What is this Theory Map?

gene098

New member
Hey guys was watching a TedEd talk on memorizing piano sheet music by writing down the key/scale and the chord shapes = memorizing will be much easier.

And the lady made this

img.techpowerup
.org/170425/2017-04-24-20h26-36.jpg

I was wondering if you guys could help make sense of what she writes at the....


3rd measure) vi V/V

Why are there more chords within the same chord number?


bottom of 15th measure) Whats an fmi?


bottom of 19th measure) whats a 6bi?


second chord of 19th measure) whats a 6b77?


and on the 29th measure) whats the Ab chrom-dim-climb?

I thought she was writing chords the whole time but then all of a sudden... does she jus tmean Ab chromatic diminished chord and then Climb that?
 
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Hey guys was watching a TedEd talk on memorizing piano sheet music by writing down the key/scale and the chord shapes = memorizing will be much easier.

And the lady made this

img.techpowerup
.org/170425/2017-04-24-20h26-36.jpg

I was wondering if you guys could help make sense of what she writes at the....


3rd measure) vi V/V

Why are there more chords within the same chord number?


bottom of 15th measure) Whats an fmi?


bottom of 19th measure) whats a 6bi?


second chord of 19th measure) whats a 6b77?


and on the 29th measure) whats the Ab chrom-dim-climb?

I thought she was writing chords the whole time but then all of a sudden... does she just mean Ab chromatic diminished chord and then Climb that?

Hey guys, I would also like to ask if you happen to know...how do I write the Chord like she does,

for a C scale
in which the CE are on 1 octave down from Middle C
and the last C is on Middle C,
 
2nd Question first-- Assuming you meant "G-C-E?" G on bottom, C, then E.

The rest-- There are different ways to abbreviate chord names in different systems; also, your "link" when followed, does not go to any chart that I can find. Nonetheless, I will take a shot at these:

vi (6 minor chord)
V/V (5 chord with root in the bass)
fmi (F minor, inversion)
6bi (flat 6, inversion)
Ab-chrom-dim (A flat, chromatic-diminished; i.e., Ab chord, chromatic-diminished to? Ab an octave up? I don't know, I can't see your chart).

677=?? No idea. Does she mean a 6 chord (for instance, Am in key of C), dominant 7, with a Major 7th added?
 
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Huh. I did see that piece of paper for an 8th of a second, but now I can't locate it in the video. Does anyone have a screen shot?
 
Huh. I did see that piece of paper for an 8th of a second, but now I can't locate it in the video. Does anyone have a screen shot?

Hey rhythm
it is

img.techpowerup
.org/170425/2017-04-24-20h26-36.jpg



you have to put the link together

because i cant post a link cus im a new member
____________________________

Also, so sorry about the notation before in the bass clef what I have is

In the song I am learning the Bass clef measure has

Below middle octave ) C and G
then Middle octave ) C


So I know the scale is C


But what chord would I write? there isnt a chord in the C scale like I-VI that contains those notes...
 
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OK, what she's calling a "theory map" is basically a chord chart breakdown of the piece, minus the actual notes/melody/fingering (so just the chords and the overall harmonic movement). What you saw as "Abi, Fmi," etc. is actually "Ab:" and "Fm:"-- in other words, a colon following the chord symbol to indicate that everything in that phrase is based in that particular (indicated) chord. What looks like "6b" is, in my opinion, actually "Gb" (scribbly hand-writing skills). "b" in this case meaning "flat," as elsewhere. The "Ab chrom. dim." could refer to an Ab chord, followed by a diminished run to an Ab an octave higher, which is what it looks like she's conveying, but it could be a chordal climb from Ab to Ab as well. I wish BandCoach were here, but alas, he has disappeared...
 
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OK, what she's calling a "theory map" is basically a chord chart breakdown of the piece, minus the actual notes/melody/fingering (so just the chords and the overall harmonic movement). What you saw as "Abi, Fmi," etc. is actually "Ab:" and "Fm:"-- in other words, a colon following the chord symbol to indicate that everything in that phrase is based in that particular (indicated) chord. What looks like "6b" is, in my opinion, actually "Gb" (scribbly hand-writing skills). "b" in this case meaning "flat," as elsewhere. The "Ab chrom. dim." could refer to an Ab chord, followed by a diminished run to an Ab an octave higher, which is what it looks like she's conveying, but it could be a chordal climb from Ab to Ab as well. I wish BandCoach were here, but alas, he has disappeared...

Thanks rhythmgj

The truth is after deciphering what shes doing, now Im not
sure how writing down the chords would help with
1) memorization
and
2) increasing ones own Piano "Arsenal" of moves for a learning pianist to improvise and compose his/her own songs with (if you know what i mean...)
She said we remember (Chord)shapes better than simply seeing notes on the page..

But if all the chord shapes arent really "normal" chord shapes and are all very unique chord shapes, then does her method even really help then with the 2 points mentioned above in the first place?

Her Ted talk really seemed to emphasize that it was a way to memorize and get better at new piano pieces fast, but now Im not so sure anymore..
 
I think the prerequisite is having an amazing theory background to begin with. Then thinking in chordal movement, cadences, and the like is second nature. And if you think of each little memorizable riff as being associated with a "parent" chord/key/scale, then it would start to make sense. You and I are probably not near that level (I know that I'm not), but I do understand a bit about what she means in regards to chord shapes. Do you play any guitar? When you are first learning the basic open chords, you really memorize the shapes/finger positions and the name, rather than the individual notes. Same thing for me with piano chords. I memorized most of them based on the shape my fingers made when in certain chord positions. Then you learn how to change the shapes to get inversions and extensions.

So, if you know that a C is a certain shape in a certain place on the keyboard, and a Cm is another shape, it's easier to find a Cm7 by adding a finger. And if you then think of a certain passage as basically an arpeggiated version of that Cm chord... Well, I think that's what she's getting at, anyway.
 
I think the prerequisite is having an amazing theory background to begin with. Then thinking in chordal movement, cadences, and the like is second nature. And if you think of each little memorizable riff as being associated with a "parent" chord/key/scale, then it would start to make sense. You and I are probably not near that level (I know that I'm not), but I do understand a bit about what she means in regards to chord shapes. Do you play any guitar? When you are first learning the basic open chords, you really memorize the shapes/finger positions and the name, rather than the individual notes. Same thing for me with piano chords. I memorized most of them based on the shape my fingers made when in certain chord positions. Then you learn how to change the shapes to get inversions and extensions.

So, if you know that a C is a certain shape in a certain place on the keyboard, and a Cm is another shape, it's easier to find a Cm7 by adding a finger. And if you then think of a certain passage as basically an arpeggiated version of that Cm chord... Well, I think that's what she's getting at, anyway.

I see so its basically like a shortcut so we dont have to compute the whole measure one note at a time, and instead get a general ideal of where the fingers should be and then the rest if by practice and memory?
 
The more theory you know, the more chords/harmony at your fingertips, the easier it is to access the sounds in your head (melodies, chord structures, harmonies). Elementary, really.
 
I don't think the fact that chords are assigned Roman numerals based on scale-degrees was ever in-question.
 
Thanks for setting me straight. So is it a handwriting issue that we don't recognize fmi is F minor? Sorry if I'm being dense...
 
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No, I really don't think it's F minor (but I haven't sat down at a keyboard to work through what's written while listening to what she played, so I certainly could be wrong). I think they are colons. Or, she may just have worse hand-writing than the average medical school graduate.

But what I was intimating in my first response is that problems like this are exacerbated because there is still no one set standard way (other than hard notation) of writing chords; symbols range from, let's say for F minor, a F with a dash (F-), to an F with a small m (Fm), to an F with an mi (Fmi), to sometimes even a small f (f). When you factor in major chords (FM, FMaj, or F with a triangle, or just F, for instance), 7th chords, etc., it can get confusing. When jazz players, show music copyists, composers and arrangers of all genres, and educators agree on standardized chord symbols, that will help.
 
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