How to Convey These 8 Emotions Using Chords and Harmony
We polled members of the Soundfly staff and mentor community to ask about their go-to chords and progressions for certain emotional outcomes. Check it out!
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How ‘Apocalypse Now’ Etched Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ into Our Brains Forever
There would be only a handful of musical pieces that could rival Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” for its iconic status in screen music. It was present in the starting days of silent cinema when chosen by D.W. Griffith to partially score his controversial, artistic watershed, Birth of a Nation (1915), and it was lovingly parodied by…
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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.
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Chartmania!! I Broke Down Every Song That Reached the Billboard Top 5 in 2017
Alright songwriters and song-guzzlers alike, strap on your boots for a knowledge voyage with more divergent rectangles than the NYC skyline: that’s right, the top pop charters have now become 2017’s top pop graphed. The Top 40 song charters that is, but why 40? Well, besides this number’s significance in pop music as a result of…
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Move Beyond Cliché Chord Patterns with ‘The Creative Power of Advanced Harmony’
New course announcement! Over the past few months, the most popular course on Soundfly has resoundingly been Ethan Hein’s Unlocking the Emotional Power of Chords. This 101-level harmonic theory course dives deep into the ways certain intervals and chord progressions tug at our heartstrings while others fall flat, providing the student with the newfound ability to…
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Philip Tagg’s Everyday Tonality
This article originally appeared on The Ethan Hein Blog. I complain a lot on my blog about the traditional teaching of music theory. Fortunately, a better alternative exists: Everyday Tonality by Philip Tagg. Don’t be put off by the DIY look of the website; the book is the single best explanation I know of for how harmony works across…
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Album Histories Monthly: Joan Jett – ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll’
Welcome back to our new series on Flypaper, Album Histories Monthly, which brings you the story of a single album each month, in the month that it was originally released. Last month, we covered the Replacements’ 1984 goofball-punk classic, Let It Be. This month: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – I Love Rock ‘n Roll Release Date: November 18, 1981 “Looking…
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Student Spotlight: Listen to 6 Tracks from Our Latest Student Artists
From contemplative songwriting, to epic beats, to carefully crafted orchestrations, September’s student artists have created some memorable pieces in their Mainstage courses. Over several weeks of detailed content, constrained prompts, and personal feedback and support from a Soundfly Mentor, these students were able to explore and develop musical skills in areas like production, composition, and…
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Album Histories Monthly: The Replacements – ‘Let It Be’
Welcome back to our new series on Flypaper, Album Histories Monthly, which brings you the story of a single album each month, in the month that it was originally released. Last month, we covered Blondie’s 1978 classic, Parallel Lines. This month: The Replacements – Let It Be Release Date: October 2, 1984 “We were all kind of long-haired, dope-smoking teens…. We’d light…
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Meet Your Mentors
At Soundfly, we’re really excited about our new model of mentor-driven learning. Yes, we have a ton of fun making high-quality videos and content, but having a human being there working alongside you to answer questions, offer feedback, and push you in the direction you want to go can make all the difference! “Personalized learning”…
