Music Theory 301

Prepare yourself for any future musical endeavor and gain a professional command of the mechanics of contemporary music in this advanced music theory course.

Establish a toolkit of musical expertise that will prepare you for any musical endeavor or opportunity. This advanced music theory course provides you with a professional command of the mechanics of contemporary music. You'll learn to write effective jazz, pop, and rock-influenced pentatonic and modal melodies as well as master anticipations and articulations that will give your music the necessary sound and "character" to fit these styles. You'll explore harmony related topics such as diatonic, natural/melodic, minor, and slash chords, which will help you to select the appropriate harmonic tensions to add color, character, and sophistication to your music. You'll also master triplets, swing eighths, and sixteenth notes in double time feel, as well as topics related to improvisation and melody including chord scales, avoid notes, approach notes, and modal and pentatonic scales. With this level of music theory, there will be practically no barriers between you and the music you want to create. By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• read and write rhythms that include triplets and swing eighth notes
• write and analyze diatonic chord progressions in minor
• read and write rhythms that include sixteenth notes in a double time feel
• construct modal scales and identify by sound
• construct pentatonic scales and identify by sound
• write a pentatonic melody over a basic blues progression
• understand and use slash chords and bass pedal points

For more course information visit Berklee Music