Call them whatever you want — they’re totally fun and addicting!

Have you ever done a Rebus puzzle? They’ve been around for a long time — Rebus puzzles were popular during the 18th and 19th centuries. They were sometimes used as a code (some were written in such a way that they had to be held in front of a mirror to be read) and a pastime.

So what is a Rebus puzzle? It’s a playful way of writing or drawing a word, expression, or sentence. And while it’s fun to try to figure each one out, solving Rebus puzzles is a great way to get the juices flowing in your brain. In order to become great musicians, we need to get good at quickly recognizing patterns. Music is more than just hearing patterns — it’s seeing patterns, too.

The best way to really get it is to try a few. So here’s an example. Can you guess the expression? (The answer is just below the box, so don’t scroll down too far until you have your guess!)

Time’s up! It’s “extended family.” Get it? I bet you want another chance to guess, so here’s another Rebus:

Think you know it? It’s “You are a cutie pie.” That was easy, but just in case you missed it, here’s one more example:

This last Rebus is “mind over matter.”

How did you do? Now that you’re warmed up, print this sheet for 10 more. Scroll down past the picture below to find the answers.

]]> http://mycolormusic.com/2011/09/rebus-puzzles-1/feed/ 0 http://mycolormusic.com/2011/09/consonance-and-dissonance-part-4/ http://mycolormusic.com/2011/09/consonance-and-dissonance-part-4/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 02:41:08 +0000 admin http://thecolormusiccompany.com/?p=4458 This post is continued from “Consonance and Dissonance (Part 3)“

Using Color Music, we can actually see the pattern of consonant and dissonant intervals. And without a doubt, the connection between complementary colors and tritones is awesome. But we can see even more. For example, check out the gradation bar below. It highlights exactly what’s going on:

As the colors approach the red tonic (1), they have higher levels of red … while the colors that approach the green tritone (b5) have higher levels of green. Get it? The complementary colors illustrate opposite tritons. And, at the same time, the colors in between actually highlight the whole spectrum of intervals.

This pattern is even easier to see in a circular format. Again, the keys (or notes) that are closer to the tonic have higher levels of that color, while the more dissonant ones have increasingly higher levels of the dissonant tritone. Just like before, the connection between color and music is like magic!

To use an analogy, the tonic is like the life source … full of strong, consonant blood. But as you move in the direction of the dissonant tritone, it’s gradually bled dry. (Whoa.) Of course, this “red blood” analogy is convenient for describing the key of C, which happens to be red. But this same idea works for all 12 keys.

Another analogy is that the consonant tonic and its dissonant tritone are like the polar opposites of a single magnet. The more consonant keys are drawn to the tonic, while the more dissonant keys are repelled … gravitating toward the tritone. Which mean’s the keys/notes exactly in between—the major-sixth (A) and minor-third (Eb)—are neutralized, with equal allegiance to both extremes.

And … I could go on about the parallels with Star Wars, the force, and Luke Skywalker’s struggle to reconcile his affinity for Jedi principles and the temptation of turning to the dark side, in favor of some powerful paternal affection … but I won’t.

Anyway, you can see why I was geeking out with Ben, right? When we really looked at these patterns, it was amazing. And now, we can write better songs that sound good—much faster. So you really shouldn’t judge me, my friends. Because, if you’ve been following along, then you know it’s cool, too. (Happy songwriting!)

In music, consonant and dissonant intervals are super-important. Because they tell us which notes sound good together … and which notes sound bad. Using plain, old scale degrees, we can kind of see what these intervals look like—check it out. We just rearrange the 12 basic intervals into a sort of spectrum:

The tonic (1) is at one end because it’s the most consonant scale degree in any key. At the other end of the spectrum is the tritone (b5) … because it is, by far, the most dissonant scale degree. And in between are all the other scale degrees, which range from consonant on the left … to dissonant on the right.

Cool, huh? If we want a song to sound good, we just play lots of notes and chords that are consonant. In other words, we need to stick with the scale degrees near the tonic (1) at the left of the spectrum. And if we want our music to sound more edgy and dissonant, then we pick and choose from the intervals on the right.

