55 minutes of what I know about music theory (unedited)

Main ideas & lessons

• Music theory is essential for making better music, especially for jazz and soul.
• The creator’s core framework is the number system: understand chords and progressions through scale degrees (1–7).
• Jazz/soul “color” comes from extensions added to the basic number-system chords (e.g., 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, major 9, dominant 9), while keeping things diatonic when desired.
• Ear training via chord emotion: with repetition, you learn to recognize chords by the emotional “story” they create (e.g., home, tension, release).
• Performance learning method (mainly piano/keyboards):
  • Build muscle memory by memorizing chord shapes and cycling through progressions with both hands.
  • Use arpeggiation and finger-strength drills (e.g., octave-based positioning) as practical support.
  • Use inversions and octave shifts to get different voicings/vibes of the same chord.
• To read/write chords, you must understand intervals (semitone distances between notes).
• To compose and build your own chord vocabulary:
  • “Steal chords” by copying songs/voicings, then analyze them using the number system and internalize what comes next.
  • Transpose learning to any key—producers don’t need to master every key from scratch; transpose is enough.

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Methodology / instruction-style content

1) Learn the number system through a major scale (core framework)

Start with a major scale and treat everything through it initially.

Use the scale degree → chord quality mapping (roman numerals):

• 1 = major
• 2 = minor
• 3 = minor
• 4 = major
• 5 = major
• 6 = minor
• 7 = diminished

Then repeat back to 1.

Minor scales: “same notes, different start”

• Minor scales are described as the same scale content as the relative major, shifted.
• The creator’s stated rule: to get the minor’s starting point from the major, go down by 3 semitones.

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2) Convert number-system chords into jazz/soul chords using extensions

Memorize an extension pattern for each scale degree (the creator emphasizes memorization as the path to fluency).

Typical upgrades described:

• 1 → major 7
• 2 → minor 7
• 3 → minor 7
• 4 → major 7
• 5 → dominant 7
• 6 → minor 7
• 7 → minor 7 flat 5 (half-diminished)

Practice approach

• Pick a key (example given: D major).

• Cycle through the entire system repeatedly: 1 → 2 → 3 → … → 7 → 1

• Aim to eventually identify chords by ear and by the emotion they produce.

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3) Add more “diatonic” color (still inside the scale)

After basic extensions, add more extended tones while staying diatonic first.

Suggested diatonic extension targets by degree:

• 1 → major 9
• 2 → minor 9
• 3 → minor 7 (and add further color via chord tones/voicings)
• 4 → major 9
• 5 → dominant 9
• 6 → minor 9
• 7 → stays the same quality as the half-diminished / m7♭5 concept

Practical guidance

• Keep it basic but colored by staying diatonic first.
• The creator notes that “spicier” chromatic notes exist, but are for later.

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4) Recognize chord function by emotional progression

Practice listening for chord roles (a mental “chord story”):

• 1: “home,” relatively chill/stable
• 2: movement away from home
• 3 and 5: increasing tension
• 6: “sad/bitter” feeling (peak tension described)
• 7: strong tension leading back to resolution

The goal is to predict what comes next by following the emotional logic.

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5) Piano/key technique training (muscle memory + voicings)

Even if producing, the creator encourages learning piano because it builds physical clarity.

Build muscle memory

• Memorize chord shapes
• Cycle through the number-system progression using:
  • right hand, then left hand
• Use repeated patterns until chord access becomes automatic.

Arpeggiation / finger-strength ideas

• Use octave-based positioning
• Add approaches like an octave + fifth style drill
• Arpeggiate and repeat as strength-building exercises

Voicing expansion

• Use octave moves (raise/lower chord tones)
• Use inversions:
  • same chord, different bass note → different vibe

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6) Learn chord reading by intervals (how chords are built)

Define intervals as the distance between notes.

Learning approach

• Memorize common interval sizes (creator references “piano intervals” tables).

• Use semitone-distance logic (examples presented):

  • 1 semitone → minor 2
  • 2 semitones → major 2
  • 3 semitones → minor 3
  • 4 semitones → major 3

• Perfect fifth concepts are referenced as well (with root-to-target relationships).

Interpret chord symbols using interval steps

Examples:

• D major 9

  1. Build D major (root + major third + perfect fifth)
  2. Add the major 7
  3. Add the 9 via interval steps above the root

• E minor 7 flat 5

  1. Build E minor core
  2. Add minor 7
  3. “Flat the fifth” to get ♭5

• C9

  • Treat “9” as an extension on top of an assumed dominant 7 quality.

• C#11 / sharp 11

  • “11” refers to a specific interval above the root (octave + fourth).
  • “Sharp” means raise that interval by one semitone.

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7) Analyze real songs to generate your own chord vocabulary

Process described:

1. Choose a song (example: “Best Part” by Daniel Caesar).
2. Identify the song’s key from the home chord (often the first chord).
3. Convert each chord into its number system degree within that key.
4. Notice and record deviations from strict diatonic rules (the creator highlights “out of normal rules” moments like minor 5 or dominant 1-type behavior).

Example progression analysis (as described)

In D major, chords include:

• D major 7 → degree 1
• A minor 7 → degree minor 5
• G major 7 → degree 4
• B♭ major 7 interpreted as a flat 6 equivalent (within the discussed context)

Internalize for improvisation/production

• Repeat the progression mentally and physically until next-chord options feel instinctive.
• Use the analysis as a menu:
  • if you can do “1”, you can choose next options like 2, 3, 4, or the minor 5 variation
  • then add extensions and voicing strategies

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8) Apply the number-system method in any key (transpose)

• Demonstrates switching to A major and applying the same number-system logic with jazz-like extensions.
• Emphasizes producer practicality:
  • learn a few scales well and transpose to work in other keys.

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Sources / speakers featured

• Primary speaker/creator (unnamed): the person delivering the lesson throughout the video.
• Shout-out (mentioned): “Julie” (referenced briefly: “Shout out Shout out Julie.”)
• Music artists/songs referenced for examples:
  • Daniel Caesar — Best Part
  • Bill Evans (mentioned generally; e.g., “Bill Evans Synthesia piano tutorial”)
  • Misty (song title referenced; composer not explicitly stated in subtitles)
• Examples used for chord analysis:
  • Best Part and Misty