Hello fine folks. please forgive the crudeness of making this from my phone.

This thread is dedicated toward showing and sharing how to take music theory knowledge as a foundation, and use that knowledge as a scafolding to construct real and powerful creative music from your heart.


First we are going to brush up on just a few very important music theory points and then I will show you specific step by step ways to use that in order to create real actual music out of it. The goal in that is to give you ways to unlock your creative potential and then you can post things to share as well to help to take the knowledge of how music structure works ,and use it to make music with.

Part I.

A.
We begin with 12 tone e.t.

c c# d d# e f f# g g# a a# b c

We skip every other note and unzip the chromatic scale into 2 whole tone scales
1. C d e f# g# a#
2.c# d# f g a b

We take the first 3 notes of 1 c d e and we take last 4 of second scale f g a b
This gives us c major key c d e f g a b

But before we continue on with c major key let's look more in depth at the 2 whole tone scales

1. C d e f# g# a#
2. c# d# f g a b

Looking at the second we see a g9 #5 #11
In other words gbd#fac#

What is significant about any symmetrical scale or chord is that all intervals are equal distance and importance .
In the case of our g9 #5 #11

Gbd#fac#
Or
G a b c# d# f
All intervals are a tone apart

We know that our dominant chord is the most important chord in any key.

For example G7 is the dominant chord of the C major KEY

In c mAjor you have 7 chords
Cegb
Dfac
Egbd
Face
Gbdf
Aceg
Bdfa

4 of these chords fit over our dominant and 3 fit over our tonic .
The
Gbdf
Bdfa
Dfac
Face
Chords fit over the dominant in our key and the

Aceg
Cegb
Egbd

Fit over our tonic

Also we can think of

Dfac
Face

As subdominant or slightly tense dmin7 travelling to tense go resolving to home cegb.

Now going back to our G9 #5 #11

G a b c# d# f

Since all intervals are tone apart this means with this collection of notes we have 6 independent dominant 9 #5 #11 chords
G9#5#11. Gbd#fac#
B9#5#11 .bd#fac#g
D#9#5#11 d#fac#gb
F9#5#11 . Fac#gbd#
A9#5#12. Ac#gbd#f
C#9#5#11 .c#gbd#fa

This means we have a way of grouping 6 notes out of the chromatic scale in such a way as each note in this single 6 note scale gives us dominant chords from 6 KEYS in such a way as every inversion of the scale creates the same chord as the last inversion. This first step is an easy way to see how multiple keys can be connected.

 

In part 1 we began with the chromatic scale next diving it into 2 equal parts which is 2 6 note scales. We seen that this first division possible cutting in half leads us to creating a specific yet important chord which every interal in the chord yeilds a 7th chord for it,s own key. All with 1 collection of 6 notes spaced equal tone apart.

Next we go back to our chromatic scale and we divide it this time into 3 equal parts.

bcc#dd#eff#gg#aa#b

Bdfg#
Cd#f#a
C#ega#

This gives us 3 4 note chords 4x3 equals 12 chromatic notes let's take a look at
Bdfg#
These notes are symetrical minor 3rds
This chord is called the diminished 7th chord.
This chord is the mother of all chords.
We know that it has 4 notes and that we have 3 diminished 7 chords contained within the chromatic scale, so how can this chord be the mother chord?
It is because if we take bdfg#
And if we slide an interval the left one tick or the right one tick we can transform into another different chord in fact we can create any chord type by doing this .
But first we need to see the function of the dim7 before we transform it into every other chord.

Bdfg# this bdim7 is a g7flat9 gbdfg# no root
Dfg#b this dfim7 is a a#7flat9 a#dfg#b no root
Fg#bd this fdim7 is a c#7flat9 c#fg#bd no root
G#bdf this g#dim7 a e7flat9 eg#bdf no root

We can see now that bdfg# equals 4 dominant 7 chords
In other words the sgnificance of this is that if we play dmin7 ddim7 cmaj7

It can represent dmin7 g7 cmaj7
Dmin7 bflat7 cmaj7
Dmin7 e7 cmaj7
Dmin7 c#7 cma7

The dim7 shows us the dominant substitutions possible.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2018

As much as I appreciate your post, it's way too much for me! I have a basical knowledge of musical theory that I MUST improve, but this is wwaaaayyy out of my league.

