Music Theory & Ear Training for Musicians, FULLY INTERACTIVE ONLINE this FALL 2023: LEVEL 1 Start Any Time for Class 1; First Live Class is MONDAY 11/6, 7pm PT / LEVEL 2 Tuesdays Starting 11/7!

$ 399.00 $ 499.00

The next Level 1 begins NOW! Watch class 1 on your own time. Class 2 is the first live meeting over zoom, MONDAY 11/6, 7pm PT (and on-demand). Class features 8 meetings total: one pre-recorded and 7 live meetings to get all questions answered and receive feedback on weekly songwriting assignments in this small-group interactive class to write songs.

The next Level 2 section will Tuesday nights 7-9pm PT over zoom (and on-demand) and will begin Tuesday, 11/7, 7 meetings.

Designed to dovetail with THE ROOTS songwriting curriculum, Music Theory & Ear Training Level 1 equips the songwriter with a foundational understanding of harmony, melody, rhythm, and phrasing in the construction of songs. Learn to recognize chord changes and intervals by ear and come to understand how the songs you love fit together and how the songs you write might better become the songs you love.

Want to understand why certain chords and notes of melody create the feelings they do?
Want to better understand how the music in songs you love moves you?
Want to learn to more reliably make moving choices in your own music?

These are some of the goals and outcomes of Music Theory & Ear Training for Songwriters, the companion curriculum to The ROOTS songwriting class.

Level 1 is all “diatonic harmony”—notes and chords in the key--all about how to build strong, emotional, impactful harmony/melody/phrasing choices in our songs.

And then in Level 2 we get to relative major and minor and then use 7th chords as the doorway beyond the key. Level 2 takes you far beyond the key into secondary dominants, parallel major and minor, modes and modal interchange, etc.

There are assignments to get you writing/composing/creating each week, with the chance to get feedback in this small-class setting. All materials are archived for you in a private site--video, audio, and all handouts.

ONLINE STUDENTS: Class includes regular homework feedback opportunities and individual and small group video conferencing to get feedback on your songs and have your questions answered.

Classes: Classes, ENROLL IN TWO OR MORE FOR WINTER 2019, TAKE 10% OFF TUITION, FALL 2018 CLASSES, FEATURED CLASSES / NEXT TO START, Songwriting, TAKE $100 OFF ANY OF THESE WHEN YOU ARE ENROLLING IN ANOTHER COURSE, Theory & Musicianship

Class Type: Unknown Type

LEVEL 1 Sample Curriculum:

The Major Scale: construction, intervals, building blocks of chords
Understanding and recognizing Intervals
Chords & Chord Function: forming Diatonic Harmony
Developing Effective Chord Progressions
Cadences
Melody as comprised of 4 Component Parts
Writing from a Motif: 4 Strategies Once You Have a Simple Idea
Melody-Harmony Relationship: Creating emotional, strong melodies and chord progressions
Rhythm, Time Signatures, Feel, & Phrasing
Scansion & Prosody in a Lyric/Melody
Major & Minor Relationships
7th Chords
Hinting at Level 2: What Lies Beyond the Key
Regular assignments with feedback to integrate concepts of class

LEVEL 2 Sample Curriculum:

7th chords
chord tensions and extensions
secondary dominants
parallel major and minor
modes and modal interchange
multiple songwriting assignments and critical listening designed to expand your harmony/melody capacities as a writer and composer