Notes are the basic building blocks for all music.
Each note has a unique pitch, making it sound higher or lower in comparism.
The frequency of the sound is called the pitch of the note.

In most western music the frequency of the note A4 (the middle A on the piano) is 440 Hz (Herz). The A string vibrates 440 times per second.

The musical alphabet consists of seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

THE 12 NOTES OF MUSIC
There are 12 notes on the piano keyboard:
A, A#/B♭, B, C, C#/D♭, D, D#/E♭, E, F, F#/G♭, G, G#/A♭.
The same 12 notes repeat upwards and downwards in octaves.
WHITE KEYS
The white keys on a piano play the “natural” notes in a scale:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
BLACK KEYS
The black keys on a piano play the “flat” and “sharp” notes in a scale: A#/B♭, C#/D♭, D#/E♭, F#/G♭, G#/A♭.

Each note has a symbol: ♭ for flat and # for sharp. A # lifts a note up a half tone (semitone) and a ♭ lowers it a semitone.

Playing a combination of white and black keys allows you to write in all available key signatures and play all possible scales.

INTERVAL

An interval is a distance between two notes.
There are several intervals. We measure these intervals by the number of half steps, whole steps, and their position in the scale.

• A half step interval is one semitone
• A whole step interval is two semitones
• Two half steps make a whole-step

Intervals are also the foundation of harmony as well as melody in music.
Playing two or more notes at the same time creates harmonic intervals (chords).
Playing single notes in a sequence makes melodic intervals (melodies).

Intervals can also be discribed by number (distance) and prefix (quality).
The interval number represents the number of half-steps between two notes. These numbers are:
1st (unison), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th (octave).

Intervals can also have a prefix to describe their quality.
The five interval qualities are major (M), minor (m), perfect (P), augmented (A), and diminished (d).

In case you are confused about that, i was also ; )
But more enlightenment will come later in the "Cords" section .

OCTAVES

Octaves are the next highest or lowest pitch of the same note.

The interval between a note and a note double its frequency is an octave.

For example, an octave up from C4 on a piano (the middle C in the center of the piano keyboard) is C5. An octave down would be C3.

There are 7 octaves on a Grand Piano and then a few more notes. 88 keys all together from A0 up to C8

There are 12 semitones in the octave.
These pitches repeat in the same order throughout the range of human hearing.

MUSIC SCALES

A music scale is a set of notes within an octave arranged by their pitch.
The ascending or descending interval relationships among the note pitches define each scale.
The notes from a scale form melodies and harmonies.

There are several types of scales. However, the two main types are the major scale and the minor scale.
You can build both major and minor scales from any note. How you use them depends on the pattern of intervals you use.

MAJOR SCALES

There are twelve possible natural major scales.
Natural major scales are bright, uplifting, and happy sounding.

The seven notes in all major scales follow the same interval pattern:
W-W-H-W-W-W-H (whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half).

MINOR SCALES

Natural minor scales are dark, melancholic and emotional sounding.
The seven notes in all minor scales follow the same interval pattern:
W-H-W-W-H-W-W (whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole).

There are twelve possible natural minor scales.
In addition, there are three variations of the minor scale: natural, harmonic, and melodic.

Honestly, i am still trying hard to wrap my head this natural, harmonic and melodic minors scales. Uuuugh!!

SCALE DEGREES

Each note of a scale has a specific name related to its function, called a scale degree. The name is the function, and a number indicates its position on the scale.

There are seven scale degrees. These names apply to all major and minor scales. Learning more about these functions takes us into advanced music theory. For now, it’s good to know the names:

• 1st – Tonik
• 2nd – Supertonic
• 3rd – Mediant
• 4th – Subdominant
• 5th – Dominant
• 6th – Submediant
• 7th – Leading Tone

Music can create and release tension. The function of a scale degree relates to the amount of tension created. It also helps you decide what note(s) should follow to resolve the tension.

KEY SIGNATURES

Key signatures tell you what notes in a scale are sharp (♯) or flat (♭). There are twelve key signatures, each derived from the twelve available notes.

