theory

Why do we use music notation?

Music Theory Lesson No.2a: Why do we use music notation? In this lesson I discuss the reasons for using music notation and break down each element that that makes up the definition. This is an important discussion before we start…

Music Theory Lesson No.1b: Musical Time

Music Theory Lesson No.1b: Musical Time (Pulse, Beat, Tempo, Meter, Rhythm). In this lesson I discuss some terminology for musical time including: pulse, beat, tempo, meter, and rhythm. This is an important discussion before we start discussing music notation and why…

Music Theory Lesson No.1a – Pitch Direction and Letter Names

Music Theory Lesson No.1a for Classical Guitar: Pitch Direction and Letter Names. I’ll be teaching classical music theory lessons and relating it to the keyboard, guitar, and notation to see the implications of music theory on the instrument. This first…

Lesson on Cadences, Chords, and Phrasing

Graham Fitch gives a lesson on cadences, chords and harmony. This comes via Pianist Magazine on their YouTube channel. He gives a brief explanation of leading tones, the gravity of cadences, triads within a harmonized scale, chord progressions, and phrasing in general. This is…

Key Signatures

Introduction to Scales and Key Signatures

Before beginning my Volume 2 Method Book let’s review some ideas that we’ll be working on. You may not understand or remember everything below. You can go ahead and just work on my book without worrying about this but by…

Celebrate Music Theory

Theory Books for Classical Guitar

Studying music theory – Classical music theory and musicianship is a long-term study that can take years but it’s well worth the effort. Most music schools and conservatories have music theory classes which are an affordable and comprehensive way to…

Articulation in Music

The other day I posted a video regarding articulation and phrasing with Graham Fitch and received a number of questions as to the exact meaning of articulation in music. The previous post covered: Phrasing in music. So in this post I want to discuss…

A definition of rubato in music

Students often ask me when to use rubato so here’s a piece of advice: not too often! Pulse is an essential element to the majority of music we play, therefore, don’t obscure the rhythmic element of pulse with unnecessary amounts…