Music Theory and Reading Sheet Music. Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions? Are they the same thing? What’s the difference? Do I need to be able to read sheet music to understand Music Theory? Well, let’s find out.
No, the ability to read sheet music is NOT a prerequisite to learning Music Theory. Music Theory is a set of concepts working together to give musicians a way to understand what they are hearing or playing in a piece of music. Reading sheet music or (sight reading) is the practice of reading a written representation of music and converting it into actual sound through an instrument or voice.
Can’t read sheet music? No worries, you still can put your brain to work and, after some practice, utilize all of the musical benefits that understanding Music Theory provides. Though you may have thought these concepts were only reserved for use by formally trained musicians, you’ll see below that you can start improving your musical knowledge today!
(A quick note: If something doesn’t make sense, keep reading through the next few paragraphs. This article builds on each concept as you read, and the answer to your confusion may be revealed in the next section).
Music Theory is a set of concepts, and they’re actually not that complicated when explained simply.
So, what are these concepts you can get started with today?
- Intervals
- The Musical Alphabet
- Scales
- Chords
- Chords in a Key
Oh no! Five new things? Don’t fret, they’re really not that bad. Stick with this article to the end and you will hopefully have a couple of great “Ah-Ha” moments. You’ll soon realize that this whole Music Theory thing really isn’t all that bad after all. If any one concept doesn’t make sense at first, slowly re-read the paragraph once more and really try to focus on what is being introduced.
Intervals
An interval is simply the distance between two notes. That’s it. And they are measured in units of half steps and whole steps. For example:
Go grab your guitar. Place your index finger on the third fret of the Low E string (the thickest string).
Now, without picking up your index finger, place your middle finger on the fourth fret of the Low E string.
The distance between these two notes is called one fret or one half step. Now raise your middle finger off of the fourth fret and place your ring finger on the fifth fret of the Low E string.
The distance between these two notes is called two frets or one whole step. So one whole step is equal two half steps. All music is measured in units of half steps and whole steps. For instance, you might hear another musician or instructor refer to two notes as being one and a half steps apart or another set of notes as three steps (three whole steps) apart.
In the above example we move up the string (higher in pitch), but this concept also works exactly the same when going down a string (lower in pitch).
The Musical Alphabet
Typically, at this point a music teacher would bring out a simple piece of sheet music to explain how the Musical Alphabet is made, but we can get by just fine without it.
The Musical Alphabet is made up of 7 letters:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
These letters all occur in Whole Step Intervals (they’re a whole step apart), except for in two locations. These exceptions fall between the notes:
- B – C
- E – F
Here’s a visual representation that looks much like the frets on the guitar along a single string. I will display all the notes written out twice:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A |
Notice how every note has a space (or whole step) in between them except for B – C and E – F.
What goes in those spaces?
Well, have you heard the terms (in reference to music) flat and sharp? The notes that land in these spaces are called flats or sharps (these are the black keys on a piano).
The term flat refers to one note lower in pitch, whereas sharp refers to one note higher in pitch. Our example above displays notes getting higher in pitch from left to right, and notes getting lower in pitch from right to left. This is the exact same layout you would see if you were sitting at a piano or holding the guitar in the playing position.
Stay with me, it’s gonna get better soon. Just need to cover the basics a bit.
These extra spaces get named in accordance with the notes that surround them. Let’s use the note (or fret) that lands in between the notes D and C for this example. This note could either be referred to as C sharp or D flat. Flats and sharps are represented by symbols that are appended onto the note.
- Sharp = #
- Flat = b
So the note that falls between C and D would either be C# or Db. Like so:
| C | C# | D |
Or….
| C | Db | D |
For the rest of the examples I will write both of the notes into the cell like this:
| C | C#/Db | D |
So our larger chart would now look like this with all of the appropriate notes filled into each empty cell:
| A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A |
These are all of the notes that make up our Musical Alphabet, written out multiple times.
Scales
Ok, now we get to put the the two concepts of intervals and the Musical Alphabet together to make something more useable and musical with them.
A Scale is simply a set pattern of intervals. In music there are scales that have been established throughout time and have subsequently become common to our ears and “sound good” when played properly. The most important scale in western music is called the Major Scale.
When a musician refers to the the major scale, he is actually just referencing an interval pattern that exposes a set of notes when applied to the Musical Alphabet. Let me explain:
The major scale pattern is as follows:
Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step.
It is always this exact pattern. Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half.
Now, this is how you apply it to the Musical Alphabet to discover a related set of notes. You pick a note to start on, then apply the major scale pattern of intervals going higher and higher in pitch until the pattern completes.
Sounds confusing? I know, it’s hard to explain without a visual. See the chart below. It is a section of our Musical Alphabet from above, but only from the note C to the note C again.
If you start on the note C, then apply the major scale interval pattern you will land on all of the bolded notes, and you will not land on any of the grey colored notes.
| C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A | A#/Bb | B | C |
- C whole step to D
- D whole step to E
- E half step to F
- F whole step to G
- G whole step to A
- A whole step to B
- B half step back to C again
Read the blue words from the list. That’s our major scale pattern telling us what notes to pull from the musical alphabet. So if we start on the note C and apply the major scale pattern, we get this set of notes:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C(again). Notice that there are 7 different notes and the 8th note is a repeat of the first note. That is where the term octave comes from if you have ever heard it. Oct meaning 8 like an octopus (8 legs).
You just learned the C Major Scale!
This pattern works exactly the same if you apply it to any of the notes found in our musical alphabet.
If we started on the note G and repeated that same process we would have the G Major Scale. Or the note A, or D, or even F#. This would always result in us finding the major scale notes in accordance with that particular note.
So, we have discovered how to find the notes that are exposed when we pick a note to start on and then apply the major scale pattern to the Musical Alphabet. Now what?
This is the good part. Here is where you actually get to make music with the scale. We turn this set of notes into a set of chords….
Chords
How do we make a chord from the major scale? We take the first, third, and fifth notes from the scale and play them together at the same time (or in harmony).
Our notes that we found above in our C Major Scale were:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C (remember that the eighth note is a repeat of the first).
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C | Note |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Scale Position |
- C (the first)
- E (the third)
- G (the fifth)
So there we have them. C , E , and G. If we play these notes together we would be playing a C Major Chord. This makes sense because these are the notes that are found within the C Major Scale.
Now, there is another scale we have to discuss to complete this information. It’s called the Minor Scale. Now what is a scale again? That’s right, it’s a pattern of intervals, and the minor scale has a different pattern than the major scale.
The minor scale pattern is as follows:
Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step.
I know, another scale…. Don’t worry about trying to memorize these exact patterns at the moment. The point of this is to get you familiar with the basics of Music Theory.
The same rules apply to finding a minor scale for a particular note. Let’s use the note A for this example. We’ll start on the note A and apply the minor scale interval pattern to see which notes we land on.
| A | A#/Bb | B | C | C#/Db | D | D#/Eb | E | F | F#/Gb | G | G#/Ab | A |
- A whole step to B
- B half step to C
- C whole step to D
- D whole step to E
- E half step to F
- F whole step to G
- G whole step back to A(again)
Notice how all of the blue words in the list above match our minor scale interval pattern.
So, what notes did we discover fall within the A Minor Scale?
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A (remember that the eighth note is a repeat of the first).
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | A | Note |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Scale Position |
And the same rule applies to building out an A Minor Chord. We’ll take the first, third, and fifth notes from the scale and play them together at the same time.
- A (the first)
- C (the third)
- E (the fifth)
So an A Minor Chord contains the notes A , C, and E.
Now you know how to make a major or a minor chord from any note out of the musical alphabet. Build the scale and use the first, third, and fifth notes to make the chord.
……but what about all of the other notes in the scales that we didn’t use? What are they for? We only used the first, third, and fifth.
Chords in a Key
Well, each of these scales gives you 7 unique notes (the 8th is the same as the first). What if I told you that you could use the same methods from above to build not only one chord from the scale, but 7 different chords!
Mind explosion?? Don’t freak out, you already know exactly how to find these chords. I’ll explain.
Back to our C Major Scale.
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
This is easier to demonstrate if we write the scale out twice, like so:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
All the same notes, just written out twice.
This scale is actually seven different scales. One scale per note starting and finishing on that unique note. Like this:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
Can you see the seven different scales starting and ending on the same note?