 

Part 3 now the mother chord

We looked at how bdfg# equals 4 dom7 chords and that each one of them are the substitutions for those keys example.

Key c major the dom7 is G7
In the relative minor a min e7 is the dom7
Next our tritone sub for g7 is c#7
Next our tritone sub for relative minor
E7 is bflat7 or a#7

These are all contained in bdim7
Bdfg#




Now that we have covered the dim7 chord on it's own we can look at how it is the mother chord slang for where all chords come
Bdfg# b dim7
Take a note slide it up 1 semi tone
Bdfg# bdfa bmin7flat5
Dfg#b dfg#c d min7flat5
Fg#bd fg#bd# f min7flat5
G#bdf g#bdf# g#min7flat5

This is how to make diminished into half dim type
Next take a note slide down one semitone

Bdfg# bdfg g7
Dfg#b dfg#a# a#7
Fg#bd fg#bc# c#7
G#bdf g#bde e7

This is how make a dim7 into a 7th chord
Next slide 2 notes up semitone

Dfg#b. Dfac dmin7
Fg#bd fg#cd# fmin7
G#bdf g#bd#f# g# min7
Bdfg# bdf#a bmin7

This is how to turn a dim7 into a min7 chord
Next slide OneNote down semitone and one note up semitone to create maj7 chord ex

Dfg#b c#fg#c c#maj7
Fg#bd eg#bd# emaj7
G#bdf gbdf# gmaj7
Bdfg# a#dfa a#maj7

This is how turn diminished 7 into maj7 chord

 

Don't worry after I brush up on this theory portion I am going to show step be step how to make stuff with it you'll be able follow step by step and see how it all works retroactively my homie

 

@GodHimSelf
Don´t be hard on yourself, if chords make you mess up, start simplest, intervals

 

thnx man sensational

 

Sounds very similiar to Barry Harris way of explaining jazz harmony.

First there was the universe. The chromatic scale.

Then it split into two whole tone scales. In order to create the 3 types of dimished 7 chords you need half of each whole tone scale.

The diminished 7 are like children of the two whole tone scales. Each WT scale provides half of the DNA for the diminished 7.

Once you have the diminished 7, as explained in previous posts. You can raise or lower a notes and get all of the chord qualities.

It's pretty heavy going if you're a beginner.

I have heard him explain it much more concisely than above. Nonetheless his haromonic knowledge is wonderful. Provides a great way of thinking differently about harmony.

 

So far we began with all 12 notes broke it in half to see 2 sets of 6 dom7 chords which compatible with each set next we took the chromatic scale and broke down into 3 diminished chords where each diminished chord has 4 dom7 chords built into it which are the substitutions for the keys that the dom7 chord belongs to .
After that we looked how a dim7 chord can transform into any other type of chord which we find in our working key.

That information is our foundation for everything which comes next and you will be able to see step by step exactly how we use that knowledge.

Our next step is to bring focus to a Key.
And because c major is the first key we will start there . We get it's notes from the initial 2 whole tone scales
3 from 1st scale cde and last 4 of the second f g a b this gives us
C d e f g a b
Cmajor
Cegb
Dfac
Egbd
Face
Gbdf
Aceg
Bdfa

We have 2 main options how to use this in our melodies and chord changes
Home static or ways from home movement or tension
The dominant 7 is our most important chord it is the most movement or tension the home chord cmaj is or tonic or at rest
Our dfac and face are slightly tense or small movement

