Which comes first: chords or meloody? That's the chicken and egg question facing any music maker staring at a blank DAW screen, and there's no right answer as to which you need to nail first. And ...

It goes without saying that a good chord progression can be fundamental to a quality song, but when you find yourself staring at a blank screen, how do you get started and string an appropriate set of ...

The "Neapolitan 6th" chord (N6) is another sonority whose definition is based on the triad that it makes, which is a vertical perspective that glosses over its actual horizontal function. It is ...

Classical music has its own version of the tritone sub, which, of course, predated the jazz version. It results from the outer voices (usually soprano and bass) moving in contrary motion into the ...

The ii-V-I has been referred to as a chord progression, a turnaround, and a cadence depending on the circumstances it is used. It is most known as the jazz progression as it is the backbone of many ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Arranging isn't the easiest of concepts for the novice producer to get their head around, so ...

A lot of the elements that make pop music successful relate to it being catchy and familiar. As a songwriter, there are many ways to engender this feeling in listeners, to do with song structure, ...

In 1804 Beethoven wrote his magnificent and epoch-making third Symphony, which we know today as the ‘Eroica’. About three quarters of the way through the first movement the music climbs to a point of ...

Guitar skills: These chords include the C and Cm from the demo piece, but go on to suggest a dramatic neo-classical style chord progression when used together. Why not apply the approach used in the ...