Ray Harmony's Blog, page 29

Non-Diatonic Chords (songwriting mini-course & interview with Neil Cowley)

We're over the moon happy to bring you today's super special episode of the Hack Music Theory show.

What's so special about it? Well, two things actually: Firstly, we recently had the great pleasure and honour of discussing songwriting with the legendary British composer/pianist, Neil Cowley (and yes, our interview is in this video). Secondly, this episode is another free songwriting mini-course, which builds a four-part lesson off our interview, where Ray teaches the "Neil Cowley Technique" (as heard in the piano part of this genius' hugely successful single "Grace") of writing diatonic melodies & non-diatonic chord progressions.

So, check out this Hack Music Theory lesson and learn how to make your own songs stand out from the crowd! In this fickle industry where everyone is timidly copying everyone else (resulting in the dumbing down of music), just one or two clever chromatic notes in your chord progressions can ensure they're truly original, while not detracting from your singable melodies. Click the play button and discover how to simultaneously please the masses, and your inner artist!

"Ray, the brilliant tattooed man, knows his onions!"
—Neil Cowley

"It’s a tutorial... and it’s entertaining. Who could ask for more?"
—Neil Cowley

Also, be sure to check out the Neil Cowley Trio website, here: NeilCowleyTrio.com

By the way, we spent about 40 hours creating this free mini-course for you. So if you find it helpful, please consider supporting our work. We want to continue making free weekly music theory videos, and if you become a patron for just a couple bucks a month, you help make this workload sustainable for us. If you're interested, please visit Patreon.com/RevolutionHarmony

We really hope you dig our new lesson, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Thank you for being brave and committing to make the world a better place through better music. Until next week, happy songwriting & producing!

Ray Harmony - Victoria BC, Canada
Musician | Songwriter | Producer | Teacher

 
 

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“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

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Vlog #2 – The Harmony Wedding (featuring our new single!)

Wooohooo!!!!!! We're officially Mr & Mrs Harmony. If you want to watch the unfolding of our big day, laugh at Ray wearing a tuxedo, and hear our upcoming single "I Is Love for You" (out September, and yes it's our love song!), then click play.

A sincere thank you to our wonderful family for making it such an incredibly special day!

Thank you also to Billie Woods for taking such stunning photos: BillieWoods.com

And of course, a big thanks to our tattoo artist Corey Lyon: PaintedLotus.com

Kate & Ray Harmony – Victoria BC, Canada
Musicians | Songwriters | Producers | Teachers

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


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Changing Speed without Changing Tempo

The last couple weeks have been rather surreal for us here in the Revolution Harmony studio. After our Jacob Collier, Negative Harmony & How to Write a Negative Melody video kinda blew up, we've been working around the clock to keep up with the momentum. That video now has around 20,000 plays, and our YouTube channel now has over 2,000 subscribers. Whoa!!! Can you believe that?

So, a wonderfully warm welcome to you if you're a new subscriber, and if you've been with us for a while, thank you sincerely for your ongoing support. We are beyond happy and grateful that so many people are interested in our unorthodox approach to music theory.

And on that note, this week on the Hack Music Theory show we reveal one of our most useful magic songwriting and producing tricks yet: Changing Speed without Changing Tempo (19-minute YouTube video). Check out this Hack Music Theory episode to learn how to speed up and slow down your songs without changing the BPM (i.e. tempo). Here's a clue: it involves time signatures! The real world example in this video uses 3/4 and 6/8 to reveal this trick. Seeing (or rather hearing) is believing though, so click the play button and enjoy the video/podcast.

We really hope you dig our new lesson, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Lastly, thanks big time to our patrons over on Patreon for supporting our work. And if you wanna join our Hack Music Theory revolution and get exclusive content too (including the multi-track MIDI file from the example in this video), then please sign up at Patreon.com/RevolutionHarmony

Thank you for being brave and committing to make the world a better place through better music. Until next week, happy songwriting & producing!

