The Language of Music 1
Upon completing this subject - you will be able to read and write music.
You will have studied fifty-three enjoyable and ‘easy to follow’ music theory lessons with exercises that have a cursor in sync with the music as it is played, so you’ll always see while you hear, where you are in the music! Assignments have questions and answers that can be printed.
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Learn the sharp key major and minor scales, key signatures and three part chords (triads)
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| 1. The notes on the Keyboard |
| 2. Scales – why we need to learn them |
| 3. What notes to make sharp (part 1) |
| 4. What notes to make sharp (part 2) |
| 5. Keyboard fingering sharp keys |
| 6. From Keyboard to Stave |
| 7. Name the Notes |
| 8. How to write the sharp key signatures |
| 9. Triads (3 part chords) |
| 10. ‘C’ triad voicings and questions |
| 11. Relative Minors |
| 12. Key Signatures and Triads questions |
Rhythm and pitch to 1/8th notes (quavers)/stems/rests/accidentals/repeat signs and sight singing
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| 13. Rhythm – 1/8th notes |
| 14. Stems, Rests, Accidentals and Repeat Signs |
| 15. Rhythm and Pitch |
| 16. Sight Singing |
| 17. Sight Singing exercise 1 |
| 18. Sight Singing exercise 2a |
| 19. Sight Singing exercise 2b |
| 20. Sight Singing exercise 3a |
| 21. Sight Singing exercise 3b |
| 22. Sight Reading 1 |
| 23. Sight Reading 2 |
| 24. Dotted Notes |
| 25. Sight Reading 3 |
| 26. Sight Reading 4 |
| 27. Sight Reading 5 |
| 28. Sight Reading 6 |
| 29. Swing Time |
| 30. Swing Time – Swing pecks exercise |
| 31. Straight and Swing Rhythm exercises |
| 32. Straight and Swing Sight Reading |
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The Language of Music 2
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Intervals/flat key major and minor scales/key signatures and triads
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| 1. Intervals |
| 2. The Flat Keys |
| 3. Relative Minors |
| 4. Flat Key Fingering |
| 5. Triads and Key Signatures Questions |
Read rhythm to 1/16ths (semi-quavers)
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| 6. Rhythm – 1/16th notes (1) |
| 7. Rhythm – 1/16th notes (2) |
| 8. Rhythm – 1/16th notes (3) |
| 9. Shuffle Time |
| 10. 1/16th exercise 1 |
| 11. 1/16th exercise 2 |
| 12. 1/16th exercise 3 |
| 13. 1/16th exercise 4 |
Read rhythm and pitch to 1/16ths
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| 14. 1/16th sight reading exercise ‘C’ Major |
| 15. 1/16th sight reading exercises ‘Bb’ Major |
| 16. 1/16th sight reading exercises ‘D’ Minor |
| 17. Pickups |
| 18. 1/16th sight reading exercise ‘G’ Minor |
Dynamics/articulation and transposition
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| 19. Dynamics and Articulation |
| 20. Dynamics and Articulation Sight Reading |
| 21. Transposition |
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Chords & Harmony 1
Upon completing this subject - you will understand the makeup of chords, be able to listen to music of any style and write the chord chart.
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Chord transcriptions and the Blues
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| 1. Intro/Triads assignments |
| 2. How to transcribe chords |
| 3. 3 part chords transcriptions |
| 4. 4/5/1 chords |
| 5. 12 Bar chord transcription 1 |
| 6. “Bye Bye Love” trans 2 |
Diatonic chords and more transcriptions
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| 7. Diatonic Chords 1 |
| 8. Diatonic Chords 2 |
| 9. Country Rock charts 1 |
| 10. Country Rock charts 2 |
| 11. 4 part chords transcriptions |
| 12. “I Do, I Do, I Do” trans 3 |
| 13. “Feelin’ Alright” trans 4 |
| 14. “I only wanna be with you” trans 5 |
Diatonic chords in minor/slash chords/descending bass lines/the closest inversion/common tones
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| 15. Chord Charts using Diatonic Chords in Minor |
| 16. The Closest Inversion |
| 17. “When a Man loves a woman” trans 6 |
| 18. Use of Slash Chords, Descending Bass Lines and the Closest Inversion |
| 19. Common Tones |
More advanced chords (to 7 part)
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| 20. F#, C# and Gb Major |
| 21. The Higher Extensions |
| 22. The 1 chord |
| 23. The 2 and 5 chords |
How to reduce jazz chords to pop/rock chords/choices of dominant chords.
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| 24. 1, 2 and 5 chord extensions and reductions |
| 25. More 5 chord options |
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Chords & Harmony 2
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Sus 4's/Diminished and Augmented Chords
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| 1. "Desperado" transcription 7 |
| 2. sus 4’ s and trans 8 |
| 3. "Here, There and Everywhere" trans 9 |
| 4. Diminished and Augmented chords |
2-5-1 in Minor and Dominant 9th Chords
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| 5. Three minor scales and 2/5/1 in minor |
| 6. Use of these chords |
| 7. The Dominant 9th |
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This subject becomes very advanced at this stage so you may like to leave it and go to 'Chord Voicings'.
