Tag Archives: music theory

Colors of The Wind (The Song)

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

Before I continue on from where I left off  with 13th chords back on Friday the 13th of April, I’m going to respond to a request made by one of my readers and take a look at a modern pop … Continue reading →

Posted in alan menken, algonquian, changes, chord extensions, chord progression, color tones, disney musicals, dissonance, dissonant intervals, film scores, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, Hollywood Scores, john smith, key change, modal scales, music theory, pentatonic scale, pocahantas, powhatan indian, stephen schwarz, us history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Lucky Thirteenth

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

Today being Friday the 13th, I thought this might be an appropriate topic. However, if you suffer from triskedekaphobia (fear of the number 13), you may want to skip this one. On the other hand, if you’re looking to get … Continue reading →

Posted in 12 bar blues, 13th chords, blues progression, changes, chord extensions, chord progression, color tones, common tones, film scores, flatted seventh, guide tone lines, guitar shortcuts, harmonic structures, Hollywood Scores, mathematics, thirteenth chords, truncated chords, truncated guitar chords, truncated harmonies, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Shell and More

Posted on March 28, 2012 by

When it comes to extended harmonies, the most important tones are the third, seventh and ninth. So, in the key of C (major, dominant and minor), these are: Of course, this doesn’t make much sense in the ear until the … Continue reading →

Posted in changes, chord extensions, chord progression, color tones, guide tone lines, guitar shortcuts, harmonic structures, modal scales, modes, music theory, truncated chords, truncated harmonies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Finding The Guide Tone Lines: “All The Things You Are”

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

Now that we’ve picked this tune apart in terms of structure, it’s time to find the actual guide tone lines. Now, granted  we could have done this from the get-go – our analysis of the piece was not completely necessary. … Continue reading →

Posted in canon, chord progression, common tones, counterpoint, Great American Songbook, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, mathematics, music theory, nelson riddle, Orchestration, string section writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Part 3: Not Not-Quite-As-Amazing (But Still Useful) Augmented Chord

Posted on March 12, 2012 by

When we arrive at the “B” section of All The Things You Are, the piece returns to the key of G major, where it started in the verse. Harmonically, this part of the piece consists of nothing more than a … Continue reading →

Posted in cadence, changes, changing keys, chord progression, common tone diminished, common tones, diminished chords, Great American Songbook, harmonic structures, Improvisation, key change, modulation, music theory, Orchestration | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Going Fourth, Part 2

Posted on March 8, 2012 by

Before we continue with our analysis of the refrain of Jerome Kern’s  All The Things You Are,  you may wish to go back and review the recording – then review my last post. After you’ve done that, give this a listen: These … Continue reading →

Posted in cadence, changes, changing keys, chord progression, common tone diminished, Great American Songbook, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, key change, modulation, music theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting From Here To There – Go Fourth…

Posted on March 6, 2012 by

In the last post, we examined the verse of Jerome Kern’s All The Things You Are – which, while not especially memorable from a melodic standpoint when compared to what follows (Oscar Hammerstein’s lyrics here do set up the refrain … Continue reading →

Posted in baroque composers, baroque era, cadence, changing keys, chord progression, common tone diminished, common tones, diminished chords, dissonance, dissonant intervals, Great American Songbook, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, Improvisation, key change, modal scales, modes, music theory, Orchestration, Shenkerian Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Mathematics of It All

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

If you are anything like me, you struggled with math in school. Oh, I could write like Faulkner or Hemingway, play the saxophone like Jimmy Dorsey, draw like Rodin or Picasso….but when it came to numbers, I was lost. Eventually, … Continue reading →

Posted in baroque composers, changes, chord progression, contrary motion, counterpoint, Great American Songbook, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, mathematics, music theory, Orchestration, percussion, rhythm, rudiments, Shenkerian Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

They Do – Except When They Don’t

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

“The verse was nothing – but the Chorus was Art – And its Music was enough to tear you apart…” – Joseph Moncure March, The Wild Party (1926) In my very first post to this blog, I said “…the harmonic … Continue reading →

Posted in changes, chord progression, european pop songs, Great American Songbook, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, Hollywood Scores, Latin Music, laws of physics, music theory, physics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Incredible and Amazing Diminished Seventh Chord

Posted on February 27, 2012 by

I have to give one of my former instructors credit for this one. Dr. Peter Gries, who until his recent retirement was the music department chairman at my old alma mater, spent quite a bit of time on this in … Continue reading →

Posted in cadence, central washington university, changes, chord progression, common tone diminished, common tones, diminished chords, guide tone lines, harmonic structures, Improvisation, modulation, music theory, neighbor tones, Orchestration, Shenkerian Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments