As my Music Theory and Producing class comes to a close, I’m reflecting on things that my students should know for the final exam.  Then, it hit me that there are several things that every musician should know.  I’m sure these things will inspire future posts as I expand on some of the individual topics, but for right now, here’s the basic list:

  1. Order of whole steps and half steps for a major scale and minor scale
  2. Number of accidentals (sharps/flats) for each key
  3. Which accidentals are present in each key signature
  4. Chord qualities (Major, minor, Augmented, or diminshed) for each scale degree in a major and minor key
  5. Relative majors and minors
  6. Which scaled degree of the parent key is each mode built from
  7. Which notes are altered in each mode if you started with a major (or minor) scale
  8. Which chord qualities are altered from a major (or minor scale) for each mode
  9. The differences between simple and compound meters and how to count them
  10. How to count and conduct the most commonly used meters

Stay tuned for future posts as I expand on these topics in greater detail!

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