Ray Harmony - Victoria BC, Canada
Musician | Songwriter | Producer | Teacher

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


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box-sizing: border-box;
}

#ck_subscribe_form {
clear: both;
}

/* Element Queries — uses JS */

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
width: 50%;
float: left;
padding: 5%;
}

.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
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background: #fff;
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padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
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overflow: hidden;
}

/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
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.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
}

}

/* Content */

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margin: 0px 0px 0px;
font-size: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}


.ck_form_content p {
font-size: 14px;
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.ck_image {
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
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/* Form fields */

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display: none;
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#ck_success_msg {
padding: 10px 10px 0px;
border: solid 1px #ddd;
background: #eee;
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.ck_label {
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
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border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 20px;
margin-top: 40px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="email"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 5px;
height: auto;
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border-color: #aaa;
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.ck_checkbox {
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width: 100%;
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padding: 14px 8px;
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background: #d74128;
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color: #626262;
font-size: 12px;
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color: #aaa;
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.ck_form .ck_powered_by:hover {
display: block;
color: #444;
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.ck_converted_content {
display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
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/* v6 */

.ck_form_v6 #ck_success_msg {
padding: 0px 10px;
}

@media all and (max-width: 403px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 30px;
}
}

@media all and (min-width: 404px) and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 57px;
}
}

Songwriting mini-course (chord progression, bass melody, drums, etc.)

It's taken us five months of non-stop work (literally!) to build a YouTube community of 500 people. But then, something unbelievable happened this week...

After uploading our video Jacob Collier, Negative Harmony & How to Write a Negative Melody last Thursday (which has now reached an astonishing 14,000 views), we’ve had the great pleasure and honour of welcoming 1,000 new subscribers to our Hack Music Theory community on YouTube. Wow!!!

To celebrate, and to thank each and every single one of you for your interest in our unorthodox approach to music theory, we've worked around the clock the last few days to make you a free songwriting mini-course (36-minute video on YouTube). It covers how to write and arrange a chord progression, bass melody, drums, and much more (including our magic 16/8 hack). We hope you enjoy, and please share it with your musician friends, as we're trying to start a music theory revolution!

We really hope you dig our new video lesson, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Lastly, thanks big time to our patrons over on Patreon for supporting our work. And if you wanna join our Hack Music Theory revolution and get exclusive content too (including the multi-track MIDI file from the example in our mini-course), then please sign up at Patreon.com/RevolutionHarmony

Thank you for being brave and committing to make the world a better place through better music. Until next week, happy songwriting & producing!

Ray Harmony - Victoria BC, Canada
Musician | Songwriter | Producer | Teacher

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


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box-sizing: border-box;
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clear: both;
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/* Element Queries — uses JS */

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width: 50%;
float: left;
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.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
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padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

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border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
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/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
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.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
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padding: 0px;
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.ck_form_content p {
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Channel Announcement July 2017

It's taken us five months of non-stop work (literally!) to build a YouTube community of 500 people. But then, something unbelievable happened this week...

After uploading our video Jacob Collier, Negative Harmony & How to Write a Negative Melody last Thursday (which has now reached an astonishing 14,000 views), we’ve had the great pleasure and honour of welcoming 1,000 new subscribers to our Hack Music Theory community on YouTube. Wow!!!

To celebrate, and to thank each and every single one of you for your interest in our unorthodox approach to music theory, we've worked around the clock the last few days to make you a free songwriting mini-course (36-minute video on YouTube). It covers how to write and arrange a chord progression, bass melody, drums, and much more (including our magic 16/8 hack). We hope you enjoy, and please share it with your musician friends, as we're trying to start a music theory revolution!

We really hope you dig our new video lesson, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Lastly, thanks big time to our patrons over on Patreon for supporting our work. And if you wanna join our Hack Music Theory revolution and get exclusive content too (including the multi-track MIDI file from the example in our mini-course), then please sign up at Patreon.com/RevolutionHarmony

Thank you for being brave and committing to make the world a better place through better music. Until next week, happy songwriting & producing!

Kate & Ray Harmony - Victoria BC, Canada
Musicians | Songwriters | Producers | Teachers

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


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/* Element Queries — uses JS */

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float: left;
padding: 5%;
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.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
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background: #fff;
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padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
overflow: hidden;
}

/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
}

}

/* Content */

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margin: 0px 0px 0px;
font-size: 0px;
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.ck_form_content p {
font-size: 14px;
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font-weight: bold;
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margin-bottom: 20px;
margin-top: 40px;
height: auto;
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font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
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-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
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display: inline;
}

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width: 100%;
color: #fff;
margin: 10px 0px 0px;
padding: 14px 8px;
font-size: 18px;
background: #d74128;
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-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
text-shadow: none;
}


