---
title: 'Music Theory Is Easy with These 2 Simple Formulas!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=w68OJsGmYBc'
video_id: 'w68OJsGmYBc'
date: 2026-07-31
duration_sec: 769
---

# Music Theory Is Easy with These 2 Simple Formulas!

> Source: [Music Theory Is Easy with These 2 Simple Formulas!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=w68OJsGmYBc)

## Summary

This video breaks music theory down to two core formulas: the Tone-Tone-Semitone pattern behind every major scale and the major-minor-minor-major-major-minor-diminished pattern behind every key's chords. The presenter shows how these formulas apply across all 12 keys, unlock modes, explain enharmonic spelling, and guide melody writing. Aimed at beginners, it frames theory as practical tools rather than abstract rules.

### Key Points

- **First formula: Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone** [00:30] — The major scale's interval pattern is T–T–S–T–T–T–S. In C major, C→D and D→E are tones, E→F is a semitone, then F→G, G→A, A→B are tones, and B→C is a semitone.
- **Formula applies to every major key** [01:42] — The same T-T-S-T-T-T-S pattern builds any major scale. For example, F major uses F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E, following the identical interval arrangement.
- **Enharmonic spelling** [02:25] — Notes can have two names, but scale degree order decides which to use. In F major, Bb is written as B flat, not A sharp, because A is already used as the 4th degree. In F# major the same pitch is called A# as the 3rd degree.
- **Intervals and ear training** [03:20] — The distance between C and E (two tones / four semitones) is a major third; C to E flat is a minor third. Recognizing these interval distances trains the ear.
- **Stable and unstable notes** [04:04] — In a major scale, degrees 1, 5 and 3 are the most stable (1 most, 5 second, 3 third). Degrees 2, 4, 6 and 7 are unstable and create tension in melodies.
- **Melodic tension and release** [05:18] — Unstable notes have tendencies: 2 can fall to 1 or rise to 3; 4 falls to 3; 6 falls to 5; and 7 rises to the octave. Songwriters use stable/unstable blends to build and resolve tension.
- **Modes as interval arrangements** [06:53] — Modes are just unique patterns of tones and semitones. Lydian differs from Ionian by a sharp 4th; Mixolydian differs by a flat 7th. Modes with a major 3rd (Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian) sound major; the other four have a flat 3rd and sound minor.
- **Second formula: diatonic chords** [09:06] — Chords in any major key follow the pattern Major–minor–minor–Major–Major–minor–diminished. In C: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. This pattern transfers to all 12 keys.
- **Number system and chord extensions** [10:35] — The 1, 4 and 5 chords are major (capital Roman numerals); 2, 3 and 6 are minor; 7 is diminished. You can extend these chords with 7ths, 9ths and 11ths, e.g., in C: Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Am7, B half-diminished.
- **Relative minor** [12:15] — The 6th chord in a major key is its relative minor. In C major it's A minor; reordering the same chords starting on A minor lets you write in a minor key.

### Conclusion

Mastering these two interval formulas gives songwriters a transferable foundation for building scales, chords, melodies, and modes in any key — making advanced music theory far more approachable.

