Update: 3 more years have now passed, and the fall of the Roman Empire is truly complete. Roman Numerals have been lost to history. Everyone counts in hexademical now.
I have taken so many music theory classes and have failed them because 1.) my teachers didn't explain it in a way that I could understand, and 2.) it was too fast of a pace. I am totally getting this now! You're such an amazing teacher! THANK YOU!!
I have watched many videos on Music Theory and everytime you have a video of what im learning , i get excited. I REALLY like your training style and cleanliness. I hope you are given proper credit. You deserve it.
There is in any diatonic scale. Like the major scale, minor scale, or any of the modes. For an altered scale, like the harmonic minor, you'll end up with something other than the 3 major, 3 minor, and 1 diminished.
Outstanding video, Michael. Many thanks! Quick question: How did you manage to record this particular video? Two camera? A particular program to get this effect? I teach Spanish on line. Please tell me how you did this. Cheers, Dave
The minor III is equivalent to the major I; hence, I see the beginnings of modality, and intonation will become a factor in composition. Brilliant! Music is truly decorating Time as Painting decorates Space. Math and Life are are the ashlars of Art. The Science is Knowing that metaphor with your whole heart, whole mind, whole spirit, and whole soul. Philosophical, I know. But this is nourishment for being a part of Creation. Art is divine
you have one of the best logic, reasoning and deduction ability I have ever seen in human beings, it makes you a GREAT teacher and i wonder what people with a mind this clear can achieve in other areas.
I’m trying to learn about music theory through linked in learning but it’s not as good as this guy, he really breaks everything down and explains it clearly so I can actually understand these concepts without feeling I’m missing out on certain info 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Yeah I bolted my camera into the ceiling this time. And I drilled holes in the metal frame for my keyboard to make it fit under the desk. And, I'm building a PC! Parts came today. I realized I needed a video editing machine.
I've watched so many of your videos tonight and they are perfect. Thank you so much for putting your time into these videos and describing everything so well. I really appreciate it.
Yes, definitely. Even though minor keys share notes with other major keys, the minor key has a different tonal center. Think of keys as having 2 very important aspects; one is the arrangement of notes in the key, and the other is what the tonal center is. I'm probably going to get into minor keys in more detail soon, so hopefully that will make it a little more clear.
Great series! Want to hear about Chord Functions, eg., Role of the Dominant Chord. Also graphic demonstration of the relationship of Major to Minor Key/Scale as shown in "How the Roman Numeral System Works" - ie., the minor scale is an 'inversion' of the major scale where the vi vii become the i ii.
I figure since I'm doing things lecture-style, it provides something to look at while I'm talking. Otherwise it can be just a blank keyboard for minutes at a time. And you get to see all the different t-shirts I own.
Wow... you've posted more videos! You really are a gifted teacher... and you did a great job on this. I'm looking forward to checking out all the others that I haven't seen yet.
He explained it pretty simply, what's your confusion? Google "Roman Numberals" if you don't know how to write 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in Numerals, but that's all he did. Upper case represents major, lower case minor. lower case with a circle is diminished.
would be better if the sound if the piano was louder, so you could train your ear while watching. (downloaded all your previous music theory videos, haven't checked them out all yet, but the ones I saw were very easy to follow. Thank you for making these.)
***** Nice lesson. Just a bit of advice : Your way of remembering minor key chords is a little bit difficult for beginners. Try this : Since a minor key is the aeolian mode of a major key, one just has to start at the 6th chord of a major key, which will become the first chord of a minor key.vii in a major key becomes the i in minor, viii° becomes ii°, I becomes III, etc... Conclusion : Just put the last two chords of the major key in the beginning of the chord sequence, change the numbering (from 1 to 7) and voilà you have your minor key chords :P
Diandredofus I'm a beginner, but Michael's way is much easier for me. I understand your concept, and on paper or a keyboard your way is easier. I'm a sax player and the 1, 4, 5 works best for me.
