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Music Composition III: Beyond the Basics With Minor Keys & Cadences

Take your melody and harmony skills to the next level. Incorporate minor keys and an expanded chord palette and expand your song-writing and music composition skill set. This class builds on my melody and harmony classes.
Christina White | Voice / Singing Lessons & Art
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:
(96)
Class
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What's included

18 pre-recorded lessons
8 weeks
of teacher support
1 year access
to the content
Assignments
1-2 hours per week. In addition to a series of videos, each week, students will be given an assignment to practice the concepts learned in class. Most assignments should not take more than 45 - 60 minutes to do. The final project may take longer depending on length of composition. Assignments will include: *Composition and harmony exercises using Noteflight worksheets that I create *Analysis
Projects
The class concludes with a project that asks students to write a short song using the harmony techniques learned in class.
Assessment
Most assignments will receive written feedback. The exceptions will be some review exercises where an answer key will be provided for self-assessment.
Letter Grade
Grades will be provided upon request.

Class Experience

Intermediate - Advanced Level
This class picks up where my Music Composition Melody Writing and Basic Harmony classes left off. This class builds on harmony technique and expands how we think about the Tonic, Dominant, and Subdominant chords. We will also add in a new chord progression as we study cadences. We'll learn to write music in minor keys and how the concepts we learned for major keys need to be adjusted to work for minor. We'll also work with Pentatonic scales. The conclusion of this class will include a short project where students compose a harmonized song using major, minor, or Pentatonic.

Prerequisites:
*Completion of Music Composition FLEX: Melody Writing & Song Building Techniques for Beginners
*Completion of Music Composition FLEX: Basic Harmony Techniques & Song Form for Beginners  
~OR~
*Ability to read treble and bass clef
*Ability to create melody lines in a major key
*Knowledge of transformations including transposition, inversion, retrograde, rhythmic augmentation, and rhythmic diminution
*Ability to perform a chord analysis on a melody line and identify where to use the Tonic (I), Subdominant (IV), and Dominant (V) chords.
*Understanding of harmonic rhythm and how to apply it to a melody line to create mood and motion
*Ability to write music using the following song forms: Question & Answer, Rondo, and AB Tonic-Dominant

This class will not provide a comprehensive review of the above topics. If you are joining this class without completing the prereq classes, I will provide access to the Noteflight (see below for more information) Tutorial videos from that class. It will be expected that students complete these videos at the beginning of the class.

Please note that this is a self-paced class - there are no live meetings! Most lessons contain a video lecture or demonstration. Students will then have an assignment to complete that will allow them to explore the concepts discussed in the lesson. Assignments will take the form of short motive and melody exercises, analysis, and a final  project so students can apply everything they've learned. Most assignments will be completed with Noteflight, a web-based music composition application. (See below for more information).

NOTEFLIGHT & CLASS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION:

**Students will be creating their work in Noteflight, an external web app for music composition.For the duration of the class, students will be able to use a special "Noteflight Learn" account through my studio. This is free of charge and I will set up each learner. Students do not need to register for an account themselves. No data is collected or stored in this account beyond their classwork and first name. Noteflight Learn is COPPA and FERPA compliant, meaning, it meets the standards required by public schools to ensure student privacy. 

**Noteflight accounts will be set up within 2 business days of class registration (if starting immediately). If you are setting a start date in the future, I will issue a Noteflight account a few days before the start date. Registrations that happen after Friday 4pm Eastern and over the weekend will receive accounts no later than Tuesday. I try to get accounts set up sooner if at all possible.

**I check for completed work on Monday afternoons (eastern time). If work is completed before then and you would like me to look at it, please respond to the lesson post and let me know to look for it. I will look at it and give feedback within one business day, often times sooner.

**If students are not continuing to the next class in the Composition series, their access to Noteflight will be discontinued 10 weeks from when their account is created. If students need longer than 10 weeks to complete the work, please message me and I may be able to extend access by another two weeks. If students register for the next class in the series, or let me know their intentions, they may retain their Noteflight account. My license with Noteflight per seat, so I have a limited number of seats available.

**The last lesson of this class will show how to retrieve work out of Noteflight in several formats so students can retain their compositions.
Learning Goals
Be able to recognize natural, melodic, and harmonic minor
Understand how to use each minor form in their compositions
learning goal

Syllabus

18 Lessons
over 8 Weeks
Lesson 1:
Introduction to Class
Lesson 2:
Noteflight Tutorials (optional)
 If you are new to Noteflight, these tutorials will walk you through the basics. If you have taken a previous Comp class with me, you can skip this lesson. 
Lesson 3:
Pentatonic Melodies
Lesson 4:
Introduction to Minor Keys

Other Details

Parental Guidance
Noteflight: Students will be creating their work in Noteflight, an external web app for music composition. For the duration of the class, students will be able to use the special "Noteflight Learn" account through my music studio. This is free of charge and I will set up each learner as they register. Students do not need to register for an account themselves. No data is collected or stored in this account beyond their classwork and first name. Noteflight Learn is COPPA and FERPA compliant, meaning, it meets the standards required by public schools to ensure student privacy. The first lesson will include an optional introduction on how to use Noteflight for students who have not taken previous classes with me. Part of each lesson's demonstrations will cover any Noteflight-specific things that students need to know in order to complete the assignment. If students cannot figure out how to do something, they are always welcome to send me a message. Additionally, Noteflight has an extensive, easy-to-use knowledge base and online help center. After the class ends, they will no longer have access to this Noteflight account (unless they are continuing with me). I will show them how to export their work so they don't lose their compositions. They can also, optionally, create a standard Noteflight account and move their work to that account. YouTube: There will be a couple of instances where students will be directed to find music as part of a discussion. They'll be directed to YouTube for this exercise so they can share in the classroom. They'll be instructed to keep their selections PG-rated and secular in nature.
Pre-Requisites
Completion of Comp I (Melody) and Comp II (Basic Harmony) *It's possible to start this class without completing the above two classes. Please read the class description.
Supply List
Because everything is done via the the web app, students should not need any additional materials.
4.9
96reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
I have over 20 years of music industry experience as a performer, composer, and arranger. I hold a Masters Certificate from Berklee College of Music where I extensively studied composing and arranging. I've composed and arranged music for myself and several local-to-me music and theater groups that I've sung with and/or directed. 

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Self-Paced Course
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$18

weekly or $144 for all content
18 pre-recorded lessons
8 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content

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