Let's start simple
Cmaj6
Our most consonant chord which represents home
Cega cmaj6
Next guy gbdf is tense

play cmaj6 4 times each with inversion it looks like this
Cega
Egac
Gace
Aceg
Notice that cmin7 and cmaj6 are identical
Just diff inversion

Now that we see we have 4 ways to play a 4 note chord each it's own flavor let's look at g7
Remember our dim bdim7 is bdfg#
We will use our dim as sub for g7
Bdfg#
Dfg#b
Fg#bd
G#bdf
Now we have play 4 versions of it let's play a progression of

Bdim7 to c6
1. Bdfg# to cega
2.dfg#b to egac
3. Fg#bd to gace
4. G#bdf to aceg

We can now see that we actually can have a chord for each note in c maj if we add g# looks like this.
C d e f g g# a b
An 8 note scale
If we pick every other note we get 2 chords
C e g a
D f g#b

This means at any time we make a Melody let's say d down to b up to c
We can attach the chord to it
Dfg#b down to bdfg# up to cega

Or how about c b a g# g a descending line
Cega to bdfg# to aceg to g#bdf

This progression is representing a g7 to cmaj

Let's try ii v i
Dfac
Gbdf
Cega

 

Yes my friend that portion of the theory I am describing is described by Barry Harris also. Other portions I describe he does not or he described differently he is a great man.

 

So far we have covered the scafolding of what we are to soon use to step by step make music from but before we do we have to cover a few more important pecies of the puzzle .

First is enclosures aka leading tones aka grace notes


This pertains to lines and melodies .
Yes we use arpreggios or individual chord tones ex
Gbdfdbg played one after another
However it would sound very boring and nursery rhymes like to only play like that by itself.

We use grace notes and enclosures to setup our important landing notes for impact.

In most simple form let's say we playing over g7
We do play g b d f or say the bdim7 to replace it that would be playing b d f g#

Let's take one note to begin with.
We use a swing tempo or long note short note
BadaDabaDabaDa
Long then short we use chord tones on long beat
So let's take one note of g7

G
So first swing it g g g g g g g long then short
Next on the short beat we play the f# leading into our landing note this is grace note
G f# g F# g

Or another note b
We use the a# leading into our landing note b
Ba#bA#ba#Ba#

So we have covered a note below let's see a note above
If our chord tone is g we play g# on short swing note
Gg#gg#gg#
Or if landing note is d we play d# to d d# to d
Next combine upper and lower this enclouses our landing note ggg turns into g# f# g
This enclouses has 2 grace notes then lands on our chord tone this 3 note enclousure is a melodic device.
Let's try some more from g7
How about b
BBB turns into ca#b or d
Ddd turns into d#c#d

This melodic device 3 note enclousure is just the start how about we add another note so if our chord tone is g we play ggg turns into g#f#g but this time play ag#f#g this is a 4 note enclosure

What if our chord tone is d
Play ddd turns into d#c#d but now play ed#c#d this melodic device 4 note enclousure sets up our landing note emotionally.

Try another type enclosure

If we playing cmaj7 cegb
Our chord tone is b
So bbbb turns into caa#b
This is a powerful way to express.

 

This is great... Just a small typo... cmin7 should be amin7

 

We have looked at melodic device enclosure now we are going to do something real with it.

Step 1 play swing timing descending g7 then back up again
Fdbgbdf
Long beat is in bold
Step 2 make enclousure around that specific shape
So first center the f note we play
G to start on the beat go down to f# d#ef
So far we have
Gf#d#ef
Now we gown down to our D note like in step 1
Next we look at our b we play ca#b
Next we look at our g and play g#ff#g
Next we play the b above
Next we look at our d above but play d#c#d
Last we go above and play f#d#ef

Take you time to slow feel it.

 

@MMJ2017 Would you please analyze this with your theory?
https://clyp.it/imloezgh

 

My quick impression is that this music falls under a totally different system of atonal music which is beyond the scope of this thread which falls under the catergory of tonal music . but thank you for your comment.
There are 3 categories within 12tone e.t.
Tonal music
Polytonal music
atonal music
Then if you leave equal termperament you have more than that too
This thread is just about tonal music category.