How is it determined that the 2 3 and 6 chords are monor and the 7th chord is diminished. If I wanted to play chords from the phrygian mode in the key of C how would I determine thier Chord value?
hey good video! another way to look at those chords in minor is to remember the order of major but start on vi chord. I ii iii IV V vi vii° is major, starting on 6th is minor vi vii° I ii iii IV V or more accurately i ii° III iv v VI VII just another way to look at it
Great 👍🏽 video Michael. This is exactly what I been looking 👀🎼🎶🎵🎹for.Great channel I’m really trying to learn how to play the keyboard correctly.I make beats and tracks I’m trying to take what I do to the next level with out sampling someone else music.
Nice video. But I'm having trouble with stuff that's not part of the key signature in music I want to analyze with Roman Numerals lol Like in c minor, suddenly they play a B major chord ( not Bb major) , a half step lower than C and a half step higher than Bb, so is it still a VII? Do I go +VII, or #VII or something before to indicate it's augementing the b note, and then it's also a B major chord so I write #VII Maj? I cannot find the answer to this anywhere. If anyone knows I would highly appreciate it, thank you.
When I saw those number, I was like "oooh, this is going to get complicated", but it's actually very simple! Thanks a lot! But I have two questions: - What's the ' ° ' ? - If you start on a chord, then go on a lower one, do you write it "minus 2", like "- II" ? Or the " I " is always the lower chord?
The little degree sign circle thing represents a diminished chord. And the root, or first note of a scale, is always the basis for the 1 chord. Going one scale degree lower is just the 7 chord again because it's a repeating pattern. I hope I got those answers right! Cause I'm in a similar boat trying to learn music theory through youtube too! XD
Are there any other Keys such as Augmented and Diminished? Also I was wondering if you could go over the pentatonic scales, and suspended chords soon? Thanks for the great Tutorials!
hi i am still confused. i am still not getting it . can you help me out please . if i want to play chords in any key do i just have to play the major chord and minor chord like you said ? for example if i have to play I V VI IV in C major key , does that mean playing C major chord- G major chord - A minor chord- F major chord ?
Hello Micheal, love your vids, but I have been looking for a video in chords, I mean why choose I,V,I chord progression, what are the reason for choosing those chords, and where can I use the suspended chords in the progression? Thank you,hope you write back.
You know I've talked a bit about choosing chords here and there throughout some of the videos, but I've never really done a video dedicated to that topic. It's something I'll probably try to tackle soon.
I have a question! Do modes change this at all? Like if I was using dorian mode, would that then move over the roman numerals by one, too? I hope that question makes sense, I'm still a total beginner.
Great video! I feel a bit stuck and confused just at the beginning. Shouldn't the chord in C Major that stards on D be D, F#, A? The one you named ii. Take the root and count 4 half steps, then 3?
I don't understand when you assume we've figured the numerals out beforehand. How do we go about doing this? Sorry for such a simple question, I've only recently started to learn theory in my 7 months of playing.
The minor chords you wrote from i - VII is for natural minor, right? Also, how would I use the circle of fifths to find the 7 chords for a minor key at a glance? I made one of those spinning circle of fifths, where you can line up the 1 chord with whatever key you're in, and the 2-7 chords line up appropriately (at least for major keys it works that way). But if want to see what chords I have for the key of A minor for example (I can figure it out myself, but I want to know for the sake of using the circle), it doesn't seem to work out correctly, no matter if I line up the 1 chord with A major on the outer ring or A minor on the inner ring. I also looked at your other video on using the circle for minor keys, but it still didn't seem clear to me.
Sorry but I came here after my music theory class to get some clarification, but this seems to directly contradict what I learned. The sevenths are always lower case and there are a few more inconsistencies. Please reply if there happens to be another way of doing this
michael, i just want to say thank you so much for your videos. You're an amazing help! One question tho, when you've got the 7th chord, the diminished one, should I play this as a, for example, Gmin7 or Gmaj7? Is there a certain rule, or just minor because of the dots on the roman numbers? My apologies in advance if you're going to discuss this in your next videos, but I just want to get things straightend out... once again, you're my hero man
also, i should have put this in my last comment but, as a programmer and music wiz, HAVE YOU USED ABLETON OMG. im basically watching your videos on repeat like a tv series i dont want to end... but im using these lessons to map out each key and their respective chords, all with midi effects. trying to make it so i can just sit down with anyone, find their vocal range, and write a hit; at any given time. its really quite interesting, and im wondering what someone with your music knowledge could accomplish with the intuitive design of ableton. be it music education or very profitable hits....i wonder.
