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

Syllabus

Lesson 1 Triplets and Swing vs. Straight Eighths

Lesson 2 Open Position Chords/Drop 2 Voicings

Lesson 3 I VI II V I Progression; Root Motion/Bass Lines

Lesson 4 Modal Scales

Lesson 5 Chord Scales in Major Keys

Lesson 6 Approach Note Theory

Lesson 7 Diatonic Chords in Natural/Melodic Minors

Lesson 8 II V I and I VI II V I in Minor – Mixing and Matching Scale Types

Lesson 9 Sixteenth Notes

Lesson 10 Pentatonic Scales

Lesson 11 Slash Chords

Lesson 12 Bass Pedals

Requirements

Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements