Songwriting for Producers: Relating Bass Lines to Harmony
In this lesson from Soundfly’s Songwriting For Producers course, we go over how to marry and unmarry bass lines with your harmonic backdrop.
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How The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” Takes Beethoven’s Ideas to #1
In this analysis, pop music theorist Ben Morss shows how The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is built from four-note scale segments.
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A Harmonic Analysis of Michael Jackson’s Protest Song “They Don’t Care About Us”
Through means of Dancehall rhythms, modal interchange, and ostinato, Michael Jackson gives us glimpses of Black American heritage in his protest song.
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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 Portishead Uses Chromatic Voice Leading in “Glory Box”
In this lesson plucked from Soundfly’s The Creative Power of Advanced Harmony course, we go over the chromatic device in Portishead’s melodic writing.
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Why Leon Bridges’ Powerful New Song “Sweeter” Works on Every… Single… Level
We break down the devices that help Leon Bridges and Terrace Martin’s song, “Sweeter,” function on every level, musically, poetically, and emotionally.
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Beat Makers, Try Thinking About Chords and Melody First
You might be an expert at programming drum beats, but if you think back on your favorite songs, they all probably have much stronger melodies and chords.
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3 Scale Modes That Will Deepen the Emotions of Your Pop Song
If you’re looking to impart a sinister, mysterious, bittersweet, or jazzy quality into your songwriting, do it using scale modes! Here’s how.
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5 Free Online Resources for Learning Music Theory (Plus a Bonus)
We’ve scowered the web to find these five great websites where you can improve your knowledge and grasp of music theory concepts entirely for free!
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Scale Mode Cheat Sheet: How to Remember Each and Every Mode
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!
