Let’s check the essential basics that playing by ear more efficiently requires, and offer a solid foundation for further development in music. In this chapter, we look at the foundation of music, acoustic perception, character of sound, scales theory, and other issues. Only the essential details are given. Music is so deep and has so many facets that it is almost impossible to understand or learn everything in detail. Fortunately, rather than understanding everything intellectually, we just need to develop our understanding of music in a more transcendental form. For the artist, theory is only one tool among others. It is said that after the theory has been understood and digested, it needs to make place for creativity. After all, musicians like to make music instead of thinking or talking about it.

• NAMING CONVENTIONS
  • ABBREVIATIONS
• THE FOUNDATION OF MUSIC
• ACCOUSTIC PERCEPTION
• RECOGNITION OF INTERVALS
• CIRCLE OF 4th and 5th
• DIATONIC HARMONY
• SCALES BASICS
  • ESSENTIAL SCALES
  • NOTATION
  • SCALE TONES AND ROMAN NUMERALS
  • BASIC SCALE CATEGORIES
  • SCALE MODES
  • MAJOR SCALE MODES
  • MAJOR SCALES
  • DOMINANT 7th SCALES
  • MINOR SCALES
  • DOMINANT FUNCTION SCALES
  • HALF DIMINISHED SCALES
  • SYMMETRIC SCALES
  • DERIVED OR SYNTHETIC SCALES
  • PENTATONIC SCALES
  • ALTERED PENTATONIC SCALES

Read: What Is Music Theory? by Michael Pilhofer and Holly Day