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What are Inversions?

An Inversion is a triad with the root note moved to a different position.

For example if your triad is Cmajor - C E G
You could invert it to something like
EGC
Or
GCE

This is useful when writing music, and you are playing a bass note which is in the chord
So if your left hand is playing C you may want to play GCE in your right.







This will instantly make your composition sound more interesting and less contrived

What are Triads?

Triads are chords consisting of three notes
The root note (the first)
The third
And the fifth.

So to find the chord of Cmajor

C D E F G A B
 C

Take the scale of C major and select the 1st 3rd and 5th notes



This is the c major chord





And a c minor chord would be
C minor scale is C D Eb G F Ab Bb C





so this is the C minor chord


F minor
The scale is : F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F



So the F minor chord is this


And so on.

What are modes?

Modes give songs different sounds.
The seven musical modes are
1.Ionian
2. Dorian
3. Phrygian
4. Lydian
5. Mixolydian
6. Aeolian
7. Locrian

They sit in this order, because

The Ionian mode starts on the 1st note of a scale and the pattern is
T-T-ST-T-T-T-ST *In other words it is the same as a major scale.

Dorian Mode is T-ST-T-T-T-ST-T it starts on the 2nd note of the scale

Phrygian Mode ST-T-T-T-ST-T-T it starts on the 3rd note of the scale

Lydian Mode T-T-T-ST-T-T-ST 4th note of the scale

Mixolydian Mode T-T-ST-T-T-ST-T 5th note of the scale

Aeolian Mode T-ST-T-T-ST-T-T 6th note of the scale

Locrian Mode ST-T-T-ST-T-T-T 7th note of the scale

To remember the seven modes of music, many musicians use the following memory aid: "I Do F(ph)ollow Lonely Men And Laugh."

* T= Tone ST= Semitone

What is a minor scale?

There are three different types of Minor scales
Natural Harmonic and Melodic

The formula for a Natural Minor scales is

Tone Semitone Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone

So using this formula here is a list of Minor scales
I need to memorise these too

C Minor Scale: C D Eb G F Ab Bb C

D Minor Scale: D E F G A B♭ C D
E Minor Scale: E F♯ G A B C D E
F Minor Scale: F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F
G Minor Scale: G A Bb C D Eb F G
A Minor Scale: A B C D E F G A
B Minor Scale: B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G, A, B
C# Minor Scale: C♯ D♯, E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯
Eb Minor Scale: E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭
F# Minor Scale: F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯
Ab Minor Scale: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭
Bb Minor Scale: B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭

To create a Harmonic Minor you raise the seventh note by half a step.

To convert a natural Minor to a Melodic Minor you raise both the sixth and the seventh note by half a step.

What is a major Scale?

A major scale is a string of notes with this formula.

Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone

(A tone is one step on the keyboard a semitone is half a step on a keyboard)

So using this formula here is a list of all Major scales
I need to memorise these

C Major Scale: C D E F G A B
 C
D Major Scale: D E F# G A B C# D
E Major Scale: E F# G# A B C# D# E
F Major Scale: F G A Bb C D E
 F
G Major Scale: G A B C D E F# G
A Major Scale: A B C# D E F# G# A
B Major Scale: B C# D# E F# G# A# 
B
C# Major Scale: C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C# 

Eb Major Scale: Eb F G Ab Bb C D
 Eb
F# Major Scale: F# G# A# B C# D# E#
 F#
Ab Major Scale: Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
 Ab
Bb Major Scale: Bb C D Eb F G A Bb