So... I'm a violin player. Only technically these days since I haven't picked up the instrument for a few years, sadly, but I played all my childhood.

In Sweden you get money for studying and tuition is free, so I picked up a summer course to get some extra cash. The course I picked is an introductory music theory course, basically how to read sheet music. Which I know how to do from playing the violin.

Well, it turns out that a big part of the course is based on note intervals and chords, which is playing 2 or more notes at once. This isn't a thing for the most part when playing the violin, mostly you'd play one note at once. Well, at least the course material would help me with that? No, of course not. I can't find anything on how to learn to do the thing I was assigned.

So what was I assigned?
I got some piano sheets for a song played in F major. I'm supposed to find and name these two highlighted chords- So playing two notes with each hand. There is nothing in the course material that explains chords this way. I can't find anything on the internet, a chord finder gives me D minor for the first and G minor for the second, but those have 3 notes and not 4 so I wouldn't know if it's correct.
Is there anyone here who knows this stuff?

I also wonder if there are more musicians here on SG. Do you play any instruments?

Mandatory GA

1 year ago*

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Do you play any instruments?

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Yes, string! (Guitar, violin, etc...)
Yes, wind! (Flute, sax, etc...)
Yes, percussion! (Drums etc...)
Yes, piano!
No, but I sing!
I don't play any instruments

I used to play bass guitar even for 6h a day during my high school days. I also tried drums and piano, but they are difficult and require tons of patience that I lack. Unfortunately, in Poland, music education is free only in some of the public schools, and the nearest one with such a thing was far from my hometown, so I used to learn by myself. But it was sufficient to cover most songs I wanted to play.

1 year ago
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To identify a chord, look at the distance between the notes. I does't matter if a note is repeated or not. A chord always consists of three or more different notes.
To quickly spot Major/Minor chords, look for 3 different consecutive notes that are spaced skiping the next one like C E G, D F A, etc)

It helps to know how to find wich chords belong to wich scale.

Here is how I do:
There are 7 notes in Fmajor.

Start with F and number them from 1 to 7 (F=1, G=2, A=3, Bb=4, C=5, D=6, E=7.. after 7, you start over)
Notice that chords are usually formed by picking one note of the scale, skiping the next, picking the other, skiping the next and so on.

So if you are in Fmajor and want to form 3 note chords starting with each note, the 7 combinations are:

F, is 1,3,5 (FAC) [F Major]
G, is 2,4,6 (GBD) [G Minor]
A, is 3,5,7 (ACE) [A Minor]
Bb is, 4,6,8 => 4,6,1 (Bb DF) [Bb Major]
C, is 5,7,9 => 5,7,2 (CEG) [C Major]
D, is 6,8,10 => 6,1,3 (DFA) [D Minor]
E, is 7,9,11 => 7,2,4 (E,G,Bb) [E dim]

In your first example, the only combination above that includes (D, A, F, D) is D Minor.
In the second example, (G, Bb, D, Bb) only appears in G Minor.

1 year ago
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I play on Kalimba. :)

1 year ago
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i only know how to extremelly basic play the violin, acoustic guitar, electric bass
and i was pretty ok with a harmonica

i just tend to abandon everything in a corner, and the violin lost the neck

the only thing i kinda consistently do is singing, i can sing ok (or so i got told) i just like to twist the lyrics to ridiculous things

1 year ago
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Bump!

1 year ago
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I retired from playing the electric guitar. I've covered BFMV - Hand of Blood and Waking the Demon, Iron Maiden - Dance of Death and some more, used to play the ukulele when I was a kid.
My hobbies shifted from music to free diving, chess, bodybuilding, arm wrestling.

1 year ago
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I played the piano for a bit a few years ago. Sometimes I feel like playing again

1 year ago
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I see you have had the help you needed in previous comments so I just wanted to say "you get money for studying?? I want to go to there!"
I studied the piano when I was a kid because my Mom was obsessed with the classics but it didn't really stick with me. I switched to the guitar and then later picked up the harmonica.
My sister played the cello and I've always been in awe of it. I have always wanted to play the violin but it seems like something you need to play for years before getting to a level where you can produce anything. I was not patient enough so kudos to you.

1 year ago
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Starting when you're 8 helps. No one thinks oddly about a group of children playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star terribly with bows going in different directions.

1 year ago
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Hahaha yeah I remember those family reunions when my sister was learning to play the cello and everyone was ooohing and aaahing over music that made you want to get to your eardrums with a knife to make it stop.
If any adult was playing like that, someone would have called the cops.

1 year ago
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I tried learning music as a kid and quickly learned that it just isn't for me, every single concept goes over my head, I struggle to notice what apparently are obvious differences, and instruments might as well have been designed by aliens as far as I'm concerned.

1 year ago
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Bass (electric) is my main instrument, and I'm finally getting back into practice again: jazz and blues mainly, but I can improvise fairly well with chord progressions.

I just picked up a clarinet at a bargain on the way to work at a somewhat ritzy yard sale, so that's what I'm learning next, and I'll try to not sound like a class learning to play the recorder.

For decades I've goofed around on pianos (usually in the right key if it was simple enough).

A good elementary music teacher, a freshman year of choir in high school and a B+ in music theory as a BA elective helped helped me test out of music fundamentals during a temporary BA major change (I requested to take the final on the first day (since the first class was far too fundamental) and got an A- without trying).

Some day I'm either going get a dulcimer or use an autoharp as a dulcimer.

My younger brother is the real musician in the family, and one of my main musical influences. If only he would finish his dissertation (which he has asked me to edit for him, since editing and writing is my proficiency)), he would have a Masters degree in Music Pedagogy.

And I can be musical with words as a poet, writer and orator.

I could go on, but I need to get to work before the fat lady sings.

1 year ago
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