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Curated Video
How Composers Make Music Sound Scary
Why do so many horror film scores today sound similar to The Exorcist from 1973? A lot of that is thanks to Krzysztof Penderecki, a Polish composer whose music was used by director William Friedkin to score The Exorcist. Penderecki's...
Music Matters
Using Sequence when Composing Music - Music Composition
How to use sequence as a compositional tool to expand a musical idea. This music composition begins with a simple four note idea. It then shows you how to build these four notes into a 16 bar piece using melodic and harmonic sequence....
Music Matters
Holst's use of Impressionist Colour - Composer Insights
An insight into the orchestration and harmonic language contained within Holst’s “Venus - the bringer of peace” from his Suite ‘The Planets’. Holst makes an original and colourful combination of a Horn solo with 4 Flutes and 3 Oboes,...
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...
Music Matters
How to Vary the Harmony for Repeated Notes - Music Theory
Many composers and students of harmony worry about harmonising repeated notes in a melody. Repeated notes can make for melodic stagnation and the remedy is often to create harmonic interest but how is this achieved? This music theory...
Two Minute Music Theory
The Music of Arrested Development: An Analysis - Part 2
Arrested Development has an incredibly unique use of music. In fact, they couldn't have actually told the story without the music. Music is an important part of a TV show. But, in Arrested Development, it's not just a background layer -...
Two Minute Music Theory
The Music of Arrested Development: An Analysis - Part 1
Music is an important part of a TV show. But, in Arrested Development, it's not just a background layer - it's almost just as important as one of the characters in the show. It's practically a character of its own. Let's look at how...
Music Matters
Which Chord Comes Next? (Major Chord Progression Chart) - Music Composition
How do you know which chord you could use next? We share our very own major chord progression chart that will help get you started in figuring out which chord comes next. Musicians often wonder which is the best way to progress from one...
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
The Plagal Cadence - Music Theory
Learn all about the plagal cadence, also known as the amen cadence, which chords it uses and how it sounds. Do you want to know about the plagal cadence? What is a plagal cadence? Where would you use a plagal cadence? How can you hear a...
Music Matters
Conjunct and Disjunct Melody Writing - Music Composition
What is meant by the terms conjunct and disjunct in relation to melody writing? We listen to and look at one melody written entirely using conjunct movement and consider its merits & weaknesses. We then do the same in relation to a...
Music Matters
The Interrupted Cadence - Music Theory
Learn all about the interrupted cadence, also known as the deceptive cadence, which chords it uses and how it sounds. Would you like to write an interrupted cadence? Would you like to be able to hear interrupted cadences? Cadences...
Music Matters
Why Should You Learn Music Theory?
Students learning music often think of music theory as a waste of time, they think it’s boring, and something they’ll never actually need. We explain why you should learn music theory in order to become a better musician. Plenty of...
Schooling Online
English Essentials - Flying Through Film - Structure, Editing and Genre in Film (Stage 4, Years/Grades 7-8)
Welcome to the first lesson on Flying through Film! This lesson will unpack some tools that filmmakers use to create powerful films. Most of your favourite movies rely on structure and editing to pack a punch. And of course, we can’t...
Curated Video
Music and Technology: Revolutionizing the Gaming Experience
In this video, renowned music composer Inon Zur explores the intersection of music and technology in the gaming industry. With a fully orchestrated score for the game Men of Valor, Zur and his talented orchestra are revolutionizing the...
TED Talks
TED: The birth of virtual reality as an art form | Chris Milk
Chris Milk uses innovative technologies to make personal, interactive, human stories. Accompanied by Joshua Roman on cello and McKenzie Stubbert on piano, Milk traces his relationship to music and art -- from the first moment he...
National Geographic
See Why Canoeing Is a Beautiful Way to Connect with Nature | Short Film Showcase
In the province of Ontario, Canada, the tradition and culture of the canoe has been passed down through generations. Explore how this ancient vessel reveals the strength of the human spirit in this poetic excerpt from Goh Iromoto's The...
The March of Time
MOT: 1938: Nazi persecution of the German Jewish population
Crowds on the street, stormtroopers painting Star of David on shop window, inside pulling out sheet music written by Jewish composers.
The Guardian
Happy birthday
For years, global music publisher Warner/Chappell claimed copyright of the Happy Birthday song, demanding payment for any public performance of it. Jenn Nelson tells the story of her four-year campaign to prove that the company did not...
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
A lost art: music in silent film
Why did silent films have music? How do orchestras and conductors perform to silent films? Ben Winters, senior lecturer in music at the Open University, explains. In 1925 Richard Strauss's great comic opera and pop cultural sensation Der...
Gresham College
Percy Grainger: Australia's greatest composer? - Professor Malcolm Gilles
We can think of world-leading Australians in sport (Don Bradman), media ownership (Rupert Murdoch) and film (Nicole Kidman). In music, some great performers come to mind, especially female singers (Nellie Melba, Joan Sutherland). But how...