Full Description
Many DJs, gigging musicians, and electronic music producers understand how to play their instruments or make music on the computer, but they lack the basic knowledge of music theory needed to take their music-making to the next level and compose truly professional tracks. Beneath all the enormously different styles of modern electronic music lie certain fundamentals of the musical language that are exactly the same no matter what kind of music you write. It is very important to acquire an understanding of these fundamentals if you are to develop as a musician and music producer. Put simply, you need to know what you are doing with regard to the music that you are writing. Music Theory for Computer Musicians explains these music theory fundamentals in the most simple and accessible way possible. Concepts are taught using the MIDI keyboard environment and today's computer composing and recording software. By reading this book and following the exercises contained within it, you, the aspiring music producer/computer musician, will find yourself making great progress toward understanding and using these fundamentals of the music language. The result will be a great improvement in your ability to write and produce your own original music!
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Musical Sound
Chapter 2: The Notes
Chapter 3: The Major Scale
Chapter 4: Rhythm, Tempo and Note Lengths
Chapter 5: Score Editing
Chapter 6: Intervals
Chapter 7: Meter
Chapter 8: Chords
Chapter 9: The Natural Minor Scale
Chapter 10: Melody and Motives
Chapter 11: The Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales
Chapter 12: Augmented and Diminished Intervals and Interval Inversions
Chapter 13: Chordal Inversions, Octave Doubling, and Spacing
Chapter 14: Additive Rhythms
Chapter 15: Expanding Your Knowledge of Keys
Chapter 16: the Pentatonic Scale
Chapter 17: Major, Minor, Augmented, and Diminished Triads
Chapter 18: Chord Progressions and Root Movement
Chapter 19: The Cycle of Fifths
Chapter 20: The Seven Diatonic Modes
Chapter 21: Chords of the Seventh
Chapter 22: Exotic Scales
Chapter 23: Complex Harmony
Chapter 24: Arpeggiation
Chapter 25: Intonation
Chapter 26: Conclusion
Appendix A: Scales
Appendix B: Audio CD and Accompanying Text Sidebars