.ck_form .ck_guarantee {
color: #626262;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px 0px;
display: block;
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.ck_form .ck_powered_by {
display: block;
color: #aaa;
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.ck_form .ck_powered_by:hover {
display: block;
color: #444;
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display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
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padding: 0px 10px;
}

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top: 30px;
}
}

@media all and (min-width: 404px) and (max-width: 499px) {
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top: 57px;
}
}

Jacob Collier, Negative Harmony & How to Write a Negative Melody

Hello, Ray Harmony and Kate Harmony here. Welcome to the Hack Music Theory show. It’s an extra special one today, as it’s our first show as a married couple. Yep, on the weekend we officially became Mr and Mrs Harmony. But, instead of going on a honeymoon this week, we returned to our studio to make more music theory videos for you.

And, it seems the universe rewarded us for our dedication, as last night the genius Jacob Collier came to town, and we would’ve missed him if we were on a honeymoon. If you don’t know who Jacob Collier is, let me sum him up in a nutshell. Whenever the world is lucky beyond lucky, we get gifted with a human who somehow manages to work their compositional and performance skills to an equally genius level. My hero, JS Bach, is the obvious example of these extraordinary musicians. Now in our time though, we have Jacob Collier, who is a mere 22 years young, and has already proved himself worthy of that comparison.

Jacob’s show last night was truly mind-blowing and heart-blowing, and left us speechless. But, we did manage to get our tongues back after the show to have an inspiring chat with this humble genius. He mentioned that the incredible June Lee, who is a fellow music theory nerd like us, had just uploaded a new music theory interview with him yesterday. So naturally, we went home and watched the whole 38-minute video after midnight, twice. If you missed part one of this interview series, which June uploaded a couple months ago. It ended up going viral, and now every musician and their cat is obsessed with this negative harmony thing Jacob talked about.

So, in Jacob’s latest video, he talks more about negative harmony, and we know that’s going to spark even more interest in the topic. Seeing as we’ve already had tons of people asking us to do a video on negative harmony, that’s what we’re going to do today. In this new video, Jacob excellently explains this theory as both a harmonic concept and a melodic concept. And in the context of popular music these days, melody is far more important than harmony. This can been heard in most of today’s big hits, which focus all the attention on the vocal melodies and bass lines. Sometimes these hits don’t even contain any chords, and when they do, they’re often in the background acting as sonic filler.

For this reason, I can see an awesome application for the negative melody concept in popular music, in the way of vocal or bass lines, and that’s what I’m gonna share in this video. By the way, Jacob explains the melodic use of negative harmony at 4:21 in his new video, and we’re gonna zoom into the C negative major example he gives.

[image error]Before we jump in though, here’s a little disclaimer. Firstly, the example I’ll be teaching in this video is just one of a myriad of possibilities for using negative harmony, so please use this as inspiration to experiment with your own ideas. And secondly, negative harmony is just a theory, conceptualized by one person, so while many musicians are getting caught up in arguments about whether it exists or not, and if it does, how to correctly apply it, none of this is relevant. Exactly, negative harmony is just another creative hack that we can put in our songwriting toolboxes.

I’ve been teaching music theory for over two decades, and throughout that time I’ve had countless musicians argue with me that music theory hinders creativity, and unsurprisingly, not once has this argument ever come from someone who actually understands music theory, because those who learn theory, experience the exact opposite. Music theory ignites creativity, as it connects things that were previously disconnected; music theory expands our musical vocabulary, allowing us to easily express things we could never previously express.

Now, without further ado, here is our brand new video lesson that we spent 17 hours each working on today (34 hours total), which shows you what "negative melody" is, and how to use it in popular/electronic music. So, if you wanna flip the script on your songwriting and try something completely different, check out today's episode of the Hack Music Theory show: Jacob Collier, Negative Harmony, and How to Write a Negative Melody (15-minute YouTube video), and be sure to catch Jacob's personal message to you at 0:20 in our video/podcast.

We really hope you dig our new video lesson, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF.

Lastly, thanks big time to our patrons over on Patreon for supporting our work. And if you wanna join our Hack Music Theory revolution and get exclusive content too, then please sign up at Patreon.com/RevolutionHarmony

Thank you for being brave and committing to make the world a better place through better music. Until next week, happy songwriting & producing!

