Theory e-learning (suggestions)

[Cheez]

OK. Starting a new thread to see how far this one will go.

Interested contributors, please give comments on what you think should be in "Practical Theory 101". Give us a short intro on your theory background -don't need a CV. Remember this is 101, not 501. If this one works out, we'll work on something more advanced.

Interested students, please give comments on what you hope to get out of something like this. Don't worry if your goal is realistic or not - just put it down. We'll try to see if it's achievable and will try to tailor the lessons to meet those goals. In this case, we will be "practical focussed".

 

[Mr_KeyboardMan]

whoo nice ... btw what's the address for the e learning section? cant find it anywhere in the site.

My suggestions would be:

Basic theory (practical 101):
writing music (pitch and rhythm notation)
basic chords (triads, chord symbols, inversions)
major + minor scales
intervals
transposition

extended:

Intermediate(102): 12 bar blues, more in depth into harmony (Building chords), Voicing, tensions, Modes, Modal chord progression, how to use modes, etc

Advanced(103): styles, phrasing, jazz application, case study?.

Application(101?): Managing your practise schedule, how to practise effectively, increasing speed and finger strength, tips and tricks, etc

That's just what came to mind. Never really meditate on it. So please fill the rest in oso.

Myself, i got ABRSM Grade 8 theory and Diploma in music performance. Now , I more into jazz and contemporary music , never touch classical for 3-4 years already, been doing self study using jazz books and learning other instruments

as a student, I want to learn more effective practise routine, tips and tricks

 

[ShredCow]

I think the following will help budding musicians:

1) Understanding Rhythm (4/4, 3/4 whats the deal? 5/4, 7/8 prog rock huh?)
2) Playing in "key"? (What is a key? how do you derive it?)
3) Basics of Improvisation (What notes to use?)

Pretty basic huh?

I've got ABRSM Grade 6 Theory. Grade 5 practical piano, which I have totally forgotten. Ungraded guitar. :wink:

 

[Chang]

I think on top of it all, to really aid learning, some short clip samples would be useful.

i.e playing in key: one short example of lick in A with A blues rhythm, and the same lick in B but still A blues rhythm. Just to show how horrible not playing in key sounds.

Basics of improvisation: probably short examples of a lick, each rhythmically the same, but with different note choices. Like a lick in A B C D and another in A B C E. Just to show the contrast.

Some people are visual learners and some are aural (did i get this right?) learners. Yea i guess have to try and cater to both sides.

 

[bluepowder]

hmm interesting,
I would really like to see some sections on chord melodies...chord substitutions....

also rhythm patterns and techniques of various genres ie.country,blues,folk...etc.... 8)

An artist section....covering the songs and techniques of particular players...and an indepth analysis of their songs(this section is what i wld love the most)
ie. a satriani section,a guthrie section, a shawn lane section,a vai section...
(i know i know...not a lot of ppl can play guthrie and shawns stuff..but it would be nice to learn a technique and the thought process)....

 

[Cheez]

Excellent, keep it coming. Please remember this is a theory section, not practical. Hence practical skills may be covered by somebody else in another e-learning section. But I agree with Chang that we may be able to integrate some simple practical parts with theory if it fits in. But we need to know that there are guitarists, keyboardists, drummers, vocalists, bassists, and maybe even other instrumentalists. Covering all instruments will be impossible.

Keyboardman, great breakdown.

Now will you all be happy to be the contributors? I'll try to collate all your ideas into one post - give me some time. Meanwhile, please keep on adding ideas. Need info from our target audience since this whole thing is made for YOU!

Myself: Theory ABRSM 8, Piano practical ABRSM 8, Trumpet ABRSM 3 (no time for more exams...), taught ABRSM theory in the distant past. Classical and jazz playing background. Strength in harmony, arrangement, orchestration and composition (still have my Rimsky-Karsakov's Priniciples of Orchestration lying somewhere around).

By the way, you don't have to be a theory guru to be a contributor. You just need to have a good knowledge of applying theory into practical, which is the whole idea of this e-learning. We don't want to do the same ABRSM thing again - we want to break into practical focussed theory.

Keyboardman, the link to e-learning is here:
http://soft.com.sg/learn/

It is VERY WELL HIDDEN! Maybe James can make it more obvious. By the way, any comments from James re: this undertaking?

 

[Chang]

I'm more than willing to help in anyway i can

But bear in mind i'm just a half-past six musician. No degress, no diplomas, no cert. Probably just a graduation handshake from Beez.

 

[ShredCow]

I can help and check on the contributions to make sure a guitarist wouldn't get lost in the mix.

Btw, we need to add notation.

Score
Guitar Tab
Bass Tab
Drums?

I can help to translate score to tab for guitar, for bass too if need be.

 

[Taylorboy87]

I think it would be interesting to show how arpeggios can be used to in solos to add more color and how to play with changes in a minor 4/4 progression. Showing what is a direction and how do you progress your solo as the song progresses. Just my 2 cents!

 

[visa]

I wanna learn the 12/8 bar blues

 

[Gr3y]

wow.. cant wait for it 2 start teaching!

tts coz i sux in playing...

 

[chamois]

Wow.....looking forward to the free(?) e-learning material.........
Sadly I can't help much cos I have pretty much forgotten what is ABRSM already......