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Dan's Music Theory 101 Cheat Sheet: The Chromatic Wheel

This cheat sheet provides a concise overview of basic music theory concepts in 3 sentences or less: It defines common intervals, scales, chords, and their notation using a chromatic wheel and examples in the key of G. Key terms are also defined, such as root, chord tones, diatonic, and others. Finally, it briefly covers note durations like quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes as well as the structure of a measure.

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223 views1 page

Dan's Music Theory 101 Cheat Sheet: The Chromatic Wheel

This cheat sheet provides a concise overview of basic music theory concepts in 3 sentences or less: It defines common intervals, scales, chords, and their notation using a chromatic wheel and examples in the key of G. Key terms are also defined, such as root, chord tones, diatonic, and others. Finally, it briefly covers note durations like quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes as well as the structure of a measure.

Uploaded by

Gà Vip
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dan’s Music Theory 101 Cheat Sheet

All the basics you need to know about music theory on one sheet of paper
Intervals (in relation to steps on the chromatic wheel)
The Chromatic Wheel 0- Unison. Same note. 1.
C 1- Minor second. Half step. Semitone. m2.
B C#/D 2- Major second. Second. Whole step. 2.
3- Minor third. m3.
A#/B D 4- Major third. 3.
5- Fourth. Perfect fourth. 4.
6- Minor fifth. Tritone. Diminished fifth. m5.
A D#/E 7- Fifth. Perfect fifth. 5.
8- Minor sixth. m6.
9- Major sixth. 6.
G#/A E 10- Minor seventh. Dominant seventh. m7.
11- Major seventh. M7.
G F 12- Eighth. Octave. 8.
F#/G 13- Flat ninth. m9.
Definitions 14- Ninth. 9.
15- Sharp Nine. #9.
Chord - A combination of three or more notes played
together. Scales (with samples in G)
Each note in a scale is represented by its position, 1-8.
Chord tone - A note that’s part of the current chord.
Major scale - Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half.
Chromatic scale - A scale consisting of every note. (G A B C D E F# G)
Diatonic - A note or notes in the current scale/key. Minor scale - Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole.
Downbeat - The first beat in a measure. (G A Bb C D Eb F G)

Flat - Lowers the note a half step. Chords (with samples in G)


Major - 1-3-5. G-B-D. “G”
Half step - The distance of one notch on the wheel, or one
Minor - 1-m3-5. G-Bb-D. “Gm”
fret on a bass/guitar. Also called a semitone.
Seven - 1-3-5-m7. G-B-D-F. “G7”
Key - Reference to the scale of notes on which a song is Major seven - 1-3-5-M7. G-B-D-F#. “Gmaj7”
based. Minor seven - 1-m3-5-m7. G-Bb-D-F. “Gm7”
Root - The note in which a chord is based on. e.g.- C is the Nine - 1-3-5-m7-9. G-B-D-F-A. “G9”
root of a Cm7. Diminished - 1-m3-m5. G-Bb-Db. “Gdim”
Augmented - 1-3-m6. G-B-Eb. “Gaug”
Scale - Subset of notes in order, usually consisting of Suspended “Sus” - 1-4-5. G-C-D. “Gsus” or “Gsus4”
whole and half steps over the course of an octave. Sus2 - 1-2-5. G-A-D. “Gsus2”
Sharp - Raises the note a half step. add9 - 1-3-5-9. G-B-D-A. “Gadd9”
Five- 1-5. G-D. “G5”
Whole step - Two notches on the wheel. Also called a tone.
Six - 1-3-5-6. G-B-D-E. “G6”
1-4-5 - Since the 3 major chords diatonic to a major key
are the 1, the 4, and the 5. It’s very common to use those /- When writing a chord that has a note other than the root to
be played by the bass, it’s marked with a “/”.
3 chords in a song. Songs, or parts of songs, that only use
For example “G7/C” is a G7 chord with the bass playing a C.
those three chords are called “One Four Five”. Pronounced “G Seven Over C”.

Times
Quarter note - The standard beat of a song. 1, 2, 3, 4.
Some of the information may require further explanation...
Eighth note - The off beat of a song. “+” (pronounced “and”).
For lessons in music theory, piano/
Sixteenth note - Divisions in between eighth notes. “e” and keyboard, beginner guitar, or bass...
“a” (pronounced “uh”). contact Dan Goodspeed at:
One measure - 1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a dan@dangoodspeed.com

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