DulciTheory #1
jerry@jcrmusic.com
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DulciTheory #1: Accidentals 1
WELCOME TO DulciTheory!
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who subscribed to DulciTheory. I
hope this stuff is useful to your arranging, improvising, or composing on
the dulcimer, and I hope that it helps deepen your understanding of music.
One IMPORTANT thing to keep in mind: this is YOUR Newsletter!!!! You will
get much more out of these studies if you email me your questions -- the
second half of each newsletter will be devoted to answering these questions.
I will welcome questions on any topic related to how theory or music
fundamentals work on the mountain dulcimer -- there are no "dumb" questions,
and I will not attribute your question with any email or ID unless you
specifically tell me to. So you don't have to worry about embarrassing
yourself.
Also, if you have any problems with the technical side of things -- like
viewing the linked gif file, or you get weird line-breaks on the charts or
TAB -- let me know and I'll try to fix it somehow.
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ACCIDENTALS 1
I. Definitions
On page 4 of the Theory and Chord Reference book, I mention accidentals in
describing sharps, flats, naturals, and double-sharps and double-flats:
"Accidentals are the symbols which indicate that one of the seven notes [of
the major scale] has been altered by making it sharp or flat."
Now -- let me give you a much more thorough and useful definition -- custom
tailored for our purposes here:
Accidentals are those sharps or flats that are outside the key of a piece of
music. So they have to be indicated in the music, right before the note
being altered. In contrast to these, let's consider the "native" sharps or
flats that are indicated in the KEY SIGNATURE. Consider the Key of D, for
instance -- and I'm sure you are intimately familiar with D! -- we have two
sharps: F# and C#. In D, anytime we encounter an F or a C, they are always
the sharped versions of the notes. The KEY SIGNATURE takes care of that,
right?
Now -- let's say we have a G note that we want to have sharped in the Key of
D. We will have to do this by putting a sharp in front of the G note in
question -- the KEY SIGNATURE doesn't take care of G#. Well....G# is an
ACCIDENTAL in the Key of D. As is F-natural, as is A#, and so on.
Just let that brew for a while. Questions are welcome.
II. Importance to the Dulcimer
Knowing what ACCIDENTALS you have in a piece of music, and what relationship
they have to the tonic, or 1st scale degree -- this is CRITICAL knowledge
for a dulcimer arranger!!! You must ask yourself:
"Do I have THAT particular pitch on my 1-5-8* dulcimer?"
[* By 1-5-8 dulcimer, I mean a dulcimer that is tuned with the bass string
to 1, or the 1st scale degree -- the middle string tuned to the 5th scale
degree above -- and the melody string tuned an octave above the bass, or 8th
scale degree. If D = 1, the tuning is D-A-D. If A = 1, baritone-style, the
tuning would be A-E-A.]
Now here is a brief outline of the four steps used to scope out
possibilities for putting a tune on the dulcimer. We will go into greater
detail a little later in the session.
FOUR-STEP PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING IF YOU HAVE THE NEEDED ACCIDENTALS ON
YOUR DULCIMER:
STEP ONE: Scan the music for accidentals
a.) in the melody or top voice
b.) in the inner voices (if you are looking at a piano arrangement)
c.) in the CHORD FORMULA of the chord symbols (if you have only a "lead
sheet" type of arrangement with melody line, lyrics and chord symbols)
STEP TWO: Convert the accidentals -- ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE TUNE -- to
Numerical Scale Degrees
STEP THREE: Do a Numerical Scale-Degree Fingerboard Survey for 1-5-8
STEP FOUR: See how your tune accidentals match up with the Scale-Degree
Survey -- Do you have the necessary sharps or flats?
At this point, I'll walk you through all four steps as we apply them to
"She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain"
http://www.jcrmusic.com/theorytunes.html
STEP ONE: Scan the music for accidentals
a.) in the melody or top voice: I don't see any, do you?
b.) in the inner voices: I've given you a "lead-sheet" format with only
melody line and chord symbols, so we don't have any other voices to work
with.
c.) in the CHORD FORMULA of the chord symbols: Well, now we've got our work
cut out for us, don't we? I wish we weren't looking at such a huge area of
study with the chords, but this stuff will be unbelievably nourishing if you
can stick it out -- so HANG IN THERE!
Who wudda thunk it: that such a simple tune would have so many layers of
complexity, once you get down to the analysis!!
Anyway, lets look at the chords (or the "changes" as they are often called)
and see if we can make some sense out of them. Since we are in the Key of G,
we should remember that our "native" or "indigenous" chords -- the
Scale-Tone Triads, (p.17) -- would be:
G(I), Am(ii), Bm(iii), C(IV), D7(V7), Em(vi), F#dim(vii)
Bearing in mind that I'm using lower case Roman Numerals to indicate minor
triads, scan the chords and you'll come up with:
I |V7 |I | | | II7 |V7 | |
I |I7 |IV |IV6 #IVdim7 |I |II7 V7 |I | ||
So -- what do we see that is outside the native chords? How about II7? or
I7?
[For now we will indicate minor triads with a lower case Roman Numeral, and
Major triads and Dominant 7th chords with upper case numerals. In the
future, we will probably have to take the more standard route, and indicate
all chords with upper case numerals -- followed directly by the typical
chord symbol abbreviation, like: IIm7, or VIm]
Let's start with the II7. The normal "two chord" is a minor triad -- Am in
this case, but here we have a dominant 7th chord built on II (stands to
reason that the II7 might have some different notes in its formula, right?)
