All the chords you need for rock by Dr. Ethan Hein can be found using a simple formula Read on Substack When I was learning guitar, I did a lot of studying and memorizing chord progressions. I did even more thinking about chords when I was learning to play jazz. When I shifted over to …
Continue reading “A unified theory of rock harmony in one sentence”
I was planning to talk about “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac in class when we discuss modal harmony. Music theory teachers like to bring this tune up as an example of Lydian mode, but I don’t hear it as being in F Lydian. It’s also not clearly in C major, or A minor, or really any …
Continue reading “What I learned from remixing “Dreams” over and over”
How do you create a bassline? This question is not just for bass players. It’s for producers and songwriters, who are likely to be programming their own bass parts in their DAW. Keyboard players can do basslines in their left hand; guitarists do them with their thumbs. And even if you never create or play …
After talking about them in aural skills class, I figured it was time to do an episode about them. This one includes some compositional ideas of my own in addition to all the examples from the pop canon. The two-chord shuttle by Dr. Ethan Hein A foundational building block of funk Read on Substack
In 1972, James Brown produced a single for one of his backup singers, Lyn Collins, called “Think (About It)”. If you listen to this without any context, it sounds like a perfectly fine funk song with an unusual rubato introduction. But then, at 1:22, there’s suddenly that break, followed immediately by that hook. Sing it …
This semester I am once again teaching pop theory and aural skills at NYU. I have done some previous reflections on these classes. The students are undergrads, mostly studying instrumental and vocal performance, songwriting and music technology. They range in stylistic background from pop to rock to jazz to R&B to hip-hop to musical theater, and there …
Continue reading “The plan for Pop Theory II and Pop Aural Skills II this semester”
Now that my semester is done, it’s time to start thinking about the next one. I like to spend the first day of class on a song that encompasses all the big themes and topics we’ll be covering. For this spring’s pop theory kids, I chose “Dancing in the Streets” by Martha Reeves and the …
The other night, the family and I went to a Handel’s Messiah singalong at Lincoln Center. This is an enjoyable holiday tradition where professional singers, conductors and musicians perform the Messiah, and the audience sings along for all the choral parts. You have to bring your own score, and this attracts a very specific kind …
Continue reading “Is there a way to teach counterpoint that is less of a drag?”
This is a seemingly dry music theory topic, but it gave me an excuse to sing “You Never Give Me Your Money” and “Fly Me To The Moon” over the instrumental to “I Will Survive”. Should I sing more on the podcast? Chord progressions on the circle of fifths part one by Ethan Hein The …
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There are two kinds of embellishing tones, the ones from inside the key and the ones from outside. The outside ones are called chromatic embellishments, and that name is appropriate; you get the most color from careful application of the “wrong” notes.
