Chord Tones, Intervals, and Scales Flash Cards (or app)

[kendor]

I want to drill myself on chord tones, scale degrees, inversions etc.. and would prefer to get a tool (flash cards or an app) that is ready-made for this. Are there ready-made options for this?

[AaronWeinstein]

There's a wonderful tool for this. The...mandolin! Because of the tuning of the instrument – there is a visual shape to intervals and chord tones. So, you can actually use the instrument to help you learn this sort of information. And as a bonus, you'll become more familiar with the instrument itself!

[Dave Wrede]

Well, there is this...
http://www.violinflashcards.com/

[mbruno]

If you're just trying to memorize theory, flash cards are helpful IMO. I used to have a stack in my car and would pull them out at stop lights or in heavy traffic. Basic things like "What's the 1 3 5 of A" on one side with "What Chord uses A C# E" on the other or "What notes are in G Major Pentatonic Scale" with "what Scale uses G A B D E" on the other. Wording in that way means you can use either side instead of just one side with a questions.

I also used to write out the fretboard a lot by hand in college lined notebooks. I felt this really helped me "see" the notes on the fretboard. I would write out scales, chord tones, and any other patterns I wanted to see. I found writing out the arpeggios for the chords in a song back to back (i.e. writing out the G arpeggio, the C arpeggio, D arpeggio etc) was also helpful to see what notes were pretty close on the fretboard.

That said, Aaron is a way (waaaaay) better player than I am - so maybe just do what he says instead.

[John Kelly]

Along the lines of Aaron's thinking, I would recommend the piano keyboard which is a wonderful visual aid to seeing chords, with its layout of groups of two and three black keys dispersed among the white ones. Playing the C major scale - all white keys - shows you the full tone and half tone intervals of the diatonic scale and you can then use those intervals to work out correct note in the other scales. The piano also lets you hear what you are playing.

[AaronWeinstein]

The piano keyboard is definitely a wonderful tool as it allows us to see intervals in a clear way (though I'd argue that the mandolin also allows this). When I was first trying to learn this stuff, I tried using the piano. But since I didn't already play that instrument, it felt like an extra hurdle. And even if we do learn about intervals from the piano - we still need to then see them on the mandolin. For that reason, I'm a fan of doing all of this work on our instrument. And, it helps reinforce fretboard literacy. Yay!

[Marguerite]

The piano keyboard is definitely a wonderful tool as it allows us to see intervals in a clear way (though I'd argue that the mandolin also allows this). When I was first trying to learn this stuff, I tried using the piano. But since I didn't already play that instrument, it felt like an extra hurdle. And even if we do learn about intervals from the piano - we still need to then see them on the mandolin. For that reason, I'm a fan of doing all of this work on our instrument. And, it helps reinforce fretboard literacy. Yay!

Actually, it's easiest to see on staff notation. You don't need the detour via the piano or keyboard. In some respects, a fretboard is clearer than a keyboard, and for the diatonic system, staff notation is easiest.

That's why I don't understand why so many people here resist reading staff notation rather than tabs. Plus staff notation is much more versatile.

[AaronWeinstein]

Actually, it's easiest to see on staff notation. You don't need the detour via the piano or keyboard. In some respects, a fretboard is clearer than a keyboard, and for the diatonic system, staff notation is easiest.

That's why I don't understand why so many people here resist reading staff notation rather than tabs. Plus staff notation is much more versatile.

Staff notation is a great way to understand intervals. And for arranging/orchestration -- it's one of the best methods for understand harmony (for instance - I would be lost trying to understand a Nelson Riddle score using only a mandolin.)

However, IF what we're talking about is learning this stuff so it can be applied to the mandolin -- learning it ON the instrument is the most expedient way to go about it. At least, it was for me. I'm not being prescriptive here. Just sharing my own experience.

[DougC]

There are 'apps' out there. I've used a number of them. However, my experience has taught me that unless I do 'the work myself' they just waste my time. Somehow they 'go in one ear and out the other'. (My head has a lot of holes, ha, ha.) They make it 'too easy'.

So what I have found is that actually getting out a pencil and paper makes it 'stick' in my memory. Same goes for the mandolin. A computer screen showing a mandolin fretboard is nothing like holding a real mandolin and finding the note with a tuner.

Somehow the physical work - works the best.

[tmsweeney]

Like Doug and Aaron said, the more you play chords and think of them as stacked intervals and then think about the intervals between chords changes, you will soon become comfortable with various keys, and probably be able to easily transpose simple pieces like "I'll fly away" from C to D.

While you can purposely learn through transposing the same tune into different keys, I would say just learn various songs in thier native keys C , D, G , A , F ,Bb, E what ever, and after a while, the basics of harmonic mechanisms should become apparent.

Start simple, move towards more complex ideas as you get comfortable.
There are some palindromes? not sure if that's the right term

Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle Finally

revers is the flat keys - circle of Fifths counter clockwise

Finally Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles

Gb and F# being the same chord as is Cb and B

there are moveable circle of fifths diagrams where you point the inner circle I to the chord and all the rest line up II iii IV V vi VII i think it has relative minors as well

Berklee circle-of-fifths

[Marguerite]

Staff notation is a great way to understand intervals. And for arranging/orchestration -- it's one of the best methods for understand harmony (for instance - I would be lost trying to understand a Nelson Riddle score using only a mandolin.)

However, IF what we're talking about is learning this stuff so it can be applied to the mandolin -- learning it ON the instrument is the most expedient way to go about it. At least, it was for me. I'm not being prescriptive here. Just sharing my own experience.

I think the best solution is to combine playing it and reading it on staff notation. That's why I recommended Max Adler scale studies. And maybe for each key, one should add a cadenza or chord progression.

