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Composer Harmonic Practice The Fully Diminished Seventh Exercises
Composer Harmonic Practice - The Fully Diminished Seventh Exercises
  Here is an exercise you can do with a fully diminished seventh chord. This is an extremely handy exercise to do with "any" chord to increase your composing harmonic... Read more...
Chromatic Rag
Chromatic Reharmonization Lesson - Rag
A lesson on using Chromatic Harmony to re-harmonize a well known melody.   Read more...
Limitation Harmony Exercise
Limitation Exercise - Harmonize Single Tones
This limitation exercise will help you in many ways. First, you are challenging yourself with a limitation rule-set to create some kind of chord sequence that makes musical sense.  This... Read more...
Piano Timing Lesson
Basic Musical Timing Development & Free Borrowing Progression
You can memorize every jazz substitution and modal interchange trick in the book. But without solid timing development, those chords won't gel. Here's what most composers miss: timing isn't just... Read more...
BackDoor ii V Lesson
Backdoor ii V Progression Demystified
This lesson demystifies the "backdoor ii-V," a move often cloaked in confusing terminology. Essentially, the backdoor ii-V is a chord progression that borrows from the parallel minor key. Check out the... Read more...
Achieve A Cinematic Enchanting Sound With Mixolydian
Achieve A Cinematic Enchanting Sound With Mixolydian
This video lesson reveals a basic, simple move you can use with Mixolydian to get a very enchanting sound for the film score genre, specifically by alternating between the Mixolydian I... Read more...
Opposite Motion Chromatic Harmony Trick
Opposite Motion Chromatic Harmony Trick
  In this video lesson Robert shows a cool little trick that you can use within your sequences.   Reversing the roles of the outside voices (top line and bottom line)... Read more...
advanced pivot chord modulation
Breaking Free Like Wagner: Advanced Pivot Chord Techniques
This video explores Wagner's masterful use of pivot chord sequential techniques, demonstrating how to create compelling harmonic progressions that move clockwise through the circle of fifths using  vi-ii-V-I patterns starting... Read more...
Creating Tension with Diminished Scales
Creating Tension with Diminished Scales: A Chord Run Trick
Key Video Lesson Take Away:  This little trick with symmetrical scales, especially the diminished scale lets you create these really cool opposite motion chord runs where the outside lines come... Read more...
Bonus Free Melodic Minor Lesson
Bonus Free Melodic Minor Lesson
Here is a free bonus lesson from our new Melodic Minor Course (Practical Melodic Minor):  KEY LESSON POINT:  The traditional directional rules of melodic minor (ascending with raised 6th/7th, descending... Read more...
music syntax connect the dots
Common Chord & Chromatic Harmony Chains: Building Musical Sentences
Learn how basic harmonic exercises transform into powerful modulating sequences by treating chord progressions as "words" you can combine. KEY LESSON POINT: Mastering small harmonic movements as reusable "words" allows... Read more...
waltz of the flowers
Musical Building Blocks: Transform Common Progressions Into Original Music
Is It "Stealing" to Use Other Composers' Progressions? This lesson explores the common practice of reusing harmonic progressions through examples from Tchaikovsky, Alfred Newman, James Newton Howard, and others. Through... Read more...
Pigments Instant Moods Tutorial
Creating Cinematic Moods in Pigments: Sound Design Tutorial
Creating Cinematic Moods in Pigments: Step-by-Step Video Tutorial Want to create powerful cinematic atmospheres with just one finger? This in-depth tutorial shows you how to craft evolving "Instant Moods" using... Read more...
Crafting Cinematic Piano Presets with Pigments: Soft Cinema Keys
Crafting Cinematic Piano Presets with Pigments: Soft Cinema Keys
Behind the Scenes: The Making of Soft Cinema Keys for Arturia Pigments Today, we're happy to share some details on our latest release, Soft Cinema Keys.  As sound designers and... Read more...
Dark Film Scores Phantom Frequencies for Pigments
Phantom Frequencies: Expanding Your Pigments Film Score Sound Palette
Creating the perfect atmosphere for horror and suspense scores just got easier. Today, we're thrilled to announce Phantom Frequencies, our latest free expansion for the Dark Film Scores sound bank... Read more...
How to Write a Melody - Basic Melodic Practice Course
How to Practice Writing Melodies: Introducing the "Basic Melodic Practice" Course
We have a new course on writing memorable melodies that we just released.  The goal is to provide a set of tools to help you develop better melody writing habits. ... Read more...
A Mini Course on The Lost Art of Motif Development
A Mini Course on The Lost Art of Motif Development
Learn how a new way to compose by focusing on motif and themes first, without worrying about chord progressions.  Check out our latest mini-course, The Venus Legacy! This course is... Read more...
Dark Film Scores 1.1 FREE Update – 64 New Pigments Presets
Dark Film Scores 1.1 FREE Update – 64 New Pigments Presets
We’re excited to announce a major update to our Dark Film Scores sound bank for Arturia Pigments. We’ve revisited the original Dark Film Scores theme and added 64 brand-new presets,... Read more...
Announcing Instant Moods Vol. 2 - Elevate Your Soundtracks with New Pigments Cinematic Presets
Announcing Instant Moods Vol. 2 - Elevate Your Soundtracks with New Pigments Cinematic Presets
We’re thrilled to announce the release of Instant Moods Vol. 2 for Arturia Pigments! This new sound bank is packed with Pigments cinematic presets designed to enhance your film scoring... Read more...