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 →
Tessitura Pro Tip of the Day #10: Chord Extensions and Avoid NotesTessitura Pro: The whole world of scales over the Circle of Fifths.#ScalesAndModes #MusicEducation #MusicScales #ChordScales #CircleOfFifthshttps://t.co/C6vnN9cv6C pic.twitter.com/vxB2dwAEOe— mDecks Music (@mDecksMusic) June 13, 2018 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Kotska's Workbook Chapter 22 No. 2 in Mapping Tonal Harmony Pro, seen diatonically and functionally. MTHP visually reveals every function in tonal harmony.#tonalharmony #Chords #MusicEducation #TraditionalHarmony #Kostka #harmony #ClassicalMusic https://t.co/6NtgaepthJ pic.twitter.com/VkRaI35tVW— mDecks Music (@mDecksMusic) May 28, 2018 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
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