Is it bad to keep a note chart up on my wall?

[MikeC]

This is an interesting discussion with many valid points and points of view.

theory - How many (major and minor) keys are there? Why? - Music: Practice & Theory Stack Exchange.

[sshoihet]

@MikeC

This is an interesting discussion with many valid points and points of view.

• for each octave, there are 12 keys on the keyboard, 7 white and 5 black

• that gives us 12 major keys and 12 minor keys for a total of 24 different keys

• there is one key signature with no flats or sharps, 7 with flats and 7 with sharps

• those those 24 keys have 30 key signatures

• just because victor wooten says something, does not make it true

[MikeC]

The discussions I listed were just that: discussions. Some interesting opinions and viewpoints.

[John_E]

@sshoihet

those 24 keys have 30 key signatures

I think this bit says it all.

[ronnielyons]

One of the best things you can do for yourself as a player is to memorize the notes in each of the first five frets. Most of your base playing will occur in the money zone as Josh calls it… Fred’s one through five on each string.

I often have the music director at our church call out a certain note or set of notes she wants us to play. Knowing where they are on frets one through five has been the most helpful thing I could have done.

[sshoihet]

@Barney

I genuinely want to know if there are more than 24 keys if we don’t count F# and Gb as two notes.

Not in the 12 TET system

Music theory is something that has evolved over time, with different people and different cultural norms. Look at english grammar: if we can’t agree on english, we’re not going to agree on music

[sshoihet]

@John_E

@sshoihet

those 24 keys have 30 key signatures

I think this bit says it all.

Keys/key signatures are a funny thing… what key is D Dorian in? Is it in C major or D minor with a natural 6? It’s much more helpful/useful to think of it as the latter… The key is supposed to feel like the “home” of the piece and the home of D Dorian is not C.

I think it’s always important to consider why we do things and what we’re trying to accomplish/communicate and not just what the “rules” say I like to use the contraction “amn’t” in written english but a lot of people will look at you sideways for doing that

[MikeC]

That ain’t English.

[sshoihet]

@MikeC

That ain’t English.

it’s funny how that contraction became considered ignorant and low class

[John_E]

@sshoihet

Keys/key signatures are a funny thing… what key is D Dorian in? Is it in C major or D minor with a natural 6?

This made me think the following…

What % of bass players do you suppose know/need/need to know any of this depth of theory? Not knocking it, but just wondering at what level/realm/etc one actually needs to know a good portion of theory to make a living (hobbyists excluded).

[sshoihet]

@John_E

What % of bass players do you suppose know/need/need to know any of this depth of theory?

I’m going to guess it’s a number around 0% who need to know and the ones who do probably took music in school.

It’s important to be able to internalize music though so most musicians will understand how to use musical concepts without necessarily being able to explain what they’re doing and why it works. Like with most native English speakers, you might not know the order of adjectives, you might not even know there’s a rule for their order but when you go to describe something, you know in what order the words feel right

[buzzroberts]

@sshoihet

It’s important to be able to internalize music though so most musicians will understand how to use musical concepts without necessarily being able to explain what they’re doing and why it works.

Beautifully stated.

[MikeC]

[Phil19]

@ayyimyou I thought I was the only one to keep the chart near me when I practice. I try to pick the correct fingering before I look to the chart. I am sure both of us will get better with time.

[Celticstar]

@Phil19

I am sure both of us will get better with time.

Could not agree more.
Time and practice.

I play Bass, Guitar (Acoustic mostly), Ukulele, Mandolin and Banjo and I keep charts for each.

Other than Bass, I find that if I have not played one of these instruments for a week or so it helps just to go over the different chord shapes because the tuning of each instrument is different so therefore the chord shapes are all different… I also keep a separate sheet with blank chord charts to note any odd chord fingerings or alternate fingerings to try.

Here is a sample of each sheet related to the guitar in standard tuning.

For Bass I feel that knowing the location of the notes on the fretboard is more important than chords primarily because of the role that the Bass plays at a jam session.

These are my opinions and mine alone. YMMV

[CoreyR]

Well, this is super handy! I thought about dusting off my photo/graphics skills myself. Then I stumbled on these beauties. Thank you @mgoldst

[DaveT]

I had trouble figuring out which notes were exactly the same octave, but on different strings and came up with this chart. It also maps into how the notes correspond on the piano and on the staff. The dark peach color is C2 everywhere for reference.

I also colored which notes fall on a fret dot and are also sharp/flat. For some reason that helps me organize where things are.

The blue bars are the range of the bass on the piano for 4,5 and 6 strings.

[StevFargan]

Thank you.
I like this chart. Impressive work!

[MikeC]

Good job, @DaveT.