A Review of Ben Laude's Music Theory Basics
I am subscribed to Tonebase on Youtube and received a notification from Youtube that there was a new video between Ben Laude and Seymour Bernstein about the Moonlight Sonata. It was these series of videos which first brought me to Tonebase. Having not gone into Tonebase or even touched my piano in a few weeks, I decided to open it up and see what was new. I found the new level system that the site has implemented and took the test, ultimately placing me in Level 3. I know my technique can be better, but I was a little surprised by the number of questions concerning music theory that were in there. In the course recommendations I saw Ben Laude's Music Theory Basics; and decided to go ahead and open it up.
The name of the course, Music Theory Basics, is both true and deceiving. I could imagine a person who has played piano for a while, but never received a formal education looking at the modules and seeing such titles as "Whole Steps and Half Steps" or "Intervals" saying to themselves, "I went over this in my method books as a kid." This is true. The deceiving part is the amount of depth Mr. Laude goes into with each of these modules; and really taking the time to explain each element of the basics.
Being a learner who overanalyzes the topics I am studying, and sending myself down a rabbit hole, I was very pleased to have questions I have always had answered like:
- Thanks for telling me what I am staring at is a Tritone and the other thing is a Tetrachord, but how do I apply this?
- Yes, the 4th and 5th degrees are subdominant and dominant; but where does those names come from?
- Why tell me about Dorian mode; then tell me that modes are obsolete?
- Why do we raise the 6th and 7th scale degrees for the ascending Melodic minor scales ascending; but lower them when descending?
I am grateful to my piano teacher and music instructors in grade school for opening me to the world of music; but they never fully explained these concepts to me, and I ultimately gave up on understanding theory by the time I was 14.
Mr. Laude answers all questions my questions above and more. While going through his modules, I found myself having these little epiphanies that connected the different concepts with my prior knowledge. One such example was: Moving down a 5th in a subdominant direction (never heard of this before) of the Circle of Fifths puts us onto the 4th degree (that's the subdominant tone, lightbulb, that's how all this works!!). I also learned new things such that: enharmonic equivalence between augmented seconds and minor thirds, and Tritones really are very dissonant and uncomfortable on their own. I also learned some new things like the Modes of Limited Transposition, and interval inversion.
One question I do have that does not involve music theory and probably more psychology kept coming up while he was playing the opening measures to Beethoven's Fifth. Knowing it is in a minor key, but the opening is an interval of a major third, without any more context to the piece, why do we really conceive it to be in the minor key other than knowing what it is. It really leaves me wanting to listen to more classical music for the first time to see if my conception changes the more I listen to a piece if I am able to identify the elements of these pieces. The human mind is truly amazing.
If Tonebase had a rating system, I would definitely rate this course 5 Stars. Mr. Laude makes all of these concepts available to adult learners at various levels; and may even help music teachers to be ablet to better explain these concepts more in-depth to their students.
To Mr. Ben Laude, thank you for creating this course. It was truly a weekend well spent.
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I couldn't agree more. I, too, was surprised to enjoy the music theory "basics" so much. All of Ben's videos on Tonebase are so well-conceived and well executed, and have such enormous depth, that, like a "simple" Bach prelude, you can enjoy them from the start but also find yourself returning to them again and again to appreciate their construction and layers of insight. He really has great pedagogic and analytical skills.
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I agree as well. I just went through my wife's college harmony book, and understood about 35% of it. Ben's course made sense of what was presented, in a very dense way in the text, and the musical samples he played brought it to life. Very well done. That course alone justified a year's membership. I also printed the course book and have it by my piano and have been looking at it often. A new door has opened as I am beginning to understand what I am playing, in addition to the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment when I learn a new piece. I also have taken some 2nd grade method books and spend about 15 minutes each practice trying to transpose the pieces into various keys. I think that is helping me quite a bit.
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I agree wholeheartedly with these comments. I've been playing for more than 60 years and have learned a lot of theory, but Ben's painstaking, smooth, full, sense-making approach rolling it all out is just what I needed to fill in those gaps in my learning. Can't thank Tonebase, and especially Ben, enough!
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Now you guys really got me going, I 鈥榣l have to look at Ben Laude鈥檚 basic theory soon. It will be a worthwhile revision. Thank you everyone.
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priscillayam all Ben's videos are terrific, but if you're looking for more of a deep dive theory-wise, check out the lessons on Schenkerian analysis.
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Agreed!
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I cannot agree more. And I wish there was a sequel to the course.
