Sometimes, musicians are so concerned with playing the right notes, that they put rhythmic accuracy on the backburner. Don’t let that be you! Rhythm is largely responsible for giving music its energy, and in ensemble playing, it’s essential to ensuring that everyone stays together.
Though it may be hard to describe exactly why music has the power that it does, the ability to analyze chords helps to unravel the mystery. That’s because chords and chord progressions have a great deal to do with the character of music.
Four different clefs are used in music today; the most common are the treble and bass clefs, and the less common are the alto and tenor clefs.
Some of the most powerful moments in music occur when the song or piece shifts from one key to another, or modulates. A modulation usually takes the melody higher, and the trip to the new key can be as brief or extended as the composer chooses. It is a tricky technique that will take a lot of practice to master.
Non-chord tones, as you might guess from the name, are notes that are not part of the harmony at any given moment. They are used to either embellish or smooth out melodic lines.
Many of us have a song inside our heads, whether it’s just a vague idea, a memorable hook, a catchy melody, or the whole package. No matter if you are starting from scratch or writing words for a particular tune, this article offers tips on lyric writing.
When people listen to music from other cultures, they often find it uncomfortable or less pleasant, or they may not “get it.” Most modern musicologists would say that this is because the way we make music and respond to it is learned, and therefore specific to our culture. Yet, many people, including noted composers, claim […]