Tag: composition

Improve your composition, arranging, and writing with this collection of Soundfly articles full of tips and resources on music composition. For more help, check out Soundfly’s course, Introduction to the Composer’s Craft.

  • Are There “Happy” Blue Notes? Well, Maybe…

    Are There “Happy” Blue Notes? Well, Maybe…

    Okay, so there’s no such thing as a “happy” blue note, I made that up. But if you’re curious as to why I did that, read on. To start, if you don’t know what a blue note is — or what the difference is between a “blue note” and a “blues scale note” — you should…

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  • How Successful Musicians Practice: Guitar, Bass, and Bows

    How Successful Musicians Practice: Guitar, Bass, and Bows

    Welcome to the second installment of How Successful Musicians Practice. If you’re just joining us now, take a minute to peruse the practice regimes of some seriously successful percussionists here. To recap, I see there being four kinds of practice goals a musician works towards over the course of their career: practicing to learn an instrument and gain…

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  • Why the Gorillaz’ “5/4” Isn’t Actually in 5/4

    Why the Gorillaz’ “5/4” Isn’t Actually in 5/4

    + 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. If a music lover happens to be a fan of both technically complex music, and popular genres like rap, electro, hip-hop, and dance EDM, then the Gorillaz’ 2001…

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  • Sounds of Battle: Compositions That Defined the Wars of the Early 20th Century

    Sounds of Battle: Compositions That Defined the Wars of the Early 20th Century

    In 1942, half-starved and weak from war and lack of supplies, members of Leningrad’s Philharmonic Orchestra gathered in the midst of the looming threat of bombardment to pull off one of the most extraordinary musical feats of all time. The city had already endured almost a year of brutal siege by the German Army —…

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  • Intersections: 8 Classical Musicians Killing It Right Now Using Live Electronics

    Intersections: 8 Classical Musicians Killing It Right Now Using Live Electronics

    Throughout my examination of the wide world of musical electronics, I’ve gazed longingly at the spider-web patches of modular and done an in-depth analyses of notable synths and their inner workings. One area we haven’t investigated deeply is the intersection of acoustic instruments with the electronic world — specifically, the burgeoning intersection of “classical,” or solo concert instrumentalists,…

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  • Soundfly Mainstage: Our New One Month Intensive Courses for Deeper Learning

    Soundfly Mainstage: Our New One Month Intensive Courses for Deeper Learning

    We’re really excited to announce that we’ve just published three entirely new courses on Soundfly.com! But perhaps more importantly, these courses are part of a new learning product that is entirely different than anything we’ve done so far and will help you better achieve your goals. Our new courses are part of a program we’re…

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  • Putting the Maelstrom of Politics to Song: PUBLIQuartet’s Live Score of the Final Debate

    Putting the Maelstrom of Politics to Song: PUBLIQuartet’s Live Score of the Final Debate

    Last Wednesday, October 19, presidential candidates Donald J. Trump and Hillary R. Clinton faced off in the third and final debate leading up to the 2016 US presidential election. With absolutely no reasons remaining for viewers to continue to tune in to further coverage of this news media maelstrom, Stephen Colbert and his team at The Late…

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  • What Happens When You Mess with the Keys of Iconic Movie Theme Songs?

    What Happens When You Mess with the Keys of Iconic Movie Theme Songs?

    By Ian Gordon As a self-taught musician, it can be difficult to find the terminology appropriate to describe musical concepts. I’ve always been a “how does this sound?” type of guy when working with others, as little I have to say translates appropriately to those who have formal musical backgrounds. My relationship with music is…

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  • Poetry in Motion: Lyrical Layers in Frank Ocean’s Endless

    Poetry in Motion: Lyrical Layers in Frank Ocean’s Endless

    I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but dreams do come true: Frank Ocean has reappeared with not one, but two albums as a follow up to his critically acclaimed 2012 debut, channel ORANGE. The spoils of this past weekend have been in the works since then and were actually expected to arrive in July of last year.…

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  • Being Your Own Cheerleader: An Interview with Ian & Sofia Hultquist

    Being Your Own Cheerleader: An Interview with Ian & Sofia Hultquist

    Ian and Sofia Hultquist are LA-based contemporary composers whose work has been featured in the Vogue documentary, The First Monday in May.

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