 

When thinking about melodic device enclosures , we want to picture the note let's say the note is D.
This is our center point it will be our landing note of impact and defines the sole purpose of the enclosure .

Let's picture d with 2 notes before and after it.

C c# D d# e

Now
1. We play this order e c d# c# D
2. We play this order c e c# d# D
3. We play this order c c# e d# D
4. We play this order e d# c c# D

These are our first 4 , 5 note melodic device enclousures.

How can we put them to use?

First we start with an arpreggio .let's take the ii of cmajor our subdominant dmin7 dfac

Lets take the fac portion of it

Descending from c
Cafac played one note after another

We start on the beat so we play c#bc
This is the portion centered around c
Next we go down to play a
Next we look down centered at our f
We play f#ef
Here is the whole thing

C#bcaf#efac#bcaf#efac#bcaf#efac#bc

 

We have looked at enclosures and grace notes while using steady 8th note swing feel.
Now we are going to look at triplets.

Triplets add in dimension and expression giving more variety and break up the patterns.

First off a triplets has a 123 feel . We will say in this case the 123 triplets lasts same amount of time as a 12 swing so 123 equals 12
In other words say we had 12121212 we could remove the first 12 section and it would be 123 121212 that woulbd repeat over 4 count

123121212
123121212
123121212
That is triplet in beggining
Go back to 12121212
Put triplet at end
121212123
121212123
121212123
121212123
Go back to 12121212

Now put triplet on second beat
121231212
121231212
121231212
121231212
Go back to 12121212
Now put triplet on third beat
121212312
121212312
121212312
121212312


Now we have seen triplet placement let's see how we attach notes to it
First is arpreggio

Say our chart is dmin7 g7 cmaj cmaj
4 sets of 1234
Now our first pattern is 123121212 lasting over 1234
We take our dmin7 notes dfac
We play 123 as dfa
We play 121212 as cafdfa
Here is whole pattern
Dfacafdfa

Now go back to 12121212 this time put triplet on second beat

121231212
First 12 play df
Next 123 play aca
Next 1212 play fdfa
Here is whole thing

Dfacafdfa

Go back to 12121212
This time put triplet on beat 3 like this

121212312
First play dfac
Next afd
Finally fa
Here is whole thing

Dfacafdfa

Now go back to 12121212
This time put triplet on beat 4
Like this 121212123
First play dfac
Next af
Last dfa
Here whole thing

Dfacafdfa

 

It's really important in Jazz to have strong rhythmic feel. This means using rest or empty space as important part of how you play .
Think of a modern drum solo where the drummer changes from that typical beat boom slap boom boom slap
Into a drum solo where they play t t slap b boom boom s s slap t slap boom rest boom boom
It's a feel and sound resembling a person on the dance floor shaking around and feeling the gravity around them the way the muscles and bones move with the air resistance around your body as you fluidly dance.
Jazz is the embodiment of that feeling

To explore the use of rest we will start out simple

Take 12121212
Lasting on 1234
Let's take dmin7 for it and use the 3rd f and 7th c
So we have f and c notes

First high c to low f
Fill in all of our beats
Cfcfcfcf
Play this few times get the feel

Now we are going to use the r letter for rest or empty space
First off c then r for empty space then cfcfcf
Here is whole thing
Crcfcfcf
Now we are getting some feelings happening let's add more space
Crcfcfrf
Play this slow several times
Here is another one
Cfrfcrcf
Play several times
How about a lot empty space
Rfcrcrrf
Play several times this one more difficult
Try start slow then build it up with metronome

 

YYYYYEEEESSSSS :D thank you!

 

I know the very basics, I did a music theory course and I know how to build "the stuff" but I feel it's not enough! Thank you!