The Chord Dictionary

I made a big spreadsheet with all the chords in it. It’s not all the possible chords, but it’s the ones you most commonly encounter in Western classical, jazz, rock and pop. I also made some videos explaining how chords work, with handy aQWERTYon visualization. Enjoy!

Let’s argue about this one weird chord in the Brahms Intermezzo in B-flat minor

I have some aspirations in music theory pedagogy, and toward that end, I’m learning more about Schenkerian analysis. If I’m going to resist it, I should at least be conversant in the thing I’m resisting, right? So I’ve been reading Schenkerian Analysis: Perspectives on Phrase Rhythm, Motive and Form by David Beach. One of his …

What is going on in this Ariana Grande song?

Asaf Peres recently posted on Twitter about the chord progression in “Let Me Love You” by Ariana Grande. The Wraparound Leading Tone in @ArianaGrande ft. @LilTunechi – "Let Me Love You"(it's really called a double leading tone, but I like wraparound better)@TBHITS @VictoriaMonet @jeremih #MrFranks pic.twitter.com/qVyY1BP7Nm — Top40 Theory (Asaf Peres) (@Top40Theory) February 17, 2020 …

Scales, keys and modes on the circle of fifths

If you want to understand Western music theory, the circle of fifths is an invaluable tool. For one thing, it can help you understand how key signatures work. But it also helps explain how the major scale and diatonic modes relate to each other, and gives a possible explanation for why they sound good. Here’s …

Remixing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 – Andante

Mozart is mostly not to my taste, but there is no denying that the man could write a melody. My favorite melody of his is the one from the second movement of his Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major. I like Daniel Barenboim’s interpretation the best; everyone else plays it too fast for me. …

Chord progressions in the Bach Chaconne

Recently I have been digging deep into the Bach Chaconne. Since I’m a poor music reader, I’ve been using Ableton Live to remix, loop, and analyze the piece, both in audio and MIDI form. It’s working! The structure of the Chaconne makes sense to me now when I hear it, and I’m learning to play …

My year in blogging

Two big things happened in my academic life this year: I wrote a dissertation proposal (which is not quite done yet), and I developed and taught a music theory course at the New School. Both of these projects featured heavily on this blog. Here are some high points.

How do key signatures work?

Most of my students struggle with key signatures. This is understandable! Like the rest of the Western notation system, key signatures are based on a big assumption: that all of the notes will be within one of the twelve major keys, or within some scale that can be derived from a major scale (most often, …

Learning minor key harmony from the Bach Chaconne

Major keys are easy to understand, at least in classical music, because a major key and a major scale are coextensive. Minor keys are harder, because you can’t just equate them to particular minor scales. To understand how chords work in minor keys, I’m going to walk you through a standard progression that happens throughout …

Bach’s Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 – Prelude

I’m teaching melody in music theory class this month, and nobody wrote better melodies than Bach. If you want to learn how to use single note lines to imply chord changes and counterpoint, the prelude to his first cello suite is a whole textbook worth of wisdom for you. My favorite interpretation is by Mstislav …