Kate & Ray Harmony - Victoria BC, Canada
Musicians | Songwriters | Producers | Teachers

 
 

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How to Program Interesting 4/4 Drums

Today on 3-Minute Theory: How to program interesting 4/4 drums.

Watch this Hack Music Theory lesson to learn why 4/4 is the most common time signature, why it is predictable, and how you can hack it to program more interesting drums. And, if you don't know what a time signature is, that's explained too!

Hope you dig, and if you wanna get your hands on all the vital theory hacks you need to write great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF. Until next time, happy songwriting!

Ray Harmony – Victoria BC, Canada
Songwriter | Producer | Teacher | Author

 
 

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Vlog #1 – ISMMS Metal Music Conference 2017

We went to the ISMMS (International Society for Metal Music Studies) 2017 conference last weekend at UVic (University of Victoria BC, Canada), and we took the opportunity to film our first vlog.

The conference was a deeply inspiring experience, so we're pumped to share a little behind-the-scenes action with you!

Kate & Ray Harmony – Victoria BC, Canada
Musicians | Songwriters | Producers | Teachers

 
 

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“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

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border-top-color: #666666;
border-bottom: none;
border-bottom-color: #3d3d3d;
-webkit-box-shadow: none;
-moz-box-shadow: none;
box-shadow: none;
clear: both;
margin: 0px 0px;
}

.ck_form, .ck_form * {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
}

#ck_subscribe_form {
clear: both;
}

/* Element Queries — uses JS */

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
width: 50%;
float: left;
padding: 5%;
}

.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
}

.ck_form.ck_vertical {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content, .ck_vertical .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
overflow: hidden;
}

/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
}

}

/* Content */

.ck_form_content h3 {
margin: 0px 0px 0px;
font-size: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}


.ck_form_content p {
font-size: 14px;
}

.ck_image {
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
}

/* Form fields */

.ck_errorArea {
display: none;
}

#ck_success_msg {
padding: 10px 10px 0px;
border: solid 1px #ddd;
background: #eee;
}

.ck_label {
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 20px;
margin-top: 40px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="email"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 5px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus {
outline: none;
border-color: #aaa;
}

.ck_checkbox {
padding: 10px 0px 10px 20px;
display: block;
clear: both;
}

.ck_checkbox input.optIn {
margin-left: -20px;
margin-top: 0;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt {
margin-left: 4px;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt p {
display: inline;
}

.ck_form .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100%;
color: #fff;
margin: 10px 0px 0px;
padding: 14px 8px;
font-size: 18px;
background: #d74128;
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
text-shadow: none;
}


.ck_form .ck_guarantee {
color: #626262;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px 0px;
display: block;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by {
display: block;
color: #aaa;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by:hover {
display: block;
color: #444;
}

.ck_converted_content {
display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
}


/* v6 */

.ck_form_v6 #ck_success_msg {
padding: 0px 10px;
}

@media all and (max-width: 403px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 30px;
}
}

@media all and (min-width: 404px) and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 57px;
}
}

How to Write Great Lyrics That Match Your Vocal Melodies

Today on the Hack Music Theory show: How to Write Great Lyrics That Match Your Vocal Melodies.

Melodies are musical stories, and so many songs these days end up with their lyrics and vocal melodies telling two totally different stories. For example, the lyrics might be joyful, but its melody is melancholic. This mismatch between the lyrics and their melodies is an amateur mistake, which you won't be making, as we're revealing our 5-step lyric hack in this video/podcast.

Hope you dig, and if you wanna get your hands on the ultimate lyric hack, along with all the other vital hacks you need for writing great songs, then please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF. Until next time, happy songwriting!

Ray Harmony – Victoria BC, Canada
Songwriter | Producer | Teacher | Author

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


/* Layout */
.ck_form {
/* divider image */
background: #EAE9EA url(data:image/gif;base64,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) repeat-y center top;
font-family: 'Assistant', light;
line-height: 1.5em;
overflow: hidden;
color: #000000;
font-size: 16px;
border-top: none;
border-top-color: #666666;
border-bottom: none;
border-bottom-color: #3d3d3d;
-webkit-box-shadow: none;
-moz-box-shadow: none;
box-shadow: none;
clear: both;
margin: 0px 0px;
}

.ck_form, .ck_form * {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
}

#ck_subscribe_form {
clear: both;
}

/* Element Queries — uses JS */

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
width: 50%;
float: left;
padding: 5%;
}

