This article originally appeared on The Ethan Hein Blog. I complain a lot on my blog about the traditional teaching of music theory. Fortunately, a better alternative exists: Everyday Tonality by Philip Tagg. Don’t be put off by the DIY look of the website; the book is the single best explanation I know of for how harmony works across…
TL;DR: Here’s a new method for writing sheet music for piano that makes it easier to learn to play everyday songs. Traditional sheet music relies on symbols, scales and memorization and can be difficult to learn and read, so this new notation uses visual cues by showing “fingers and hands” on keys. It’s read from top to bottom with…
+ Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. So there I was, doing research on topics such as “summer 2017 songwriting trends,” when it hit me. You guys, this is getting ridiculous — where did…
+ Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. The Major Scale (also known as the Ionian Mode) is really common and often used as the scale all others are defined against. It’s the “Do, Re,…
Although a lot of songwriters have at least a basic sense of either the guitar or piano, there are still quite a few who rely solely on their voices when writing melodies and lyrics. While that’s a perfectly fine place to start, songwriters could gain a lot by expanding their instrumental horizons, especially when they…
The next time you’re writing a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching tune, try using this handful of chords to drive your sadness home.
You might understand the construction of a chord or triad, but here’s how to make your music express the heartbreaking lilt of a seventh chord.
What is it that makes a Billboard #1 song? Why do some songs make it to the top while others flop? The answer seems to be a difficult cocktail made up of formulaic songwriting mixed with a few unique ingredients that set a song apart; when blended correctly, it’s capable of hooking millions of listeners. Let’s…
Need a boost of inspiration? Try any of these fool-proof chord progressions to jumpstart your writing process.
