Functional Harmony Part 1 - The Major System

This is such a fantastic course. Proper training for both the musical ear and hands.


Like anything worth learning, you really need to put in the work.

Practice often, take your time and the power of these exercises slowly unfolds as you try them in all keys.

This is what is so great about Robert’s approach to teaching. 
Unlike others with their “10 easy steps to…” or “the secret to…” bullshit, he is honest by telling us that music composition is hard work.
Getting good takes time!

Here’s my recommendations on practicing the main workbook PDF: 
Firstly go through each of the exercises in C and spend at least a couple of weeks only in that key.
Now choose another key at random and begin the whole workbook again. Stay in that key until you are ready to move on.

Here’s the trick: when viewing the exercises only read them in C (the first set in each section) and transpose to your chosen key in your head as you go.
What makes these exercises compatible with this approach is that they are incredibly systematic.
Read the voicings of the first 2 chords in each exercise and follow that pattern until the end.
Using logic and your ear, rather than sight reading, to continue the exercises is far more beneficial.

To make this easier I have added bookmarks to the first page of each section in my PDF viewer (Preview on Mac).
This makes it much faster to move between the exercises (no excessive scrolling required).

Functional Harmony Part 1 - The Major System — highly recommended

Right, time for me to go practice!!!


I purchased this course because I want to improve my technique of Linear writing. I’m well into the exercises, and a couple of unexpected things are occurring. One is, my keyboard playing has really improved. Going through all chords and inversions in all keys has also helped with my recognition of what is going on in Bach Chorales, and also my understanding of the examples in Walter Pistons’s excellent book Harmony. I highly recommend this course if you wish to have a better handle on the chord functions in Tonal harmony, and eventually want to understand what is going on in more modern 20th century writing. One thing though, there is a ton of work involved in these exercises, but it’s really with the effort. One hint. Watch all the videos that are included before starting the exercises. Many of the many first questions that came up, are answered in the videos. The 3 note limitation exercises are especially important, as these really test your knowledge of all keys.
Gregory Stone

Just a wonderful series and worth every penny. Only getting started with diving deep although I’ve watched each video a few times now. There’s an incredible amount of depth and learning to be had in music, as clarified in the videos, but this training provides essential building blocks that are seldom taught so well without all the excess that can distract from creation. Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge!

this was a godsend, i think functional harmony is one of the most poorly taught subjects in all of music. this course is an exception though. thank you so much.