.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
}

.ck_form.ck_vertical {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content, .ck_vertical .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
overflow: hidden;
}

/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
}

}

/* Content */

.ck_form_content h3 {
margin: 0px 0px 0px;
font-size: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}


.ck_form_content p {
font-size: 14px;
}

.ck_image {
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
}

/* Form fields */

.ck_errorArea {
display: none;
}

#ck_success_msg {
padding: 10px 10px 0px;
border: solid 1px #ddd;
background: #eee;
}

.ck_label {
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 20px;
margin-top: 40px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="email"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 5px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus {
outline: none;
border-color: #aaa;
}

.ck_checkbox {
padding: 10px 0px 10px 20px;
display: block;
clear: both;
}

.ck_checkbox input.optIn {
margin-left: -20px;
margin-top: 0;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt {
margin-left: 4px;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt p {
display: inline;
}

.ck_form .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100%;
color: #fff;
margin: 10px 0px 0px;
padding: 14px 8px;
font-size: 18px;
background: #d74128;
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
text-shadow: none;
}


.ck_form .ck_guarantee {
color: #626262;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px 0px;
display: block;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by {
display: block;
color: #aaa;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by:hover {
display: block;
color: #444;
}

.ck_converted_content {
display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
}


/* v6 */

.ck_form_v6 #ck_success_msg {
padding: 0px 10px;
}

@media all and (max-width: 403px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 30px;
}
}

@media all and (min-width: 404px) and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 57px;
}
}

8 Steps for Writing Better Vocal Melodies

Today on 3-Minute Theory: How to write vocal melodies that are catchy and creative!

Check out this Hack Music Theory video/podcast if you want to learn how to write vocal melodies that stand out from the crowd, by using our simple 8-step guide to catchy and creative vocal lines (AKA top lines).

Hope you dig, and if you want more theory hacks, please download my Hack Music Theory for Songwriting & Producing PDF. Until next time, happy songwriting!

Ray Harmony – Victoria BC, Canada
Songwriter | Producer | Teacher | Author

 
 

Wooohooo!!! You're a mere 30 minutes away from being even smarter than you already are. Just head over to your inbox now for your free download.

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

 

“most brilliant, fast, easy & fun music theory book I’ve ever seen”  –DEREK SIVERS, CD Baby founder

 

We use this field to detect spam bots. If you fill this in, you will be marked as a spammer.
 DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK


/* Layout */
.ck_form {
/* divider image */
background: #EAE9EA url(data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQADAIABAMzMzP///yH/C1hNUCBEYXRhWE1QPD94cGFja2V0IGJlZ2luPSLvu78iIGlkPSJXNU0wTXBDZWhpSHpyZVN6TlRjemtjOWQiPz4gPHg6eG1wbWV0YSB4bWxuczp4PSJhZG9iZTpuczptZXRhLyIgeDp4bXB0az0iQWRvYmUgWE1QIENvcmUgNS41LWMwMTQgNzkuMTUxNDgxLCAyMDEzLzAzLzEzLTEyOjA5OjE1ICAgICAgICAiPiA8cmRmOlJERiB4bWxuczpyZGY9Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cudzMub3JnLzE5OTkvMDIvMjItcmRmLXN5bnRheC1ucyMiPiA8cmRmOkRlc2NyaXB0aW9uIHJkZjphYm91dD0iIiB4bWxuczp4bXA9Imh0dHA6Ly9ucy5hZG9iZS5jb20veGFwLzEuMC8iIHhtbG5zOnhtcE1NPSJodHRwOi8vbnMuYWRvYmUuY29tL3hhcC8xLjAvbW0vIiB4bWxuczpzdFJlZj0iaHR0cDovL25zLmFkb2JlLmNvbS94YXAvMS4wL3NUeXBlL1Jlc291cmNlUmVmIyIgeG1wOkNyZWF0b3JUb29sPSJBZG9iZSBQaG90b3Nob3AgQ0MgKE1hY2ludG9zaCkiIHhtcE1NOkluc3RhbmNlSUQ9InhtcC5paWQ6MUQ5NjM5RjgxQUVEMTFFNEJBQTdGNTQwMjc5MTZDOTciIHhtcE1NOkRvY3VtZW50SUQ9InhtcC5kaWQ6MUQ5NjM5RjkxQUVEMTFFNEJBQTdGNTQwMjc5MTZDOTciPiA8eG1wTU06RGVyaXZlZEZyb20gc3RSZWY6aW5zdGFuY2VJRD0ieG1wLmlpZDoxRDk2MzlGNjFBRUQxMUU0QkFBN0Y1NDAyNzkxNkM5NyIgc3RSZWY6ZG9jdW1lbnRJRD0ieG1wLmRpZDoxRDk2MzlGNzFBRUQxMUU0QkFBN0Y1NDAyNzkxNkM5NyIvPiA8L3JkZjpEZXNjcmlwdGlvbj4gPC9yZGY6UkRGPiA8L3g6eG1wbWV0YT4gPD94cGFja2V0IGVuZD0iciI/PgH//v38+/r5+Pf29fTz8vHw7+7t7Ovq6ejn5uXk4+Lh4N/e3dzb2tnY19bV1NPS0dDPzs3My8rJyMfGxcTDwsHAv769vLu6ubi3trW0s7KxsK+urayrqqmop6alpKOioaCfnp2cm5qZmJeWlZSTkpGQj46NjIuKiYiHhoWEg4KBgH9+fXx7enl4d3Z1dHNycXBvbm1sa2ppaGdmZWRjYmFgX15dXFtaWVhXVlVUU1JRUE9OTUxLSklIR0ZFRENCQUA/Pj08Ozo5ODc2NTQzMjEwLy4tLCsqKSgnJiUkIyIhIB8eHRwbGhkYFxYVFBMSERAPDg0MCwoJCAcGBQQDAgEAACH5BAEAAAEALAAAAAABAAMAAAICRFIAOw==) repeat-y center top;
font-family: 'Assistant', light;
line-height: 1.5em;
overflow: hidden;
color: #000000;
font-size: 16px;
border-top: none;
border-top-color: #666666;
border-bottom: none;
border-bottom-color: #3d3d3d;
-webkit-box-shadow: none;
-moz-box-shadow: none;
box-shadow: none;
clear: both;
margin: 0px 0px;
}

.ck_form, .ck_form * {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
}

#ck_subscribe_form {
clear: both;
}

/* Element Queries — uses JS */

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
width: 50%;
float: left;
padding: 5%;
}

.ck_form.ck_horizontal {
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: none;
}

.ck_form.ck_vertical {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content, .ck_vertical .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_vertical .ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
overflow: hidden;
}

/* Trigger the vertical layout with media queries as well */

@media all and (max-width: 499px) {

.ck_form {
background: #fff;
}

.ck_form_content, .ck_form_fields {
padding: 10%;
width: 100%;
float: none;
}

.ck_form_content {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
}

}

/* Content */

.ck_form_content h3 {
margin: 0px 0px 0px;
font-size: 0px;
padding: 0px;
}


.ck_form_content p {
font-size: 14px;
}

.ck_image {
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
}

/* Form fields */

.ck_errorArea {
display: none;
}

#ck_success_msg {
padding: 10px 10px 0px;
border: solid 1px #ddd;
background: #eee;
}

.ck_label {
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: bold;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 20px;
margin-top: 40px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="email"] {
font-size: 16px;
padding: 14px 8px;
width: 100%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 5px;
height: auto;
}

.ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus {
outline: none;
border-color: #aaa;
}

.ck_checkbox {
padding: 10px 0px 10px 20px;
display: block;
clear: both;
}

.ck_checkbox input.optIn {
margin-left: -20px;
margin-top: 0;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt {
margin-left: 4px;
}
.ck_form .ck_opt_in_prompt p {
display: inline;
}

.ck_form .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100%;
color: #fff;
margin: 10px 0px 0px;
padding: 14px 8px;
font-size: 18px;
background: #d74128;
-moz-border-radius: 4px;
-webkit-border-radius: 4px;
border-radius: 4px; /* border radius */
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
text-shadow: none;
}


.ck_form .ck_guarantee {
color: #626262;
font-size: 12px;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px 0px;
display: block;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by {
display: block;
color: #aaa;
}

.ck_form .ck_powered_by:hover {
display: block;
color: #444;
}

.ck_converted_content {
display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
}


/* v6 */

.ck_form_v6 #ck_success_msg {
padding: 0px 10px;
}

@media all and (max-width: 403px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 30px;
}
}

@media all and (min-width: 404px) and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_close_link {
top: 57px;
}
}