Chord Substitution

In class discussed the idea of chord substitution based on common tones within chords. We made the case for substituting the iii and/or the vi chord for the I chord when appropriate. We also explored other options such as the tritone substitution for the V7 chord.

I have written a basic melody and harmony version of Mary Had A Little Lamb with which you will experiment...

Graduation Music

The piece you hear each year at this time for graduation ceremonies is from a piece entitled "Pomp and Circumstance" by Edward Elgar. Your turn...

Graduation Music

Melody Analysis with Secondary Dominants

Today we are looking at secondary dominants from a melodic point of view. By using secondary dominants, you have melodic options unavailable in the diatonic scale. Let's take a look at a flute part to Anchors Aweigh (the Navy Hymn). We will try our hand at harmonizing the melody with chords from Bb and beyond...

Lead Sheets and You, The Music Theoretician

If you've performed popular or jazz music anytime in the past century, you may have come across the lead sheet.
A lead sheet, which is generally housed in a Fake Book, is a musicians short hand performance guide to a piece of music. Here is an example:

A lead sheet generally gives the performer the basic elements to "fake" a performance of the song in question. With the melody and chords (often lyrics as well) the performer is meant to recreate the song based on their understanding of the style of music. This is also how songs become transformed beyond the original composers intentions. As more and more artists "fake" their own version of the song, it can often become re-composed and re-imagined generation after generation.

Today we will analyze the lead sheet example from above, and begin to create our own lead sheets based on our own original melodies.

Modes II: A bit more detail

Here is more detailed information about the modes of the major scale. Additionally, you are given a method for identifying and constructing Modes of Major.