Music Student 101

This episode is truly a celebration of how far we've come on the show and how far you've come in the theory sequence! We will discuss songs we've written for our pets. We will catch you up with our own projects and talk about the future of the podcast! Finally, we will hear some outtakes from previous shows. Don't worry, it's still a family friendly episode thanks to my censor guitar!

We've almost said everything we can about the fully diminished 7th chord. ALMOST! In this episode we will explore this versatile chord and its many possibilities. We will hear it's use as a secondary leading tone chord (viiº7 of), as a modulatory technique, as a chain of viiº7 chords and as a counterpuntal element. Enjoy our chatter on this extraordinary chord!

Continuing where episode 73 left off, this episode will review our previous discussions on diatonic chords and secondary functions. We will now add the secondary seven of III (viiº/III) and seven of VI (viiº/VI) chords. Listen for the chord qualities and use your theory brain to find out how to decipher these chord progressions. Use this skill to learn songs faster and know music better!

It's time to further our discussion of women composers! Continuing where we left of on episode 81, we will now cover several influential female composers from the Baroque and Classical periods.

On episode 95, we began a discussion on orchestration for the string section and it's instruments: the bass, the cello, the viola and the violin. We will now continue this discussion with a focus on techniques for fingering and bowing, the terms involved, and a bit more detail on the instruments themselves!

Orchestration is the art of choosing the right instruments, and the proper balance thereof, for a composition. Different considerations go into conveying different moods and emotions to better tell the story. The string section is often the most utilized. So let's talk about the instruments: the contra bass, the cello, the viola and the violin!

We don't show enough love to our good horn section and other brass players! We're going to start making that right with a discussion on the general care and maintenance for the tuba, trombone, euphonium, horns, trumpet and other brass instruments! We will discuss their mechanics, routine cleaning suggestions and how to keep them sounding shiny and brassy!

We've familiarized ourselves with the building blocks of a form, such as motives, phrases and periods. We have delved into small forms, such as binary and ternary. Now it's time to think a little bigger. It's time to talk about the sonata form and it's basic elements: the exposition, the development and the racapitulation.

In this episode, we are going to take a moment to address an issue that many of us must reckon with: staying creative during difficult times. We are going to share some of our experiences, based mainly on the Covid-19 social distancing guidelines. We will hear from some of our listeners who have been so kind to share their own stories. We will also discuss a few articles on the topic. Enjoy and be well!

Once more, our listeners have bared their souls and shared their own original music. Let us listen! This episode will feature the original music of: Badrinarayan Rammohan, Eamon Kelly, Jerome Chapman, Sharli Azulai and Keith Andrews.