Here are the notes/scales laid out in a table.
| Note | Scale |
| C | C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C |
| D | D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D |
| E | E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E |
| F | F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F |
| G | G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G |
| A | A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A |
| B | B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B |
And what if I went through and pulled the first, third, and fifth notes out of each one of these scales to make a chord? It would look something like this:
| Note | Chord | 1st, 3rd, and 5th from Scale |
| C | C|E|G | C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C |
| D | D|F|A | D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D |
| E | E|G|B | E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E |
| F | F|A|C | F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F |
| G | G|B|D | G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G |
| A | A|C|E | A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A |
| B | B|D|F | B – C – D – E – F – G – A – B |
But wait a minute…. What kind of chords are these? Are they all major chords? Why did we talk about minor chords earlier?
Here’s a hint. Some of them are major chords and some of them are minor chords, but which ones are which? Well, let’s figure it out.
It would be a great exercise to take each note we found within the C Major Scale and apply the major and minor scale patterns to each of those notes, then pull out the first, third, and fifth notes from each scale to see which match up with the chords in the chart above. But, I’ll save you some time and make a chart for you…
This chart takes each note from the C Major Scale and gives you the major and minor chords for that note.
| Notes from C Major Scale | Major | Minor |
| C | C|E|G | C|Eb|G |
| D | D|F#|A | D|F|A |
| E | E|G#|B | E|G|B |
| F | F|A|C | F|Ab|C |
| G | G|B|D | G|Bb|D |
| A | A|C#|E | A|C|E |
| B | B|D#|F# | B|D|F# |
Ok, now you’ll have to look a few paragraphs above at the chart (titled: Chords within the C Major Scale) that we built from the notes and scales out of the C Major Scale and compare to see if they are major or minor chords.
Grab a pen and a piece of paper if you have one, figure them out and write them down. It’s an excellent exercise for your musical learning. (I’ll give the answer below).
- C – this one we know is major as we already figured it out earlier
- D – major or minor?
- E – major or minor?
- F – major or minor?
- G – major or minor?
- A – major or minor?
- B – major or minor? (hint…… this one is neither)
Well what did you come up with? Here are the correct answers:
| Note in the Scale | Scale Position | Chord Type | Chord Notes |
| C | 1 | Major | C|E|G |
| D | 2 | Minor | D|F|A |
| E | 3 | Minor | E|G|B |
| F | 4 | Major | F|A|C |
| G | 5 | Major | G|B|D |
| A | 6 | Minor | A|C|E |
| B | 7 | neither | B|D|F |
The chord derived from the scale starting with the letter B builds neither a major nor a minor chord, but something called a diminished chord. Explaining a diminished chord is outside of the scope of this article. Just know that they exist and that you will start to understand what they are as your music theory knowledge builds. It’s not important yet.
If you start on the letter C and apply the major scale pattern to it, then build chords out of all the notes that you found, you will come up with this list of chords:
- C Major
- D Minor
- E Minor
- F Major
- G Major
- A Minor
- B Diminished
Have ever heard the term, the key of a song or song in the key of…? Well, the seven chords listed directly above are the chords in the key of C Major. And you just learned how to build them all from scratch. Nice!
Guess what, if you play a song using these chords listed above, your listeners will think it sounds amazing. They’ll think you’re a musical pro. And you are, because you are playing a related set of chords that all fall naturally within the C Major Scale.
I have a quick gift from the musical gods to add to this. Notice the order of major and minor chords from the list of chords we figured out above.
- Major
- Minor
- Minor
- Major
- Major
- Minor
- Diminished
If you build out a set of chords from any major scale, this will always be the order of the chords in reference to the notes you found.
- 1st always Major
- 2nd always Minor
- 3rd always Minor
- 4th always Major
- 5th always Major
- 6th always Minor
- 7th always Diminished
Where was the need for reading sheet music in all of this? Nowhere. If you have made it this far in the article, you have essentially learned the basics of Music Theory. And good on you for doing so. Read it over one more time to make sure that you have committed all this info to memory (it’s A LOT to remember for one read through).
Since you made it this far, you’d better not stop here. Keep digging deeper into learning Music Theory and see how it can benefit you in your playing. Thanks for reading!