Harmony as a section of Music Theory. Musical structure, notation, rhythm, and harmony. Performer biographies, genres, and specific songs retain their subjects.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
Which scale uses only the white keys from C to C on a piano?
C major needs no sharps or flats, so beginners often learn it first on piano keyboards.
A half cadence leaves a phrase hanging on which chord?
A half cadence works like a comma, pausing the music so listeners expect another phrase.
Which musical interval spans from one C to the next higher C on a piano?
The higher note vibrates twice as fast, so it sounds like the same note at a higher pitch.
Which musical mode sounds the same as a natural minor scale?
Aeolian played from A to A uses only piano white keys and gives the darker minor sound.
In a C-major twelve-bar blues, which chord typically starts bar five?
Moving to the IV chord in bar five adds tension before the progression returns home to the tonic.
Why do songwriters often change between neighboring keys on the circle of fifths?
Closely related keys differ by only one sharp or flat, which keeps a key change from sounding jarring.
What does the turnaround do in the last bars of a twelve-bar blues?
The turnaround uses tense dominant-seventh chords that pull the ear back to the top of the twelve-bar loop.
What does the slash chord symbol C/E tell a guitarist to play?
The letter after the slash names only the bass note, so players keep a C chord while stepping the bass to E.
Which scale fits the sung syllables do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti?
Guido of Arezzo took ut, re, mi, fa, sol, and la from a hymn; later versions replaced ut with do and added ti.
Which interval makes the bold opening leap of the main theme of Star Wars?
A perfect fifth spans seven half steps and gives heroic fanfares their strong, stable lift.