Music Matters
Orchestration & Writing for Woodwind - The Oboe
A look at how to write for the oboe in detail. During this orchestration video you will discover the range of the Oboe, the clef it uses, how it functions as a double reed non-transposing instrument, and how to write for it in such a way...
Music Matters
How to Easily Move from One Key to Another Using a Pivot Chord - Music Composition
Learn how to easily modulate from one key to another using a pivot chord. Some people can write a piece of music but experience difficulty when it comes to modulation i.e. moving from one key to another. This music composition lesson...
Music Matters
Anticipation Notes (Non-Harmonic Tones) - Music Theory
Improve your melody writing and learn all about anticipation notes and non-harmonic tones. When melody notes fit the prevailing chord we refer to them as harmony notes. When they do not fit the chord they should belong to one of the...
Music Matters
Using Scalic Bass Lines - Inside the Mind of Bach
Bach loves to use scalic bass lines within his chorales as a solid foundation for building the harmonic structure. Often the bass lines interact with the other parts within the texture to create a conversational type of movement. Let's...
Music Matters
Reading Bass Clef Ledger Lines - Music Theory
How well do you know your bass clef ledger lines above and below the stave? You may be fairly new to reading music or you may have been a musician for years but many musicians get caught out when it comes to reading notes on ledger...
Music Matters
Can You Beam Correctly in 6/8 Compound Time? - Music Theory
Can you figure out what the correct beaming of notes should be within this short piece of music written in 6/8 compound time? It’s one thing to be able to compose rhythms but how secure do you feel about beaming or joining notes together...
Music Matters
The Mannheim School of Composers - Music History
The Mannheim school of composers, led by Stamitz, steered significant musical developments during the second half of the eighteenth century. This music history lesson explains some of their most significant innovations and explains the...
Music Matters
Improve Your Harmony - Music Composition
Improve your harmony with advanced chords and learn how to write more dramatic chord progressions with this music composition tip. In this music composition lesson we analyse the harmony of the opening section of Bach’s C Minor Partita,...
Music Matters
How to Improve your Piano Accompaniments - Music Performance
How to improve your piano accompaniments. This music performance lesson explores how to bring piano accompaniments to life when you simply have a set of chords to read. When piano and other keyboard players read a melody from a lead...
Music Matters
4 Ways to Harmonize the Same Melody - Music Composition
How to harmonize a melody in four different ways. This music composition lesson begins by using diatonic chords to present two possible alternative harmonisations. We then move on to two further harmonisations using chromatic chords and...
Music Matters
Decoding David Bowie's Harmonic Language - Composer Insights
Is There Life On Mars? A harmonic analysis of one of Bowie's best. We delve into the mind of the composer and explore what makes David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” such an original and iconic song. The main focus is on the harmonic content of...
Music Matters
Serial Style - Composing for the Piano
In this episode of composing for the piano, we explore how to present the Music Matters theme in Serial style. Serialism is not to everyone’s taste but this video begins with an explanation of the Serial technique and how it has been...
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
Writing Counterpoint from a Chord Scheme - Music Composition
How to write counterpoint from a chord scheme. If you are working with a progression of chords and want to learn how to write contrapuntally around that harmonic scheme then this is the video for you. If you are analysing contrapuntal...
Music Matters
Identifying Double Major Thirds - Music Composition
What is doubling the major third? How do you know if its a major third? Can you double thirds? Why is doubling a major third bad? This music composition lesson explains one of the rules of writing four-part harmony, namely the advice to...
Music Matters
Fluid Basslines - Inside the Mind of Bach
Join us as we examine the choice of harmony, chromatic chords, secondary dominants, borrowed chords. and modulation, the part writing, the use of inessential notes and suspensions, plus other features of the Bach Chorale style. Useful...
Music Matters
The Harmonic Surprises of Mozart - Composer Insights
How to write counterpoint from a chord scheme. If you are working with a progression of chords and want to learn how to write contrapuntally around that harmonic scheme then this is the video for you. If you are analysing contrapuntal...
Music Matters
The Rules of Harmony and Some Things to Avoid - Keyboard Harmony
These rules will get you writing better harmony. Avoiding these common mistakes, although not absolutely necessary, will often help your keyboard harmony flow much better than before. In this video, we work through some of the ‘rules of...
Music Matters
How to Modulate - Music Theory
Learn how to easily modulate using something known as a pivot chord. Do you struggle to modulate from one key to another? Then this is for you. Lots of people can write or improvise music but get stuck in one key. Changing key, or...
Music Matters
The Difference Between 3:4 and 6:8 Time Signatures - Music Theory
We investigate the difference music in 3/4 and 6/8. Is there a difference between the two time signatures? Mathematically it appears that 3/4 and 3/8 are two very different time signatures. Musically they are closer to each other than...
Music Matters
Note Reading Puzzles - Music Theory
Can you spell out the words hidden in these music note puzzles? How would you like to improve your note reading skills? This music theory lesson presents a small groups of notes that spell out words. Get better at reading notes on the...
Music Matters
Auxiliary Notes (Non-Harmonic Tones) - Music Theory
Learn how auxiliary notes and escape tones work, a useful melodic device you can use to improve your melody writing. Melody notes usually work best when they belong to the prevailing chord. However, by only using notes that belong to the...
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...