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Lead sheets/root movements and temporary key areas for arranging and soloing
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| 8. Autumn Leaves leadsheet |
| 9. Temporary Key Areas |
| 10. Key Areas Assignment |
| 11. Triads/bass notes |
| 12. "All in Love is Fair" trans 10 |
A jazz 'standard' transcription and block harmony
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| 13. "Embraceable You" trans 11 |
| 14. Dominant 13#11 |
| 15. Block Harmony intro |
| 16. Block Harmony demo |
| 17. Block Harmony Assignment |
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You may like to bypass the next subjects– Songwriting and/or Drums and Guitar – and cut to Chord Voicings.
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Songwriting
Upon completing this subject - you will know of the various ways of writing a song and have heard answers to practical questions from students of the School of Rock.
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| 1. inspiration and ways to start |
| 2. Song Structures |
| 3. Songs and Lyrics |
| 4. Words and Music |
| 5. The Musical side of things |
| 6. 4/5/1 chords |
| 7. Diatonic Chords 1 |
| 8. Diatonic chords 2 |
| 9. More 5 chord options |
| 10. School of Rock songwriting FAQs |
| (a) When introducing songs to my band . . . |
| (b) I'm stuck writing songs with the same chords and sound . . . |
| (c) All our songs are using the same chord progressions . . . |
| (d) How do you flesh out a song from one idea? |
| (e) What rhythms should I use when fitting words to melodies? |
| (f) I write my songs from one emotional point of view . . . |
| (g) What is the purpose of a bridge? |
| (h) I keep hearing about all these rules . . . |
Music Sequencing Software
Upon completing this subject - you will know the procedure for seqencing music and notating a score, in a software package. You will also have been introducted to sound engineering.
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| 1. Templates and Tracks |
| 2. Tempo and Picture Hits |
| 3. Two bars to Sequence |
| 4. Quantize |
| 5. Regions |
| 6. Tools |
7. Key commands
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| 8. Balance, Reverb and Panning |
9. Reverb and Equalization
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| 10. Compression |
| 11. A rough mix |
| 12. The Score Window 1 |
| 13. The Score Window 2 |
| 14. Sibelius notation software 1 |
| 15. Sibelius notation software 2 |
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Drums and Guitar
Upon completing this subject - you will know how to write for a drummer. You will also know about writing music in more detail using terms and instructions.
How to read and write music for kit drums
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| 1. Writing drum music |
| 2. Drum Patterns and Grooves |
| 3. Snare 1/16ths and Grace Notes |
| 4. Swing Time |
| 5. Big Band Accents |
| 6. Shuffle Time |
| 7. Toms and Fills |
How to transcribe kit drum music
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| 8. Transcription 1 ‘Dancing Queen’ |
| 9. Trans 2 ‘Not that kind of girl’ |
| 10. Trans 3 – Song by the “Brand New Heavies” |
| 11. Trans 4 ‘She’s Gone’ |
| 12. Trans 5 “Song from Aria” |
| 13. Trans 6 Song from Peter Gabriel’s “Passion” |
| 14. When to use a ‘live’ or ‘programmed’ drummer |
| 15. Trans 7 ‘Kiss from a Rose’ |
| 16. Trans 8 ‘Rosanna’ |
Guitar
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How to write for the electric guitar and we study a professional stage-show guitar part. Most of these instructions apply to other instruments as well.
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| 17. Writing for Guitar 1 |
| 18. Writing for Guitar 2 |
| 19. Writing for Guitar 3 |
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Chord Voicings
Upon completing this subject - you will know how to balance a chord for every section of an orchetra. This is the 'vertical' element of composition.
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We start with Open (or Chorale) Voicings. This technique will be referred to in other Orchestral Voicings.
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| 1. Chorale Voicings 1 |
| 2. Chorale Voicings 2 |
| 3. Chorale Voicings 3 |
| 4. Chorale Voicings 4 |
How to voice chords for the various sections of an orchestra
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| 5. Orchestral Voicings intro |
| 6. Voicing the Strings 1 |
| 7. Voicing the Strings 2 |
| 8. Voicing the Strings 3 |
| 9. Voicing the Brass 1 |
| 10. Voicing the Brass 2 |
| 11. Voicing the Brass 3 |
| 12. Voicing the French Horns 1 |
| 13. Voicing the French Horns 2 |
| 14. Voicing the Woodwinds |
| 15. Voicing the Saxophones |
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Two Part Harmony and Counterpoint
Upon completing this subject - you will know a practical approach to counterpoint. This is the 'horizontal' element of composition and essential when writing orchestral, choral or film music.
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A practical approach to counterpoint. These techniques along with the Chords and Harmony and Chord Voicings modules will enable you to write without the need of a rhythm section or chordal instruments. This is essential for film music or orchestral music.
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| 1. Thirds and Things |
| 2. Parallel Motion |
| 3. Contrary Motion |
| 4. Two Part Counterpoint |
| 5. Two Part Counterpoint – part 2 |
Various approaches to writing for Jazz/Rock Horns
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| 6. Jazz/Rock Horns |
| 7. Jazz/Rock Horns analysis 1 |
| 8. Jazz/Rock Horns analysis 2 |