I just went twice through Adler over 3 octaves and it really helped with shifts and dexterity in high positions.

[bigskygirl]

I spent alot of time with a tuner just playing something I knew and learning the fretboard as I did that. Playing twinkle twinkle little star will take you a long way.

Another good suggestion is to make your own flash cards, I did that. Reading music is a good thing to practice too.

Last practice writing out chords as follows:

Write out a scale, bottom line is root then stack the 3rd, 5th, 7th - I did the C scale below.

7th…..…B C D E F G A B
5th….. .G A B C D E F G
3rd….. .E F G A B C D E
Root…. C D E F G A B C
…..….. I ii iii IV V vi vii I

The table doesn’t line up exactly with the columns (I added dots to try and line up), but you can fix it when you write it out..

It will seem very hard and very frustrating but if you do this with a few common scales…don’t do all 12 and then be frustrated that you don’t lnow it.

Take one, like C and do it. Think about why something is minor as opposed to major.

This will take you a while - you won’t do it in 5 minutes - probably a month or so to get good and comfortable with it.

[BillWilliams]

As a fairly new mandolin player, Aaron's suggested approach using the mandolin keyboard has worked well for me on swing jazz tunes. When I started out I did try a flashcard approach and memorizing a certain number of chord shapes per day, but somehow it didn't stick, though I have played guitar for decades and have a solid theory base.

I guess it depends on your personal learning style.

Doing Aaron's course on chord melody, the visual and auditory logic of the 5ths tuning became clear and his approach of finding chord triads on the lower strings and adding extensions/tensions on the top strings opened a world of musical possibility that felt like I moved to another musical level on the instrument.

[DougC]

It does depend on your personal style of learning. Something will be the way that makes sense. (You have to be looking however.)

You also have to get comfortable with the idea that you will see something in the future that 'did not make sense' earlier.

It is a very good notion to have patience.

Highly skilled musicians all say that they never stop learning. Beginners think that they can 'get it' and it will be 'good enough'.

[DavidKOS]

Along the lines of Aaron's thinking, I would recommend the piano keyboard which is a wonderful visual aid to seeing chords, with its layout of groups of two and three black keys dispersed among the white ones. Playing the C major scale - all white keys - shows you the full tone and half tone intervals of the diatonic scale and you can then use those intervals to work out correct note in the other scales. The piano also lets you hear what you are playing.

Learning the piano keyboard, even just as a music theory learning tool, is very useful. One advantage over the mandolin fingerboard is that each discrete pitch has only a single place to play them. It's very easy to "see" a chord and its inversions and voicings.

Actually, it's easiest to see on staff notation. You don't need the detour via the piano or keyboard. In some respects, a fretboard is clearer than a keyboard, and for the diatonic system, staff notation is easiest.

That's why I don't understand why so many people here resist reading staff notation rather than tabs. Plus staff notation is much more versatile.

I agree 100%....well, maybe 90% since I think a keyboard is easier to "see" than any string instrument other than a monochord.

First, learning music on mandolin with staff notation opens up a world of centuries of music that just is not easily found in TAB, if at all.

Second, I've never been to any professional music reading situation where I was given a sheet of TAB instead of notation.

Third, using staff notation for learning theory lets one access all the classical and jazz theory books that just do not use TAB.

I realize many forum members have no real desire to play music outside of genres that are largely learned "by ear", with some support of notation or TAB.

But for those that want a deeper understanding of music theory, becoming familiar with both the keyboard and standard notation is essential.


Admittedly I say all this as a person that has learned to read music as a child in school bands, played since I was a teenager in the early 1970's in bands that both played by ear and by charts, began writing arrangements my senior year of high school, was in the AFM playing shows and in jazz bands and dance bands for years, and wound up with a Master's of Music (UNO, 1985) in Theory and Composition.

Perhaps my answer would be different if I had spent most of my musical life in Country, Bluegrass, American roots music, etc.

[Mark Gunter]

I believe that there are many apps for flash cards that kendor could find, to answer the original question. I believe the best would be one that requires you to develop your own questions. The task of doing so will aid in learning, just as using them will. I write all of this in response to the question, and in the spirit of admitting the possibility that kendor responds well to rote memory type learning. I do not actually believe that this is the best way to learn music.

I think that the best way to learn music is to play music; for instance, I believe that simply trying to memorize a bunch of chord forms would be pretty ineffective, as opposed to learning to play chords in the context of a musical piece on your instrument of choice. Learning the chord forms to play what you wish to play is the most effective way to learn chords. Intervals? You can learn most about chord intervals by reading a little theory and spending some time analyzing the chords you’re playing on your instrument.

The main use of rote memory for a beginner, in my opinion, is to memorize the definition of a major scale!

The major scale consists of eight ascending notes, with a half step between the third and the fourth, and a half step between the seventh and the eighth, and all other notes are a whole step apart. The eighth note of a major scale is the same as the first note, but an octave higher. Eight “ascending notes” means eight notes going up in tonality, from lower to higher notes.

Once a person memorizes the definition of a major scale, to the point that they could sit down and figure out how to write out the scale for any key from scratch, a person can extrapolate from that understanding pretty much any other aspect of music theory. So that is, in my opinion, the first and perhaps the only thing that requires rote memorization. Even that is useless unless you actually can use the definition first to write out scales from scratch. And all that, too, is useless if you don’t actually play music first and analyze it later!

The best two graphical representations for understand this are the piano keyboard and staff notation, in my opinion. That is why, for instance, I use charts of the piano keyboard as well as of the guitar and mandolin fretboards in my articles on music theory, and it is why I include staff notation in my chord charts. You can find my articles, and my chord charts, at the website in my signature.