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My A4 Music Crib Sheet

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MrBouzouki

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« on: October 20, 2020, 12:33:35 AM »
Many years ago now I wanted a basic A4 sheet that summarised scales and their relationships to one another to enable me to see the patterns of how scales are constructed.

So I created my Music Crib Sheet. It looks a bit daunting on first glance but it isn't really.

It came out of not being allowed to do music at school, then being a guitarist who 'picked things up' without any formal music training. I'm also a left-hander so all the chord books and scale patterns were the wrong way round so I had to write things out myself by hand.

You can see for example, how the "upper tetra-chord" top four notes of say the G Major scale becomes the bottom four of the D Major scale and takes the F# with it.  You always sharpen the 7th in a new # Major key to keep the semi-tone spacing so the C is sharpened to C#. It helped me I think having things laid out in a grid like this to see the logic of the patterns.

You can see the progression of the cycle of 5th's or 4ths going the other way. The type of chord, major or minor built on each degree of the scale and even the name of the modes.

For example, you can work out from the chart that Db Major has the chords Db, Ebm, Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm (the relative minor) and C(half)dim from the chart.

Add 7ths onto the basic triads of Db Major and you have

Dbmaj7, Ebm7, Fm7, Gbmaj7, Ab7, Bbm7 and Cm7b5 from the chord tonality row.

You can work out from the chart that Am7 only exists in C Major, G Major and F Major or the equivalent minor keys of A minor, E minor and D minor.

It gives an idea of the family of diatonic (musical scale) chords that work together and is useful in songwriting and sometimes identifying what key some music is in. (If there are substitute chords it's a bit more involved).

If it's any use to you feel free to use it. It's certainly helped me over the years.

 ;D ;D ;D

Right click to view the full image and to save I guess.






MichaelA

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« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2020, 08:26:50 AM »
That’s a quite amazing summary you have put together there @MrBouzouki. I am just a self taught intuitive music maker, some of this theory seems very daunting to me. But it’s great that it sounds like you started off a bit like me, but then have really got into the detail of music theory, which I am sure must help enormously in your compositions.

Cheers for sharing.
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cowparsleyman

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« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2021, 08:34:18 AM »
@MrBouzouki - A very useful summary, thanks

tboswell

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« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2021, 09:13:22 AM »
Cold analytical music theory in a table! I love it 😍

No, I really do! Great short cut reference.

I also like that you favour the flats over the sharps in the index.
Many musicians I know much prefer flat keys to sharp ones.

Most guitarist don’t even know there is a difference 😀

Very cool,

Tom.

cowparsleyman

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« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2021, 01:12:35 PM »
@tboswell - Interesting indeed, personally, I don't have a preference, they both serve their purpose very nicely, I prefer writing sharps, as my flats don't seem to look right over 5 of them, they tend to look like a flock of seagulls.

It's comforting that drum notation doesn't have any sharps nor flats...