Music Matters
Original Music Matters Theme - Composing for the Piano
In this episode of composing for the piano we introduce the original Music Matters theme. Over the course of this series, we're going to take the music matters theme and arrange it into different styles, discussing music composition...
Music Matters
Improvising Melodies over Harmony - Keyboard Harmony
Starting with a set of chords and finding a melody to fit them on the piano. Building keyboard harmony skills with improvisation but also keeping some of the rules of harmony and melodic techniques in mind. Most people engaged in...
Dom Burgess
Could We Add To Our Senses?
Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are the five basic senses that humans pocess. But surely we can do better, right? As scientists unravel the mysteries of the brain, the true level of its neuroplasticity is being revealed. In this...
Music Matters
Playing from a Lead Sheet - Music Performance
What does a lead sheet look like and how do you play from one? This music performance lesson takes you through the first eight bars of a famous Standard, “Lullaby of Birdland”, explaining how a lead sheet works, unpacking how to read the...
Odd Quartet
Music Theory - The "Amen" Chords - What Is A Plagal Cadence?
The plagal cadence, also sometimes called the "amen" cadence. In this video we look at examples of the plagal cadence, how it is used in music, and what it sounds like by listening to some examples. This continues our look into music...
Two Minute Music Theory
Building Music: Phrases and Periods - TWO MINUTE MUSIC THEORY #35
We continue our "Building Music" series, looking at how composers construct music. Today we look at how motifs can be used to construct phrases, and phrases can be used to make periods.
Music Matters
Identifying Inessential Notes - Music Composition
Music Matters demonstrates Identifying Inessential Notes
Music Matters
How to Change Key with One Note - Music Theory
This music theory lesson explains how to effect radical modulation by using just a single note. By using a single pivot note, rather than a pivot chord, it is possible to modulate to distant keys without making the music sound strange....
Music Matters
How Did George Shearing Compose - Composer Insights
Journey through the opening of George Shearing’s “Lullaby of Birdland”. What makes his compositional approach so successful? We look at the design of the melody and how one phrase relates to another. We also examine the rhythmic...
Music Matters
Writing Better Harmony - Music Composition
How to write better harmony and chord progressions. This music composition lesson begins with what is often a typical working of a four-part harmony exercise, which doesn’t sound bad but doesn’t sound good. We explore what works and what...
Music Matters
Writing a Melody Over a Chord Progression - Music Composition
How to compose and develop melody over a set of chords. Are you someone who can come up with a chord progression but you’re not quite sure how to improvise or write a melody to go with it? In this music composition lesson, we take 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...
Curated Video
Reading Words with R-Controlled Syllables: The OR Sound
In this video, the teacher explains how to read words with the R controlled syllable, specifically focusing on the OR sound like in "fork." The teacher emphasizes the importance of recognizing the OR syllable and blending the sounds...
Music Matters
Reading Extended and Chromatic Chords on a Lead Sheet - Music Performance
How to grasp extended chords and chromatic chords from a Lead Sheet. Using the opening section of the jazz standard “Fly me to the moon” you will learn how to read a rich chord language and how to organise the spacing and texture of...
Music Matters
A Triple Time Rule Breaker - Inside the Mind of Bach
Occasionally you'll find that even Bach doesn't follow the rules of four-part harmony however he often has a good reason to break them. This video takes a look at one of his Chorales in which some rules are broken in order to achieve a...
Music Matters
Extended Chords Made Clear - Music Theory
Always wondered what we mean by the term extended chords? Want to use extended chords but not sure how to? Are you a composer who can use chords but want your chords to be more interesting and more colourful? Want to be able to use...
Two Minute Music Theory
Ionian Mode vs. Major Scale
What is the Difference between the Ionian Mode and the Major Scale
Music Matters
Mozart the Master of Simplicity - Composer Insights
Does it get any better than Mozart? This composer insights lesson explores the first movement of Mozart’s K545 Sonata in C. The simple phrase structure and melodic design are unpacked in the context of the overall Sonata Form. Triadic...
Music Matters
How Edvard Grieg Builds Character - Composer Insights
How Grieg builds musical character in “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen”, number 6 of his op.65 Lyric Pieces written in celebration of his own 25th wedding anniversary. The celebratory character is explored through the tonality, the...
Music Matters
Making Music with 7th Chord Chains - Music Composition
Making music with 7th chord chains and advanced chord progressions in any style, from baroque to cocktail piano. The chain of 7ths has been used by composers since the Baroque period as a means of providing a rich sequence of 7th chords...
Music Matters
How to Build Diminished and Augmented Chords - Music Theory
Learn how to build diminished and augmented chords. This music theory lessons show you how to start with major triad and modify it into an augmented or diminished triad, before showing an alternative method of calculation by counting...
Music Matters
A Beginner's Guide to Four-Part Harmony - Music Theory
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...
Music Matters
What is a Secondary Dominant? - Music Theory
Find out what makes a secondary dominant and how best to use them. A secondary dominant is a way of adding a touch of harmonic colour to a piece of music. It occurs when a V-l progression occurs in a key other than the prevailing key....
Odd Quartet
How Minor Key Chord Progressions Work - Music Theory Crash Course
Last time we talked about chord progressions in a major key. Today we will look at chord progressions in a minor key. In this video we will find the key signature for the minor key, build the diatonic chords of that key, make a chord...