Carl Schroeder > Quotes

“Only by analyzing the melody to locate the tonic can a key signature be identified as major or minor.”
― Carl Schroeder, Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians

“complexity doesn’t exist for its own sake, or to prove a theoretical point, but because it provides the right sound at the right time to express very human emotions.”
― Carl Schroeder, Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians

“To the eye, the key signatures of relative keys are identical. Minor key signatures are laid out on the staff just like major key signatures. The sharps and flats are in the same octave and same order. Only by analyzing the melody to locate the tonic can a key signature be visually identified as major or minor.”
― Carl Schroeder, Hal Leonard Pocket Music Theory: A Comprehensive and Convenient Source for All Musicians

“The most obvious effect of inverting a chord is to change its bass note, and one result of voice leading through the use of inversions is the creation of melodic bass lines that connect from chord to chord by steps rather than by the wider leaps common when root position voicings alone are used.”
― Carl Schroeder, Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians

“The uniqueness of the blues scale lies in the blue notes, those notes in the scale that technically clash with the harmony. Since the blues scale is used primarily over dominant seventh chords, one would expect the scale to match the sound of the chord. However, the blues scale contains two notes that actually clash with notes of the dominant seventh chord, creating a melodic dissonance that is a trademark of blues. These two “blue” notes are the minor third and the flat five. Placing emphasis on these “wrong” notes is much of what makes blues sound “bluesy.”
― Carl Schroeder, Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians