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What Are “Coltrane Changes”?
Welcome to what is, perhaps, the hardest aspect of jazz improvisation; what has made many a musician cower in the corner while others step up to the plate, knock back massive grand slams, and take home the hottest girl in the club (hopefully not the girl that came in with the guy now cowering in [...]
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Introduction to 12-Tone Music
11 May 2010
Today I want to expand our horizons beyond the more traditional aspects of music theory and talk about a more modern convention known as “12 Tone Music.” This fascinating yet little-known area of contemporary classical music composition has also had its share of controversy, which I’ll discuss a bit for the sake of historical context. [...]
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: The Overtone Series
2 March 2010
Ever notice how power chords, even when played with a clean tone in a blues song, just sound so right? Ever wonder why a major chord sounds so much more concrete than a minor chord? Ever have trouble hearing that F# played over a C chord, thinking it’s just a touch “off?” The answer is [...]
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Chord Inversions
9 February 2010
In this lesson I would like to talk about chord inversions. Chord inversions will make your music come alive in ways that playing “straight” chord voicings won’t allow.
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Chord Structures
26 January 2010
I hope that you’re finding this music theory information informative, and certainly I hope that I’m explaining things in an easy-to-understand way while still providing detail. As always, if you have comments, questions, or suggestions please let me know. In this lesson we’ll start taking a look at chord structures.
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Scales and Modes Primer
21 January 2010
For some reason scales and modes are one of the most fun topics (for me at least) to talk about. Perhaps it’s because it gives the guitar player in me some instant ammunition to rip it up! Err… sorry about that. Anyway, let’s get going with scales and modes.
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Intervals
16 January 2010
I’m back with the third installment of my Music Theory Concepts series. For this article I would like to talk about intervals. In common terms, an interval is the relative distance from one pitch to another. Intervals determine chord types, scales/modes, and provide the basis from which key signatures are determined.
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: Key Signatures
14 January 2010
It is important for musicians to learn the basic building block of Western music, which is the actual series of notes/pitches that are used. In a nutshell, there are 12 notes/pitches used in Western Music. (For the sake of keeping things elementary we will not be discussing quarter-tonal and microtonal pitches here.) The 12 notes [...]
Continue reading...Music Theory Lesson: The Music Staff
5 January 2010
Every musician, regardless of their playing ability or musical goals, can greatly benefit from being able to read music and understand the principles of music theory. From simple concepts such as being able to read a transcribed solo and identifying the notes of a 7th chord, to learning a song by ear and being able [...]
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28 June 2010
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