Key signatures also help identify the key of a song, which is the tonal center. For example, a song in the key of F minor uses notes from the F minor scale.

THE CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

....all clear???
yes? no!!!
It cerainly still gets me confused ; )

Honestly, this is way to hard for me to explain here, sorry!.
If you are really interested go to YouTube, there are plenty of (the usual) guys sounding like they can explainin everything. Haha!

Or read this here: www.musicnotes.com/circle-of-fifths-guide/

Don't hate me please!

CHORDS

Chords are the harmonious building blocks of music. They evoke emotion and the mood and provide the foundation for creating melodies.

A chord is a combination of two or more notes played at the same time. Cords are built off a single starting note called the root of the cord.

Chords can be created from all twelve notes of the octave.

There are four basic types of chords:

MAJOR cord – Has a major third and a perfect fifth above the root

MINOR cord – Has a minor third and a perfect fifth above the root

DIMINISHED cord – Has a minor third and a diminished fifth above the root

AUGMENTED cord – Has a major third and an augmented fifth above the root

The chords and chord progressions in a piece of music support or complement the melody.

TRIAD CHORDS

The most basic chords are triads. A triad is a chord made of three notes. Triads have a root note, a third (four semitones above the root), and a perfect fifth (seven semitones above the root).

Triads are also the foundation for more complex chords. For example, you can create seventh and ninth cords by adding notes above a triad.

SEVENTH CHORDS

A seventh chord adds a note above the basic triad. Seventh chords have a root note, a third, a perfect fifth, and a seventh.

MAJOR CHORDS

Major chords have a root note, a major third, and a perfect fifth. A chord with these three notes alone is a major triad.

MINOR CHORDS

Minor chords have a root note, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. A chord with these three notes alone is a minor triad.

DIMINISHED CHORDS

Diminished chords sound tense, dissonant, and dramatic. They have a root note, minor third, and a diminished fifth (six semitones above the root).

AUGMENTED CHORDS

Augmented chords sound dissonant, unsettling, and mysterious. They have a root note, major third, and an augmented fifth (eight semitones above the root).

CHORD EXTENSIONS

Chord extensions are notes added to the basic triad beyond the seventh. These notes extend into the next octave. There are four chord extensions: the 9th, 11th, and 13th.

Extended chords create a richer, more harmonically complex sound than basic major and minor triads. They also provide additional voice leading possibilities, which makes chord progressions sound more interesting.

CHORD INVERSIONS

Chord inversions are variations of the same chord. Transposing the bottom note in a chord to the next octave creates an inversion.

There are two main chord inversions: first inversion and second inversion.

First Inversion – Transposes the root note up one octave. The third of the triad becomes the bass note.

Second Inversion – Transposes the inverted triad again. The fifth of the triad becomes the bass note.

Chord inversions add variation, excitement, and smoother transitions in chord progressions. The more notes a chord has, the more possible inversions.

CHORD PROGRESSIONS

A chord progression or a harmonic progression is an ordered series of chords. Chord progressions support both the melody and the rhythm. They also provide the foundation for creating harmony and melody.

The key in witch the piece is written or played determines the chords used in a progression. A progression can consist of major and minor chords, extended chords and the rest of the chord family.

ROMAN NUMERALs

Roman numerals indicate the chords in a progression. They identify the musical key and the root note for each chord. For example, “IV” means the chord is built on the fourth degree of a scale.

Uppercase Roman numerals represent major chords, while lowercase numerals represent minor chords. For example, a chord progression in the key of C major would look like I-vi-IV-V (C-Am-F-G).

.... hope you are still with me ; )

All that obviously is easier to play than to explain!

....work in progress

....work in progress

In case you are wondering how i got so smart about music and where i got all this musical wisdom from, i can gladly direct you in the right direction:

Music Theory For Dummies.pdf

Feel fre to download and read, it helped me a lot to wrap my brain around what i usually do intuitively on the keyboard. Now i am glad to also know it with my brain and can approach music not only from the feeling side but also with some understand about how music is structured and composed.

Grazias to the authors! And the title is pretty accurat ... in my case ; )