mDecks Music

About mDecks Music

mDecks Music is a place for musicians who want to understand what they’re playing — not just memorize it.

We explore harmony, jazz piano, improvisation, scales, ear training, composition, and the ideas that connect them.

The articles on mDecks Music grow out of the same work behind our lessons, videos, books, courses, and music-learning apps. Some begin with a jazz standard or a piano voicing. Others start with Debussy, Barry Harris, Jobim, a harmonic progression, an improvisation concept, or a question about how music actually works.

The goal is always the same: to turn music theory into something you can hear, play, and use.

Learn with mDecks

mDecks was created by pianist, composer, educator, and developer Ariel J. Ramos in 2012.

Today, mDecks creates educational tools for musicians including:

Music-learning apps for harmony, scales, ear training, and practice
Jazz piano and voicing courses
Interactive books and PDFs
Video lessons and guided exercises
Resources for improvisation, composition, and harmonic analysis

You can explore the full collection at mDecks.com.

What we write about

On mDecks Music, you’ll find articles about:

Harmony & Analysis
Chord progressions, tonal function, reharmonization, composers, jazz standards, and harmonic language.

Jazz Piano & Voicings
Comping, rootless voicings, voice leading, lead-sheet playing, and practical piano techniques.

Improvisation & Scales
Pentatonics, modes, bebop language, melodic concepts, and ways to turn theory into improvisational material.

Practice & Musicianship
Ear training, rhythm, practice methods, reading, and strategies for becoming a more complete musician.

Watch mDecks Music

Our YouTube channel includes jazz piano lessons, music-theory tutorials, harmonic analyses, demonstrations, and practical exercises.

Visit the mDecks Music YouTube channel

Explore mDecks

For apps, courses, books, lesson guides, and other learning resources:

Visit mDecks.com

35 responses to “About mDecks Music”

Thierry Fauchard

August 25, 2019 at 11:59 am

Hello,

I bought the “Upper Structure Triads Piano Voicings” bundle and it is very interesting and inspiring.
I have a problem with the following thing though .
In the UST Vol 1 for example, why is there a “M” ( uppercase ) to indicate a minor 7 chord ?
Page 32 it is written :

Preparing the IV of IIm7

D
AM7 IV of IIM7 and then Major triad

instead of (if i’m not wrong) :

D
Am7 IV of IIm7 and then Major triad

All examples that follow are the same.
Or did I miss something ?
Thanks for your answer

Thierry

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1. mDecks Music
  
  August 25, 2019 at 12:09 pm
  
  Yes, the font we were using back then did not have a lower case m so I used a smaller font with the uppercased M (it’s something to fix in a future edition of the book) I got so used at seeing the small M that I forgot about it. Just remember that the major triads never have an M. Thanks for the feedback.
  
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montxozioaudiocom

September 14, 2019 at 1:57 pm

Hello,
First excuse my basic English.
I am trying to start to use the great books TJSPB Reharm version and understand the analysis.
PLEASE HELP.

I found on page 6:
—————————————————————————–
4. A dotted bracket indicates a II-SubV or a SubII to V progression
In the image correspond to Cm7 to B7 chords
—————————————————————————-
– Can you please explain what SubV and SubII means?
– The mentioned “II” seems to be the “Cm7”. II is a major chord. Cm7 is minor so it should be “ii” instead of “II”?
– Cm7 is the second (II or ii) grade of Bb?

I am confused with subV, etc.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

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1. mDecks Music
  
  October 7, 2019 at 11:39 pm
  
  I think you should watch the videos on our youtube channel we explain all the concepts in detail.
  But basically arrows indicate dominant to tonic, brackets subdominant to dominants
  Solid lines indicate movements of Perfect fifths down and dashed lines movements of half step down.
  
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Dick

October 9, 2019 at 9:04 am

When I open the ADD ONS I don’t see the up-er structuren and the target notes

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1. mDecks Music
  
  October 9, 2019 at 9:43 am
  
  Hi Dick, are you on iOS or macOS?
  
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2. mDecks Music
  
  October 9, 2019 at 9:44 am
  
  Are you in iOS or macOS?
  
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Michael

October 9, 2019 at 6:20 pm

I purchased the Target Notes and Upper Structures add-ons.
The Target Notes menu appears in a dark mode making it extremely difficult to see.
The Upper Structures menu is white initially and turns dark when “Show Upper Structures” is selected. Please help.

Sys: MacBook Pro 2010 OS Version: High Sierra 10.13.6 (17G8037)

Thank you

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1. mDecks Music
  
  October 9, 2019 at 6:54 pm
  
  Hi Michael, I have already fixed it and sent it to the MacAppStore for review. It usually takes one or two days to become available. If you bought it from us it is already there. Thanks for the feedback.
  
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  1. Michael
    
    October 9, 2019 at 8:52 pm
    
    Thank you so much. Are my add-ons purchases good across devices?
    
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Hector M Hance Diaz

October 22, 2019 at 5:48 pm

Hi, I’m hector. I have the application mapping tonal harmony on the computer and on the tablet and I don’t see how to export the work I do on the computer to the tablet.

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1. mDecks Music
  
  October 22, 2019 at 6:51 pm
  
  Hi Hector, use the Open button and find and select the progressions you want to export. Then use the button export selected. This will save an xml file you can air drop to your iPad. Once you have it there (find it on your Files app if you drop them there) and using the share button find the option that says Open In Mapping Tonal Harmony
  
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Melodicles (@Melodicles)

November 6, 2019 at 1:48 am

Hello, “Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro 7” in “THE GIFT (RECADO BOSSA NOVA)” from I was playing, I think that is one measure many play in front of the No. 2 ending. Is there a way to fix it?

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1. mDecks Music
  
  November 6, 2019 at 7:45 am
  
  You can delete 4 beats. We are working on a revised version of all the songs, I will check that one out and send you a fixed version. thanks for letting us know.
  
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Melodicles (@Melodicles)

November 6, 2019 at 5:33 pm

Thank you for your reply. The score is not wrong. I think that skipping to the second ending is not working correctly. If you delete the first ending mark and set it one measure earlier, this time you will run out of one measure. If you put it back, it will be played one more measure. I think it’s not a score defect, but an application defect. Please verify.

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1. Melodicles (@Melodicles)
  
  November 7, 2019 at 12:47 am
  
  P.S. I tried various things to play back normally. Since chords were not inserted in the first ending, adding “Dm” in this case started playing correctly. If no chord is inserted, the skip function may not work properly.
  
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HM

November 26, 2019 at 4:20 pm

Thinking about buying the add-ons to Mapping Tonal Harmony pro for Mac. Is it $11.90 or $119 per item?

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1. mDecks Music
  
  November 26, 2019 at 11:16 pm
  
  It is 9.99 in the US the AppStore adjusts the values depending on the currency of country you are in
  
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Richard

December 2, 2019 at 5:39 am

Do u have customs advice centre phone number

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1. mDecks Music
  
  December 2, 2019 at 2:39 pm
  
  Hi Richard, we usually use email since we can send information, links, screenshots and we find it much better to explain things this way.
  Please contact us to mdeckscontact@gmail.com or mdecksmusic@gmail.com we are pretty fast with replies and offer great support via email.
  
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Fabrizio Brocchini

March 22, 2020 at 3:56 pm

Hallo “the function Restore Purchases” doesn’t work! Please let me know

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1. mDecks Music
  
  March 22, 2020 at 3:57 pm
  
  Hi, delete the app and reinstall it again that will solve the problem.
  
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  1. mDecks Music
    
    March 22, 2020 at 3:58 pm
    
    Does the app say you own the add-on?
    
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  2. Fabrizio
    
    March 22, 2020 at 4:08 pm
    
    no , no message ….seams to be blocked …
    
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  3. mDecks Music
    
    March 22, 2020 at 4:10 pm
    
    Did you purchase the add-on on iOS?
    
