://www.guitarknowledgenet.com
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what is a major 3rd or flat 7th
"1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7" dont get what does numbers mean and the b...
there is one more question i would like to ask,
you know how 9th fret on e string is C and 11th fret is D, why is 12th fret e again and not D#
you guys should start a music notation thread and explain it for me ^_^
KLP, I doubt that giving you quick answers to your questions is the answer. I'd suggest that you either by a book on basic music theory or take some lessons. Things like modes should not even be a topic of discussion for you until you have some of the basics down pat. Learn about basic chord construction & intervals first. Then learn about scales and modes and things will make much more sense to you.
Mike7771 said:
Diatonic Chords - Chords or other musical elements that belong to a given key or scale. (Saying "this chord is diatonic to this scale" is the same as saying "this chord belongs to the key of")

Dominats - Chords that contain a Major 3rd and flat 7th or The fifth scale degree of the major scale.

Modes of Magor scale: dorian, lydian, mixolydia, aeolian, phrygian, locrian - Names give to the scales (modes) that would be created if each note of the major scale were used as the root note of it own.

harmonic minor scale - a scale with the formula 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 (Just another scale)

melodic minor scale - a scale with the formula 1-2-b3-4-5-6-7 while ascending and 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 when decending.(Just another scale)

diminished scale - A scale created by alternating half and whole step combinations (Just another scale)

Arpeggios - To pick out the notes of a chord individually rather than strumming the notes all at once. (thats all it means... there are ways to make this seem pretty seem fancy but there isn't much to the concept)

Make sure to check out my site if you do start getting into this cause it help http://www.guitarknowledgenet.com
just some extra explanation on the minor stuff: harmonic minor has an augmented second to bring the leading tone to a half step within the tonic (making a gap between the 6th and 7th degree bigger) and melodic minor has the augmented second with the 6th degree raised a half step, but when DESCENDING goes down like a natural minor.
klp2332 said:
there is one more question i would like to ask,
you know how 9th fret on e string is C and 11th fret is D, why is 12th fret e again and not D#
That's because the 8th fret is C, the 10th is D, the 11th D#. :)

I concur with an earlier answer, it would be more beneficial for you to get a decent book (or teacher) in order to learn it properly. :) Good luck!
The Euphor said:
That's because the 8th fret is C, the 10th is D, the 11th D#. :)

I concur with an earlier answer, it would be more beneficial for you to get a decent book (or teacher) in order to learn it properly. :) Good luck!
then whats 7th fret if it isnt C. Ok, so it skips one but why?

thanks. really appreciate it.
klp2332 said:
then whats 7th fret if it isnt C. Ok, so it skips one but why?

thanks. really appreciate it.
Loose - E
1st - F
2nd - F#/Gb
3rd - G
4th - G#/Ab
5th - A
6th - A#/Bb
7th - B/Cb
8th - C
9th - C#/Db
10th - D
11th - D#/Eb
12th - E

You are aware of the the meaning of and [#]?
Just in case... means one half note below, that would be one fret. Adding a to any note would make it lower in pitch.
[#] means one half note above, that would also be one fret. Adding a [#] to any note would make it higher in pitch.

Hope it makes sense. :)

PS. Get a book, find a good website with good knowledge, there's a link in this thread. :)
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yep i know what sharps and flats are. and the websites fantastic. but why does the the 7th B skip to C in 8th fret. I know its the same with any instruments including the piano but why is that.
It's because there are no notes between B and C. ;) I have no clue why, not would I bother to figure it out. It's that way, and as long as everyone see it the same way, then it doesn't matter why. It's only theory - a language to interact with musical ideas.

Why doesn't the alphabeth start with E?
*** taken from http://www.precisionstrobe.com/apps/pianotemp/temper.html

Appendix A, The Equation of Pitch of the Equal Tempered Scale.

The octave is divided into twelve intervals to form the chromatic scale. Each of these intervals is further divided into 100 cents. Cents are used to describe small differences in pitch in terms of percentage of a semi tone.