But, of course, all of that is easier said than done. Because each of these little symbols can be confusing. So it’s still difficult to see what I’m talking about. No matter how hard you look, these scale degree symbols don’t really illustrate why some intervals are consonant … while other intervals are dissonant. And that’s a bummer.

Ahhh … but Color Music saves the day again. By looking at these scale degrees using colors and shapes, we get a much better view of what this spectrum is trying to show us….

But the colors alone can’t do the job. Which is why we need the note shapes, too. In Color Music, the squares and circles play an equally important role. Like an unsung hero, this shape code totally supports the color code.

It’s simple, really. For example, imagine we got rid of the alternating shapes and used only 12 colors. While the colors look nice, they don’t really show us any useful patterns.

Without the alternating note shapes, it’s almost impossible to tell each note apart. And that means we can’t see any connections between the notes either. All we get is 12 colors that look an awful lot alike.

But when we use squares and circles, everything suddenly pops. In a flash, we immediately can see which note is which. There is no need for guesswork. We just have a clear view of 12 separate notes.

In fact, these shapes even speed up our thinking. By highlighting musical intervals, the squares and circles help us see how the notes relate. And they show us much more than the basic whole-steps and half-steps.

For example, if a certain tonic note happens to be a square, then we already know the scale degrees of the other note shapes. Those squares must be notes M2 … M3 … #4/b5 … b6 … and b7. Easy!

Likewise, the circle notes must be b2 … b3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … and 7. (And this works the same way with all square tonic notes.)

Of course, the reverse is also true when the tonic note is a circle. The circles must include the 1 … M2 … M3 … #4/b5 … b6 … and b7.

And the squares include b2 … b3 … 4 … 5 … 6 … and 7.

Just as we’d expect, the note shapes help us quickly see every interval and pattern. So no matter what we play, Color Music does the trick. Tirelessly working to help our eyes and minds run at full speed.

Make your own color wheel

Supplies:

• One (1) copy of the color wheel kit PDF printout
• Six (6) colored pencils (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
• One (1) regular pencil or pen
• Scissors
• One (1) paper clip (bigger is better, but any clip will work)

Vocabulary:

• color wheel
• square
• primary colors
• secondary colors
• complementary colors
• circle
• tertiary colors
• pattern
• piano keyboard

Activity:

Do you have a favorite color in the rainbow? The world is full of colors. The blue sky … green trees … yellow sun … orange cats … red cars … and purple flowers. Bright colors, dark colors, warm colors, and cool colors.

In the color wheel, there are 12 colors. Together, they look really good — like a rainbow. Have you seen a color wheel before?Artists use it all the time.

Let’s make our own color wheel! Check to make sure you have all your supplies.

1. We will start with our printout of the blank color wheel and scissors. Cut the paper in half so that you have a top half and a bottom half. Set the bottom half aside.

2. Before we put our color wheel together, we need to make sure we understand how the colors relate to each other. It’s time to color the top half of the paper, so grab the colored pencils.

First, color the square labeled “red.” It is at the very top. Don’t press too hard. Just be gentle.

3. Next, color the square labeled “yellow.” It is on the right, near the bottom. Can you see it?

4. Our next color is blue. Do you see it? Yep, it is the square on the left.

Hey, do you know what these colors are called? Artists say they are the primary colors — red, yellow, and blue.

Why are they called “primary colors?” It’s because we use them to make the other colors in the color wheel. To see what I mean, let’s make the secondary colors now.

5. What happens when we mix red and yellow? We make orange! find the square between red and yellow and color it orange.

6. What happens when we mix yellow with blue? Yep, we make green. Now, find the square between yellow and blue — color it green!

7. What color do you think comes from mixing blue and red? Purple is correct. Find the square between blue and red and color it purple.

These six (6) colors look like a rainbow. And do you want to know something cool? Each color has an opposite — called a complementary color. It is easy .

8. Red and green are complementary colors. So green is the opposite of red … and red is the opposite of green. On your color wheel, draw a straight line with your regular pencil. Connect these two colors, like this:

9. So, which color is the opposite of orange? Nice job! It is blue. Orange and blue are complementary colors. Now, draw a line between these two squares.

