I have all three minor courses and several other of Roberts courses from this site.
I would like to detail a few of the highlights from these.
These videos are great inspiration when you are sitting down to compose with a blank page in front of you.
Practical Melodic Minor episode 11 Robert advices rather than just relying on pure muscle memory and luck you should firstly slowly and deliberately work out melodic ideas or motifs. As you problem solve slowly in this manner it gradually becomes muscle memory but you are not relying on muscle memory in the first instance.
He teaches how to create structured sequential runs in your DAW not relying on muscle memory.
Mastering Natural Minor episode 8 Robert teaches how rhythm, timbre choice and pedal point all contribute to a desired mood. He talks about the flat 6th and use of 7th and 9th chords and use of the pentatonic scale over chords containing the b6th.
He talks about bass movement and emphasis of the root note.
Harmonic Minor video 2 teaches drills using only three chords in all inversions. It includes cyclic root movement, convergence and divergence, spread triads and sequential patterns.
I have not been able to find such in-depth material anywhere else and would highly recommend these courses.
Mastering Natural Minor
Mastering Natural Minor
Instant download · DRM free · Every computer you own
Minor isn't a mood.
We made this course to break the habit of tying one chord or scale to one mood.
Natural minor can sound cinematic, jazzy, funky, or whatever you're reaching for.
Much of this course is spent showing you how to get there.
This course is also built to sit alongside our harmonic and melodic minor courses, because minor works as a system of three scales, and the idea is to master each one on its own before you start combining them.
What you'll be able to do
This course is built around what you'll be able to do at the keyboard, DAW, and in Notation.
- Get more from fewer chords. Use inversions and voice leading so three chords move like a full progression. You'll make a small vocabulary sound much bigger, and harmonize almost any melody note inside just i, iv, and v.
- Control the darkness. The flat ♭6 and your execution decide whether a passage lands heavy, calm, or cinematic. Expose it, hide it, or walk straight past it, and choose the mood.
- Write extensions that stay clean. Natural minor takes sevenths and extensions without turning to mud. You'll write rich, open chords that sound smooth where harmonic minor would clash.
Get fluent in the natural minor moves, then fold in harmonic and melodic minor. That's where the classic minor sound gets its vast, expansive range.
It can sound dark, calm, cinematic, or like a groove. The difference comes down to how you play it. Mastering Natural Minor shows you how to steer the scale on purpose, and how to pull more music out of fewer chords than you thought possible.
Downloadable Course Includes:
- 8 Video Lessons in mp4 format (54 mins of video training)
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PDF 5 Supplemental Exercise Booklets
- 1.27 GB Total Course Size