Where to Start With Music Theory, Ep 19: Make Simple Charts for Writing, Sharing, & Analysis

[@clarkesinspace]

I’m a professional performer and music educator (for context not tooting my own horn) and I just need to say how much joy your videos bring me. Your balance of craft, theory,musicality and unpretentious charisma refresh my faith in humanity. Thank you. Been a tough day and if this seems over the top and weird, sorry not sorry

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks so much my brother!

[@RobertGrayMusic]

Loved that version of Dancing Queen at the beginning!

[@houli365]

Well, I am learning that Dancing Queen arrangement. Class.

[@georat16]

Dancing Queen! OMG - Thank you!!

[@AdamEmond]

Making charts upped my game like 100%.

[@ReckerMasta]

I must have watched the first 30 seconds of this video a couple dozen times. Im trying to learn it myself now. Absolutely love it!

[@stephencook4577]

This is the sort of info that people starting out need. Saves a lot of time and helps you understand the flow of the song. Also helps with visualising chord progressions.

[@1lunesta]

I’ve been meaning to say this. You are the Bob Ross of guitar instruction. You are so calm and patient. Awesome videos and I can keep up! 🤘

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Happy little trees!! Thanks man

[@michaelmillican5592]

I think the same thing!

[@druwk]

Thank you for the reminder, and expansion of this idea. When i was a band leader presenting my songs, I had to chart everything out for my 7 piece! Fortunately, there were real musicians that could analyze the progressions. Writing it down, and analysis is the easiest way to dig in and remember a tune. I like to add any rhythmic notes, like “breakdown rhythm of ‘Don’t Get Fooled Again”” to give me the feel. Kind of like how you name strumming patterns ;)

[@MichaelHattem]

The ART Tube MP!! I had one back in the early 00s as a preamp to use with my first interface, the first Line 6 GuitarPort.

[@steveholt5115]

Best guitar teacher on youtube i swear, only content creator that i watch the whole 15 min and not even notice ive been here that long

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks Steve! I try to keep it real - the dude you see here is the same dude my friends and family know :-)

[@TheRealJanKafka]

"Move the song to where your voice is strong..." Hence the Nashville system, where they only chart the function of the chords, the key to be determined later.

[@MaTTheWish]

Always interesting lessons. Such a PRO teacher! We can always count on you for a deep dive, playing songs that no one else really plays.! Also by the way, that lighting in your house is beautiful, looks great.

[@timothy5974]

I’m glad you said I shouldn’t feel bad about not knowing a song all the way through.

[@LSDis4me]

"I'm not singing it." I like that strong resolve. A man's gotta know his limitations.

[@ToniMtl78]

Same amp here handwired AC4. Sounds great with this guitar. Great lesson

[@erik4683]

Thanks, Eric, for all of your lessons, but for this series in particular. I’m still working through the early stages. Can’t wait to get here!

[@michaelmunday6808]

The phase 90 stays on in my house! Another great video Eric

[@chrisdunn1965]

great channel as well as playing.

[@denverrandy7143]

Love that beauty of a guitar!!!

[@blues61]

Thanks for sharing that bit of shorthand. I plan to adopt it. You already know that I like to make pretty charts and diagrams, but that takes time that might not appropriate for all situations. Good stuff!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Oh yeah this is definitely the minute rice version 👍

[@GordieBoytano]

Listening to Drift/Sysphean Blues. This stuff is 👍✌️

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks so much man! My follow LP is done - just gotta put the artwork together and then blab about it on YT :-)

[@Rodrigo-ev7tx]

Really nice lessons as always Eric. Thank you for that. Just last night i was listening to your EP, loved it. You should upload a video talking about it one day.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks so much man! My follow LP is done - just gotta put the artwork together and then blab about both of em on YT :-)

[@Rodrigo-ev7tx]

@@EricHaugenGuitar damn, didn’t know about that new EP, those are really great news. Gonna be waiting for both the EP and the videos, hope it’s not gonna be a long wait lol.

[@briandixon2700]

Another great video, thank you

[@kenstrohan5089]

So helpful!! You rock!

[@joshuamichael4312]

A couple of days ago I thought to myself, I haven't seen an Eric Haugen video in a long time show up in my YT feed. Then BOOM, that very day, there he is! Now I've been power watching and catching up. But....... Is Eric Haugen in my brain algorithms? What else does he know about me? 🤯

[@michaelmunday6808]

It’s almost every Friday tune it

[@donyoung7874]

Great video, Eric!

[@jackriddles4282]

Eric thank you for vids brother I finally understand music theory and other cool stuff

[@annubisbones]

Heard your EP “Runes” on Spotify, great tunes, great playing and you can also sing! Keep the great work, thanks!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Thanks so much! I’ve got a full length coming out soon too - you’ll hear me blab about it on the channel 🤓

[@RobertGrayMusic]

I checked it out too and am happy to confirm that the EP is truly excellent. Thanks for the tip.

