Kumoi Joshi is an exotic sounding Japanese pentatonic scale comprising of the intervals R b2 4 5 and b6. This scale can be used to spice up your solos with a fresh sound and as it is similar to Phrygian can be used to great effect in modern metal. Continue reading »
Hello there,
It’s Nick Andrew (the Mad Scotsman) here with the first in a series of lessons in clichĂ© busting musical ideas for the bold axe men and axe women out there, looking for something more than the latest licks. Continue reading »
Putting some conscious thought time into the detail of your melody writing can give them a twist or a sound that you might not come to just by ear. Of course, the ear is still king, but there are several ways to examine a melodic line.
The approach I’m outlining today is counterpoint. Counterpoint is simply the movement of two or more melodic lines together. The lines should stand on their own, that is, they will sound good and make some sense played separately. And while counterpoint lines do create harmony, that is incidental to the independent lines. They way the lines interact should be seen as the creation of tension and release.
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Buckminster Fuller, the acclaimed Canadian scientist who invented the geodesic dome, described the universe, in his book ‘Utopia or Oblivion’ as entropic. By this he meant that energy escapes from ‘local systems’ causing the Law of Increase of the Random Element. Continue reading »
Music is mysterious stuff. It’s completely invisible. You can’t smell it, taste it or feel it in a normal sense, yet it can touch you. Fair enough you can hear it, but what makes music different from anything else you may hear? After all, it uses the same parts of your body you would use to detect a barking dog, or an engine starting. We have evolved ears as a kind of early warning system for our eyes - We will hear a bus coming before we see it, so we’re less likely to get run over by it. Music was not ‘planned’ by nature, and has no real purpose in our survival except for what we have made of it since we discovered it. Continue reading »
It is certain that every chord combination has tones that distinguish it from others and give it its personality. I am going to review a very simple way to add a little bit extra boost to the chords you might already know. Continue reading »
In the two main forms of Indian classical music, improvisation plays a very significant role. In the South Indian variety of classical music, Manodharma comes into the main foray much later into the concert, within a span of 3-4 hours. Continue reading »
Using substitute chords is a common practice that spices up chord changes and often makes melodies sound more “modern.” The most common chord substitution you see is the tritone sub. Continue reading »
I am a huge advocate of the simple things in life. One of my favorites is the good old 1, 4, 5, progression. In my opinion it is much more difficult to write a simple/easy song that is good than it is to write a complicated/hard song. This is another debate maybe reserved for a different forum. Personally, I do like both, but this article is intended to turn the first notion on it’s head. Continue reading »
This, like many of my other articles, will be the first in a series discussions which will hopefully get you thinking about different things you can do as an artist to improve your melodies, both in composition as well as improvisation. Continue reading »
The minor7b5 chord is found diatonically across major and minor scales but is often misunderstood, or worse, poorly applied. Continue reading »
How do you start writing your own music? It’s a pretty big question with many answers, any one of them just as valid as another. I’ll try to give you some ideas as to how to go about creating your own music, and hopefully stimulate some ideas in you. Continue reading »
In this article, I’m expanding on my previous piece, “Why I-IV-V Works, And Works So Well.” I’ll be adding 7ths to the chords and starting to talk about harmony a little more. Continue reading »
My first article on transposing instruments was a brief overview of instrument transposition, if you’re looking to write for these instruments and don’t play them yourself. Continue reading »
When I’m reading down saxophone music and I see a written pitch, the pitch that sounds is different from the one written. This is because saxophones are in a class of instruments known as “transposing instruments”. Continue reading »
Major what? Augmented who? Intervals can be confusing, but by breaking them down into their smallest forms one can quickly demystify them and the start putting them to use almost immediately. Continue reading »
Many people cringe at the mention of key signatures. In actuality, a key signature can be a huge help and a great short cut to memorizing intervalic relationships, scale shapes, and more. Continue reading »
As explained in the first article of this series “Playing The Right Notes” chord tones are the building blocks of all music. In this article we’ll learn how they are made in just three easy steps. Continue reading »
Music, while being an art, is also VERY much a science. In this lesson I’ll break down what it is that makes certian notes sound better than others, and in my follow-up lesson, “Building Chord Tones” we’ll see how to find as well as play these magic notes.
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