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Composing With Music Theory | Circle Of 5ths

I'm excited to finally announce the release of Composing With Music Theory, part 1!! In this course you'll learn to use the Circle Of 5ths to express your emotions. Every wondered what makes something sound evil, bittersweet, triumphant or full of sorrow? In part one, you'll learn the #1 most powerful tool every artist can use to make people FEEL something NOW!

 When I first started playing guitar, I avoided learning music theory. Eventually, the frustration of being stuck in my songwriting caused me to breakdown though. I needed to figure our a way to make the sounds in my head real! If you're struggling to write better songs, check this out 👇


1. Composers Must Know This
Every wondered what makes something sound evil, bittersweet, triumphant or full of sorrow? In my new course above, I talk about the #1 most powerful tool every artist can use to make people FEEL something. My life changed forever when I learned this simple idea. It's a trick my theory professor taught me in music school. It's called modal interchange. Let me explain below 👇



2. The Big Idea
Ancient civilizations developed an idea called the "music of the spheres." This concept states mathematical ratios between the heavenly bodies produces a tonal resonance. Could it be the universe is conducting a planetary orchestra in outer space? In String Theory, physicists say the fundamental particles of matter are tiny, vibrating strings. In other words, music is life! Modal Interchange harness the power of the universe with one simple exercise



3. The Composer's Exercise
I'm sure you know what to practice to improve your guitar playing. There's tons of exercises on sweeping and tapping. But how do you practice composition and creativity? You gotta try this. Turn out all the lights and grab your guitar. Play a drone on youtube and just listen for 3 minutes. Then play some scales and chords over the drone. Try to play things that express specific emotions. Strum a chord that sounds angry, serenade yourself with a lick of sadness. By changing chords and scales over a fixed root, you're using the concept of modal interchange. This is the #1 thing I use to explore musical moods and generate material for later development. Even if I'm not feeling creative at the time, something magical happens when I begin this sacred ritual. The power of the gods possess my soul!

      

🛑 PART TWO COMING SOON!!

Watch the video to see the composer's exercise in real time. Stay tuned for part two of composing with music theory coming next week! In this segment you'll learn where to go next if you feel stuck with a song. It's a trick my theory professor taught me in music school. It's kinda like magic to be honest. Leave your feedback and questions in my discord channel below!

🔑 DISCORD LINK:

https://discord.gg/RWdmtErK

Comments

Thank you Todd, l hope it launches your creativity to level 9,000!

SHRED

This tutorial is a totally awesome video Shred. Thanks

Todd

That’s a great experiment you did! It makes all the difference when the “A drone” is present in both chords right? It’s like magic.

SHRED

Hey Shred, thanks a lot for additional info on the chords ! Well, what I think, I just quickly drew the chords into my DAW (just using the main chord name) and they just didnt sound so interesting. Thats when I realized I should have put the A too and I looked at the tab and realized the A was in the tab, but not in the name. So I got a bit unsure. So thanks for clarification.

Krystof Polansky

Hey Krystof, excellent question! You're right about the chords being more complicated than they appear. I like to keep it simple by emphasizing the basic structure of the harmony. As you noted, there's more going on though. Eadd11, or Eadd4 works. A more clear labeling would probably just be E/A. The Bb with an included "A" note would technically be Bbmaj7. Again, I'd just say Bb/A in a chord chart though. B major with an "A" note would be B7 but B/A is easier. Hope that makes sense. I'm afraid if I got too specific about these chords my viewers would miss the main point I'm trying to make. What do you think?

SHRED

hi Shred, excellent work, thanks. But I am wondering, with the fixed drone A, for example in the Ionian mode, the chord E also has A, but then isnt it Eadd11? And also in Phrygian mode, the Bb has A in it, what kind of chord is that then? And B in Lydian with A? And G in Mixolydian with A? Thanks, I am really courious, maybe I missed some important point.

Krystof Polansky


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