[HANASHIR:1551] Re: reading music

[Rglauber <Rglauber...>]

I definitely come down on the "by ear" end of the continuum, but I'm aware
that it's not a simple case of either-or.  It's a way of processing the aural
information that one hears.  For instance, when I hear a new song, I
immediately tune into the chord structure first, and there's a lot of
knowledge and "training" that goes into being able to recognize what a
progression is doing.  Simple tunes are one thing, but the more harmonically
sophisticated the music is, the more of a knowledge base one needs to be able
to "hear" it.

For me the key is to how chords relate with one another, starting with the
most basic I  IV  V  progressions and going on from there.  (Note to Steve
Brodsky... when it comes to learning about transposition, this is where to
begin.  One has to be able to recognize what a I IV  V progression sounds
like, and realize that it's the same in every key.  So rather than hoping to
hit on the correct chord, you use your 
knowledge to know where the next chord is.  It's the IV chord or the V chord. 

I realize that if you don't know what the IV chord means, than the preceding
will make no sense, so I am going to explain it for those who could use this
particular bit of information.

It all starts with the major scale  (do re mi fa sol la ti do)  everybody
knows what it sounds like.  If we're in the key of C, the major scale consists
of C D E F G A B C.
What we do is put a number with each letter.  C number becomes I, D becomes
II, 
E is III etc.  (Note that we use Roman Numerals to denote the steps of the
scale).  The next step is to construct chords on each note of the scale.  It's
quite easy to see on the piano, to make the C chord (otherwise known as the I
Chord), we add the third and fifth notes of the scale to get C E G.  We do the
same thing beginning on D, we start on the second note, then add the fourtth
and six
th notes to get a chord of D F A and that becomes our II chord, in this case D
minor.  Continuing up the scale, we get the III Chord which is EGB or E minor.
By going all the way up through the scale, we end up with the following:

The I chord is  C
The II chord is D minor
The III chord is E minor
The IV chord is F
The V chord is G
The VI chord is A minor
The VII chord is B diminished (don't worry about that for now)  then we're
back to the
The I chord is C

This is the basic framework for the music that we are familiar with. The
beauty of using numbers as opposed to letters is that we start to see music as
a series of relationships that are the same in any key.  If it's a progression
like "Heart and Soul" which goes  I  VI minor, II minor, V, we can play it in
any key (if we know the notes of the major scale for that key)  That's a
different lesson, but also quite easy.....

I don't want to bore anyone with tons of information, but if there is interest
in this sort of musical knowledge, I would be happy to share what I know.
(somebody ask me about the tri-tone substitution and you'll get a mouthful)

Personally I feel that this stuff is extremely useful both for one's own
development as a musician, and for one's ability to communicate and make music
with others.  It's our language and it can make for some easy and successful
communication.  

Rich G