Music Theory 101

I wanted to write a simple music theory introduction. I am going to explain the notes, how to read them and how to from basic chords, which are the basis of every song you've ever heard.
The most basic thing to know is the note names. As I stated in my first post, there are 12 notes named from A to G (the white notes) with some "accidentals" or sharps and flats in between (these are the black notes). The distance between two notes that are next to each other is called a half step. So the distance between C and C# is one half step. The notes are shown here to the left in what is called the staff. The staff is the set of 5 lines in which the notes are placed. The placement of these notes are what tell you what the note name is. So whenever you see a note on the bottom line of the top staff, you know that you are looking at an E. As you can see, on the far left of the top staff is a symbol call the treble clef which indicates where on the piano the note is. The symbol on the bottom is called a bass clef and indicates you will be playing an octave lower than the treble clef. With these notes you can form what are called chords. Chords are basically two or more notes played together, but in order to form a chord which sounds good, there are some basic rules that one must follow. A scale can be made starting on any note. There are many types of scales, but I am only going to talk about the major scale right now because almost all of pop/rock music is written in a major scale. In order to make a major scale you just need to follow a simple formula. If you want to make a C major scale, you will start on a C and move up 2 half steps to get your next note (D). Another 2 half steps to get your next note (E). You will continue in this fashion. The order of steps is as follows, starting on C. 2 2 1 2 2 2 1. You should hit all the white notes if you do this right. In order to make a different scale all you do is start on a different note and follow the same formula. So if you want an A major scale, you simply start on A and follow the 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 formula. You can then form chords in these scales, or keys (a song played using the C scale is said to be in the key of C). To make a C major chord, you start with the C scale and you will play the first, third, and fifth note of the scale (C,E,G). To make a C minor chord you simply move the middle note down one half step. (C,Eb,G). You can do this to make any major or minor chord.

These are the very basics of music theory. If you are interested in learning more, or if you have any questions, leave a comment about it, and I'll respond ASAP.