The cadential 6 4 is a melodic and harmonic formula that often appears at the end of phrases in music of the common practice period. Typically, it consists of a decoration of the dominant chord by displacing both its third and fifth by a step above.
This short, fun video from medici.tv went viral some time ago. It features the Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer criticizing the well-known tune. “I think it’s a very poor melody” he says, “it’s not written well” and then goes on to recompose it.
Tonality (also known as ‘tonal music’) is music that has a tonic – that specific note on which music is the most stable and at rest. In general, tonal music works by establishing a tonic, moving away from it and then returning to it.
Four-part harmony is a traditional system of organising chords for 4 voices: soprano, alto, tenor and bass (known together as SATB). The term ‘voice’ or ‘part’ refers to any musical line whether it is a melody sung by singers, a long note played on an instrument or anything in between.
I’ve probably watched hundreds of TED talks over the years but as a composer and a music teacher, a great talk about music can really make my day (if not my week!). I love sharing inspirational stuff with my students so here some of the best TED talks about music. In no particular order, here are my 10 favorite TED talks about music.
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 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 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).
Here’s a list of 60+ of the best music theory and composition YouTube channels with enough material for a lifetime of learning.