Harmony

Here’s a cool little trick you can do that’ll help you with your ear and with your DAW skills at the same time.

One thing most pianists understand intuitively is that you can freely fill the gap between the bottom two notes of any root position triad, as long as that note isn’t an F.

Not every A minor chord looks like an A minor.

This might be the easiest complicated chord progression you’ll ever learn.

One of the things that’s foundational about blues harmony is that you’ll often hear a major chord swapped out for a minor one.

Meet the Amen chord, the plagal cadence.

The color tones in a chord tend to be the ones that create a little friction.

If you’ve played Fallout, you recognize this immediately.

Now you think you know what this video is about, but I don’t think you do.

There’s a reasonable chance that the first minor chord you ever learned was an A minor.

What’s a chordal? It’s a little game and you can play it with yourself. But every week we put them in our story to help you practice music theory. It’s…

I would argue that sampling has changed our modern conception of harmony and here’s why.

Master chord function and write instantly better music in one day. Unlock advanced harmony using the 10-Chord Toolkit and the interactive Harmony Wheel.

Techniques for arranging and producing orchestral instruments. Includes a 1 month of Beat Kitchen Residency.

Producer, professional, beatmaker.

Producers have this habit of trying to understand music theory without understanding one really basic thing, which is form.

Paul McCartney's Blackbird is a masterclass in voice leading. The chord name doesn't matter — what matters is the function.

please, for the love of God, stop using decimals to rationalize intervals.

Cords and scales are a mystery because you're trying to memorize them like phone numbers.

This little moment holds a key to at least three important intermediate concepts in jazz harmony.

Having a key center means holding a note in your mind even once you stop playing it.

What makes music tick?

Let me share with you the steps I take to teach harmony to our students.

A clashing note is one that doesn’t fit with your existing harmony.

We say that when you hear a sound you’re hearing vibrations, but what does that mean?

Let’s look at some expensive sounding chords.

If you go to school to be an audio engineer, you’re gonna hear an awful lot about frequency.

How do you actually know what key something’s in?

(water splashing) - Teaching songwriting is a little like teaching someone how to ride a bike.

This might just be one of the most versatile structures in harmony.

The topics in this 10-minute video include the harmonic series and the physical nature of sound.

There’s nothing more fun than walking our students through the songs they love.

Sometimes the name of a thing will tell you what’s inside of it.

Learn essential chord progressions: A minor, E7, and B half diminished. Master the flat nine color tone and efficient chord transitions using minimal finger movement for better harmony.

Learn how to identify and fix subtle chord clashes in Apple Logic Pro X. Master techniques for superimposing melodies over chords, using region colors, and transposing notes to spot harmonic conflicts. Includes comparisons with Ableton Live workflows.

Learn the difference between sharps and flats in music theory. Understand how accidentals work, key signatures, and why A# and Bb are functionally different in musical context.

Complicated doesn’t mean better.

The first time I heard Imogen Heaps hide and seek, I was driving and I literally had to pull the car over.

If you’ve been scrolling around here long enough, you’ve certainly found somebody telling you that you’re supposed to tune your kick to the key of your song.

Quick music theory tip: Why you can omit the fifth from chords. Understanding the harmonic series and how it affects chord voicing in music production.

With the holidays upon us, you may not see us as much over the next few days, but don’t worry, we’re gonna be back in the new year with new content, new instructors, and in case I don’t see you, I wanna leave you with this thought.

Hey, Producers! You need to know a little music theory. I’m going to be hosting a free Zoom workshop on the intersection of harmony and acoustics. It’s specifically for producers…

The breaking point between right and correct in music theory — why double flats exist and what they tell us about context.