Full Week Schedule

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  Mon, Sep 14 Weekly Beat Challenge Gather and listen to anyone's Beat Challenge song ideas -- just for fun w/ Nathan ·
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  Mon, Sep 14 Office Hours Ask questions, get help, and connect. w/ Kallie ·
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  Tue, Sep 15 Ear Training Test your ears and discuss - Music, Mixing and more! w/ Jam ·
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  Tue, Sep 15 Office Hours Ask questions, get help, and connect. w/ Alex Poselski ·
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  Tue, Sep 15 Theory Gym Start your day at the 'gym' with a morning music theory workout w/ Jon Mattox ·
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  Wed, Sep 16 Production Gym Start your day at the 'gym' with a production breakdown of your favorite songs w/ Scott Hampton ·
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  Wed, Sep 16 Weekly Beat Challenge Gather and listen to anyone's Beat Challenge song ideas -- just for fun w/ Nathan ·
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  Thu, Sep 17 Office Hours Ask questions, get help, and connect. w/ Nathan ·
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  Thu, Sep 17 Office Hours Ask questions, get help, and connect. w/ Jam ·
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  Sun, Sep 20 Theory Gym Start your day at the 'gym' with a morning music theory workout w/ Nathan ·
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  Mon, Sep 21 Weekly Beat Challenge Gather and listen to anyone's Beat Challenge song ideas -- just for fun w/ Nathan ·
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  Mon, Sep 21 Office Hours Ask questions, get help, and connect. w/ Cato Zane ·
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  Mon, Sep 21 Ear Training Test your ears and discuss - Music, Mixing and more! w/ Nathan ·

What We Covered Recently

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  THEORY-GYM We analyzed "Just the Two of Us" (Bill Withers / Grover Washington Jr.) as a vehicle for understanding tritone substitution, secondary dominants, the two-five-one motion as a pivot into the subdominant, and passing chords. The chord progression — identical between verse and chorus — was worked through in the key of C for clarity, with the key bass motion and chromatic inner voice movement identified. We closed by building a set of extended chord voicings (minor 9, minor 7, dominant 13) derived from the song's chromatic passing sequence, with the A minor → A♭ minor → G minor 7 → C pattern as a practical keyboard exercise.
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  INSTRUMENT-GYM Covered the Barry Harris sixth diminished (octatonic) scale — a standard C major scale with an added flat-six (A♭) — and worked through its modes, harmonic implications, and four-voice chord stacks built from it. Demonstrated how stacking thirds through the scale produces a cycle of chords (C6, D minor7♭5, A minor7, F diminished) that embed diminished motion and ii–V–I harmonic logic without explicit chord changes. Practiced the scale ascending from each degree and explored its relationship to dominant chords, diminished chords, and the circle of fourths.
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  WEEKLY-BEAT-CHALLENGE We reviewed beats submitted by three students, working through syncopation and rhythmic contrast, harmonic clashes and chord voicing, and guitar tone and recording workflow. Each piece got individualized feedback, and we pulled out broader production principles around ostinato, juxtaposition of rhythmic elements, and the mechanics of committing to a sound while building.
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  WEEKLY-BEAT-CHALLENGE Reviewed two submitted pieces this morning — a cassette-recorded rap by Jon and an anxiety-themed instrumental by Alessandra. Feedback centered on rhythmic phrasing, rhyme placement, melodic theme development, the use of stereo space, and the creative and practical tradeoffs of committing to a lo-fi cassette recording workflow.
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  THEORY-GYM We worked through the harmonic structure of "Maneater" (Hall & Oates), tracing a chromatic descending bass line through the chorus and identifying the chords that wrap around it — including a first-inversion five chord, a flat-seven major chord, and a secondary dominant functioning as the five of two. The session also covered the Picardy third that appears at the end of the song's A-section, how diminished chords function as rootless dominant seventh chords, and what a line cliché looks like in practice. Ear-training work ran throughout: participants sang and voted on bass motion (up/down, half step/whole step/jump) before identifying chords.

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