Music Matters
Interpreting Brahms' Intermezzo Op 119 No. 1 for Piano - Piano Interpretation
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 explore...
Music Matters
How to Harmonize Repeated Notes in Both the Top and Bottom Parts - Music Composition
This music composition lesson presents four bars of repeated notes at the top and bottom of the texture. He then explains how to harmonise all the repeated notes, generating an engaging range of harmonic colour and well structured...
Music Matters
Harmonic Surprises in All I Want for Christmas is You - Composer Insights
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...
Music Matters
Can You Hear Two Parts and Write Them Down? - Ear Training
Have you ever had the frustrating experience of hearing a musical idea you want to work with as a player or as a composer but have struggled with being able to write it down? This lesson is an exercise in hearing a two part passage and...
Music Matters
Can You Hear a Melody and Write It Down? - Ear Training
Have you ever had the frustrating experience of hearing a musical idea you want to work with as a player or as a composer but have struggled with being able to write it down? This lesson is an exercise in hearing a melodic line and being...
Odd Quartet
How To Make Non-Chord Notes Sound Good
Today we are going to write a harmony using mostly seventh chords and we will look at a strategy to deal with non-chord notes when we are writing music. This combines a couple of our past lessons so be sure you watched those videos...
Odd Quartet
How To Build Seventh Chords
Today I want to talk about seventh chords. Seventh chords are a type of four note chord used in western music. The two types we will talk about today are the Major Seventh and the Dominant Seventh. We will go over how to build them note...
Music Matters
Why is White Christmas So Popular? - Composer Insights
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 song...
Music Matters
Using a Slow Moving Theme with Cantus Firmus - Music Composition
We explore how to write a free moving line over a sustained melody presented in long notes. The example here uses the first two phrases of “Happy Birthday to you” set as a cantus firmus in long notes in the left hand, while the right...
Music Matters
Beethoven's Delicate Side - Inside the Mind of Beethoven
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 Classical...
Music Matters
Adding Elegance to a Melodic Line - Music Composition
Many composers are happy to write basic melodies that fit with chords but how do we give a melodic line more identity and elegance? We discover how appoggiaturas can play a significant role. This music composition lesson shows you how to...
Music Matters
Using Alberti Bass as a Compositional Technique - Music Composition
Discover how Alberti Bass works and how useful it is in breathing energy into accompaniments. Often composers write a successful melody but the accompaniment is limited to block chords. Using Alberti Bass is one way of liberating the...
Odd Quartet
Listener's Guide To Carnival Of The Animals By Camille Saint-Säens - Movement 5 - The Elephant
Written in 1886, the Carnival of the Animals is a humorous piece by french composer Camille Saint-saens. The piece is made up of 14 different movements which represent different animals, however this video focuses specifically on the 5th...
Music Matters
How to Harmonize a Minor Scale - Music Theory
Improve your keyboard harmony and learn how to easily harmonize a minor scale. If you want to get really happy about playing, sight reading, improvising, or writing in minor keys then learning to harmonize a minor scale can prove very...
Music Matters
Chromatic Chord Alterations - Music Composition
Improve your music writing and harmony with these three chromatic chord alteration tricks. Many composers, arrangers, and improvisers get fed up with being stuck using the same basic chords all the time. This music composition lesson...
Amor Sciendi
Canon A2 Per Tonos: The Physics of Sound
We try to understand how great musicians like Bach can play with the way sound works to create something of profound beauty. Please listen to the full Canon here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A41CITk85jk
Music Matters
Schumanns Simple Musical Structures Composer Insights
Music analysis and exploration of the simple structure of the first movement of Schumann’s kinderszenen. Having explained how the external structure works, the internal phrase structure is unpacked. We then go on to examine how the...
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
Simple Soloing using the Pentatonic Scale - Music Performance
Never been quite sure what the pentatonic scale is? Know what the pentatonic scale is but not sure how to use it? Want to improvise or compose a really effective piece without having to know much about theory or chords? Get creative with...
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
Romantic Waltz Style - Composing for the Piano
In this episode of composing for the piano we take the Music Matters theme and present it as a Waltz in Romantic style. The Music Matters theme was originally written in 4 time. By converting it into 3 time with some rhythmic...
Music Matters
Anticipation Notes (Non-Harmonic Tones) - Music Theory
Improve your melody writing and learn all about anticipation notes and non-harmonic tones. When melody notes fit the prevailing chord we refer to them as harmony notes. When they do not fit the chord they should belong to one of the...