Oh
Matt Berkley
Draft 24 October 2004
[Summary/introduction
added 12 Feb 07:
This article is about learning music more
easily.
The idea is like “do-re-mi” and hopefully
better for at least some purposes.
Suppose you want to learn tunes using
Western 12-pitch scales.
Thinking in note numbers (like the numbers
of the frets on a guitar) can be simpler than wrestling with sharps and flats,
and chords with complex names.
For both chord progressions and melodies,
if we treat the root note as “0” we may end up happier than if we use “1”. That may apply when we are notating and when
we are imagining.
Using T for Ten and L for (e)Lev’n, we can notate tunes in a fun way.
Using the single-syllable words Sev’n and
Lev’n we can sing the numbers more easily and rhythmically.
Also, if we sing the numbers, we can get
used to relationships between notes.
It’s simpler to understand the maths than
to convert via Do-re-mi and those rarer names in between.
For instance, if I sing the Sev’n note then
the Ten, it’s easy to understand that I’m going up a “third” in this notation.
Compare this to the complexity and
obscurity of conventional practice, which would either
a) use the
do-re-mi names with no names for the interval,
b) call the Sev’n the ”fifth”,
and the Ten “a flatted seventh”, and the “3” interval a “minor third” (3 notes)
in contrast to a “major third” (four notes).
A disadvantage of the conventional numbers
is that they treat anything other than the Ionic (“major”) scale as abnormal
and needing even more words.
Not only does it cause problems in “minor”
scales, and “modes” which are mathematically just major scales starting in
different places, but also, for instance, the “fifth” isn’t the fifth note in a
pentatonic scale (one that uses five notes out of the twelve, rather than seven
as the major scale does). The
implication that a note is a “sharp” or “flat” version of another note is an
unnecessary complication, as well as making it harder to learn to play some
scales than others.
Even on the piano, it may be easier to
visualise note relationships by counting and/or noticing the number
relationships (by “noticing” I mean that things automatically become clear, as
in the example of the Sev’n and the Ten above.
If you play a Sev’n on the piano, whatever key you’re in, you won’t have
much trouble finding the Ten. The note
names A, B, C and so on are less useful, maybe).
If we use the note numbers for sets of
pitches (such as chords, or sets of strings at rest), we have a basis for
polyphonic instrument tunings and other uses.
Another thing we can do with numbers is to
try different counting systems. For instance,
if we count backwards, this may help develop a sense of dynamics because for
many types of music the loudest note in the bar would then have the biggest
numerical value. ]
.......
Here is a way I've begun to think about
pitch in music, and guitar tunings, and chords. I think it helps my
musical ear. Maybe it will be useful for other people as well. At the end are some sketchy ideas about
counting.
What follows relates to Western-style
12-tone scales.
This is an early draft so I expect to have
included mistakes.
Contents
1. Note names: T and L
2. Intervals and chords: the Two Chord
3. String instrument tunings: 070470
4. Counting beats: 4321
1. Note names
I've started thinking in chromatic numbering,
like on guitar frets - numbering the notes in order upwards with 0
as the root.
"Three Blind Mice" starts on
frets 4,2,0.
So I can sing "Four two oh".
I like having the root as 0 because the
intervals are clear.
The chromatic Do-re-mi could be:
"Oh Two
Three Four Five Six Sev Eight Nine Ten Lev".
Major scale could be:
"Oh Two
Four Five Sev Nine Lev Oh".
I did devise something with shorter names:
"Oh
but now I think it's easier to start with the numbers and shorten
as I get used to the system.
For writing or typing the numbers, if the
spacing of "11" and "12" causes problems when typed, T and
L can be used for Ten and Leven.
So we get a Western chromatic scale of
0123456789TL
and a Western major scale of 024579L .
Arabic-type scale: 014578T
.
"Happy birthday" starts on
77970L
What about the fact that
in the tune, the 0 and L are higher in pitch than the rest of the notes?
Well, we could try something like _0 for
lower notes, and ^0 for higher notes.
7797^0L
Or
7 7 9 7 12 11 .
Another possibility:
-------------------------
0
L
9
7 7 7
-------------------------
For simple tunes that I already know, the simple
system 77970L is enough.
Ah. Here's another idea.
0
7797 L
2. Intervals
I think it would improve my ear if I
trained myself to think in chromatic-step terms for intervals: seven
frets up, and so on.
To get from a G to the next G up, a
chord/arpeggio can be
0470 (remember 0
takes the place of 12).
This shows us that the first interval is 4,
then we go up 3 more to get to 7, then 5 more to get
to 0.
Try playing
or singing the broken chord/scale 03690.
Try 0480, 047T,
047T2, 047L.
Naming chords
Since we only need to mention notes other
than the root, we can notate chords like this:
C47
which is the same number of syllables as "C major".
One advantage of the C47 system is that if
we sing the name of the chord, we've already sung the broken chord.
Sevnnn!"
Four
"Cee
Since when naming chords we can often leave
out the root and the seventh note up, we might notate chords like this:
C3T (C Three
Ten).
It's interesting to sing these as broken
chords, or just imagine what they are going to sound like before we play them,
because we're more used to other sequences like major scales.
For me it is not as intuitive as I thought
to sing the sequence C3T. That makes me
think it's good mental exercise.
Tip in case of difficulty finding the tenth
note
Either a) go up seven notes from the 3 note
(remember 7 is an important interval and
should be easy to find: if you can't find
the 7th note up from another note practise finding the 12th note up or down,
then move on to 7th notes, then to other intervals).
or b) go to the 12th note up (0h) and go to the next bluesy note
down (Ten).
