In this episode we’re taking a break from our usual lessons to practice noticing some ingenious song structures used equally effectively by two brilliant composers a couple centuries apart. I wanted to share with you two great songs and just point out some great musical moments to listen for and why they’re so cool. First we look at the melodic theme and its retrograde inversion in Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top;” and then we find similar melodic inversions in J.S. Bach’s “Invention No. 1.”

Hopefully, after hearing the first part of each song and then hearing the clever musical elements out of context, you’ll be able to notice and appreciate more from listening to the whole song. Enjoy!

For more information, and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com.

In this episode we learn about Chords: the abstract packages of pitches that create (consonant or dissonant) Harmony when played at the same time. We also learn why the Triad is the most common type of chord and how to build one; and we play a couple triads together on our keyboards to harmonize a song.

I recommend having your keyboard handy and being familiar with Consonance and Dissonance from Lesson 8 to get the most out of this lesson on chords.

For more information, and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com.

In this lesson we look at the abstract mathematical form that defines the Major Scale (our familiar Do-Re-Mi sound), how it can be moved around to different starting (or Tonic) pitches on the keyboard, and how this knowledge of a scale can help us move “When the Saints Go Marching In” to a different starting pitch on the keyboard and keep it sounding like the same tune. We also dip our toes into the vast waters of Harmony (ie. two or more pitches sounding simultaneously) with a Harmonic Yoga exercise and some listening examples that highlight Consonance versus Dissonance.

In order to follow along effectively, you will need to be familiar with the keyboard (see Episode 4 for an introduction to the keyboard) as well as the basic concept of Tonality (see Episode 7).

For more information, and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com.

Today’s bite-sized episode introduces the concept of Tonality. This is the first basic concept that undergirds the arcane world of Harmony. It may be a fancy sounding name, but the concept of tonality is already familiar to your brain’s automatic (subconscious) music processing system; so today’s lesson is just about learning to consciously recognize the pitch center of gravity for any melody you hear.

And, more good news, this lesson doesn’t require having listened to any previous episodes. It can work as a great introduction to Matt’s Music Class without a big time commitment! Yay!

For more information, and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com.

Since we’ve completed our first big batch of concepts (Beat, Rhythm, Meter, and Melody), I figured it’s time to have an episode that brings them all together and demonstrates how much we can now listen for in a song to start figuring out how and why it’s put together the way it is. So here’s a special Summary and Review Lesson, with a practical listening checklist you can use when you want to really listen to a song. Enjoy!

For more information, and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com.

In this episode, we’ll learn a new simple melody on the keyboard (this time in the ‘ta-ki-de’ or skipping meter, but still with the classic ABA structure), and discover how complex a melody’s evolutionary growth can get by analyzing a Chinese folk song and listening to a Bach keyboard invention.

Key terms and definitions from this episode:

Repetition with variation - the most common process for generating a melody with clear, logical architecture (start with a melodic molecule, repeat it with some degree of variation, rinse, repeat).

Legato and Staccato - ‘smooth’ and ‘choppy;’ standard music terms for describing how notes are articulated (all connected or with clear space between them).

Motivic development - when a melodic molecule recurs throughout the melody as a whole, accruing small variations each time so that it’s like an evolving creature or a developing fictional character in a novel.

For more information and to support the podcast, visit my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com

In this episode we learn:

- How the standard keyboard is arranged

- The seven pitch names of the 'white keys' (CDEFGABC), the 'major scale' (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do), and why it starts again at Do (or C) after seven white keys

- Some new syncopated rhythms (along with how and why syncopation works)

- A couple beginner's melodies to play on your keyboard

- And the internal, microcosmic order of melodies built from melodic 'molecules' and 'isotopes,' which embody the fundamental principles of melodic architecture: repetition and variation.

For full participation, it will be most helpful for you to have a keyboard instrument (or at least a diagram) in front of you while listening to this episode, although the most important and interesting content is totally aural.

New Rhythms in this episode:

- syncopation: ta-diiiiii (make the 'di' syllable surprisingly long, stretching across the beat right after it, thus emphasizing a note just before its (expected) corresponding beat)

- insert syncopation just about anywhere! eg. 'ta-di ta-diiii -di ta'

In this episode, we review the basics of Meter (from Episode 2); put together rhythm compositions (ta-di feel) from Episodes 1 & 2 to create polyrhythm; and discover what happens when we use longer and shorter beats to create meter!

In this second episode, I do a quick review of topics from lesson 1 (beat and rhythm subdivisions), then we look at a sort of meta concept related to beat (meter), and finally we discover some new rhythm options by subdividing the beat by 3 instead of the regular 2.

Rhythm syllables from lesson 1:

Ta-a (lasts for 2 beats)

Ta (lasts 1 beat)

Ta-di (two syllables inside 1 beat)

Ta-ka-di-mi (four syllables inside 1 beat, so they need to go quickly to all squeeze in)

Rest (silence that can be the length of any of the above syllables)

New rhythm syllables from this lesson:

Ta-ki-de (fits three equal length syllables inside 1 beat, so it's they're a bit quicker than ta-di and a bit slower than ta-ka-di-mi)

Ta--de (replace the 'ki' from a ta-ki-de with continuing the first 'ta' and you get a long-short pattern fitting inside 1 beat that sounds like skipping)

If you find this podcast useful and valuable, please consider supporting it directly on my website: www.mwdaytonmusic.com. Thanks!

In this first episode, I explain the reasons I'm making this podcast and the reasons you might want to listen to it. Then we dive in to some thinking tools, exercises, and listening examples for how to understand the most important concepts in all music: Beat and Rhythm.