Grammar of Music

Path

What to study before Modes

The seven rotations of the major scale, each with its own centre and its own colour. Below, the concepts that come before, in the order in which one explains the next. Signed in, you see the same path minus what you already hold: your path.

  1. Notes and semitones

    The seven letter names, the accidentals that alter them, and the semitone as the system's smallest step.

    Level 0lesson Notes, semitones and the rule of names (Harmony for people who play)

  2. Intervals

    The distance between two notes, measured by a number taken from the letter names and a quality taken from the semitones.

    Level 1has practicelesson Intervals, in number and quality (Harmony for people who play)

  3. Major scale

    Seven degrees built on a fixed sequence of tones and semitones, and the reference everything else is measured against.

    Level 1has practicelesson The major scale is a formula (Harmony for people who play)

  4. Modes

    The seven rotations of the major scale, each with its own centre and its own colour.

    Level 2lesson One altered degree, and the chord that holds it (Colour and change)