10. Okay, the last one is easy. Which color is the opposite of yellow? Yep, it is purple. Yellow and purple are complementary colors. So, draw a line between these two squares.

How does your color wheel look? Pretty good, huh? But wait … what about the circle shapes? They need colors, too. We call these last colors tertiary colors. And we make them by mixing the primary colors and secondary colors.

11. See that circle between red and orange? We will color it “red-orange.” It is just a mix of both red and orange. Get it?

First, color the circle with the darker color — your red pencil. (Don’t press too hard!) Next, add a layer of orange on top. These two colors will mix to make red-orange. Cool!

12. Now, let’s color the next circle orange-yellow. Remember, it is called “orange-yellow”  because it is between the orange square and the yellow square.

First, color this circle lightly with your orange pencil. Then add a layer of yellow on top. these two colors mix together to make orange-yellow. Awesome!

13. This is fun. Now, let’s color the other shapes in the same way. Remember to color the darker color first, and also not to press too hard.

When you are done, your wheel should look like this:

In music, we use these same 12 colors. They look like this:

But wait! These colors look different — like they got all mixed up. What happened? Well, we just use a simple new pattern from the color wheel. Let’s see how to make this new pattern.

Now you will need the scissors and the bottom half of your printout.

14. Use your scissors to cut out each shape on the gray lines. All the squares are on one side in the star shape. And all the circles are on the other side in the big round circle. When you finish cutting, your two pieces of paper should look like this:

15. Grab your paper clip. Bend it like this:

16. Using the paper clip, poke a hole through the piece of paper with circles. From the bottom, poke through the plus sign in the center.

17. Then, do the same with the piece of paper shaped like a star. Poke a hole through the plus sign at the center. When you are done, it will look like this:

18. Now, let’s spin the squares so we make the color wheel. Make sure that red is at the top.

Every color is right where it should be. But this color wheel does not look like the piano keyboard. No problem. We can easily make this pattern.

19. All we have to do is switch complementary colors. So, take the red square and have it trade places with the green square. Go ahead and spin the colors. Now, red is at the bottom … and green is at the top!

Hey, the other complementary colors traded places, too! Orange and blue switched and so did yellow and purple. Now, we have an “opposite” color wheel. Cool!

This is the color pattern we use in music. It is very simple. In Color Music, we learn all about this color pattern. It’s fun! And now that we know all 12 colors, we will learn super fast.

Quiz:

1. How many colors are in the color wheel?

2. Name the three primary colors.

3. What are the three secondary colors?

4. How many squares are in the color wheel?

5. What is red’s complementary color?

6. What is green’s complementary color?

7. How many circles are in the color wheel?

So, I’m kind of curious … what is your native language? These days, we have a lot of readers in different countries. Which means I’m guessing some of you speak English … or Spanish … or French … or German, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Italian … or one of many other languages out there.

But the nice thing is that Color Music makes complete sense no matter what you speak. After all, music is a universal language … which means it works the same way for everybody. And of course, so does color.

Sure, we have different names for red, orange, yellow, green, and so on. But everybody everywhere knows exactly what each one means. I don’t care if you’re from China or Chile—we all can see the exact same patterns.

In fact, one of the main reasons Color Music is so powerful is that it easily breaks the language barrier. Because both color and music are so basic to life, the connection between them is easy to understand. As humans, our brains just “get it.”

The thing I like about Color Music is that it’s so simple. Using only a few pictures, it gives us a clear view of music. Just a couple of basic patterns … nothing complex like traditional notation. We can learn any song in a flash through a direct connection between our instruments and the notes on a page. Nice!

For musicians, who have already learned the hard way, Color Music is a welcome sight. A straight shot to all the note patterns we’ve spent years studying. The only downside is we spend a little time “unlearning” old concepts. Dropping the mental baggage of old traditional music lessons and hitting the “reset” buttons in our brains.

The upside, of course, is that Color Music gets us back on track super fast. So our knowledge of music is clear and confusion-free.

