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I don't know how much you know about Theory or anything already, so sorry if I insult yur intelligence with this, I'm just going to try and cover the basics of things. You wanna know about perfect and diminished notes. Hopefully this helps a bit.

It depends on the modes. I'll teach you in C major (since that's the normal teaching scale.)

Major scale is T/T/S/T/T/T/S.

If you don't know what that is, tone (T) and Semi-Tone (S) is the intervals between notes for a given mode. Semi tone would be between two frets (Like the first fret to the second fret would be a semi-tone and the first fret to the third fret would be a tone... Same pattern for anywhere on the fret board, starting on any fret) Now with that out of the way, the Notes for C major is:

C/D/E/F/G/A/B/C

With the second "C" being an octave higher than the root note (The first "C").

I'm not sure how to word this part, so sorry if I screw you up. Their are also "intervals" that go like this:

Minor 2nd
Major 2nd
Minor3rd
Major3rd
Perfect 4th
Augmented 4th/Diminished 5th
Perfect 5th
Minor 6th
Major 6th
Minor 7th
Major7th
Octave

The one's that are Bolded are the Major scale intervals. The other 5 are the remaining intervals in the octave. So from the root note, each fret can be given one of these names (in this order respectively). From the root Note of C, the perfect 5th would be G and the Augmented 4th/Diminished 5th would be F#.

That's pretty much how you find out the diminished and perfects of scales and such. It works in any key, any mode.



Also, you can extend scales from the regular 8 notes to cover the whole fret board and strings. Right now, the scale of C goes like this:

Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

To extend it would be like going:

Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do

It extends two octaves instead of just one.

Hopefully this helps.



Note: In order to play solo's good, you must mix different notes. You can't just play a scale and expect it to sound remarkable. You have to have it inside you really... Or at least that's what I believe...

What instrument are you writing for? If your basics in theory are lacking, it's not really a good idea to start out from the theoretical point of view because you're just going to get lost. Probably the first thing I'd consider is the range of a given instrument. For example it would be stupid to compose a violin solo where notes dipped lower than the lowest string because it would not be playable on a violin.

To answer your immediate question, anyway, an augmented interval is one that is a half-step (semitone) larger than the major interval, and a diminished is a half-step (semitone) smaller. A minor interval is also a half-step smaller than its corresponding major, but they play slightly different functions so don't get the two confused.

If you need more help with composition, I'd be glad to lend a hand but before you begin there is a lot to establish like what style of music you are composing, what key, what type of key (like minor, major, modal, etc.), and of course the basic sound, melody, harmony, texture, and form of the piece.

*nods* your post was very accurate, as well. I just thought I'd throw in a slightly different perspective.

That's one of the problems with composition is that amateurs have a lot to learn before they'll make something that sounds good. Hell, I've been composing for years and studying theory for longer and everything I make sounds like crap. I give a lot of kudos to people who can come in and write something that sounds good.

sweatdrop I'd never know, honestly...I've always been able to catch on to theory really quickly (which is why I turned towards composition in the first place) so it makes perfect sense to me but I'm not sure a beginner would necessarily be able to get every bit of it.

I was really lucky to have a lot of great music teachers who were able to really explain this stuff.

as an aside, it's kind of cool that there are actually two people active in this guild at the same time...usually when I post I have to wait a few hours before anyone answers.

Hm, I have a couple of music theory books and I like them, although sometimes it takes a while before I really get what it's talking about.

I also really like a lot of interactive websites like Teoria and musictheory.net. They're often a bit easier to understand because they can also play stuff back and show interactive examples. The ear training stuff is also really useful.

eep, that sucks. That sort of reminds me of my math textbook last year...it kept on talking about things it never covered in the textbook which made it really hard to understand. My teacher sucked, too XD

Hey, thanks, but I'm still a bit confused crying

So what exactly are the intervals?

I have very little knowledge in theory, and I've tried musictheory.net, that didn't help me much sweatdrop

I have the attention span of a gnat, and if I get confused, I tend to give up very quickly, however I'm trying to push a lot harder than usual on this.

[And yes, I play the guitar]