Beginner's guide to four-part harmony. This music theory lesson explains the basics of how to write four-part harmony to fit with a given melody. Often people can write a tune they are happy with but they are not sure which chords to use...

Find out how Bach goes about decorating a straightforward chord progression and use multiple harmonic devices to create a really moving piece of music. We examine the choice of harmony and modulation, the part writing, the use of...

What is a cadential 6-4? What does it sound like? How does it function? What do we mean by “cadential” and 6-4? This music theory lesson explains the cadential 6-4 and answers all those questions. The melodic, as well as the harmonic...

So far we have only looked at cadences that end back on the tonic. Today we are going to look at a cadence that goes in a completely DIFFERENT direction - the deceptive cadence. Instead of ending on the tonic, this cadence starts on the...

Sometimes keeping things simple works. This Bach chorale is a great example of how Bach keeps things simple and still manages to demonstrate his artistic genius. We examine the choice of harmony and modulation, the part writing, the use...

Learn how to write and compose counterpoint combined with homophony. Counterpoint is an advanced music composition technique that involves weaving together multiple melody lines. Working in a Baroque style, this video demonstrates how...

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...

Learn all about the perfect cadence, which chords it uses and how it sounds. Do you want to know what a cadence is? More specifically, do you want to know what a perfect cadence is? Would you like to play one or to write one? Would you...

In this episode of composing for the piano we talk about writing in a classical style. We take the music matters theme and arrange it into a classical style, discussing music composition techniques and tips when composing for the piano...

The I 6/4 chord as a part of an authentic cadence. Is it real? Will we ever find out? Does it actually exist? Okay, so obviously the chord exists. But, it plays a very particular function...and it's current label is a bit misleading. So,...

In his series 'Redesign my Brain', award winning documentary maker Todd Sampson puts brain training to the test as he undergoes a radical brain makeover. The cutting edge new science of brain plasticity has found that anyone can...

To round out our 2nd series on Chords, today we look at the chords with Subdominant Function - the ii and the IV chords.

In this video, Bill Carmody discusses the importance of effectively closing a project. He emphasizes the need to reflect on what worked well and what can be improved upon for future projects.

In this episode of composing for the piano we talk about writing in a late Romantic style. We take the music matters theme and arrange it into a late Romantic style, discussing music composition techniques and tips when composing for the...

“Saving all my love for you”, made famous by Whitney Houston when she released her cover of the single in 1985. The harmony forms the focus of this composer insights lesson, with the use of extended chords and slash chords fully...

After all of the music theory videos we have made so far, we finally get to talk about cadences! And the firs one we will be looking at is the Perfect Authentic cadence.

In this video, the teacher explains how to solve story problems involving subtraction of unlike mixed number fractions using area models. The teacher emphasizes the importance of understanding the problem and devising a plan before...

There are many literary and poetic devices we use in our everyday speech. Epistrophe and Anaphora are also the kind of literary devices which can be a great and easy introduction into poetry for our youth. But don't be mistaken my...