Notice how this II7 always goes to the V7? Not only in this tune, but in
THOUSANDS of tunes! This II7 is called a SECONDARY DOMINANT, because it acts
like the V7 of V -- in fact, it is often written this way in classical
analysis style:
V7/V
So what's the big deal? Weren't we talking a minute ago about finding
"accidentals" in the music?
Our answer is to be found in the INGREDIENTS of the chord. If we spell out
the notes in the II7 here, or A7, we get A, C#, E, G -- or Root, 3rd, 5th,
b7th. This is somewhat different than the native minor triad ii or Am, which
is spelled: A, C, E -- or Root, b3rd, 5th. The difference, of course is the
ACCIDENTAL C#, which is outside the Key of G. Thinking in Numerical Scale
Degrees, when G = 1, then C# = #4.
The other chord that didn't quite fit in was the I7 or G7 in this case.
Guess what? Yet another SECONDARY DOMINANT -- this time it's V7/IV -- and
notice how it goes to IV? Now this is your chance to note-spell the I7 or
G7, and pick out that nasty accidental. GO FOR IT!
STEP TWO: Convert the accidentals -- ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE TUNE -- to
Numerical Scale Degrees -- Well, we already got one of the accidentals lined
up numerically: C# = #4. Converting the rest of the tune will be a great
exercise for you (I can do it in my sleep, hanging upside down).
[I know how strange it is to have to "buy-in" to another whole set of
numbers after you are finally feeling comfortable with the fret numbers in
tablature! The only thing I can offer up here is that the fret numbers are
only a way to tell you what notes to play when -- just as standard musical
notation guides a piano player. The Numerical Scale Degrees, however -- once
you get accustomed to them -- will speak VOLUMES and VOLUMES about musical
structure and understanding relationships. They are truly indispensable, and
I strongly encourage you to get familiar with them.]
-T----#-----------|-----------------|----------------|----------------------
.R | | |
-E----------------|-----------------|----------------|----------------------
.B 4 | | |
-L----------------|-----------------|----------------|----------------------
.E 4 | | |
-C--(G)-----------|-/---/---/---/---|----------------|-/--------------------
.L | | |
-E-------------/--|-----------------|-/--------------|----------------------
.F / / /
. ---
num. /
ScaleDeg: 5 6 1 1 1 1 6 5 3 5 1
STEP THREE: Do a Numerical Scale-Degree Fingerboard Survey for 1-5-8
Here is a blank Fingerboard Survey with only the tuning indicated:
1|------------|----------|-----|--------|-------|---|---|---|
5|------------|----------|-----|--------|-------|---|---|---|
1|------------|----------|-----|--------|-------|---|---|---|
To be more specific about the spacing, just for your information, here are
the number of dashes between each fret:
1|-----12-----|----10----|--5--|---8----|---7---|-3-|-3-|-3-|
5|------------|----------|-----|--------|-------|---|---|---|
1|------------|----------|-----|--------|-------|---|---|---|
Its really easy to cut-and-paste these charts, and it will save you many
hours of keyboarding. Paste them into the NotePad or the Scrapbook, or any
simple text-editor -- or an email set to text-only (no html). When you want
to fill them out with pitches or scale degrees, drag the mouse across the
appropriate number of dashes, thereby SELECTING them. This way, when you
type in the pitches, the spacing of everything will remain stable and solid.
You should definitely get into the habit of making your own charts, as there
is a great educational opportunity to be had doing this. But I will show you
the complete Scale Degree Survey here:
1|-----------2|---------3|----4|-------5|------6|-b7|--7|--1|
5|-----------6|---------7|----1|-------2|------3|--4|-#4|--5|
1|-----------2|---------3|----4|-------5|------6|-b7|--7|--1|
STEP FOUR: See how your tune accidentals match up with the Scale-Degree
Survey -- Do you have the necessary sharps or flats?
The main accidental we needed was C#, which is #4 in scale degrees. Other
relationships to keep in mind:
1.) C# occurs as the 3rd of an A7 (II7) chord in our example, so we should
know how this II7 chord maps out on the dulcimer. Here's a Chord Formula
Survey for II7:
b7|-----------R|----------|-----|--------|------5|---|---|-b7|
|-----------5|----------|-----|-------R|-------|---|--3|---|
b7|-----------R|----------|-----|--------|------5|---|---|-b7|
2.) Since we'll probably be playing in D-A-D (rather than G-D-G), it would
be helpful to transpose EVERYTHING to D. Here is E7: the II7 chord in D.
Remember that the numerical survey (above) holds for ANY key:
D|-----------E|----------|-----|--------|------B|---|---|--D|
|-----------B|----------|-----|-------E|-------|---|-G#|---|
D|-----------E|----------|-----|--------|------B|---|---|--D|
I'll let you transpose everything else to D-A-D -- it will be good practice.
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Well....that's about it for this issue -- I can't really answer questions
until you have a chance to respond to this first issue.
In the nest issue, I hope to have a workable TAB for "She'll Be Comin' Round
the Mountain" that I can walk you through.
Thanks and Good Luck!
Jerry
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