Rhythm Exercises – Part 3 (Advanced)
In this article, our third in the “Rhythm Exercises” series, we’ll be looking at some advanced and challenging rhythmic exercises. These are really meant to…
Category: MTO
Secondary Dominant Chords – What Are They?
In this article we are going to demystify secondary dominant chords and the confusion that often accompanies this music theory topic. Even if you’ve never…
Understanding Meter in Music
Understanding meter in music might seem like a fairly simple concept. When discussing meter we usually discuss the time signature, which indicates how many beats…
Jazz Theory – The Major Bebop Scale
Jazz theory is not a separate subject area from music theory, although many people think that music theory and jazz theory require separate forms of…
Chord Tones, Guide Tones, Passing Tones
Chord tones, guide tones, passing tones… so many TONES! What are they? How do I make sense of all of them? Is it really going…
Harmonic Analysis: A Step-By-Step Approach
Harmonic analysis is an incredibly important key in unlocking the mysteries of music. By understanding and using harmonic analysis we can answer questions such as…
Polychords: What Are They?
Polychords are everywhere in music – all kinds of music. And yet polychords are often not fully understood, or even worse, are viewed as “scary”…
Diminished Scale Theory
Diminished scale theory is usually seen as a dense and confusing topic that is reserved for advanced theory and harmony classes at the university level.…
How to Use Upper Extensions – Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 of our “Upper Extensions” article we discussed the terminology and theory that students often find confusing when studying this concept. Here in…
Rhythm Exercises – Part 1 (Easy)
In this article we’re going to highlight some specific rhythm exercises that all musicians can use to improve their rhythmic understanding. The really great part…