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.

Why have I never done an Analysis video? I have no idea! So, today I analyze my favorite Pentatonix song - Run To You. We'll look at how Pentatonix writes this song, and some of the things that make it awesome.

An Introduction to Musical Motifs

In this lesson, Mr. P. discusses what themes, motifs, and symbols are when used as literary devices. He provides examples from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Crucible, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. At the end of the video, he...

What are major scales? How do we build them? Why should you never use E# Major? Is there a Formula for Major Scales? All this and more today on Two Minute Music Theory! Season 3, Episode 3

Our second lesson will zoom into the finer elements of prose fiction. We’ll tackle narrative style, techniques and figurative language. You’ll discover a writer’s number one rule – show, don’t tell. Soon enough, you’ll have all the...

A look at Fanny Mendelssohn's Melodie

A look at the famous opening motifs from Beethoven's 5th Symphony

How motifs can be used, and changed in the compositional process

Pianist Stephen Hough talks about Liszt's motives in his Sonata and how they can be perceived as different characters.

Watch this lesson today to discover how Shakespeare explores the tension between the power fate and our own free will in Romeo and Juliet. Decide for yourself: does fate control everything? Or can individuals change things by their own...

Introducing a step-by-step guide to music analysis. Complete with helpful questions, and exercises to guide you through the wide world of studying scores.

Watch this lesson today to discover how Shakespeare explores the tension between appearances and reality in The Tempest. See that Shakespeare is playing around with our imaginations, blurring the line between reality and fantasy on...

Orchestration can seem daunting. There can be too many possibilities, and there are a lot of instruments to keep up with. Today we're studying Ligeti's Ricercata III - looking at how he took a piece for solo piano, and orchestrated it...

This music composition lesson unpacks Bach’s Sinfonia in B minor, drawing attention to the three motifs used to compose this piece. The three motifs are unpacked and we explore both the differences and the common ground between them. We...

Take a magical music adventure and learn the history of Beethoven for kids! Beethoven is one of the greatest composers and this episode is great for kids to use their imagination to listen and discover the music & history of Beethoven!

A look at phrases and periods in musical structure

We continue our "Building Music" series, looking at how composers construct music. Today we look at how motifs, phrases, and periods, and themes are used to create full musical forms. Music Examples: Bach - French Suite in E major, BWV...

Every author has a toolkit of techniques – they use these tools to build meaning and share important ideas.

In this video, we’ll teach you how to break down a range of texts. You’ll learn how to identify techniques in poems and...

How motifs, phrases, periods, and themes are used to construct forms

Create a simple Japanese Notan design with me!

How motifs, phrases, and periods are used to construct themes

Dec.03 -- Motif Founder and Chief Executive Officer Hardeep Walia talks at the Global Responsible Investing Forum in New York about how emerging technologies and online platforms are changing the way supply meets demand in responsible...

May.15 -- Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas and Scarlet Fu break down the Goldman Sachs Motif Manufacturing Revolution ETF (ticker: GMAN) with Hardeep Walia, founder and CEO of Motif, and Steve Sachs, head of ETF capital markets at Goldman...