Music Matters
Which Chord Comes Next? (Minor Chord Progression Chart) - Music Composition
How do you know which chord you could use next? We share our very own minor chord progression chart that will help get you started in figuring out which chord comes next. Musicians often wonder which is the best way to progress from one...
Music Matters
Composing from a Chord Progression - Music Composition
Composing music in different styles using the same chord progression. Have you ever experienced the frustration of finding a sequence of chords you really like the sound of but have been unsure about how to compose a melody to fit those...
Music Matters
How Chord Inversions Work - Music Theory
Learn how chord inversions work, what they are, how and when to use them, and how to label them. This music theory lesson includes U.K. and U.S. terminology to describe inversion chords and you will learn how to use all the diatonic...
Music Matters
Horizontal and Vertical Sight Reading
Learning to sight read advanced piano music involves improving your skills in both horizontal and vertical sight reading. Some keyboard players tend to read individual lines from left to right on the score. This is useful for absorbing...
Music Matters
Creating Melodies from Chord Progressions - Music Composition
Learn how to create melodies from chord progressions. We start with a set of chords in four-part harmony and find notes which fit the progression before going on to add melodic variation and input some non-harmonic tones. This music...
Odd Quartet
How Style and Instrumentation Affect Chord Progressions
Today we will look at a chord progression, but we will look at it in two different ways. First, as an 18th century piano composition. Then, as a 1950s American dance music. The trick is that we will use the same chord progression for...
Music Matters
Reading and Understanding Intervals - How to Read Music
How to work out intervals and develop the ability to hear and pitch them. Many people struggle to pitch notes accurately from a score, whether you’re a singer or someone needing to sight sing in an instrumental exam. In this video you'll...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord V (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord V what are the best options for chords to follow? This music composition lesson gives you plenty of options for chords that progress well from...
Music Matters
Rachmaninoff's Lyrical Use of Motif - Composer Insights
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...
Music Matters
3 Ways to Modulate from the Same Opening - Music Composition
This music composition lesson takes an opening bar and demonstrates how to modulate into three different closely related keys. The opening bar is used as a departure point for modulations to the dominant, the subdominant and the relative...
Two Minute Music Theory
Why Eric Whitacre's Clusterchords Work
Today we're looking at the 14-part clusterchord from Water Night by Eric Whitacre, how it is constructed, and how it all works - thanks to a good preparation of voicing and voice-leading.
Music Matters
George Michaels Skillful Use of Extended Chords Composer Insights
An insight into the introduction of George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” to discover the skills employed to create the opening to this iconic song. This video lays out the chord scheme used during the introduction and demonstrates the...
Music Matters
How to Harmonize a Major Scale - Music Theory
Would you like to be able to harmonize a major scale? Improve your keyboard harmony and learn how to easily harmonize a major scale. Being able to harmonize a major scale gives you a good feel for the key - useful for players and...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord VII (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord VII what are the best options for chords to follow? This music composition lesson gives you plenty of options for chords that progress well from...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord IV (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord IV what are the best options for chords to follow? This music composition lesson gives you plenty of options for chords that progress well from...
Music Matters
Using 6-4 5-3 Chord Progressions - Music Composition
Teaching you the best ways to deal with second inversion chords. The second inversion chord is explained along with its unstable characteristics and the video goes on to illustrate the most convincing musical contexts for using the chord...
Music Matters
How to Easily Move from One Key to Another Using a Pivot Chord - Music Composition
Learn how to easily modulate from one key to another using a pivot chord. Some people can write a piece of music but experience difficulty when it comes to modulation i.e. moving from one key to another. This music composition lesson...
Music Matters
Improve Your Harmony - Music Composition
Improve your harmony with advanced chords and learn how to write more dramatic chord progressions with this music composition tip. In this music composition lesson we analyse the harmony of the opening section of Bach’s C Minor Partita,...
Music Matters
How to Improve your Piano Accompaniments - Music Performance
How to improve your piano accompaniments. This music performance lesson explores how to bring piano accompaniments to life when you simply have a set of chords to read. When piano and other keyboard players read a melody from a lead...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord III (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord III what are the best options for chords to follow? This music composition lesson gives you plenty of options for chords that progress well from...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord VI (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord VI what are the best options for chords to follow? This music composition lesson gives you plenty of options for chords that progress well from...
Music Matters
Decoding David Bowie's Harmonic Language - Composer Insights
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...
Music Matters
Burgmuller's Romantic Harmony - Composer Insights
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 phrase...
Music Matters
Identifying Double Major Thirds - Music Composition
What is doubling the major third? How do you know if its a major third? Can you double thirds? Why is doubling a major third bad? This music composition lesson explains one of the rules of writing four-part harmony, namely the advice to...