> I really like music theory and I found this on a music theory forum.  Kinda
> curious as to what you guys think.  Im still trying to figure out if the
> poster is even serious...Here it is:

>       Dear wholenote community,

On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:30:18 -0800, Thomas wrote:
> I really like music theory and I found this on a music theory forum.
> Kinda curious as to what you guys think.  Im still trying to figure out
> if the poster is even serious...Here it is:

> I really like music theory and I found this on a music theory forum.  Kinda
> curious as to what you guys think.  Im still trying to figure out if the
> poster is even serious...Here it is:

>       Dear wholenote community,
>       I was having a discussion in another forum, on a planet far, far away
> about my generic chord naming system and I felt I did such a good job
> explaining it, and it was so much work to type it all up, that I should also
> post it here so I can get your
>       feedback as well.

>       If nothing else I can at least get all beat up by some of the members
> over here who like to make all their contributions negative. Sometimes we
> all just need a good verbal flogging, right? No, if you're only going to be
> negative for the sake of being a jerk, maybe you can just stay out of
> it...like...whoever that Andy Fake guy is, right? That poser can just take a
> hike if he's still around.

>       Anyway, to better understand this quote I'm about to paste below, it
> would probably benefit you to visit my site and watch the Major Scale module
> found here:

>       The difference between my naming system and the one with the roman
> numerals is that the "one chord" in roman numerals isn't always the same
> family member chord. The I chord isn't always Ma (Mama). If it were, then it
> would have satisfied my needs. The closest thing I could come up with from
> the preexisting world of material was to simply call a chord "Lydian" or
> "Ionian". And that's what I did for a long time. However, I found that my
> student's had a hard time remembering those names. So, I started trying to
> come up with some kind of set of names that would attach the information
> into their brains a little better...kind of like a science student would use
> "My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas" to memorize the 9
> planets (At least they would long ago before the debate concerning the 9th
> planet got all fired up). So, I eventually came up with Ma, Yb, Ob, Ys, Os,
> Pa, Ab. But the power behind it doesn't stop there or it would only be a
> tiny bit better than just calling chords by their greek names (Ionian,
> Dorian, etc.). But before I shed light on the hidden power, let me add that
> calling them by these more generic names is very much like what we do in
> real life. I have a Papa/Dad but he actually has a real name, Chris. So, in
> terms of these chords, they all have relationship names, but they also have
> their real greek names.

>       Now, let's talk about why calling them Ma, Pa, etc. has power. I'll
> give you two or three little tips I give my students when I try to get them
> to learn their positions with respect to one another on the fretboard.
> First, I tell them to imagine that the family was once a plain,
> simple/ordinary family that didn't include the Adopted Boy. So, imagine them
> all posing for a photograph from left to right. We have Ma, Yb, Ob, Ys, Os,
> Pa. Notice that we have the two parents on the outside, sort of posing as
> end-caps to the family? That should be easy enough to remember. Now as far
> as how far apart each of them are from one another, I often tell them to
> just remember that they are each two frets apart except for one pair: Ob and
> Ys. Their roots are only one fret apart. How I explain this is by telling
> the make-believe story about the order in which they were born. First Os was
> born and, for whatever reason she's close to Pa...she's a "daddy's girl".
> (That's how I get them to remember that the girl sister pair are over on the
> Pa side of things) Two years later, Ys was born. Then, just a year later Ob,
> was born and two years after that Yb, who is the youngest and gets all of
> Ma's attention...he's a "Mama's boy". Now, if you consider what we call the
> "middle-child-syndrome" you can find reason for the two middle children Ob
> and Ys to be very close (only one fret apart). The reason is Daddy's girl
> gets plenty of attention from Pa...Mama's boy gets it from Ma...so the two
> middle children are very close to each other...they've got to stick together
> and give each other attention. Are you with me so far?

>       The next step in learning to appreciate the metaphor of the family
> names is to imagine that after many years of raising these kids, Ma gets the
> wild notion that they should enrich their family situation by adopting a
> boy. Now, before I bring him into the picture, I want you to fully
> appreciate the shape of the chords in the family without him. Notice that
> (as long as you just play the basic 1-3-5 chord forms) all the girl chords
> have the same shape as Ma, while all the boys look exactly like Pa. That
> would conspire with the notion that they are all from the same genetics,
> right? Well, now you bring in Adopted Boy and, while he is surely a boy,
> with his minor 3rd, he has that flatted 5th and therefore looks nothing like
> the rest of the family...he comes from different genetics. Also, notice his
> relative position with respect to the rest of the family. Where does his
> root sit? He sits right between Pa and Ma, as if they are posing for a
> picture with him all on their own, without the kids, if you can see that.
> Notice that he is only one fret from Ma, the nurturer (whose idea it was to
> adopt him), while he is two frets from Pa, this disciplinarian (who might
> still be having second thoughts as to whether this was a good idea or not).

>       Now, before I go on, let me clarify, as I have plenty of times before,
> that this is not an opportunity to bash adopted kids or to try to magnify
> the stereotypes that I have obviously been exposed to concerning them. I
> once had a lady who explained to me that it would have been more accurate to
> have named him a "step-child". She said most kids who actually get adopted
> end up in very good homes where they are loved and wanted, after all, their
> parents willingly chose to take them on...whereas step children often end up
> with a step parent who might not necessarily care for them as they are only
> there because of their feelings toward the other parent. Point taken...I
> agree...and it would further strengthen the idea that he is clinging to Ma,
> because maybe the Pa is a real jerk. I know I didn't care for my step dad at
> all and the feeling between us was clearly mutual. But, as I explained to
> her, I have already registered my little book with the Library of Congress
> with Ab as the character name...I have built tons of material referring to
> him as such, so I'm sort of stuck with Ab.

>       Okay, that was a lot of typing. I'm starting to feel a bit frazzled
> with all of it...but I think I pretty well covered the "intro" level lesson
> on the powerful value of referring to the family names. If you're ready to
> move on to the next step, I'll have to spend some time talking about Ab as
> the "gateway to Harmonic Minor" which is where the power (in my opinion)
> really gets hot. I need to get to bed now, so I'll save that for another
> night."