In his ongoing attempts to seek out the answers to why we like the music we like, Hunter Farris has uncovered a melodic hierarchy via Whitney Houston.
Tag: creative power of advanced harmony
What the “Tristan Chord” Is and How to Use It
An in-depth exploration of one of the most storied chords in opera, what makes it so influential, and how to use it yourself in your compositions.
An Introduction to Zappa’s ‘Black Page #2’: Modality, Polyrhythms, and Intervals
We explore the fundamental rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic concepts at play in one of Frank Zappa’s most lauded compositions.
Learn Diatonic Harmony from a Classic Breakbeat
A particularly perfect music theory lesson happens to exist completely intact inside this classic breakbeat from funk/soul history.
How Imagine Dragons Writes Such Memorable Melodies
Imagine Dragons’ “Demons” plays with our sense of memory about how the melody is supposed to play out each time. How does this work?
We Analyzed Every Dang Song That Cracked the Billboard Top 5 in 2018
Welcome back, pop music scholars, and Look Alive… because we did it again. That’s right —…
How Blood Orange Uses Chasms of Harmonic Ambiguity on “Negro Swan”
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Why Ariana Grande’s “no tears left to cry” Is So Uplifting, Even in a Minor Key
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How to Use 7th Chords in Indie Pop Music
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What Are Chord Pizzas?
This article originally appeared on Ethan Hein’s blog. The Groove Pizza uses geometry to help visualize rhythms. The NYU…