What Does “Diatonic” Actually Mean?
Are all major and minor scales diatonic? Did Pythagoras invent chromaticism? What’s up and what’s down with diatonicism… Find out here!
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How Secondary Dominants Can Make Your Chord Progressions Less Boring
It’s not hard to break out of predictable chord patterns with a new mindset on harmony, and a bit of easy help from secondary dominants, too.
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Notes on the Birth of a Melody
From Soundfly Student Eva Grill, a beautiful reflection on where inspiration for melodic ideas comes from, and where it takes her when she follows it.
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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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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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How to Use a Jazz Turnaround in Your Pop or Folk Song
Borrowing a nifty couple of chord changes from the jazz world can really elevate your songwriting, no matter the genre or style.
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Can Descending Chords Ever Sound Happy?
Descending melodies and progressions often sound sad, but one of the most resoundingly happy songs ever, Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” begs to differ.
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How to Take a Good Show and Make It Great
You and your band have been playing out for a year or so, and you’ve started to get great responses from your audiences. Now, it’s time to take your show to the next level and maybe even start playing nationally! Get ready for that next step by transforming your live show, and go from being a…
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Understanding Advanced Blues Harmony
+ 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 12-bar blues is the most important structural element in the history of American popular music. Musicians from Louis Armstrong to The White Stripes have used the…
