The Mixolydian Mode is the fifth mode of the Diatonic Major Scale. Let’s look and listen to it with a bit more detail.
Continue reading “The Mixolydian Mode: Everything You Need To Know!”
Tag: music theory
Ionian Mode: Everything You Need to Know About Ionian
The Ionian Mode is the first mode of the Diatonic Major Scale. Let’s look and listen to it with a bit more detail.
Continue reading “Ionian Mode: Everything You Need to Know About Ionian”
Write Music While You Learn Music
“Take notes!”
This is pretty standard advice in the academic world. Whether it’s in a school classroom or in a self-taught setting, taking notes helps us to internalize what we learn. I talk about taking notes in a music journal in this article.
But music is not made with the words we write about it. Music is the art we create with sound. So, in addition to taking notes on the inner workings and theories of music, it’s also important to make use of the theory by writing our own music. In other words, write music while you learn music!
In this article, we’ll discuss 3 big reasons to write music while you learn music:
Chords of the Harmonic Minor Scale
Inspired by my Chords of the Melodic Minor Scale article, I would like to present chords based on harmonizing other heptatonic scales. In this article, we’ll discuss the chords of the Harmonic Minor Scale!
More specifically, we’ll look at the triads and seventh chords. We’ll also look at a cool application of these chords and how they relate to the Harmonic Minor’s modes.
So, without further ado, let’s build the chords of the Harmonic Minor Scale!
How Many Possible Chords Are There In Music?
How many possible chords are there in music? This is a question I remember thinking about when I started learning music theory but have never answered. Until now!
Warning: This is some pseudo-intellectual shizz! But still, it might be fun to do some math and discuss the chords of music.
This article will run through the calculations to answer our question: How many possible chords are there in music?
Continue reading “How Many Possible Chords Are There In Music?”
How To Keep A Music Journal
Keeping a music journal is an excellent tool for musicians. I talk about some of the benefits of keeping a music journal here, but I never really touched on how to keep a journal and what to journal about. This article will discuss how to keep a music journal while on your musical journey, including what to write about and tips on how to stick to it!
Understanding Tertian Triads and Seventh Chords
Tertian harmony describes music and chords constructed with thirds. Based on the diatonic scale, and the basic concept of intervals, these thirds are either minor (an interval of 3 semitones) or major (an interval of 4 semitones). Tertian harmony forms the 4 triads of music as well as 8* of the most common seventh chords.
*There are 8 tertian seventh chords, but only 7 that contain four distinct notes. We’ll get to this later in our matrices.
A closer look at Tertian Harmony
A common way of describing tertian harmony is with the scale degrees of the Diatonic/Major Scale.
So let’s look at the C Major Scale to get a better idea of what tertian harmony is:
Continue reading “Understanding Tertian Triads and Seventh Chords”
Triads and Pseudo-Triads of Music
The most basic chords in music are called triads. A triad is made of three notes, hence the name. It’s a tertian chord, meaning that it is built from stacking thirds. Therefore a triad consists of a first, a third, and a fifth scale degree. This article will discuss the 4 triads of music, their inversions, and what I call the “pseudo-triads.”
Composing With Modal Arpeggios
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about modes, modal composition, and modal arpeggios. Studying modes and modal composition has been fulfilling and inspiring in my musical journey. And I’d like to share a concept I’ve been using in my music. What I call modal arpeggios!
What Is a Modal Arpeggio?
Composing with Musical Intervals
Intervals are the basis of harmony and harmony is important to us as musicians, composers, and music producers. This article will discuss what intervals are and tips on how to use them in compositions.
Diatonic Thinking when Composing and Producing
When learning music theory, the term diatonic will undoubtedly come up. Let’s discuss what it means and how was can think about it when composing and producing our music!
What does diatonic mean exactly? When I was first told about diatonic playing, I thought it meant picking a scale and playing only the notes from that scale. Which it does, but you can only pick one scale when you’re playing diatonically. The diatonic scale.
The diatonic scale is defined as a heptatonic scale (having 7 notes) with 5 whole tone intervals and 2 halftone intervals, in which the halftone intervals are spaced as far apart as possible (three whole tones and two whole tones separated by half tones) . This doesn’t give us much choice in creating diatonic scales… We are left with only one scale with the following intervals:
Continue reading “Diatonic Thinking when Composing and Producing”
