In this edition of Soundfly Basics, we run down the usefulness and potential applications of utilizing tension in your chord progressions.
Tag: unlocking the emotional power of chords
The Hidden Grammar of Music
What a music theory book at age 13 taught me about how to look at chords, chord progressions and the emotions they’re capable of manifesting.
Where Did All the Chords Go?
A sampling of single- and multi-chord progression songs between the 1980s and 2010s reveals a disheartening trend. How to fix it?
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.
How to Use Borrowed Chords
A handy guide for using borrowed chords in parallel scales and modes, to make your chord progressions more refreshing and unpredictable.
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.
How to Approach Songwriting Prompts (and Soundfly’s Course Prompts)
Writing to creative briefs and prompts is a great way to challenge and optimize your instincts as a songwriter. We can help with that.
What Students Are Saying About Soundfly’s Beginner Harmonic Theory Course
With overwhelmingly positive results, we’re happy to share a few select testimonials of Soundfly’s Beginner Harmonic Theory course directly from our students.
How to Make a Boring Chord Progression Sound New and Fun
Here are five ways to spice up that same old chord stuff you always find yourself playing and create a progression that sounds new and fresh!
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.