Music Theory for Violinists: Everything You Need to Know For Note Reading, Rhythm, and Music Notation

Whether you are a brand new beginner or advanced player, this course will show you everything you need to know about rhythm, time signatures, note reading, key signatures, music notation, and more.

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Course curriculum

1. Everything You Need (or Ever Wanted) to Know About Music Theory
2. How to Approach this Course
3. Music Theory for Violinists Checklist
1. Understanding the Musical Alphabet
2. The Musical Staff
3. Clefs
4. Memorizing Notes in Treble Clef/Important Notes for the Violin
5. Violin Specific Symbols
1. The Beat
2. The Division of Beats
3. Time Signatures
4. Note Stems
5. How to Clap and Count Rhythms (And How to Subdivide)
6. Counting and Clapping Half Notes and Whole Notes
7. Clapping and Counting 8th Notes
8. Counting in 2/4 and 3/4 Time
9. Singing Your Rhythms
10. Am I Always Counting in My Head?
1. Notation for Rests
2. Clapping and Counting Rests
1. Accidentals: Sharps, Flats, and Naturals
2. Tonic: The Most Important Note in a Song
3. Understanding How Scales and Key Signatures are Built
4. What a Key Signature Tells You
5. Tricks for Determining Key Signature
6. Understanding Minor Key Signatures
7. The Circle of Fifths
8. Key Signature Memorization Guide
1. Endings and Repeats
2. First and Second Endings
3. Da Capo al Fine
4. Dal Signo al Fine
5. Da Capo al Coda
1. Dotted Rhythms
1. Basic 6/8 Time
2. 16th Notes in 6/8 Time
1. Clapping and Counting Ties
2. How to Practice Playing Ties
1. Clapping and Counting 16th Notes
2. 8th Note and 16th Note Variations
3. 16th Note Rests
4. Dotted 8th Notes with 16th Notes
1. Counting Triplets
2. How to Count Sextuplets
1. Scale Degrees and Important Names (Tonic, Dominant, Leading Tone)
2. What are Intervals? Consonant and Dissonant Intervals
3. How to Count Intervals/ Perfect Intervals
4. Imperfect Intervals/ Finger Patterns for 3rds and 6ths
5. The Tritone
1. Major and Minor Chords or Triads
2. Major Scale Chords and Chord Progressions
3. Chord Inversions/ Slash Chords
4. Chords in the Minor Scale
5. Diminished and Augmented Chords
6. Dominant 7th Chords
7. 9, 6, or Suspended Chords
8. How Chords Will Help You as a Musician and a Listener
1. Basics of Form, Phrasing, and Cadences
2. Phrasing and Cadences in Classical Music (Minute No. 3)
3. Climatic Notes and Development Sections
4. Modulation (Why You Have Random Accidentals)
1. Using the Composition Prompts to Compose Your Own Song
2. MuseScore File for the Composition Prompts
1. Basics of Writing Harmony, Determing Chords, and Creating Duets in MuseScore
2. MuseScore Files for Duet Prompts
1. Syncopated Rhythms
2. Complicated Rhythms in 6/8
3. Double Dotted Notes
4. Tuplets Uneven Divisions of the Beat
5. Quarter Note Triplets (Hemiola)
6. 5/4 Time Signature
7. 3/2 Time Signature
8. How to Understand Very Complicated Rhythms
1. How the Violin Produces Sound
2. The Overtone Series
3. Natural and Artificial Harmonics Explained
4. Harmonic Notation
1. Music Notation Symbols in Violin Music
2. 8va
3. Types of Accent Markings
4. Sur la Touche, Sul Ponticello, Sordino, Col legno
5. Roman Numerals, Sul G, Restez (What String to Play On)
6. Tremolo (Slashes Across Stems)
7. Non Vib and Vib
8. Double Stems
9. Upside Down Bowings
10. Left Hand Pizzicato (+)
11. Bow Stroke Notation and Bowing Indications
12. Violin Bowing Indications Chart
1. Ornament and Embellishment Notation Chart
2. Trills, Mordents, and Squiggly Lines
3. Slides, Glissandos, and More Squiggly Lines
4. Turns (Sideways S)
5. Grace Notes
6. Grace Notes in the Classical Era (Acciaccaturas and Appoggiaturas)
1. Tempo Markings: Equal Signs = (Exact BPM)
2. Words That Indicate Tempo
3. Common Direction Words
4. Terms of Musical Expression
5. Terms for Changes in Tempo
6. Varying the Tempo: Cadenza, Rubato, Ad Lib, Accelerando, Ritardando, Rallentando, A Tempo
7. Different Languages
8. Tempo Markings Chart
9. Italian Musical Words Chart
1. Dynamics and Accents (sf, fz, sfz)
2. Orchestra Specific Notation
3. Double Sharps (X) and Double Flats
4. Pauses and Breaks
5. Measure Repeat Signs

About this course

109 lessons
8 hours of video content

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Music Theory for Violinists: Everything You Need to Know For Note Reading, Rhythm, and Music Notation

Course curriculum

Getting Started

Chapter 1: Introduction to Note Reading

Chapter 2: Basic Rhythm Concepts

Chapter 3: Rests

Chapter 4: Key Signatures

Chapter 5: Repeats and Repetition

Chapter 6: Dotted Rhythms

Chapter 7: 6/8 Time

Chapter 8: Ties

Chapter 9: Sixteenth Notes and Variations

Chapter 10: Triplets and Sextuplets

Chapter 11: Scale Degrees and Intervals

Chapter 12: Chords

Chapter 13: Form, Phrasing, and Modulation

Chapter 14: Composing Your Own Song

Chapter 15: Writing Harmony and Duets

Chapter 16: Complicated Rhythms and Time Signatures

Chapter 17: The Overtone Series and Harmonics

Chapter 18: Violin Specific Bowings, Words, and Notations

Chapter 19: Ornaments and Embellishments

Chapter 20: Words: Tempo and Style Indications

Chapter 21: Various and Sundry Symbols

About this course

Join my online studio to get access to this course