+General Maow You know I think I goofed around with Ableton a long, long time ago, but I really should give it another look. I use Logic for my DAW, but it's more geared for live recording than Ableton.
Couldn't agree more, Michael. I started off with Logic Pro but then switched over to Ableton due to how quick the workflow can really be! However, as you said, Logic is much more friendly towards users who want to do live recordings. I myself do Dance music predominately...so mainly MIDI and samples. Swings & round'a'bouts I guess!
are these available to download? i do a lot of traveling and i would to be able to come back to some of these videos, when i dont have access to the internet :) Cheers for the great vids by the way, i have just 7 so far and following them very well!
yep, its pretty much the same. The _kinds_ of chords change however (not their numbering), because you now have a new arrangement of notes which lead to different chords. kind of a late answer lol, hopefully this helps
Pj Swiss If we were working in the key of F# major for example (so the first note would be black), the system would be the same as in the video, only instead of C major, it would follow the F# major scale.
hello i need some help how do you convert chords to roman numerals? i mean lets say we have: Gm - Ebmaj7 - Cm easy enough, but how do you determine roman numerals? please expand my mind
After almost 10 years, this video is still very relevant and the Roman numeral system is being used frequently. Thanks for this great video!
I'm using this video to help me in AP music theory this year.
Update: 3 more years have now passed, and the fall of the Roman Empire is truly complete. Roman Numerals have been lost to history. Everyone counts in hexademical now.
I have taken so many music theory classes and have failed them because 1.) my teachers didn't explain it in a way that I could understand, and 2.) it was too fast of a pace.
I am totally getting this now! You're such an amazing teacher! THANK YOU!!
its about learning the same stuff over and over until something sticks. keep it up!
"This is just a desk from IKEA, but it works just fine-"
this video was helpful and all, but that was gold.
Agreed : )
I have watched many videos on Music Theory and everytime you have a video of what im learning , i get excited. I REALLY like your training style and cleanliness. I hope you are given proper credit. You deserve it.
There is in any diatonic scale. Like the major scale, minor scale, or any of the modes. For an altered scale, like the harmonic minor, you'll end up with something other than the 3 major, 3 minor, and 1 diminished.
Outstanding video, Michael. Many thanks! Quick question: How did you manage to record this particular video? Two camera? A particular program to get this effect?
I teach Spanish on line. Please tell me how you did this. Cheers, Dave
You are welcome!
The minor III is equivalent to the major I; hence, I see the beginnings of modality, and intonation will become a factor in composition. Brilliant! Music is truly decorating Time as Painting decorates Space. Math and Life are are the ashlars of Art. The Science is Knowing that metaphor with your whole heart, whole mind, whole spirit, and whole soul.
Philosophical, I know. But this is nourishment for being a part of Creation.
Art is divine
omg you have no idea how much this helped me thank you
you have one of the best logic, reasoning and deduction ability I have ever seen in human beings, it makes you a GREAT teacher and i wonder what people with a mind this clear can achieve in other areas.
+ovspianist Ha, well thank you. I'm a programmer part time, and I think that might help.
I’m trying to learn about music theory through linked in learning but it’s not as good as this guy, he really breaks everything down and explains it clearly so I can actually understand these concepts without feeling I’m missing out on certain info 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Yeah I bolted my camera into the ceiling this time. And I drilled holes in the metal frame for my keyboard to make it fit under the desk. And, I'm building a PC! Parts came today. I realized I needed a video editing machine.
man i am so greatful for your presence/presents here on youtube, thank you so much
you are the feynman of music! :) understood so much from your videos
Ha, well that's higher praise than I deserve, but thank you very much :)
This is True. Best videos for self learners. Thanks Michel.
no
@@toniokettner4821 why
10 years later there's still not a better music tutorial channel
Every video I watch has something useful. Thank you.
