FULL COURSE RUNDOWN
The course covers a LOT of ground and moves quickly, so it's easy to miss something important.
FOR THAT REASON, the most successful students are those who go through the course several times, systematically organizing notes and applying the tools.
In other words, you won't get the most out of this course by watching it like a movie or a youtube vid.
We put these tools into your hands in a way that is
- WELL-ORGANIZED,
- CLEAR AND DIRECT,
- FAST AND AFFORDABLE, and
- ACCORDING TO THEIR FUNCTION---so you know
how, when and why to use each tool.
Module ONE: CONTEXT
- Composing, Arranging, Producing: where they overlap and where they don't
- Mission statement of an arrangement
- Different types of changes to music, and their different impacts
- The "Who, Why and What filter"
Module TWO: MELODY, Queen of the Omniverse
and Thematic Development
- Distilling your melody down to its essence
- Developing your theme
- Strong beats and weak beats
- Pushes and Pulls
Module THREE: RHYTHM - King of the Omniverse (part one)
- Context of rhythm as the "strong force" of music
- Counting rhythm
- Identifying a beat
- Note values & time signatures
- Classifying a groove
- Communicating about rhythm
- More about strong & weak beats
- More about pushes & pulls
Module FOUR: RHYTHM - King of the Omniverse (part two)
- Downbeats and upbeats, viewed from different "altitudes"
- 12 LESSONS on how to write, arrange & produce with Clave
- Applying various claves & time signatures to a song
- What time signatures have in common, when viewed from a distance
Module FIVE: BASS
How & How Not to Write, Arrange and Produce it
- Different types and categories of basses
- How to write a great bass part
- Rhythmic aspects of writing strong bass lines
- How and when to phrase with the kick drum
- Pushes and your bass part
- Adding power to a push
- Melodic & harmonic aspects of bass lines
- Root motion: strong & weak
- How & how not to write charts for bass
- Tips about low-end balance in your mixes
Module SIX: LINEAR BACKGROUND PARTS
"Vertical and Horizontal Axis" thinking
- Introduction to "vertical and horizontal axis" thinking
- Common tones
- Pedal tones
- Thumb lines
- Doubled thumb lines
- Obligatos
- Counter-melody
Module SEVEN: RHYTHMIC BACKGROUND PARTS
and De-Cluttering your Music
- Pads
- Top voice-leading
- Ostinatos
- Sparsity vs. Clutter
- De-cluttering your parts and production
- Implied harmony
- Separating problem intervals
- Concise writing
- Contrasting your parts by sonic texture
- Contrasting your parts by what they do
Module EIGHT: HARMONIZING your Melody and your Background Parts
According to Genre and Demographic (part one)
2-PART HARMONY:
- Duets
- Harmony of melody vs. counter-melody
- Diatonic coupling
- Distance vs. Proximity
- Contrary motion
- Parallel 2-part harmony
- "French horn-style" harmony
- Pedal tones in 2-part harmony
- Implying harmony with 2 parts
Module NINE: HARMONIZING your Melody and your Background Parts
According to Genre and Demographic (part two)
3-PART HARMONY:
- Pedals
- Triads - types, inversions, open & closed
- Stable chordal shapes
- Clusters - when & when not to use 'em
4-PART HARMONY:
- The "Train horn" dominant and how to fix it
- How to build and use a tri-tone substitution
- The so-called "diminished"
- Using diminished for chromatic passing chords
- Stabilizing a diminished voicing
- "Fry's Overall Complexity Rule"
- Doubling notes
- Using interior motion on long chords
- Revisiting implied harmony & de-cluttering
Module TEN: APPLYING YOUR TOOLS
and Managing your Entrances
- What "Free Areas" are
- The Envelope
- Un-painting yourself from a corner
- Passion vs. Perfection
- Reinforcement, review & highlights
- A few perspectives & tips on audio engineering
- Final reminders & wrap up
