On our tour of the Modes, we come today to the Dorian Mode. We'll look at how to build it, some things we can do with it, and some music that uses the mode. Season 3, Episode 10

What is Enharmonic equivalent in music? Why is the same note sometimes called A# and sometimes Bb? Why is F sometimes known as E#? Why do we have double sharps and double flats? This music theory lesson explains the matter of...

Overview of the Dorian Mode

Today I want to talk about parallel major and minor keys. The example we are using today is the Spanish Christmas carol A La Nanita Nana. First we will look at how to identify the minor key by using the three half step trick. Then we can...

How to recognise a modulation in music. This music theory lesson explains what constitutes modulation and works through a piece of music that contains several modulations. An analysis of chords, accidentals and cadences reveals the...

Why Do We Need Key Signatures?

When you look at a melody how do you know in which key it is composed? This music theory lesson presents a short piece and explains how to determine the key of a given melody. It also talks about modulation to a different key. How good...

Find out how to borrow chords from the parallel key as a means of adding colour to your harmony and to understand how composers use this technique. This music composition lesson presents a short piece of harmony and demonstrates ways...

How did Franz Liszt compose and what are some of the hallmarks of his compositional style? We try to get inside the head of Liszt and unpack the first page of his monumental Sonata in B minor for piano, of 1854. We explore the shielding...

How to build a whole tone scale and exploring some of its uses. Most musicians are familiar with major and minor scales but what about other scales? The whole tone scale was much used by Debussy and other composers, and it generates a...

How to build music scales using half steps and whole steps. We examine the chromatic scale, major scale, and minor scales in this video.