I've watched so many of your videos tonight and they are perfect. Thank you so much for putting your time into these videos and describing everything so well. I really appreciate it.
Yes, definitely. Even though minor keys share notes with other major keys, the minor key has a different tonal center. Think of keys as having 2 very important aspects; one is the arrangement of notes in the key, and the other is what the tonal center is. I'm probably going to get into minor keys in more detail soon, so hopefully that will make it a little more clear.
Great series! Want to hear about Chord Functions, eg., Role of the Dominant Chord. Also graphic demonstration of the relationship of Major to Minor Key/Scale as shown in "How the Roman Numeral System Works" - ie., the minor scale is an 'inversion' of the major scale where the vi vii become the i ii.
i find myself coming back to your channel quite often while going through my college theory courses. really nice work man, your videos help a lot!
4 chords to make any pop song ever are I V vi IV :D
+Tymski Yep, pretty much: ua-cam.com/video/oOlDewpCfZQ/v-deo.html
...and vi IV I V same order difrent start and IV I V vi. in other way saying yes those 4 chord any order is HIT
ptolemy was the original blink-182
"It is known."
My teacher made this so complicated, this man explained my final exam with ease
I'm really glad you got the time to continue these lessons, they have been very helpful and i thought you had stopped. Thank you.
Could you please do a video on the differences between minor: natural, harmonic, and melodic?
Dude. This just unlocked a whole new world for me.
Thanks, I'll up the volume a little on the piano for the next video.
I figure since I'm doing things lecture-style, it provides something to look at while I'm talking. Otherwise it can be just a blank keyboard for minutes at a time.
And you get to see all the different t-shirts I own.
You are amazing
The best ever teacher on UA-cam
Wow... you've posted more videos! You really are a gifted teacher... and you did a great job on this. I'm looking forward to checking out all the others that I haven't seen yet.
This was incredibly helpful! I finally understand what those numbers are.
Chord functions is definitely coming soon. As well as a lot more detail about minor keys and their relationship to major keys.
your videos help me so much in my studies
Thanks a ton really appreciate your effort and making these available free of cost
Thank you very much for the time and effort you put in these video's. They are really great and easy to understand and really help me alot. Thanks!
Finally another video! Keep passing on your knowledge you are AWESOME!
Thank you for your great music lesson - it is far better than my music theory books I have at home.
Thank you for that quick and clear video with no bullshit added.
🚩 THANK YOU!! Been Driving Me Crazy. Studied the Major Scale an THIS, Never showed up🙃U explained it Simply. Well Done! Helped!
Music theory used to be scary, now I'm hooked.
THANK YOU! Best channel for music theory
Genius Michael! Great way to explain it!
Exactly what I needed. Thanks much!
I love the lesson, but I'm also very entertained by your hand movements =) I like the different views
Thank you for this video!!! It just saved me for my exam tomorrow.
Im here from 2020, this helped ne
Thank you for the tutorials. They are very usefule. Please keep up the good work.
Is this also related to modes? I could never quite get my head around Dorian , Mixolydian, Locrian etc..
That's great! Keep up the good work! Looking forward for the next lesson! :)
great work Michael 🔥
Thanks for the tutorial :) I hope u make more...especially on harmony :D You are a great teacher!
Nice and simple explanation on numbering system helpful thankyou
He explained it pretty simply, what's your confusion? Google "Roman Numberals" if you don't know how to write 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in Numerals, but that's all he did. Upper case represents major, lower case minor. lower case with a circle is diminished.
Well, fingers crossed it will be dual booting windows and OSX. It might be used for a little Startcraft too.
How would you write out-of-key chords? For instance, an Eb major chord when you’re in the key of C Major.
would be better if the sound if the piano was louder, so you could train your ear while watching. (downloaded all your previous music theory videos, haven't checked them out all yet, but the ones I saw were very easy to follow. Thank you for making these.)
