Music theory is often confused as being mostly about identification, but really - it's more about interpretation. Music Theory is an art. And it's an artform that is both valuable and practical for all musicians throughout their...

Understanding and interpreting your piano music allows you to bring your own unique flair and personality to a piece. Here we explore the famous Ab Impromptu by Schubert, considering the key elements of interpretation. An overview is...

Understanding and interpreting your piano music allows you to bring your own unique flair and personality to a piece. Here we investigate this famous Arabesque written by Debussy during his early career and explore the hints of the...

We explore this late piano Intermezzo composed by Brahms in 1893. This lesson explains the opening structure and examines clues for interpretation provided by Brahms in a letter he wrote about this work to Clara Schumann. We then...

We examine the introductory section of Beethoven’s final Piano Sonata, op.111. Having given some background context, this video takes us through the fascinating harmony and key movement, and references this to other aspects of this...

Discover three harmonic surprises that occur in Mariah Carey’s famous Christmas hit, “All I want for Christmas is you”. Many song composers find themselves using familiar and predictable chord patterns, and they would love to discover...

We explore the first of Bach’s 15 two part Inventions in the key of C. This composer insights lesson unbolts the imitative counterpoint, explaining the various contrapuntal ingredients and how they are used throughout the piece....

We explore what makes the harmony of this iconic Christmas song so iconic and durable. Irving Berlin’s song from 1940 includes a rich blend of diatonic, extended and chromatic chords, which skilfully add distinctive character to the...

We investigate a less familiar corner of Rossini’s writing, namely the Preludio Religioso from his Petite Messe. Unusually, the movement is written for Harmonium. This composer insights lesson goes on to explore the initial fugal...

We examine the Development section of the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in D major, K284. In the space of 20 bars Mozart packs in a mobile and clever series of modulations while he explores a small number of musical ideas to...

Discover how Josquin des Prez developed compositional style during the High Renaissance period. Josquin des Prez followed composers like Du Fay and Ockeghem, and prepared the ground for Palestrina and his contemporaries. As a singer,...

How to undertake a roman numeral chord analysis of a piece of music. Using a short movement by Schumann this music theory lesson explains how to read the keys then how to discover each of the chords, including designating extension...

We examine the opening section of Schubert’s famous Impromptu in Gb in order to discover how Schubert creates emotion. Starting with the melodic line we discover how the contour works and how the phrase design enhances the rises and...

Chopin’s E minor Prelude is one of his most popular and most beautiful Preludes. What makes the impact of this piece so poetic? This composer insights lesson begins by examining the melodic line in the right hand. Through much of the...

Beethoven is often called ‘the bridge composer’ and emphasis is often placed on what he does to usher in the Romantic period. There is another more delicate, elegant side to Beethoven’s musical personality that has roots in the...

A masterclass in modulation achieved by studying one of Bach's Chorales. We examine the choice of harmony and modulation, the part writing, the use of accented and unaccented passing notes, plus other features of the Bach Chorale style....

How Sergei Rachmaninoff makes use of motifs when composing music. This composer insights lesson explores the opening of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise”. The melodic design is explained alongside the rich harmony, which features extended and...

Is There Life On Mars? A harmonic analysis of one of Bowie's best. We delve into the mind of the composer and explore what makes David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” such an original and iconic song. The main focus is on the harmonic content of...

This composer insights lesson explores the Romantic harmony of Burgmüller as written in his delightful character piece for piano “At the Christmas Tree”. It explains the overall Ternary structure of the piece then how the internal...

Data can sometimes be dense and difficult to look at. Today we look at a technique known as sonification that scientists and musicians collaborate to create, a technique that can give researchers a different perspective on the dataset.

Journey through the opening of George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland”. What makes his compositional approach so successful? We look at the design of the melody and how one phrase relates to another. We also examine the rhythmic...

How Grieg builds musical character in “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen”, number 6 of his op.65 Lyric Pieces written in celebration of his own 25th wedding anniversary. The celebratory character is explored through the tonality, the...

Does it get any better than Mozart? This composer insights lesson explores the first movement of Mozart’s K545 Sonata in C. The simple phrase structure and melodic design are unpacked in the context of the overall Sonata Form. Triadic...

This composer insights lesson shows how Elgar creates a picture of innocent and passionate love at this significant moment in his life and explores the opening of Elgar’s “Salut d’Amour”, written as his engagement gift to his intended...