Music Theory

  12 Bar Blues One of the most popular types of form in music popularized in Jazz and Blues music chord progression that takes place over 12 bars, or measures. The chord progression is typically made up of 3 chords.  Specifically, the 12 bar blues is based around the I, IV and V chords of any given key. In the key of C Major, the chord progression would be: 12 Bar Blues Chord Sequence – C Major C C C C F F C C G F C C Two examples of 12 bar blues using that chord sequence are – “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry and “Crossroads” by Robert Johnson below.

Neapolitan chord A Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the  flat second (supertonic / 7) scale degree Neapolitan Chords move to the dominant The Neapolitan sixth is a chromatic predominant chord. This includes the b2, 4, and b6. The Neapolitan triad and augmented sixth chords are considered pre-dominant chords. The Neapolitan six is called a sixth because it is written and played in first inversion. This picture shows how the Neapolitan sixth can be used. - (Music Theory Academy) Voice leading and Neapolitan chords. -(musictheoryteacher.com) This video explains what a Neapolitan chord is by definition This video shows how the Neapolitan chord can make your composition more interesting

Modal Mixture The "mixing" or "borrowing" of parallel modes from each other is known as modal mixture. Mixture mostly happens in major keys. When the bIII and bVII chords are "borrowed" from the parallel minor scale. Common mixtures are those that include a flat 6th. Modal mixture, is when one or more chords from the parallel minor is used in the piece.  Here is an example explaining the use of and incorporation of multiple modes over one chord This video above defines modal mixture.

Variation Variation -  technique where material is repeated in an altered form .  There are two types of variations called "sectional" and "continuous" The changes may involve melody, rhythm, harmony, counterpoint, timbre, orchestration or any combination of these. variations are very common especially in classical music.  composers will change the original melody in a number of different ways. e.g. of this are adding notes, taking notes away (and inverting the melody (if the melody went up in pitch in the theme it is played going down in pitch in the variation). Another common technique is to add ornamentation such as trills. Variation example #1 Variation example #2 In this video I look at the musical technique of Variation as a way of turning your initial idea into a larger piece. Here is an example of a piece that accompanies today's topic well. Composer: Bach Here is a lesson by a music theory teacher, breaking down the various elements of a piece and it...

  an invention is a contrapuntal work most usually written for two or three voices. A fugue uses a bridge to connect entries of the subject and answer in the exposition and  the points of limitation are at the level of the dominant or at the octave, depending on whether the entrance is the answer or the subject. Fortspinning is passages characterized by by continuous motion, unequal phrase lengths, sequences, and elided phrases A real answer is the 2nd entry in a fugue when the subject is transposed exactly, without changing interval size. Image explaining a piece of Bach's Invention 1-credit: Bach's Invention 1: Step-by-Step Analysis- School of Composition Image carefully explaining this fugue- credit: fugue-Music Theory Academy Video explaining what a fugue is Video explaining g=how to listen to fugues

"form" is the  structure of a piece of music   Binary form-  a composition organized into two sections Simple binary form- (A and B sections)  Divided into two musical sections only Ternary form- 3 sections (first section is repeated with no changes). A B A. Ternary Form Example Simple Binary Form Example Below are Videos that I have found to aid with this Topic 1 2 3 Below is one of my assigned pieces for the year. This piece is in ternary form.