I mentioned voicing a few weeks ago in a blog post and that generated a lot of email so I want to talk about voicing today. I will cover what it is, why it is important, and a few general concepts that will help you start improving in this area. Voicing is a one of those ideas […]
I am not one who pines for the “good old days” because I know that the good old days were not really so good. However, there are strengths and weaknesses to every generation and I want to talk about one of our era’s weaknesses: why do we seem to have a dearth of real men today when compared to the […]
Before I get on topic, let me give a brief update on what is going on here and why I am not writing as much these days. Truthfully, I am just incredibly busy right now. I have not announced this previously but I am recording a new album next month. It is a piano-only project again, and […]
Here is a video demonstration of how I use the biiidim7 chord. If you don’t see the video below, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV5l9LDe6ew
I talk to people occasionally that liken their life to that of a hamster on a spinning wheel. I think homemakers in particular struggle with this because of the nature of much of their work: washing clothes, cleaning, and cooking are all jobs that seem endless and sometimes lacking in significance. The politically correct thing for me […]
Here is a demonstration of one of the easiest and most effective reharmonization ideas I know. If you don’t see the video below, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VtuEJSegcw
Music is a complicated business but it is furthered complicated by the fact that there are various schools of theory that are used to try to explain it. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first reason is that the increased understanding over the centuries of how music works has sort of invalidated some of the […]
One of my big goals for the year is learning orchestration. I am at the start of a year-long class and currently focused on strings. The class teaches how to write for live orchestra and also how to write for MIDI-generated, sampled orchestra. For those of you that are not sure what a sampled orchestra is, here […]
I just uploaded a new video that discusses another little tip for improving your sound: changing V major triads into dominant 7ths. Lately, I have started doing a lot of these short videos and I will probably continue. If you have ideas for other little things you want me to cover, please let me know […]
Yesterday, I recorded a new video about a little tip you can use to make your music sound more sophisticated. It involves adding the major 7th to your I chords. I don’t need to discuss it here because the video will explain everything. If you don’t see it below, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooNYkwyC790
I don’t think that I have ever really talked about pedal point here before. This is a very simple idea that really can make your music more interesting. If you don’t see the video below, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKmQull39qU