How to Make Chords From Scales
Learning to read or write music? Here’s a quick guide to making chords within the various scales and modes you might encounter in music theory.
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A Harmonic Analysis of Michael Jackson’s Protest Song “They Don’t Care About Us”
Through means of Dancehall rhythms, modal interchange, and ostinato, Michael Jackson gives us glimpses of Black American heritage in his protest song.
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On Decoda’s ‘Music For Transformation’ – A Collaborative Songwriting Program
Read about an incredible project that pairs a NYC string quartet with inmates at a South Carolina prison, where the results and changes go both ways.
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How to Approach Songwriting Prompts (and Soundfly’s Course Prompts)
Writing to creative briefs and prompts is a great way to challenge and optimize your instincts as a songwriter. We can help with that.
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Groundhog Day: How Theme and Variation Connects the Music to the Drama
In this article, we explore how the score music to Groundhog Day uses theme and variation to reflect elements of repetition, cycling, and resolution.
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How Do Key Signatures Work?
Learning to read or write music? Here’s a quick-yet-deep primer on how key signatures work across major, minor, modal, blues and other tonalities.
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10 Things Songwriters Do That Ruin Their Songs
A song is a fragile thing — indeed, there are many ways a song idea can die before it’s even developed. Here are ten, and how to avoid them.
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4 Ways to Develop Your Musical Idea Into a Full Arrangement
Got a great melodic motif that you don’t know how to develop? Here are four easy and creative ways to flesh it out into a full musical arrangement.
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How Portishead Uses Chromatic Voice Leading in “Glory Box”
In this lesson plucked from Soundfly’s The Creative Power of Advanced Harmony course, we go over the chromatic device in Portishead’s melodic writing.
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9 Easy Places to Look for Creative Lyric Ideas
Whether writer’s block has got you down or you’re just looking for a few tools for consistent brainstorming, here are nine places to look for lyric ideas.
