The BASICS Of Music Theory EXPLAINED (in 10 minutes)

In this episode we revisit the basics of music theory exploring intervals, chord construction, and ear training. All in 10 minutes! Beato Ear Training and Beato Book links below.

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[mathieubrown]

Music teacher: don’t worry, it’s not rocket science!
Rocket scientist: don’t worry, it’s not music theory!

"if I were to tell you this is actually an argumented six, you say ..."

I say nothing. I have no idea what you are talking about and this is my 4th playthrough :-)

[denniswilson]

As someone who doesn't know much at all about music theory, listening through this video had me completely and utterly lost. There is so much terminology being used that I'm unfamiliar with and I can't see how this could be considered to be BASIC music theory knowledge.

If I were to take a class on music theory and this was what came out of the teacher's mouth on the first day, I wouldn't even know where to begin to be able to process the information.

I just feel like Rick is at such an incredibly high level of knowledge that to him, this is basic, but to a true beginner, this is incredibly advanced information, and even repeatedly listening to this video won't start to make sense unless all of the underlying concepts and terminology are explored clearly and individually.

[sjaakvandam]

This is more of a summary for someone who is in the know than it is a lesson for a beginner. If you don't know these things you could probably watch this 10 times and still barely understand half of it.

[WilliamJohnston]

This is a great, dense summary of essential music theory, but make no mistake, for beginners this is no substitute for learning slowly and thoroughly either with a teacher or going through a course. All the concepts in this video take time, repetition and applied examples in order to learn thoroughly, and the fact that this video is condensed down to as little as 10 minutes says a lot more about Rick’s ability to condense it down that well, than the content being considered ‘easy’.

Good job Rick!

[gkirkpatrick]

Here is all music theory in a sentence according to Mozart: "I choose such notes that love one another."

[colej]

Bit tricky when you jump straight into talking about intervals as 3rds 4ths 5ths etc without just laying down the basic 12 note chromatic scale first. I found that the best approach when learning the basics because it gives a good visual foundation to build from.

[MichaelLiningMusic]

Haven taken college and masters level music theory, I can understand this. As many have pointed out, it requires having a fluency in musical vocabulary such as notes, flats and sharps, chords, scale degrees and key signatures before this video would be digestible. As to the content, it is even confusing to me to think of intervals in terms of how many half steps, such as a major 6th being 9 half steps. I never think of it that way. The chord construction section had no audio examples, just jargon with sheet music, abbreviations, and animation clicks and pops which isn't helpful in a music theory video. I would have stopped before Lydian and Phrygian chords as this is college level music theory and not applicable to basics (i've never even used them). Throwing up a circle of fifths diagram while talking about relative minors and tonics is going to be pretty confusing without any other context. Maybe consider making a 10 minute "beginners" music theory video where you cover what is a note, what is a scale, what is a flat/sharp, solfege, solfege as it relates to scale degrees, whole and half steps and how to make a scale, what a chord is (just with major/minor), and find basic chord progressions; basically any terminology that's you assume the viewer understands to be able to digest this video.

[ssalvaterra]

I believe your secret is not being an amazing musician or a good communicator. I believe that your calling is to share your knowledge and do it in a way that catches the attention of everyone, from just a curious viewer, to music beginners, intermediate and pros. We are lucky to have such information available like this. Thank you Rick.

[sherylkatz]

If you already have a good working knowledge of basic music theory then this is the basics. If you don’t even know what an interval is, what a semitone is, or even understand the concept of a scale or a chord this is way advanced. The Beato book is great as a reference but it is advanced. My students struggle with understanding what an interval is.

[TomoFujitaMusic]

Great video Rick!! This normally, most people only understand knowledge part with the words without recognizing those real sound!!

[playbackamusicloversjourne]

He's basically explaining the language of music 101. These are things you need to know in order to read sheet music or walk into a room and play with others or get your musical ideas across in an easy universally understood manner. It's how a group of people can come together who've never played a piece of music together before can sound reasonably professional the first read through. I regret not having learned music theory at a younger age and have now taken it upon myself to learn at least the basics so that I can play with others and understand what is going creatively on when I listen to music.

[LawrencRJUTube]

This is an excellent introduction, Rick. I am glad to see you defining chors as stacked intervals --THAT is how chords shold be taught rather then memorizing chord charts.

[eeshaansonar]

Hey Rick, thank you so much for this! I've been waiting for this for a long time! The timing was incredible - I was just sitting next to my piano when you uploaded this!

[brianwood]

Only Rick could make a perfect new age-style meditation recording design for you to listen to while you go to sleep at night so you can wake up and say wow now I understand music theory LOL super cool Rick thank you for this

[brianeden]

With my primary musical training on drums and percussion, I’ve spent many years since catching up with playing and reading music for guitar, bass, piano. I loved this video … but have to confess that my brain nearly exploded halfway through. :)

[DanielPradoBurgos]

I've been reading and playing around with my KB to learn more about music theory, nad this vid just made so many clicks on my brain, it helped put together and tie down a lot of isolated pieces I had already and well... It just helped me A TON!!! BEST 10 mins I've invested in learning music so far!

[wjatube]

I realized after watching this 10 min video that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. Amazing. Thank you.

[Myth-jjpo]

As a musician that was just thinking about needing a refresh this was so helpful. Thank you Rick.

[aquss]

sooo, as someone who is a complete beginner with absolutely no knowledge about music I can safely state that I understood absolutely none of that.