***** Nice lesson. Just a bit of advice : Your way of remembering minor key chords is a little bit difficult for beginners. Try this : Since a minor key is the aeolian mode of a major key, one just has to start at the 6th chord of a major key, which will become the first chord of a minor key.vii in a major key becomes the i in minor, viii° becomes ii°, I becomes III, etc... Conclusion : Just put the last two chords of the major key in the beginning of the chord sequence, change the numbering (from 1 to 7) and voilà you have your minor key chords :P
As a beginner, this is pretty helpful, so thanks!
Diandredofus I'm a beginner, but Michael's way is much easier for me. I understand your concept, and on paper or a keyboard your way is easier. I'm a sax player and the 1, 4, 5 works best for me.
How is it determined that the 2 3 and 6 chords are monor and the 7th chord is diminished.
If I wanted to play chords from the phrygian mode in the key of C how would I determine thier Chord value?
Very well explained bro!! Thanks so much :D
He's back!
hey good video! another way to look at those chords in minor is to remember the order of major but start on vi chord. I ii iii IV V vi vii° is major, starting on 6th is minor
vi vii° I ii iii IV V or more accurately
i ii° III iv v VI VII just another way to look at it
Do roman numerals only work with triads? And each chord is always a whole step up?
well done you made my 2017
So Roman Numerals is a shorthand notatiton system?
Thanks for all your videos!
Great 👍🏽 video Michael. This is exactly what I been looking 👀🎼🎶🎵🎹for.Great channel I’m really trying to learn how to play the keyboard correctly.I make beats and tracks I’m trying to take what I do to the next level with out sampling someone else music.
Nice video. But I'm having trouble with stuff that's not part of the key signature in music I want to analyze with Roman Numerals lol
Like in c minor, suddenly they play a B major chord ( not Bb major) , a half step lower than C and a half step higher than Bb, so is it still a VII?
Do I go +VII, or #VII or something before to indicate it's augementing the b note, and then it's also a B major chord so I write #VII Maj?
I cannot find the answer to this anywhere. If anyone knows I would highly appreciate it, thank you.
When I saw those number, I was like "oooh, this is going to get complicated", but it's actually very simple! Thanks a lot!
But I have two questions:
- What's the ' ° ' ?
- If you start on a chord, then go on a lower one, do you write it "minus 2", like "- II" ? Or the " I " is always the lower chord?
The little degree sign circle thing represents a diminished chord. And the root, or first note of a scale, is always the basis for the 1 chord. Going one scale degree lower is just the 7 chord again because it's a repeating pattern. I hope I got those answers right! Cause I'm in a similar boat trying to learn music theory through youtube too! XD
thanks for explaining
how do you notate C# in the key of C in roman numeral?
Are there any other Keys such as Augmented and Diminished? Also I was wondering if you could go over the pentatonic scales, and suspended chords soon? Thanks for the great Tutorials!
Wow I've never learned what the roman numerals meant and never knew how to apply chords to a particular key. Thanks again! Your videos are perfect!
I'm reading a book by Arnold Schoenberg and some of the Roman numerals in the progressions have horizontal lines through them. What's that about?
Very VERY helpful, thank you!!
hi i am still confused. i am still not getting it . can you help me out please . if i want to play chords in any key do i just have to play the major chord and minor chord like you said ? for example if i have to play I V VI IV in C major key , does that mean playing C major chord- G major chord - A minor chord- F major chord ?
Hello Micheal, love your vids, but I have been looking for a video in chords, I mean why choose I,V,I chord progression, what are the reason for choosing those chords, and where can I use the suspended chords in the progression?
Thank you,hope you write back.
You know I've talked a bit about choosing chords here and there throughout some of the videos, but I've never really done a video dedicated to that topic. It's something I'll probably try to tackle soon.
Is there a reason for minor keys to exist, since they have a major equivalent?
I have a question! Do modes change this at all? Like if I was using dorian mode, would that then move over the roman numerals by one, too? I hope that question makes sense, I'm still a total beginner.
Great video! I feel a bit stuck and confused just at the beginning. Shouldn't the chord in C Major that stards on D be D, F#, A? The one you named ii. Take the root and count 4 half steps, then 3?
Your videos are great man ! thank you !
I don't understand when you assume we've figured the numerals out beforehand. How do we go about doing this? Sorry for such a simple question, I've only recently started to learn theory in my 7 months of playing.
The minor chords you wrote from i - VII is for natural minor, right? Also, how would I use the circle of fifths to find the 7 chords for a minor key at a glance? I made one of those spinning circle of fifths, where you can line up the 1 chord with whatever key you're in, and the 2-7 chords line up appropriately (at least for major keys it works that way). But if want to see what chords I have for the key of A minor for example (I can figure it out myself, but I want to know for the sake of using the circle), it doesn't seem to work out correctly, no matter if I line up the 1 chord with A major on the outer ring or A minor on the inner ring. I also looked at your other video on using the circle for minor keys, but it still didn't seem clear to me.
Thank you for this video!! So helpful
Are there always 3 major, 3 minor and 1 diminished chord; in any 7 note scale?
thanks for the clarity!
Sorry but I came here after my music theory class to get some clarification, but this seems to directly contradict what I learned. The sevenths are always lower case and there are a few more inconsistencies. Please reply if there happens to be another way of doing this
michael, i just want to say thank you so much for your videos. You're an amazing help! One question tho, when you've got the 7th chord, the diminished one, should I play this as a, for example, Gmin7 or Gmaj7? Is there a certain rule, or just minor because of the dots on the roman numbers? My apologies in advance if you're going to discuss this in your next videos, but I just want to get things straightend out... once again, you're my hero man
also, i should have put this in my last comment but, as a programmer and music wiz, HAVE YOU USED ABLETON OMG. im basically watching your videos on repeat like a tv series i dont want to end... but im using these lessons to map out each key and their respective chords, all with midi effects. trying to make it so i can just sit down with anyone, find their vocal range, and write a hit; at any given time. its really quite interesting, and im wondering what someone with your music knowledge could accomplish with the intuitive design of ableton. be it music education or very profitable hits....i wonder.
+General Maow You know I think I goofed around with Ableton a long, long time ago, but I really should give it another look. I use Logic for my DAW, but it's more geared for live recording than Ableton.
when i have something efficient put together, ill make a video reply :D
Couldn't agree more, Michael. I started off with Logic Pro but then switched over to Ableton due to how quick the workflow can really be! However, as you said, Logic is much more friendly towards users who want to do live recordings. I myself do Dance music predominately...so mainly MIDI and samples.
Swings & round'a'bouts I guess!
are these available to download? i do a lot of traveling and i would to be able to come back to some of these videos, when i dont have access to the internet :)
Cheers for the great vids by the way, i have just 7 so far and following them very well!
Is there a numeral system for a diminished scale?
yep, its pretty much the same. The _kinds_ of chords change however (not their numbering), because you now have a new arrangement of notes which lead to different chords.
kind of a late answer lol, hopefully this helps
Maybe a stupid question , but how you express the black pitches with roman numerals, or are these black ones the minors ?
What about cluster chords?
Thanks again for the video!
What is the little circle above the 7th chord (vii)?
It's diminished
Great as usual. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for this. I can't wait to get more into music! xD
Would happen if you wanted to start a key with a black note as your root note? Would this number system be thrown off? Great vid btw
Pj Swiss If we were working in the key of F# major for example (so the first note would be black), the system would be the same as in the video, only instead of C major, it would follow the F# major scale.
V is capitalized for major and minor keys...
Thank you so much it was very useful ✌️
You just saved my life 😘😘😘
Lol, I've seen the cover. It looks awesome.
hello i need some help
how do you convert chords to roman numerals? i mean lets say we have:
Gm - Ebmaj7 - Cm
easy enough, but how do you determine roman numerals?
please expand my mind