## Transcript

arguably one piece of theory that matters more than all the rest. In short, this concept is the key to unlocking all of the more advanced concepts that we as songwriters want to explore. Unfortunately, a lot of people
find it frustrating and difficult to grasp. Fortunately, this concept I'm understand and can be broken down into two simple formulas. So, in this video, formulas, show you how important they are to unlocking more advanced concepts,
really practical songwriting applications. something you've heard a million times before, give me a minute to explain how
powerful and important this formula is. So, the tone tone semmit tone formula is referring to the distance between the notes in the major scale. So if we take the key of C major, we have C going to D. That distance is a tone. We then have
D going to E. That distance is a tone. We then have E going to F. That distance is a semmit tone. So that gives us our tone tone
semmit tone. Then we have the distance between F and G, a tone. The distance between G and A, a tone. the distance between A and B, another tone, and between A and B, another tone, and finally the semmit tone between B and C.
And that gives us the C major scale. [Music] So that was the key of C. But the tone tone, semmit tone, tone, tone, tone, semmit tone formula gives us the intervals between the notes in any key,
any major key. So if we went to the key of F, we'd have a tone, a tone, a semmit of F, we'd have a tone, a tone, a semmit tone, a tone, a tone, a tone, a semmit tone. I've created a free PDF laying out these two formulas and showing
applications in all 12 keys. And this document may help to guide you through these concepts as you watch this video. So if you're interested, check out the link below. Now, don't be fooled by the simplicity of this idea. The
implications of knowing this formula and knowing it well are huge. Firstly, writing in a major key, we now know what the names of the notes are. Secondly, this helps us make sense of what's referred to as nharmonic spelling, where
the same note can have two different names. For example, in the key of F, we have this B flat here. Now the B flat could also be referred to as an A sharp but in the key of F it's referred to as B flat for a very important reason. When
B flat for a very important reason. When we look at the scale degrees we have F G we look at the scale degrees we have F G A and then B flat. We can't go F G A sharp because the A note has already been referenced. If we were in the key
of F sharp however that note now gets referred to as an A sharp as the third referred to as an A sharp as the third degree in that scale. F sharp, G sharp, of fourths or fifths to get the same kind of information, but thinking about
the scale or the key that you're writing in as being an arrangement of these intervals is really helpful when you're trying to apply this theory to songwriting. And one of the big parts of our music education is training our ear
to identify the distances between these intervals. So, going back to the key of C, that's a third interval, the distance between the C and the E. That's two tones or four semmit tones. The distance
between the C and the E flat, that's a minor third. And the distance between those two notes has a particular sound. The major third is obviously bright and warm. The minor third is darker.
So understanding this arrangement of tones and semmit tones also allows us to start encoding the sound of the distances between these intervals. It also unlocks the concept of stable and unstable notes within a scale. So in any
major scale we have those seven degrees. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and back to the octave. Interestingly within that scale there are varying degrees of instability and are varying degrees of instability and stability. So the one is the most stable
note. The five is the second most stable note and the three is the third most stable note.
And if we were playing a C major chord, we would hear those all together. we would hear those all together. That means that the two, the four, the six, and the seven are unstable
five. And what's interesting is that in this arrangement of tones and semmit tones, these unstable notes have tendencies to either rise or fall. So if we listen to this two relative to the C bass note, you can
hear that it either wants to fall down to the one or rise up to the three. [Music] And this reveals something really powerful about how we construct melodies as songwriters because we're often
looking for chances to create tension and then release that tension. So starting a melody note on the two is unresolved. It's tense, but it can be easily resolved by going either down to
the one or up to the three. which is the four, it really wants to fall to the three,
unstable, resolved down to the three. The six resolved down to the three. The six wants to fall to the five
and the seven wants to rise to the octave. tone formula give us the arrangement of intervals within a major key, it also gives us the stable and unstable note options when constructing a melody. And
knowing this allows us to then construct our melodies with a nice blend of unstable and stable notes. [Music]
So, there's an unstable melody being answered by a stable melody. The first melody you heard was landing on the six. The second one resolved down to the The second one resolved down to the five. We can do it again here.
Now, one of the concepts that really terrifies a lot of people is the concept of modes. And modes is a tricky subject because it could be talked about and utilized in so many different ways. But I want to show you how simply
understanding this tone tone semmit tone formula can actually unlock the modes for you as well. Because if we look at the table of modes, we can see that they can all be described as arrangements of tones and semmitones exactly the same
scale, which is also referred to as Ionian. And one of the other ways we can split them into either major or minor modes. So you can see that the Ionian, the Lydian, and the mixelyian modes all have a major three and that's what gives
them the major sound. The other four modes, the Dorian, Friian, Aolon, and Lorian, they have a flat three. So that gives them the minor sound. Now, if we can see that Ionian follows that
tone, tone, tone, semmit tone that we've been talking about. If we go down to Lydian, you can see that there's only one note difference between Lydian and Ionian, and it's the sharp four in Lydian compared to the natural four in
Ionian. So what that means is instead of going tone tone semmit tone, if we were playing C lydian, we would now get tone tone tone tone
tone tone semmit tone tone semmit tone. And we can do exactly the same with mixelyian. Mixelyian is only different by one note from Ionian. It's
the flat 7 instead of the natural seven. So there the arrangement of notes is So there the arrangement of notes is tone tone semmit tone tone tone semmit tone tone semmit tone tone tone semmit tone tone. So the modes don't have to be
scary when we look at them through this lens of an arrangement of tones and semmit tones. They're just other scales that we can arrange and learn and really leverage the sound of in our songwriting because that sharp four may be the sound
that you're looking for to create more of a mysterious vibe with your melody.
really gives us the notes in a key. This second formula builds on that first formula and lets us know what chords are in the key. Because if we know what notes are in the key, simply applying this second formula will automatically
give us the chords that are diietonic to that key. So in the key of C we have the C major, D minor, F major,
G major, A minor, B diminished, and back to C major. And again, the beauty of this formula is that it is transferable to all 12 keys. It doesn't change. And so whatever key
you're writing in, laying out the chords in that key is really simple if you simply write them down as major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished, back to the major. And if I demonstrate on guitar where I'm far more comfortable
with chords, this allows us to really move around in lots of different keys of E, there's my home chord, there's my two chord, there's my three chord, four chord, five chord, six chord, seven
chord, back to one, it's exactly the same formula, the same arrangement. If I same formula, the same arrangement. If I move up to the key of G, one chord, two chord, three chord, four chord, five chord, six chord, seven chord, back
home. And seeing this second formula laid out also gives us access to a really important cordal system in songwriting, which is the number system. The one, the four, and the five are usually denoted with capital Roman
numerals because they're major. The two, the three, and the six are minor chords, and therefore they get the small Roman numerals, and the diminished also gets formula also gives us access to chord extensions. Once we can see the chords
are laid out in this way, we can then add seventh notes. We can add nines, 11s. So if we're in the key of C, the chords in the key of C are C, D minor, E chords in the key of C are C, D minor, E minor, F, G, A minor, B diminished, back
to C. Turning those into seventh chords, we get C major 7, D minor 7, E minor 7, F major 7,
G dominant, A minor 7, B half diminished, and back to C major 7. [Music] these sounds and these concepts are
really opened up to us once we build on the foundations of these two formulas. music theory that if you can really get a handle on these two basic formulas, the rest of it can be attained more easily simply by building on top of
those concepts. Another thing you get access to with these two formulas is the ability to write in minor keys. Because we've looked at the arrangement of the key, what happens if we want to write in a minor key? Well, it turns out that
every key has a major and a relative minor. That chord in the sixth position is always referred to as the relative minor. To write in that key, we can simply take the same chords as we're hearing in, for example, C major and now
rearrange them with a minor at the beginning. So, hopefully you can see how many amazing songwriting concepts can be unlocked by understanding these two unlocked by understanding these two basic formulas. Happy songwriting. Bye.