"Melody is King!"

You've probably heard that phrase very often - for a good reason. Melodies are the most fundamental elements in music we can relate to as humans because we can quickly produce musical ideas with our voices. Just think of Classical works, and most likely, you'll remember the ones you can sing.

Singing has been around long before music theory became essential. In the course, we focus heavily on horizontal writing, as this is one of the most critical elements in musical storytelling.

The first six lessons teach how to find strong melodies and use them respectfully in the context of other lines (two parts, three parts, and even four parts), but in a contemporary way; there's no need to write like Mozart or Bach.

As we'll discover, lines can weave into harmony and use voice-leading. That's a quick transition to chords or vertical structures in general. We'll introduce various composition assignments to help you apply the techniques to your style.

Next, we'll have a detailed look at chord structures and the vertical complexity.

One goal of the course is to combine horizontal writing with chords, as this will prevent you from running into blocky and over-used progressions.

Interval Theory is designed to enhance the Diatonic System, and we will discuss subjects like the "Horizontal Formula (HF)" or the "Matrix of Triads", which helps us apply voice-leading from an interval point of view. These concepts work brilliantly in film scoring and also in video games.

Interval Theory focuses on the intervals and helps you see beyond pure chord tones.

It's time to focus on the bass!

In this section, we'll take a close look at good line writing in the lower register. Often, (relatively inexperienced) composers write the root or scale tone five in the bass, but music history shows that walking bass lines have been around since 1600.

A walking bass works equally well in jazz performances and popular music, but there are other solutions available how we can use the lower register. Some of these concepts go back to the first section of the course, namely line writing. This is also a good moment to focus on the harmonic series as the upper structure's complexity follows the fundamental's overtones.

You want to control the horizontal force and the vertical stability at the same time. This segment shows you exactly how to do that.

Next, we want to expand on our palette of musical tools by combining some of the concepts.

We'll revisit 6/4 structures (which are part of triads), how to use them in major and minor keys, and apply various techniques to them. This even connects to some trendy subjects such as Negative Harmony (via scale reflection).

While our musical ideas and concepts stay simple, we'll bring more (controlled) complexity into the compositions: second-octave chord structures (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), functions like ostinatos, pedals, or motors, and also the orchestration.

The course covers musical storytelling, and you'll learn to guide your audience's attention through the plot very elegantly.

Expansion and Contraction is a vast subject in music theory, and their application is of great value to the composer. It's also found very often in film scores or video game soundtracks.

Surprisingly, this topic doesn't show up in conventional music theory literature.

This part of the course is an elegant entry into Chromatic harmony and contributes significantly to modulations of tonal centers.

It also explains substantial portions of major works from past composers, such as Sergei Prokofiev and Claude Debussy (among many others). They used quite a bit of chromaticism in their writing. In simple terms, the composer should be able to express himself freely.

By implementing Interval Theory into your process, you get access to many new colors that will help you write more original and honest music.

Chord structures follow similar vertical shapes.

That knowledge brings us directly into the application and how to use those structures for compelling musical storytelling. The course covers composing to a given timeline or storyboard and playing with vertical complexity over time.

It's the musical freedom that gets more into focus now. So, the question that comes up naturally is: "How do you stay organized when aiming for freedom?"

The definition of musical freedom doesn't equal randomness! It's the ability to make confident choices! You can still follow musical form and use Interval Theory as your thinking base.

One musical style often seen in film music or video games scores is the typical "Hollywood sound". It actually consists of two significant elements, late Romantic writing, and concepts of Big Band writing, and both use second-octave chords.

Next to the theoretical knowledge, you'll also develop major skills in making emotional decisions.

The pentatonic scales (major and minor) connect seamlessly to most of our 7-tone scales, like the Church modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and so on).

Guitar players love pentatonic scales because they are easy to play, and you can hardly mess it up when soloing.

We'll go into concepts of harmonization, pentatonic chords, and their intervallic meaning. These elements alone will show you that the Pentatonic world is much bigger and way more colorful than most composers imagine.

This course segment features the 'Matrices of Intervals' (3 parts) and explains how to use them efficiently.

We dive deeper into the nature of the Harmonic Series as it becomes an even stronger point of reference when we step into pure intervallic thinking.

'TNO' stands for "the nature of ..." and explains the natural behavior of isolated intervals and when they appear in bigger structures, like interval combinations (ICs).

Most composers describe this section as the "meat and potatoes" of the whole course. Every lesson in the TNO-series comes with a storyline that we want to follow musically in the assignment. That's perfect training for real-world scenarios, but you'll still be in a safe environment.

The best way to master advanced interval theory is by applying it to your compositions. You'll recognize that there are no correct solutions but only decisions based on your unique taste!

And on top of that, the 3-step-process of 'Gathering,' 'Sketching,' and 'Developing' will help you focus on the critical key elements that move the needle forward so you don't get stuck. This journey is about you turning into a creative musical monster!

Let's step into the mysterious world of Polytonality.

There's a bit of a mystery around that topic, as most literature about basic music theory doesn't cover that subject. Yet, the sound can appear exotic and exciting.

We want to shed some light on Polytonality. In fact, we teach a whole System of Polytonality that breaks down all its components so that you get easy access to it.

This block about the TNO series is the most extensive content in the course.

That's the moment when intervals become your second nature. You'll learn how to mimic Diatonic cadences or chord progressions but using interval relations that bring a more sophisticated flavor to the table.

Your musical vocabulary will become substantial and profound, allowing you to speak music more fluently and express yourself freely. Once you understand the nature of an interval, you can use its tendencies to your advantage. You might want to set up expectations for the audience, control the amount of complexity, or simply play with energy.

One aspect of each assignment is also to gain experience as an orchestrator. We will get more familiar with how the different functions in the orchestration work together and how to control them properly.

As a result, you'll recognize that you can now write faster, more elegantly, and more efficiently. These are crucial requirements for a working composer in the industry!

You probably still remember that we started our musical journey with line writing based on scales and roots.

In this lesson, we revisit line-writing with an interval point of view. Lines or fragments of lines can work as strings. Strings are only related to themselves and can connect horizontal and vertical thinking.

Strings can provide an infinite amount of ideas and will boost your creativity as an artist. String Theory is one of the final puzzle pieces we need to be aware of to understand the complete picture of music theory!

This last lesson is about giving you the complete road map that can lead you to any musical place you can imagine. It coordinates your newly-gained knowledge about Interval Theory and how it connects to conventional theory.

It also reminds you of the tools and techniques that boost your creativity and move your writing forward.

The whole course is about YOU!

It's designed to help you find your unique musical voice and transform you into the best version of yourself possible!