A Beginner’s Guide to Electronic Music Theory PDF
Contents
This PDF covers the basics of electronic music theory, and is perfect for beginners who want to learn more about this fascinating subject. In it, you’ll find information on topics like note values, rests, and tempo, as well as how to create your own simple melodies. Get started learning today and see where your creativity takes you!
What is Electronic Music Theory?
Electronic music theory is the study of how to create and manipulate sounds using electronic devices. This can be done in a number of ways, such as using synthesizers, samplers, and even computers. In order to create music with these devices, you need to understand some basic concepts of sound and how it works. This includes things like pitch, volume, rhythm, and timbre. These concepts are relatively easy to learn, but they can take some time to master. Once you have a good understanding of them, you can start creating your own electronic music.
The Building Blocks of Electronic Music Theory
In electronic music, sound is produced by oscillators and then modified by filters, effects, and other processing. Oscillators generate waveforms of different shapes, which are then combined to create more complex sounds. Filters modify the waveform by attenuating or amplifying certain frequencies.Effects are used to change the sound in various ways, such as delay, reverb, and pitch shifting. All of these elements are combined to create the electronic soundscape.
Notes and Pitches
Notes are the basis of melody and harmony, and understanding how they work is essential for any musician, regardless of their chosen instrument. In music, a note is a pitch that is given a name, usually based on its position on a scale. For example, the note C is the first note of the C major scale.
Pitches are the building blocks of all melody and harmony, and understanding how they work is essential for any musician, regardless of their chosen instrument. A pitch is the perception of a sound’s frequency, measured in hertz (Hz). The higher the pitch, the higher the frequency. For example, a viola playing an A4 (the A above middle C) vibrates at 440 Hz.
Intervals
In music theory, an interval is the measure of the distance between two pitches. Intervals are broken down into two main categories: harmonic and melodic. Harmonic intervals are played at the same time, while melodic intervals are played one after the other.
There are several types of intervals, each with their own characteristics. The most common intervals are listed below:
-Unison: The distance between two identical pitch classes. For example, C to C or A# to A#.
-Minor second: The distance between two pitch classes a semitone apart. For example, C to Db or F to F#.
-Major second: The distance between two pitch classes two semitones apart. For example, C to D or Gb to Ab.
-Minor third: The distance between three pitch classes a semitone apart. For example, C to Eb or F to Ab.
-Major third: The distance between three pitch classes four semitones apart. For example, C to E or F to A#.
-Perfect fourth: The distance between four pitch classes five semitones apart. For example, C to F or Eb to Ab.
-Augmented fourth/tritone: The distance between four pitch classes six semitones apart. For example, C to F# or Gb to Bb.
-Perfect fifth: The distance between five pitch classes seven semitones apart. For example, C to G or Eb to Bb.
-Minor sixth: The distance between five pitch classes eight semitones apart. For example, C to Ab or Fto Db.
-Major sixth: The distance between five pitch classes nine semitones apart .For example ,CtoAorFtoB
-Minor seventh:The distance betweensix pitch classes ten semitonesapart .For example ,CtoBorGtoF# .
-Major seventh:The distance betweensix pitch classes elevensemItonesapart .For exampIe ,CtoBIGb
Scales
In music, a scale is a set of notes that are organized by pitch. The most common type of scale is the major scale, which consists of seven distinct notes plus an octave repeating back at the original note. Major scales can be created starting on any note, and they follow a very specific pattern of intervals.
When we talk about electronic music theory, we are usually referring to melodic minor scales. Melodic minor scales are similar to major scales, but with a few key differences. The main difference is that melodic minor scales have a different pattern of intervals when ascending (going up in pitch) than when descending (going down in pitch). This gives melodic minor scales a unique sound that is often used in electronic music.
There are many other types of scales, but these are the two most common. In electronic music, it is important to understand how these two types of scales work so that you can create your own unique sounds.
Chords
In music, a chord is a set of two or more notes played together. Chords are built from scales, and they can be categorized by the amount of notes they contain. The three most common types of chords are triads, seventh chords, and extended chords.
Triads are made up of three notes and are the simplest type of chord. They can be either major or minor. Major triads have a root, a third, and a fifth. Minor triads have a root, a flat third, and a fifth. Seventh chords are made up of four notes and include a root, a third, a fifth, and a seventh. Extended chords are made up of five or more notes and include extensions beyond the seventh chord such as the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth.
Chords can be played in any order, but the most common order is progression. A chord progression is simply a series of chords played in succession. The most common progressions are I-IV-V-I (the one-four-five-one progression) and I-VI-III-VII (the two-five-three-seven progression).
Putting it All Together
Now that you have all the materials you need, it’s time to start putting it all together! In this section, we will go over how to read and write electronic music notation, how to use a MIDI keyboard, and how to set up your computer for making music.
Writing a Melody
Now that you know the basics of melody, it’s time to start writing your own! The best way to get started is to improvise on your instrument or with a MIDI keyboard. Try coming up with a simple chord progression, and then mess around with different melodies over top of it. You can also try starting with a melody in your head, and then figuring out what chords would sound good with it. Experimentation is key – there are no rules when it comes to writing melodies, so go crazy and see what you can come up with!
