#20 LEARN FREE MUSIC THEORY
TLDRIn this 20th video of a music theory course, the instructor covers scale degrees - naming the steps in a scale to understand their harmonic interactions. He introduces the degrees: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, and leading note; explaining their relationships and Roman numeral notation. He then explains how to find the dominant and subdominant chords. For homework, he assigns memorizing degrees, writing the tonic/subdominant/dominant chords in 30 keys, and quizzing oneself on quickly identifying scale degree relationships.
Takeaways
- 😀 Scale degrees name the steps in a scale, allowing you to understand relationships between notes in any key
- 😊 Tonic, subdominant, and dominant are the most important scale degrees harmonically
- 🎵 The leading note pulls towards the tonic due to its harmonic instability
- 🎹 Understanding scale degrees helps with chord construction and harmonic analysis
- 🤔 Memorize scale degrees forwards and backwards to deeply internalize them
- 🎼 Dominant and subdominant chords contain the leading note, pulling towards the tonic chord
- 😯 Perfect cadences move from dominant to tonic due to the leading note resolution
- 🥁 Construct 30 chords in various keys using tonic, subdominant and dominant as homework
- 🎷 Quiz yourself on scale degree relationships to develop fluency
- 🎉 Mastering scale degrees prepares you for more advanced music theory
Q & A
What are scale degrees and why are they important?
-Scale degrees assign numbers to each note of a scale, like steps on a staircase. This allows you to understand how notes interact harmonically in any key by applying the same scale degree rules.
How can you easily remember the names of the different scale degrees?
-Group similar names together - Tonic and Supertonic, Mediant and Submediant, Dominant and Subdominant. Also remember that some scale degrees have the word 'sub' in them.
If you are in the key of D major, what is the dominant note?
-The dominant note would be A. To find the dominant, go up a perfect fifth from the tonic note.
How do you find the subdominant chord of a given key?
-Go up a perfect fourth from the tonic note of that key. Then build a chord using the notes of that key's scale. For example, the subdominant chord of A major is D-F#-A.
What's the difference between a tonic, dominant and subdominant chord?
-The tonic is the strongest, like home base. Dominant is the second strongest, like a place to rest on a journey. Subdominant is also quite strong harmonically. The tonic has the strongest resolution to the dominant.
What homework activities does the instructor recommend?
-Memorize scale degrees, practice writing tonic/dominant/subdominant chords in various major and minor keys, quiz yourself on quickly finding certain scale degrees like leading notes.
What is the leading note?
-The 7th scale degree. It is considered unstable harmonically and needs to resolve to the tonic.
What are the three strongest scale degrees harmonically?
-The tonic, dominant, and subdominant are the three strongest harmonically.
How do you notate scale degrees in harmonic analysis?
-With Roman numerals - uppercase for major, lowercase for minor.
What accidental might you need to write for the dominant chord in a minor key?
-You may need to raise the 7th degree with an accidental sharp or natural sign since key signatures don't apply to that note.
Outlines
🎵 Introducing Scale Degrees
The first paragraph introduces the concept of scale degrees, explaining they are like naming steps on a staircase to identify each note's position in the scale. It then goes through each scale degree, giving them colorful names to make them easier to remember.
🎹 Understanding Scale Degree Relationships
The second paragraph explains the relationships between scale degrees using Roman numerals and numerical identifiers. It also provides some tricks for memorizing the scale degrees based on master/slave and dominance relationships.
🏠 Tonic, Dominant and Subdominant Chords
The third paragraph compares the tonic, dominant and subdominant chords to places using a house/wilderness analogy. It explains the tonic is like your safe home base, the dominant is like an oasis where you can rest, and the subdominant is another strong chord.
📝 Homework Assignments
The fourth paragraph outlines the homework assignments, asking viewers to memorize scale degrees, write out 30 tonic/subdominant/dominant chords in various major and minor keys, and quiz themselves on identifying different scale degrees.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Scale degrees
💡Tonic
💡Dominant
💡Subdominant
💡Leading note
💡Chord building
💡Harmonic analysis
💡Cadences
💡Major and minor
💡Memorization tricks
Highlights
Scale degrees help identify notes within a key by assigning numbers or names to each step of the scale.
The tonic is the first note of the scale and the tonal center in Western music.
The dominant is the fifth scale degree and the second most stable, functioning like a temporary place to rest.
Roman numerals are used to label scale degrees for harmonic analysis - uppercase for major and lowercase for minor.
It's easier to remember scale degrees by grouping similar names, like tonic/supertonic and median/submediant.
The leading note is the seventh scale degree and is the least stable, so you can't really stop there harmonically.
The tonic, subdominant, and dominant are the main strong scale degrees that form the foundation of harmony.
The dominant pulls back toward the tonic due to the leading note and supertonic being part of its chord.
For homework, practice identifying different scale degrees and drawing triads in various major/minor keys.
You can quiz yourself by quickly naming scale degrees, like supertonic or submediant, in a given key.
The tonic chord is built on the first scale degree and is like your home base harmonically.
The subdominant chord is built on the fourth scale degree and is another harmonically stable area.
The dominant chord contains the leading note, which pulls back to the tonic in a perfect cadence.
Understanding scale degree relationships allows you to apply similar rules in any key signature.
You have to raise the seventh scale degree in minor keys to make the harmonic minor form.
Transcripts
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