I quite like the idea of calling chords things
like the
Two chord (short for a 4-Ten-Two chord,
047T2),
the
Leven chord (short for the 4-Eleven chord
047L),
the
Three-Six-Nine chord and
the
Four-Eight chord.
An
Oh-Sevn is a ringing chord with no
other notes.
A
Three chord is the one that people say sounds
sad.
String instruments and chords
On the piano, many-fingered chords 036903,
047TL and so on are easy to work out and play;
on the guitar they're harder to find and harder to play.
For ear-training purposes, the notes are
easy to find on one string. If there's
no string available for the key, we can first try finding the notes on one of
the strings. The idea is to get used to
knowing what the intervals, multiple intervals (chords and scales) and chords
will sound like, as a prelude to making the sounds we want to make.
Often it's good to leave out some notes in
a chord and just imply them. Once we
know where the notes are (see below) we can try different combinations. [Below are ideas for numbers in tunings: this gives the notes for open strings and a
starting point for finding notes for chords anywhere on the neck].
An idea for notating chord progressions
It might be preferable in some cases to
leave the note numbers unchanged even when the chord changes (provided the
whole feel of the piece doesn't modulate).
So for a blues in C, say we start in 047T
(C,E,G,Bb).
We could notate the F chord by something
like F047T (i.e.
F,A,C,Eb).
Or we could just write 5903 (If we keep C
as the 0, then 5903 gives F,A,C,Eb).
I like this idea because it's easy to see
as a sequence on a guitar fretboard using one string, or a piano. Playing chords as broken chords on one guitar
string is quite nice.
3. String instrument tunings
Tunings can be written with any note as the
root 0, so really there are 12 ways of notating them.
I've used the chromatic system to try and
understand open tunings more easily.
These examples are for guitar. With
the most obvious note as the root in each case:
Open D 070470
Open G 707047
Open C 070704
Players of open string tunings know that
moving across one string transfers chord shapes across the tunings. If we
look at the numbers above it's easy to see the principle: look at the diagonal
pattern of 7s, 0s and 4s.
EADGBE tuning, if you play in G, yields a
root on the G string:
EADGBE
927049
^^^
Note the 704 (DGB). Hopefully it's
easy for learners to see that chord shapes and melodies on those strings can be
transferred to:
Open D 070470
^^^
Open G 707047
^^^
Open C 070704
^^^
and that a 4-string 0704 pattern is repeated in those three
tunings.
What this system does very well is to show
relationships between tunings.
BF#BD#F#B |
CGCEGC |
DADF#AD
| are all 070470.
EBEG#BE
|
etc. |
Let's look at some tunings where Ds are
numerous:
DADEAD 070270
Open Dm 070370
Open D 070470
DADGAD 070570
etc.
It's worth bearing in mind that we can
describe the tunings by reference to any of the 12 notes in the scale.
EADGBE
in E 05T370
in A 705T27
etc.
The good thing is that we can relate
tunings to each other by renumbering. Some open tunings may sound
better played in a key that's not so obvious.
In numbering notes, remember you are in
base 12, not in base 10.
Think of hours of the day if that makes it
easier (i.e. 7+5=0; 7+7=2).
Finding notes
Suppose I'm in "open C"
tuning. One nice thing is that I can immediately see from the numbers,
while holding the guitar, some easy options.
Let's look at the tuning.
070704
To find more notes of a C chord, all I need
to do is find other 7s,4s and 0s.
I look
070704
and visualise the fretboard while I look
or perhaps better, sing the notes internally or externally
or both
and see or hear, for instance, that strumming while fretting 004000
will still give a C chord.
A boogie pattern can be on notes 7 and 9, so
I can use the existing 7s in the tuning 070704 and the second fret.
Finding a boogie pattern
I can look at the tuning
070704
and meanwhile feel for strings 5 and 3 (the sevens) and play
shuffle on the noughth and second fret of both.
000000 to 020020,
or x0xx0x to x2xx2x or something in between.
Or use noughth, second and third frets, or
frets 0,2,3,5, or descending 5,3,2,0.
Finding chords
Example: A suspended chord (C with an F in
it) is easy to see:
Look at the tuning
070704
I want a 5 note so I fret 000001.
If I want to put the 4 note back in, I can
fret 004001, without having the 4 and the 5 next to each other in pitch.
Damping to get chords
I can damp strings and strum to get a
partial G chord x7x7x4 (in my terminology a G9). and
then a very partial C "chord" 0x0x0x (or can do 0x0x04).
By doing a few minutes of this damping I
realised how useful it is for strumming.
It's possible sometimes to suggest chords by just resting the fingers on
the strings I want to damp.
Note to self: Idea for a tuning:
CGCACE
Down one fret
BF#BG#BD#
i.e.
070904
4. Counting beats in music
I've also tried different ways of counting:
a) 0123 instead of 1234. Think of the
first note of the bar as the main note and the others as echoes.
b) 4321. Since the 4 is a bigger
number, it seems more natural to have this as the main note.
c) Blend of both methods: 3210.
d) Cha-one-two-three
Cha-one-two-three. Can put any syllable in place of the Cha.
e) Cha-two-one-oh.
More experiments needed.
-----------------------------
Contact information:
Matt Berkley
OX4 3AY
+44 (0)7968 251395
matt (att) mattberkley (dott) com
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