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Fabrizio

March 22, 2020 at 4:25 pm

yes, of course in OS X

regards

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Livio Polisano

June 7, 2020 at 5:51 am

Hello there,
I bought the 1000 standards XML file library.
I tried importing the file on both Sibelius and Finale and for some reason both softwares do not support the file. Does the XML file work on any other software at all? How do I use/import it?
Thank you,

Kind regards,
Livio Polisano.

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1. mDecks Music
  
  June 7, 2020 at 8:06 am
  
  The xml is only for Mapping Tonal Harmony
  
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Mathieu Sanmartin

February 28, 2022 at 10:26 am

Hi guys, I’m writing here because I got no answer to my email yet I had a problem at the moment of the purchase I got the Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro 8 I could install it .There were some issues, for example I clicked activate without entering my email because I already entered my email at the moment of purchase and i thought i would receive an email with a link to activate the app, but no the app just opened normally. Then I decide to buy 1300+ jazz standards (the first one) first thing I noticed is that once I looked at one of the book if I wanted to look at another one the same first book appeared I had to leave the open menu, enter again to be able to see another book. This is one thing, so as I mentioned beforeI decided to buy the first one of the three, I’ve been sent to paypal I paid (the payment appears in my paypal) then I’ve been redirected to a page saying that the 1300+ jazz standards add-on had been successfully purchased for tonal harmony (I took a print screen if needed). So I went back to the app and it just freeze, the add-on was loading and loading, nothing happened and I was unable to do anything with the app, so I closed it, started it again this time I had to enter my email or it was impossible to enter the app so I did it activate again, I went back to the open menu and it said that that the add-on wasn’t purchase yet (when doing restore purchase) so I’m quite annoyed with this first the fact that the app seems quite unstable then I’d like to get the add-on I bought.

This may be important this is the OSX version not IOS.

Thanks in advance for your answer

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1. mDecks Music
  
  March 16, 2022 at 11:04 am
  
  Hi Mathieu, please send me an email to mdecksmusic @ gmail so I can help you with that.
  
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Diego

September 13, 2022 at 5:55 pm

Hello!

While I can hear the chord progressions normally through my IMac’s built-in speakers, I’m having trouble hearing the audio signal from the headphone jack or even when I connect headphones via Bluetooth. I’ve already tried different headphones. I could quickly describe the problem like this: I hear normally through the speakers, I plug in the headphones, I stop hearing through the speakers (logical) but I don’t hear anything through the plugged-in headphones. When I unplug the headphones I don’t hear from the speakers either. I already tried to solve it from the audio preferences of the app configuring it for the headphone output but I still can’t hear it despite being able to normally hear the rest of the applications or YouTube multimedia content through the headphones. The only thing I can solve from the program’s audio preferences is to be able to listen from the speakers again after having unplugged the headphones by selecting the corresponding audio output (through the integrated speakers). It only happens with Tonal Mapping Harmony Pro. It seems to be an issue with the app.

Computer: IMac Retina 5K 27” 2020
OSX System: MacOS Big Sur 11.5.2
3.8 GHz Intel Core i7 8-core processor
Tone Mapping Harmony Pro Version 22.9.2

I would appreciate a quick response.

Diego

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1. mDecks Music
  
  September 21, 2022 at 6:58 am
  
  Make sure to download the latest version here: https://mdecks.com/mthmacdownloadfinally.phtml
  
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Diego

September 21, 2022 at 4:44 pm

Hello again!

but can I download the latest update of Tonal Mapping Harmony Pro from the MDecks website even though I purchased the app through the App Store and not from your website?
I think it is not possible.
Unfortunately the latest update is not yet available on the App Store. Why?

Diego

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David

July 22, 2023 at 2:32 am

Hello, Can you provide a sequence from beginner to advanced with your series.
Warmly,
David

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1. mDecks Music
  
  July 22, 2023 at 8:14 am
  
  Hi David, sure. Start with the rootless voicings course, then the upper structures, then the pentatonic voicings, and finally the Advanced Piano tricks (where we combine many concepts) Hope that helps, here are the links:
  https://mdecks.com/voicings-vol1.phtml
  https://mdecks.com/piano.phtml
  https://mdecks.com/pentatonics.phtml
  https://mdecks.com/pianotricks.phtml
  
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