If you want to adapt popular music to jazz, the best approach is to think of the harmonic functions (rather than just the chords) and then use techniques of tonal harmony. In the following video we show how to turn a very basic piano version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" into a jazz... Continue Reading →
For some reason some songs in your iTunes library are DRM protected. If you enable the Kind column on your iTunes Library you see the file type for every song. In the example above Nimbus 2000 is a Protected AAC audio file. There's a way to import DRM protected and Apple Music songs into Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro.... Continue Reading →
See Music is a complex app that listens to you playing an instrument or singing and then gives you instant note-by-note feedback on your performance In order for See Music to work properly the audio inputs and outputs on your device must be set up correctly. See Music work on iPhone, iPad and macOS. In... Continue Reading →
This is example 2 on how to sync an audio track to a progression in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro. In case you haven't read the previous post, here's a link: How to sync progressions to audio tracks in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro Multiple repetitions of the form Here's this post in video format: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIv51rVMylA Now... Continue Reading →
Here's a song by Billy Strayhorn that I've always loved and never fully analyzed until writing The Jazz Standards Progressions Book. I've been fascinated by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn compositions since the first time I heard an Ellington album, about thirty years ago. Since then I greatly enjoyed their rich harmonies, rhythmic vocabulary and... Continue Reading →
Here's a musical concept nobody taught me at school. While analyzing 1000+ jazz tunes for The Jazz Standards Progressions Book, I noticed a great number of songs in major keys tonicize the IV degree at the beginning of the bridge. It's usually preceded by the V/IV, landing on the IV at the beginning of the... Continue Reading →
Can we map tonal harmony in a coherent landscape that includes all possible harmonic functions, cadences and expected paths? https://youtu.be/-CYUFipJ0tU It’s all in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro. Learn More here...
There are 4 ways you can represent a scale's intervalic formula: Degrees Chord-Tones and Tensions Roman Numerals Melodic Intervals Degrees Here's the major scale (Ionian) as degrees. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (all degrees al major) Chord-Tones and Tensions The major scale as chord tones (1 3 5 7) and tensions (9 11 13)... Continue Reading →
Almost every musician knows how to use the circle of fifths (and what it is), but there are a few countries and music schools that teach the order of the notes in the circle going the other way. This is called the Circle of Fourths and not many musicians talk about it anymore. Here are the... Continue Reading →
