Modes and Key Signatures have a variety of different characteristics and are great for outside-the-box songwriting. Here’s a cheat sheet to remember them!
Tag: scales
scales of all shapes and sizes! minor pentatonic scales, major scales, minor scales, etc.
The Basics of the Dorian Mode for Guitar
A lesson on how to use one of the most exciting and practical scale modes for soloing on the guitar in jazz, blues, rock, and fusion.
Music for Practicing Scales and Modes
This article originally appeared on Ethan Hein’s blog. Are you trying to learn scales and patterns,…
Lots and Lots of Colored Dots: A Fretboard Explanation of Pop Tonality
Using the guitar fretboard as a template, music theorist Dean Olivet has redesigned harmonic notation in a colorful, intuitive methodology for learning.
Get Ur Phryg On! Demystifying Timbaland and Missy Elliott’s Famous Beat
Why is the beat to Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” so infectious? Maybe it has something to do with the mysterious Phrygian scale mode it’s written in…
Quick Tracks Nº 9: Write a Melody Using the Whole Tone Scale
Welcome back to Quick Tracks! Once a month, we’ll send you another short composition, performance, or production…
Exploring the Lydian Mode with Elliott Smith’s “Waltz #1”
Like thousands of other young music fans with a penchant for the delicate beauty born…
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.
Philip Tagg’s Everyday Tonality
This article originally appeared on The Ethan Hein Blog. I complain a lot on my…
Thelonious Monk and Harnessing Dissonance
Today, Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) would have been 100 years old. Happy birthday, brother! To celebrate a century…