Eric Silberger introduces a substantial lesson on music theory taught alongside the Head of Piano at tonebase, Ben Laude.

In this course overview, Ben Laude sets the stage for an investigation into the remarkable system of tonality, especially music composed in major and minor keys. Using the keyboard as a convenient tool for visualizing tonal relationships, Laude emphasizes the importance of transposition in internalizing the basic concepts of music theory and putting them to practical use.

Whole and half steps are the building blocks of scales, which in turn generate the vast universe of tonal possibilities. In this lesson, Laude reveals the whole and half steps at play in “Happy Birthday” and other famous tunes, before showing the three simplest ways to step across an octave. In studying the chromatic, whole tone, and octatonic scales, Laude brings into relief the special properties of the major scale, the topic of the next lesson.

Of all the ways of stepping through an octave, the major scale has proven to be the most fruitful in the history of tonal music. In this lesson Ben Laude breaks down the crucial whole and half-step pattern that defines all major scales, and analyzes the scale degrees used in numerous tunes – from popular folk songs to famous melodies by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Eric uses our pattern of whole and half steps to build an A major scale on the violin.

Continue exploring the Major Scale with these further practice tips.

While the major scale has given rise to a rich variety of music, it contains within itself an even greater genetic potential. In this lesson, Ben Laude takes you on a tour of the many colorful modes you can spin out of the major scale, culminating in the rich and complex minor scale.

While studying whole and half-step patterns reveals how all major scales are fundamentally similar and transposable, the question remains how all these different scales overlap and interweave. In this lesson, Ben Laude shows how a given major scale shares segments with neighboring major scales. Using “tetrachords” and the principle of enharmonic equivalence, Laude shows you how to circumnavigate the circle of fifths through every major and minor key.

The power of music lies not in individual tones but the distances between them, also known as “intervals.” In this lesson, Ben Laude derives all the intervals between unison and octave from pairs of scale degrees in major and minor, measuring the size of each using chains of whole and half steps. Venturing into the world of ear training, Laude shows how you can begin recognizing intervals in familiar melodies.

A good grasp of intervals is critical to good intonation on the violin. In this lesson, Eric takes a lyrical melody from Paganini and analyzes the intervals it contains.

Drawing on your knowledge of steps, scales, keys, and intervals, you’re finally ready to begin building chords. In this lesson, Ben Laude shows you how to construct triads, spread them around the keyboard, and extend them into colorful seventh chords. Arriving at the all-important dominant seventh chord, the groundwork is laid for a thorough study of harmony.

Without harmony, the emotional content of music as we know it would be all but lost. In this lesson, Ben Laude shows you how chords can work together using just the diatonic notes of a key to make meaningful progressions. After dissecting the pivotal connection between dominant and tonic, Laude teaches you the most common cadences and basic chord progressions found in music across history and genre.