What are the Technical Names in Music? & What do They Mean?
The ‘technical names’ in music are a set of 7 terms that give a label to every note of the scale. Every note is assigned a different technical name that reflects its position in the scale.
What is Wrong with Parallel Fifths?
What is wrong is that the notes of a perfect fifth blend so well together that they almost sound like one note rather than two. This makes parallel fifths out of style IF that style demands independence of voices.
The Difference Between 3/4 & 6/8 Time (with examples)
The difference between 3/4 and 6/8 is in the number of beats per bar and in their accents (the strong beats). In 3/4, we get three quarter note beats (out of which the first one is the strongest). In 6/8, we get two dotted quarter note beats (out of which the first one is the strongest).
September Composition Challenge: ‘Music for Words’
– This month’s musical composition challenge is based on the Tone Painting lesson I published some days ago. Your task is simply to choose a short poem from the ones I selected below and put it to music. For guidelines and details please read ahead. By the way, make sure to read or watch the …
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60+ Best Music Theory & Composition YouTube Channels
Here’s a list of 60+ of the best music theory and composition YouTube channels with enough material for a lifetime of learning.
“Is my music any good?”
A student recently asked me whether his music is really beautiful and I had to think long and hard about what to say. If you’ve ever had doubts about your own music or you want some ideas for how to judge your own work fairly, these thoughts are for you too. First off, let me …
How to Write Music Ep. 1: Tone Painting
Tone painting is the technique of shaping vocal music according to the meaning of the words. For example, we’d write a melody that goes up on words such as ‘rising’, ‘uphill’ and ‘climbing’ or have the music go really quiet on words such as ‘soft’, ‘peaceful’ and ‘calm’.
Beethoven’s 6th Symphony – Musical Analysis #1
Welcome to the first of the School of Composition’s Analysis series. Today we’re looking at the incredible motivic development of Beethoven’s 1st movement of the 6th Symphony. In the video below I show you how Beethoven uses his beautiful theme to build the whole of this first movement: I have color-coded the music so as …
August Composition Challenge: “Young Violins”
Welcome to a new music composition challenge – we’ve got an exciting one in store! For this month’s challenge, we’re partnering up with Crescendo Phoenixville, which in their own words is “a community music organization that provides high-quality music education to children who might otherwise not receive it.” (Check out their website here). The program is run …