Music is completely made up of patterns; patterns of varying distances from one note to the next, to the next, and so on. Sitting down at a piano, it is very easy to recognize these distances, if you know what you are looking for. These distances are also known as intervals. Since there are twelve notes, there are twelve intervals (basically). The smallest of these intervals is one note to the next closest note (going up or down). This is called a half step. Sit down at a piano and press any black key. If you proceed to touch either white key next to it, you have just moved up or down one half step. Pick another note. If you count up twelve half steps, or go up twelve keys without skipping any black or white notes (not counting the note you chose to start with) you should find your finger on the same note you started on. This interval is called an octave; notice the similarity of how the first note and the last note sounds. The octave is the largest simple interval, encompassing all the others within it. Going beyond this would create larger intervals, but no new intervals. Just like a rainbow encompasses all colors, if it were to continue past purple it would probably start to look very reddish again (just a higher octave) and then continue through the rainbow once more. After all, sound and color are both waves that we simply perceive in different ways.

Every two keys pressed simultaneously will create an interval with a name, based on the number of half steps between them. This is the most fundamental rule of music, as well as the basis of all other music theory. Play a short melody on the piano or any sequence of five notes. Note all of the intervals (number of half steps) from one note to the next and then try playing the same melody starting from a new note. If you follow the pattern correctly, you will have played the same melody in a new key (without knowing any note names). Three or more notes played at the same time create a chord. Try playing three of every other white note at the same time. This chord has a name determined by the space between each note. Move the structure to any other place on the piano and it will have the same chord quality.

This is how music works. The intervallic relationship of notes creates patterns. These patters are interracially related to other patters and it can go on forever. Learning anything more advanced than this concept will be useful, but only recreating what someone else already discovered using these basic concepts. “A musician will spend his or her entire life learning the rules, just trying to find ways to break them.”

Ben Bruce is a DJ/Producer currently attending Berklee College of Music. Learn more about this up and coming artist. Check out and like Benzamak on his Facebook page.

You can find Music Theory for the Non-Musician at EzineArticles.