r/musictheory

I'm writing a quartet for classical guitar in C#m containing arpeggiations of these held chords: C#m, E/B, G#m/B, D#/A#.

The final chord currently contains Fx. This makes harmonic sense as it keeps the intervals correct, and therefore identifies the chord correctly, but I feel like I'm being fussy writing the arpeggio as A# Fx D# A# rather than A# G D# A#.

This is especially because I don't need to distinguish between different types of F or G in the chord (ie the music is firmly diatonic so I'm not using the double sharp to limit unnecessary accidentals) and so having the double sharp in there feels like I'm being technically correct but a bit fastidious.

What should I do?

Do I stick with harmonic accuracy or give the musician the more familiar spelling even though that obscures the harmonic intention (and makes me look harmonically illiterate!)?

I would never write a D major chord as D Gb A so why am I getting worked up about D# major as D# Fx A#?

Any advice greatly received!

Hi everyone! What is the best software for doing Roman numeral analysis of harmony? I’m struggling to write the figured bass directly above each other along side the numerals. I can get one in superscript then another in subscript diagonal from each other. Also, what is the best way to do a curved arrow to show an applied dominant? I’ve tried Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Edge’s pdf editor but neither seem to work. What software do professionals use for articles? Let me know what you think!

If I have a backing track with just a C as a drone and play C Phrygian over that drone can it be said that the key is in C Phrygian or is that incorrect?

Hey, y'all! I'm running through inversions of basic triads (maj, min, aug, dim) on the keyboard and was wondering how people refer to double sharps and double flats in the cases of augmented and diminished triads. Curious to get perspectives to have a better way to internalize note names.
--

Take for example an augmented chord (1 - 3 - #5)

For C#: this would be C# - E# - G#(#)

I understand that G## is technically the right note name, even if the enharmonic equivalent of A (which is a b6 vs a G## being a #5) looks simpler. I do somewhat agree with the reasoning, since it keeps chord tone qualities consistent.

My question is this the correct way to think about it?

You could also refer to the C# as a Db (Db - F - A; no double flats), but I'm curious about the case of C# in particular since I'm thinking of this in the case of keys and sheet music notation e.g. if you're in a song that's A harmonic minor and you truck driver's gear shift up to A# harmonic minor, the III chord goes from C aug to C# aug (not Db aug).

--

Similar question for the case of diminished triads, how would you think about Db diminished (1 - b3 - b5), which would be Db - Fb - Abb.

--
And maybe most importantly do people have an easy-to-distinguish, monosyllabic way to refer to double sharps and double flats 😅? Saying "##" or "bb" for note names when on the keyboard as an exercise is exhausting.

This has come up recently in a couple of threads as well as in the past.

Independent voices may be doubled, and when doubled, the doubling voice is not a new part or separate voice, so there is no “voice-leading” between them or rather, the “voice-leading rules only apply to the voice it’s doubling”.

Consider a string section of 5 instruments, with the following:

C - B
G - G
E - D
C - G
C - G

The bass is merely doubling the cello an 8ve down, and this is still 4 “real” parts as they’re called. It is not parallel 8ves in the “voice-leading rules” sense.

At the other end of the spectrum, we have this which we cool people know as power chords:

G - A
C - D

What are these parts doing? Are these “real” parts? 2 voices, or just 1 that’s doubled?

There are often arguments made that there are no parallel 5ths here, (and thus, no voice-leading) because there are no actual voices/parts and it’s all doubling. It’s basically a melody, reinforced at the 5th. Adding additional 8ves to either note doesn’t change that (or does it :-)

---

What about this in 4 parts now:

C - D
G - A
E - F
E - D

So is there voice-leading? Of course most people would say yes, and this is classic CPP voice-leading.

But is the G doubling the C (or vice versa) and thus the parallel 4ths are not really 2 separate voices? Is this “true” 4 part harmony, or only 3 real parts, or heck, is the E playing along and doubling too, so it’s only 2 real parts…?

---

Bb- A
G - A
C - D

What about this? 3 real parts? Or is the G just doubling the C again making this only 2 real parts?

---

Does moving in parallel turn into doubling and thus make any voice-leading “non-existent” for lack of a better term.

Or is it just parallel 8ves, or 8ves and 5ths, or 8ves 5ths and 4ths, certainly we don’t think of parallel 3rds and 6ths as doubling - at least not in a harmonic progression sense. Or is it only when it’s “not including any contrary motion” or things like that?

I know what I think, but I thought it would be interesting to hear what other people think.

Not sure if it's the right subreddit for it but I'm curious how can someone make this type of vibrating voice, that feels like old VHS type

Hello! Im a newbie songwriter. I know there are a million and a half videos on chord progressions, but are there any resources that track someone actively writing a song? Like, i know when and where to use all the chord types, but I'd love to see someones thought process writing a (medium/complex) chord progression or melody... Like how and why they make each choice, and what order they do things in. Essentially like a really good instructional life drawing demo but for music, rather, than something abstract.

I read through the FAQ but I did not see anything specifically about this, but if there is you can point me towards it!

Does this work?

Hi everyone! I was recently accepted into graduate school for an MM in Vocal Pedagogy. There is a competency exam on music theory/ear training content that all incoming graduate students need to pass before enrolling in theory courses.

I know that these exams are different for each school, but I was wondering if anyone who has taken a similar exam can share what it was like and how you prepared. Did it include things like written theory analysis, interval/chord ID, dictation, or sight singing? Any advice on what to review would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edit: The school has not released a study guide or any details about the exam yet, I’m just hoping to prepare early before starting in the fall :)

In a nutshell - what makes contemporary choral music contemporary choral music? What are the chords that make it? What are the cliché progressions or methods used?

I’m an intermediate pianist with an okay grasp of music theory, and a specific appreciation of jazz piano.
One of my big issues has been implementing blues scales into somewhat normal music.
When I’ve asked my friends (more advanced pianists than me) how to improvise, they often say just play a blues scale, which I’ve grown to understand.
But what I’m missing is how to implement that into traditional music.

For example, saying I’m playing a “jazzy” version of a pop song, using 7th, 9ths, 11ths, etc, instead of the tradition triads. If I decent to go into an improvised piano solo using the c major blues scale, it still feels off.
I’m absolutely sure I’m just not understanding something theory wise, but I don’t understand what it is.
Thanks for your help in advance!

Hello, recently I was researching about fractal music and discovered about the ratios of intervals.

Basically iive been wondering how I can use this piece of information any other way than calculating the frequency of notes depending the interval I want.

Something that I also found out through this research that in intervals there is a really fast polyrhythm, but that's something I can't really use.

Except If I slow down the frequencies so much that i convert a melody into a polyrhythm. I don't know if that makes sense;)

Any ideas on how to use this ratios?