[@davidwarren5785]

I was able to follow along with the drawing 4 lines part, but I struggled with everything after that:)

[@tmcl7844]

Damn now you got me wanting a Mustang 👍🤷

[@StefanGBucher]

Hey there, Mr Haugen, sir! Always love your videos! I'm curious about adjusting the key for making songs comfortably singable. I'm a beginner-8 years in-and had my acoustic tuned down a step for ages for easier playability, and it worked great with my high tenor somehow. Now my hands are stronger (and I switched to lighter strings) so I tuned back to standard to have an easier time during lessons with my teacher. But... now a bunch of the songs are too high. Sometimes moving the capo to the 5th or 6th fret works, but that obviously changes the tone a lot. Are there workarounds I'm not seeing? I'd be grateful for any advice!

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Generally, I recommend moving songs down a third or fourth from "rock vocalist" range. So, moving the capo up 5 frets you're actually raising the song, and then singing it an octave lower from there - which yes indeed changes the tone alot!

[@grahamhenningson3924]

Very helpful, per usual. Thanks, Eric - just ate a whole lot of pizza.

[@jacksonvega7751]

Nice pink chair

[@millerprj]

I need to get in the habbit of making charts. I think it will help in memorising songs. Literally just had pizza.

[@coastercook]

Thanks, Eric. Great to see how other people make charts. How would you notate the chart if there is one or more riffs in the song?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

That’s where some hasty tab writing comes in!

[@maxtoomars]

Спасибо!

[@davidwalker41]

"unresolved secondary dominant." Is that similar to the sound of one hand clapping? If either ever make sense to me, perhaps I will have achieved satori. For now, I'm just going to be less rigid in how I think about using a scale and maybe even say that scales can have fuzzy boundaries, in that they sometimes admit to good effect chords from neighboring keys (in this case, E), and no explanation other than that is needed.

[@mantashaft]

I like the idea of house plants but whenever I have one, little flies start accumulating. How do you fix that?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Sounds like you keep getting plants with infestations - bad luck!

[@chaz32]

After 18 years of playing my ear and composition is always so far ahead of my theory, I just end up knowing the root then throwing in inversions and suspensions willy nilly with no self-awareness... It can be really crippling when it comes to remembering arrangements. My band did our first chord sheet since starting in 2009 the other day, now we all work full time haha

[@diosgenes]

God Bless!

[@rockstarjazzcat]

Friday is definitely pizza day, and a great day for charting some tunes.

[@kckillakrack9714]

Learn notes, scales, and chords for whatever instrulent you are playing. After that its just rhythm and timing the rest is easy and naturally once you can do these things naturally.

[@mitchsmix269]

Your advice of moving the song to where you're strong sounds good, however, I have no idea how to do this. Do you have any recommendations for learning music theory online?

[@karlfarren]

@Mitch's Mix, - go through the vocal melody of the song, paying attention to the lowest and highest pitched parts of the melody. Can you comfortably reach down to the lowest note, and up to the highest note? Say you can't reach down to the lowest note, - you need to transpose the key upward. If you can't reach up to the highest note, you need to transpose downward. By how much?? That bit is trial and error. Also consider, - you may be able to reach the notes, but does it sound good for your voice in that key? It's not just about whether the notes are available to you in your range, - but also where in your range the sweet spot is for that song. Hope this helps. This would be easier to demonstrate than it is to explain.

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Karl's a good dude and his tips are spot on! My main advice for theory online is to follow my series, but also work with a teacher!

[@curtishansen7270]

Off subject , does the Strymon Deco add some life to the Fender Tonemaster Deluxe?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Oh yeah! I think I did a “Hendrix licks with all downstrokes” vid with that setup!

[@curtishansen7270]

Ok, cool, I'll check out the vid, thanks!! Also, You always present great stuff!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and abilities!!

[@stephenbrumlow931]

Hey Eric, Great material as always. Is this part of your process if you’re transcribing a song?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

100% percent the first step!

[@lukegowest]

Are you the guy who plays Howard Wolowits on The Big Bang Theory ?

[@EricHaugenGuitar]

Hahahahaha I hate to admit but yeah we look related

[@gab_ale]

I used to write stuff down long ago, but I am wayyyy out of practice. Most I write down right now are circuit schematics. =/

[@starboy2013]

Man....abba were clever.

[@wyattsalmon]

I aspire to be you when im older

[@denverrandy7143]

Is that a jaguar or a mustang?suns shining on the headstock

[@anonymousforensic]

1966 Mustang (check out the description - there’s a list of the key gear).

[@mattgilbert7347]

If this content (ugh, hate that term) had been around when I was songwriting in a band - would have saved us so much time and hassle. Damn kids these days have all the resources *grumble grumble old man noises* They don't, not materially. But if you're young and playing bands you are in the right place. Worth noting that Kurt Cobain was a constant charter.

[@stevepughlandman]

Eric, I’m enjoying these overviews but honestly I miss your previous tutorials on Rawlings, Hendrix, etc that are more guitar solo-centric. Will we see more of that future, hopefully?

[@ProfessorHumblesDelusions]

Oh please Eric! Let us troll you. Just kidding.

[@ditchgator1]

😎👍❤🖖