Writing a Bassline
Now that you know the basics of electronic music theory, it’s time to put it all together and write a bassline. If you’re not sure where to start, try starting with a simple four-beat measure. From there, you can add more measures, or even change up the rhythms and melody. Remember to have fun and experiment with different sounds!
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when writing your bassline:
-The bass should always be in the same key as the rest of the track.
-The bassline should have a strong rhythmic foundation, but it can also be melodic.
-Try playing around with different note lengths and rhythms to create interest.
-If you’re using synth sounds, detune the oscillators slightly to create a fuller sound.
-Experiment with different effects to add color and texture to your bassline. Reverb and delay are especially effective for basslines.
Writing a Drum Pattern
Now that you understand the basics of electronic music composition, let’s put it all together and write a simple drum pattern. We’ll use the following drum sounds:
-Kick
-Snare
-Hi-hat
-Crash cymbal
First, let’s decide on a tempo. A good starting point is 120 beats per minute (bpm). In 4/4 time, that means each beat is equal to 1/4 note. So ourpattern will look like this:
Kick Snare Hi-hat Crash cymbal
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Now let’s add some variation. We can start by adding an extra hi-hat on the “ands” of each beat:
Kick Snare Hi-hat Crash cymbal
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
^ ^ ^ ^
| | | |
| | | +– Extra hi-hat
| | +——– Every other “and”
| +————– In between each kick
Alternatively, we could add a snare on the “ands” of beat 2 and 4:
Kick Snare Hi-hat Crash cymbal
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
^ ^
| |
| +– Extra snare
+————- On the “ands” of beats 2 and 4
You can also add variations by changing the order of the drums, or by playing different drums on different beats. For example, you could play a kick on beats 1 and 3, and a snare on beats 2 and 4:
Kick Snare Hi-hat Crash cymbal
Advanced Concepts
This PDF details some of the more advanced concepts in electronic music theory. It covers topics such as filters, EQ, and modulation. This PDF is intended for intermediate to advanced producers and DJs.
Arpeggios
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played in succession, rather than simultaneously. Arpeggios can be played on any instrument, but are most commonly heard on keyboards and guitars.
There are many different ways to play an arpeggio, but the most common is to play the notes of the chord in ascending or descending order. For example, if you are playing a C major chord, you could play the notes C-E-G-C-E-G-C in ascending order, or G-E-C-G-E-C-G in descending order.
Arpeggios can also be played across multiple octaves. For example, if you are playing a C major chord, you could play thenotes C-E-G-C-E-G-C in ascending order, or G-E-C-GCEGC in descending order.
Arpeggios can be played with any combination of notes from a single chord. However, some chords lend themselves better to arpeggiation than others. For example, chords with lots of notes (such as 7th chords) tend to sound more jazzy when played as arpeggios, while simple triads tend to sound more classical.
Harmonics
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous notes (usually chords) in a musical piece. The study of harmony involves melodies and chords and their construction and concord (agreement, compatibility, interaction), as well as the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the “vertical” elements of music, as distinguished from melodic line and rhythm (the “horizontal” elements). In popular and jazz harmony, chords are named by their root plus various terms and characters indicating their qualities.
Harmonics are partials (fractions) of the lowest frequency (or root) in a musical tone that are related to it by whole-number ratios. They are also called overtones. The lowest partial is the fundamental, while the others are overtones. The first overtone is always an octave above the fundamental; subsequent overtones are multiples of octaves.
The term harmonic only applies when all these partials sound together in a single tone, as they do in most musical tones except for noise-like sounds without definite pitch. When only some of them sound, the resulting tone is called inharmonic. Inharmonicity is a measure of how inharmonic a tone is: if n partials sound, an nth-order inharmonicity means that components whose frequencies have nth-order ratios with respect to the lowest component differ in frequency by more than what would be expected from integer relationships alone; 2nd-order inharmonicity means that such differences occur between components whose frequencies have 2nd-order ratios with respect to the lowest component, etc.”
In simple terms, harmonics are generated whenever a complex waveform consisting of several sine waves with different frequencies is produced. This can happen when music notes are played on stringed instruments like guitars and violins or when sounds are produced by brass and woodwind instruments.”
Modulation
Modulation is the technique of making a sound move between two or more pitches. The simplest way to achieve modulation is to use an LFO to modulate the pitch of an oscillator. The two most common types of modulation are amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.
Amplitude modulation is the most common type of modulation. It is used to create tremolo and vibrato effects. Amplitude modulation is created by modulating the amplitude of a signal with an LFO. The depth of the modulation can be controlled with the depth knob on the LFO. The rate of the modulation can be controlled with the rate knob on the LFO.
Frequency modulation is less common than amplitude modulation. It is used to create FM synthesis and ring modulator effects. Frequency modulation is created by modulating the frequency of a signal with an LFO. The depth of the modulation can be controlled with the depth knob on the LFO. The rate of the modulation can be controlled with the rate knob on the LFO.
