Join Julian Velard for an in-depth discussion in this video The diatonic scale and the major scale, part of Music Theory for Songwriters: The Fundamentals.
- A musical scale is a series of notes ordered by pitch.…Either from lowest to highest known as an ascending scale.…Or highest to lowest known as a descending scale.…Scales are usually built around a repeating pattern…of whole step and half step relationships.…Like this one.…(piano scale music)…Once you climb up or down the scale…and reach an octave from the starting point,…the pattern repeats.…
Scales are the foundations of songwriting…as they help us choose which notes…sound good with each other to create…a specific sound or mood.…We refer to scales in one of two ways.…Either by the number of different pitches they possess…like pentatonic meaning a five-note scale,…or heptatonic meaning a seven-note scale,…or according to the intervals they contain.…While there are thousands of different scales…used throughout the musics of the world,…many of which are built on different…tuning systems than our own,…western music is largely based around the concept…of the diatonic scale.…
Diatonic is a word used to describe the intervals…
Author
Julian Velard
Released
9/18/2015Professional musician Julian Velard starts the course with the building blocks of harmony: notes, scales, intervals, chords, inversions, and basic chord progressions. He then goes into voice leading—showing how to move from one chord to another by changing just one or two notes—and reviews common song forms, from the familiar verse/chorus/verse of pop to the simple verse of the blues. At the end of each chapter, Julian explains the songwriting techniques shown in the chapter within the context of his own original commercially released songs.
- Understanding scales, intervals, and keys
- Triads or three-note chords
- Triad inversions
- Common major-scale chord progressions and cadences
- Voice leading
- Song form elements such as verse, chorus, bridge, hook, and more
- Using common song forms in songwriting
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 31s
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1. The Building Blocks of Harmony
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The octave4m 12s
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Intervals: Major and perfect7m 20s
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The concept of key3m 12s
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Figuring out intervals6m 33s
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2. Triads and Chord Progressions
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Triads: The basics of chords7m 48s
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Triad inversions6m 40s
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Voicing6m 38s
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Authentic cadences5m 32s
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3. Chord Progressions and Voice Leading
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What is voice leading?5m 28s
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The suspended chord5m 11s
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4. Song Forms
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The importance of song form2m 34s
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Beats, bars, and phrases5m 54s
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The chorus song form element1m 23s
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Verse/chorus/bridge forms1m 19s
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Simple verse form2m 2s
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Verse without chorus form1m 18s
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AABA 32-bar form1m 24s
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Through-composed song forms1m 26s
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Looking at a song's form5m 53s
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Conclusion
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Next steps1m 16s
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Video: The diatonic scale and the major scale