Intervals of pitch are described in terms of the ratios of the frequencies, not absolute difference in frequencies. An octave interval is always twice, or half the frequency, of the first note. In the equal tempered scale, the twelve intervals are spread evenly between the octaves. If the ratio of each semi-tone is the inverse of the twelfth root of two (1.059463), this condition will be met. The frequency of each note in the scale can be figured by multiplying each successive note by this number to get the next. The frequency of any note can also be figured from:

f(N) = 27.5*2^(N/12)

where N is an index into the chromatic scale notes starting with 0 for A0, the lowest note on the keyboard. N increases by 1 for each note on the keyboard. Note that the actual key on the keyboard is N + 1. Table 1 shows the index and corresponding frequencies for all of the keyboard notes based on A4 = 440 Hz. To find the frequency of a note 12 cents sharp from A4, a value of n = 48.12 would be used. Sometimes it is useful to convert a frequency into N, solving for N:

N(f) = (12/ln(2))*ln(f/27.5)

This formula can be used to determine the note corresponding to a given frequency. Once N is figured, the integer value closest to it can be looked up in the following table. This equation also tells you the cents error from the corresponding note by taking the difference from it to the closest integer and multiplying by 100.
Oct 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Note N f N f N f N f N f N f N f N f
A 0 27.5000 12 55.0000 24 110.0000 36 220.0000 48 440.0000 60 880.0000 72 1760.000 84 3520.000
Bb 1 29.1352 13 58.2705 25 116.5409 37 233.0819 49 466.1638 61 932.3275 73 1864.655 85 3729.310
B 2 30.8677 14 61.7354 26 123.4708 38 246.9417 50 493.8833 62 987.7666 74 1975.533 86 3951.066
C 3 32.7032 15 65.4064 27 130.8128 39 261.6256 51 523.2511 63 1046.502 75 2093.005 87 4186.009
Db 4 34.6478 16 69.2957 28 138.5913 40 277.1826 52 554.3653 64 1108.731 76 2217.461 88 4434.922
D 5 36.7081 17 73.4162 29 146.8324 41 293.6648 53 587.3295 65 1174.659 77 2349.318 89 4698.636
Eb 6 38.8909 18 77.7817 30 155.5635 42 311.1270 54 622.2540 66 1244.508 78 2489.016 90 4978.032
E 7 41.2034 19 82.4069 31 164.8138 43 329.6276 55 659.2551 67 1318.510 79 2637.020 91 5274.041
F 8 43.6535 20 87.3071 32 174.6141 44 349.2282 56 698.4565 68 1396.913 80 2793.826 92 5587.652
Gb 9 46.2493 21 92.4986 33 184.9972 45 369.9944 57 739.9888 69 1479.978 81 2959.955 93 5919.911
G 10 48.9994 22 97.9989 34 195.9977 46 391.9954 58 783.9909 70 1567.982 82 3135.963 94 6271.927
Ab 11 51.9131 23 103.8262 35 207.6523 47 415.3047 59 830.6094 71 1661.219 83 3322.438 95 6644.875

Thats the long answer to why it goes directly from "B" to "C" and again from "E" to "F".
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The Euphor said:
It's because there are no notes between B and C. ;) I have no clue why, not would I bother to figure it out. It's that way, and as long as everyone see it the same way, then it doesn't matter why. It's only theory - a language to interact with musical ideas.

Why doesn't the alphabeth start with E?
i think the placing of the intervals have something to do with the major scale. historically, the musical alphabet starts at C, and the C Major has no #'s or b's because of the intervals between B and C, and E and F. just a guess, it may not be true
Robot Boy said:
i think the placing of the intervals have something to do with the major scale. historically, the musical alphabet starts at C, and the C Major has no #'s or b's because of the intervals between B and C, and E and F. just a guess, it may not be true
I think you're on to something. But it's not easy to say why they called that note C instead of A (as the first in most alphabeths).
A excellent all inclusive book for learning scales, theory, chords, etc, etc, is a book called (please excuse the cheezy title) Be Dangerous On Rock Guitar by Richard Daniels. This book explains alot of the questions and wonders that beginner guitarists have. And it explains it all to you in a very easy to understand way, so that even joe shmo down the street can understand.

http://www.heavyguitar.com/BeDangerous.html
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