But for new music students—and especially kids—there is no downside to Color Music. No “unlearning” or rebooting needed. New students experience only the upside of mastering music at the speed of light. With their minds primed for musical patterns, the sky really is the limit.

In fact, the possibilities are thrilling. And we’ve gotten a lot of great feedback—especially from people who see Color Music as the perfect way to teach kids. After all, children are the future … the next wave of stellar musicians. So it totally makes sense to help them begin on the right track. Because Color Music is totally the head start they’re looking for.

So … we are excited to announce our grand, new adventure, The Color Music Company. And our new website is even better. Go ahead, check it out! Everything has been designed with musicians in mind … especially kids.

Our new website has more information about Color Music … including free stuff to download, a bigger and better blog, and a products page where you can buy your own piano coding kit. Sweet! So, jump right in, my friends. You won’t find any headaches—just good fun.

The key to learning music is to understand note patterns first—then the language of a musician. That way, we can truly understand how to make music. No confusion or distractions with strange words or terminology. Just pure immersion into what music is really all about—simple patterns.

And what’s nice is these patterns are super simple. So tackling the language of music isn’t far behind. We just soak in the note patterns of scales, chords, and progressions, and then absorb the vocabulary of music. It’s a powerful one-two punch!

Of course, if Color Music is really as simple as it looks, then it should make sense to anyone, right? Even a kid. I mean, if you’ve been reading this blog for even a little while, then you know music ain’t rocket science. In reality, it’s just child’s play.

Traditional music methods aren’t all bad. Mainly, because they give us a common vocabulary—a shared language that musicians can use to communicate. Over the centuries, music nerds have created all sorts of handy words to describe sound. So that when we talk about “tonics,” or “sharp-fives,” or “E-flat,” you know what I mean.

The trouble is, traditional methods start with these terms. And that creates problems. If we just throw a bunch of strange phrases at a beginner, they’re only going to get confused.

No, a better way to understand music is to learn note patterns first—then the vocabulary of a musician. I mean, you wouldn’t try to teach a child the alphabet before they learned to speak, right? That would just overwhelm them because their brains don’t work that way.

In reality, any kid masters a language by sounding out words first—like “dog,” “car,” “ball,” etc.—BEFORE they try to spell these words. And long before they even think about tackling heavier concepts like nouns, punctuation, prepositional phrases, and so on.

See what I’m saying? Music works the same way. We need to hear and see notes before we try to label them with letters, numbers, or any of those crazy traditional symbols. It just makes sense. Standard music has so many terms it can make your head spin. But deep down the patterns of music are simple.

With Color Music, we can easily learn these patterns. And I think this is the best way to master music. As with any language, we’re better off learning the patterns first … then the vocabulary. That way, the vocabulary will be obvious, because we’ll already know exactly what we’re describing.

When you think about it, building a song is fairly easy. We just repeat a few parts … and organize each section into a nice, logical order. Usually, our songs will have a couple of different melodies—like a verse and  chorus—that keep things moving forward. And together, these sections create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

In fact, music is structured like any other art form. We arrange songs in the same way a playwright organizes a play or an architect designs a building. The same basic elements of beginning, middle, and end are used to give a song meaning and shape.

In other words, the way we construct a song isn’t random. Usually, our music is built with a sense of balance between unity and variety. Which means our songs include both repetition and change.

Unity satisfies the listener’s need for stability … while variety provides something new and unexpected for more interest. Together, these two sides support each other—and make the other stand out. You ear will usually tell you what sounds good. Too much repetition or too much change can get boring. So musicians try to strike a balance between the two.

To see what I mean, imagine the classic yin yang symbol. With a strong balance of both unity and variety, our music can be like this—full of energy and life. But when we have an imbalance of parts, everything bleeds into one another. And all we end up with is a bland, gray circle. Too much unity or too much variety isn’t nearly as cool. Which is why all the best musicians keep listeners engaged with a good dose of structure and balance.

Anyway … so, now that we’ve been trained in some ancient Chinese philosophy(!), let’s move on, shall we? I mean, it’s good to know how music is structured and all. But it gets even better when we add some style to our songs….