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
How to Come Up With a Motif - Music Composition
How to come up with a motif. Motifs need a musical identity, which is created through melodic design, rhythmic character, and articulation. All the notes within the motif need to be either harmony notes or inessential notes. The process...
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
Writing Counterpoint from a Chord Scheme - Music Composition
How to write counterpoint from a chord scheme. If you are working with a progression of chords and want to learn how to write contrapuntally around that harmonic scheme then this is the video for you. If you are analysing contrapuntal...
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...
Music Matters
Fluid Basslines - Inside the Mind of Bach
Join us as we examine the choice of harmony, chromatic chords, secondary dominants, borrowed chords. and modulation, the part writing, the use of inessential notes and suspensions, plus other features of the Bach Chorale style. Useful...
Two Minute Music Theory
Tritone Substitution vs Augmented 6 Chords - Q&A #3
Today's question is about the difference between the Tritone Substitution and the Augmented 6 Chord. Is there a difference? Are they the same thing? Will a fight break out in the comments section? Does the Australian Augmented 6 actually...
Two Minute Music Theory
Q&A #1 - Why Do We Need Double Sharps? - TWO MINUTE MUSIC THEORY
A question that comes up a lot: Why do we need double sharps and double flats? Where would we possibly use them? Also, does E# or B# exist? Where would we use that? Find out today on the first ever Two Minute Music Theory Q&A!
Two Minute Music Theory
Major Scale vs. Ionian Mode - TWO MINUTE MUSIC THEORY #29
The Major scale and the Ionian mode share a lot. Pitch collection, home note, key signature. So, are they the same? We find out today on Two Minute Music Theory. Season 3, Episode 8
Music Matters
The Harmonic Surprises of Mozart - Composer Insights
How to write counterpoint from a chord scheme. If you are working with a progression of chords and want to learn how to write contrapuntally around that harmonic scheme then this is the video for you. If you are analysing contrapuntal...
Music Matters
The Rules of Harmony and Some Things to Avoid - Keyboard Harmony
These rules will get you writing better harmony. Avoiding these common mistakes, although not absolutely necessary, will often help your keyboard harmony flow much better than before. In this video, we work through some of the ‘rules of...
Music Matters
How to Modulate - Music Theory
Learn how to easily modulate using something known as a pivot chord. Do you struggle to modulate from one key to another? Then this is for you. Lots of people can write or improvise music but get stuck in one key. Changing key, or...
Music Matters
The Best Chords to Follow Chord II (in Major Keys) - Music Composition
Are you struggling to get started in writing a chord progression? If you want to use chord II 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
Auxiliary Notes (Non-Harmonic Tones) - Music Theory
Learn how auxiliary notes and escape tones work, a useful melodic device you can use to improve your melody writing. Melody notes usually work best when they belong to the prevailing chord. However, by only using notes that belong to the...
Music Matters
Improvising Melodies over Harmony - Keyboard Harmony
Starting with a set of chords and finding a melody to fit them on the piano. Building keyboard harmony skills with improvisation but also keeping some of the rules of harmony and melodic techniques in mind. Most people engaged in...
Dom Burgess
Could We Add To Our Senses?
Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are the five basic senses that humans pocess. But surely we can do better, right? As scientists unravel the mysteries of the brain, the true level of its neuroplasticity is being revealed. In this...
Music Matters
Original Music Matters Theme - Composing for the Piano
In this episode of composing for the piano we introduce the original Music Matters theme. Over the course of this series, we're going to take the music matters theme and arrange it into different styles, discussing music composition...
Music Matters
Playing from a Lead Sheet - Music Performance
What does a lead sheet look like and how do you play from one? This music performance lesson takes you through the first eight bars of a famous Standard, “Lullaby of Birdland”, explaining how a lead sheet works, unpacking how to read the...
Odd Quartet
Music Theory - The "Amen" Chords - What Is A Plagal Cadence?
The plagal cadence, also sometimes called the "amen" cadence. In this video we look at examples of the plagal cadence, how it is used in music, and what it sounds like by listening to some examples. This continues our look into music...
Two Minute Music Theory
Building Music: Phrases and Periods - TWO MINUTE MUSIC THEORY #35
We continue our "Building Music" series, looking at how composers construct music. Today we look at how motifs can be used to construct phrases, and phrases can be used to make periods.
Music Matters
Identifying Inessential Notes - Music Composition
Music Matters demonstrates Identifying Inessential Notes
Music Matters
How to Change Key with One Note - Music Theory
This music theory lesson explains how to effect radical modulation by using just a single note. By using a single pivot note, rather than a pivot chord, it is possible to modulate to distant keys without making the music sound strange....
Music Matters
How Did George Shearing Compose - Composer Insights
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...
Music Matters
Writing Better Harmony - Music Composition
How to write better harmony and chord progressions. This music composition lesson begins with what is often a typical working of a four-part harmony exercise, which doesn’t sound bad but doesn’t sound good. We explore what works and what...