Music Theory in a Zombie Apocalypse

scales reveal the notes in a key and the chords that define harmony. we learn one scale's pattern to derive others, starting with the chromatic scale.

Define chromatic and diatonic, showing that chromatic music uses all notes and diatonic music uses a subset of notes arranged into scales within a key.

Explore the concept of an ordered pitch class collection as a formal term for scales, explaining that a scale is an ordered set of notes across octaves and pitch classes.

Explore chromatic scales that use all notes with eighth notes and strengthen finger muscles, then shift to diatonic scales, noting chromatic music is rare for pop and dance styles.

Explore whole steps and half steps and how they form intervals, including major and minor seconds. Learn how the major scale uses these steps to shape pitch relationships.

Learn the whole and half step pattern for building major scales, apply it to F major and E major, and understand how this pattern defines the major scale.

Explain tonic as the root of a scale and the home pitch that indicates the key and scale, guiding listeners to the note the music centers on.

Practice music theory with downloadable worksheets (pdf) you can print or write on, identify gaps, revisit videos, and ask questions as you begin using scales and melodies.

Explore how major scales shape melodies by using tonic, dominant, and leading tone; craft simple melodies that start and end on tonic and use steps, skips, and leaps.

Craft a melody in D major using steps, skips, and leaps, starting on the tonic, with varied rhythm and leading tone guiding back to the tonic.

Analyze a melody featuring a leap of a fifth, two leaps, and a pattern of steps, starting and ending on the tonic with a leading tone returning to it.

Explore what it means to be in key, identify tonic as home base, and use scale notes like D major or E major as clues for tonal centers.

Chords are multiple notes played together, including dyads (two-note) and triads (three-note). In pop, we focus on triads and learn which notes go in to build harmony.

Learn how to build triads from the C major scale by taking the first, third, and fifth notes, forming major and minor chords, and identifying each chord's root.

Explain the distinction between tonic and a chord’s root, and show that the root is the pitch a chord is named after, with examples such as C major root C.

Explore the diatonic chord progression in the C major scale, identifying chords from C major to B diminished and memorizing the major minor minor major major minor diminished major pattern.

Apply the major-scale pattern to identify chords in any key. Identify e major chords: e major, f# minor, g# minor, a major, b major, c# minor, d# diminished, e major.

Learn how roman numerals identify chords, with major chords capitalized and minor chords in lowercase, including diminished chords in diatonic progressions and the two five one transposition.

Learn to read chord symbols and roman numerals in the key of C major, analyzing F over C and C over E as inversions, then explore triads.

Explore the four triad types—major, minor, diminished, and augmented—and learn their interval structures: major thirds and minor thirds, four and three semitones, and how diatonic chord progressions exclude augmented triads.

Discover how the third shapes triads, transforming major to minor (and vice versa) by a half-step, with examples of major, minor, and augmented chords.

Explore how octaves and inversions affect chords, showing that adding octaves or reordering notes preserves the chord name, with root position and inversions for triads like C major.

Explore how guitar chords work by layering triads within open chords, using C major and E major as examples, and understanding note order from low to high.

Explore the circle of fifths as a practical songwriting tool that moves up five notes between keys, reveals diatonic chords, and links major keys to their relative minors.

Explore how to use the circle of fifths beyond the diatonic chords to add color to your songs by borrowing chords from closely related keys in the key of D.

Learn to craft a verse and chorus chord progression in C major using whole notes, circle of fifths, bass roots, and gentle octave adjustments, then sketch a melody.

Design a verse melody in C major using steps, skips, and leaps, with chords C major, E minor, A minor, and G, and apply suspensions and tied notes.

Craft a chorus in c major using outside-key chords like b flat, g minor, and d. Return through d minor and f major to c major, with verses and melody.

Finish the chorus melody and outline the next part of the melody to strengthen practical understanding of melody construction in music theory within the zombie apocalypse course.

Explore how music theory concepts apply in a zombie apocalypse setting to guide what comes next.