Looking into the Basics of Music Theory

Howdy all! It has come to my attention that my last post talking about "Goliath" by the band Karnivool may not be accessible to those without an understanding of musical theory and concepts.

So I would like to get everyone on the same page and define and explain these terms and concepts, which is no easy feat. Understanding a concept well enough to teach it is more difficult than simply understanding it.

First, I'll tackle some of the terms glossary style.

Beat: A flexible subdivision of time

Measure (or bar): A defined group of beats

Time Signature: Has a top number and a bottom number. stylized in text it is 'top number/bottom number' or 3/4 where 3 is the top number and 4 is the bottom number. The top number is how many beats are in a measure and the bottom number is what type of note is worth a beat.

If you have a sheet of music in front of you, the first measure should have a time signature to let the musician know how to count the song. Music is math, simple math, but math nonetheless. Time signatures and beats and measures allow musicians to stay in sync with each other and the intentions of the composer.

A common time signature is 4/4. There are 4 beats, and those beats are quarter notes. You can think of it like there are four 1/4 (one quarter) beats. The 4 quarter notes are referred to as beats 1, 2, 3, and 4. Time signatures set the "feeling" and parameters for the music, but they can be subdivided many ways. Most commonly there are whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and thirty-second notes. A measure in 4/4 has 1 whole note, 2 half notes, 4 quarter notes, 8 eighth notes, 16 sixteenth notes, and 32 thirty-second notes. Any combination of the different types of notes can be in a bar of 4/4 as long as the total adds up exactly 4 quarter notes.

Another common time signature is 6/8. There are 6 eighth notes. Therefore 6/8 has 3 quarter notes because a quarter note is worth 2 eighth notes. There cannot be 2 half notes in 6/8 because a half note contains 2 quarter notes, and 6/8 only has 3 quarter notes. In standard music notation exists "dotted" notes, where the dot indicates the value of the note it is attached plus half the value of that note. So, a dotted half note would have 3 quarter notes: 2 for the half note and 1 for the dot. In 6/8, there is one dotted half note per measure.

Hopefully, you were able to follow along and learn something! There is a bunch of material about the basics of music theory so I suggest you go consume as much of it as possible. However, I warn you not to let the theory of the music you enjoy detract from the music itself. Music theory exists to make music communicable, not to create rules. If you find yourself creating music, put the music first not the theory.