Harmony and Chord Progressions

Music theory basics and chord progression "magic" for electronic musicians.

Last updated 8/2016

English

What you'll learn

8 sections • 45 lectures • 5h 39m total length

Overview and Definition of a Chord3:19
Example: Chords vs. Melodies - Its all about the Instruments!2:13
Intervals7:01
Explore intervals from perfect unison to octave, including semitones and whole tones, minor second, and major second, and see how these building blocks form chords.
What is a Scale? C Major Scale9:56
Explore the C major scale, a sequence of preferred notes on white keys with C as the tonic, illustrating diatonic versus chromatic notes and the whole-step, half-step pattern.
Triads - Thirds & Fifths, Minor vs Major, Being in "Key"7:48

The Diatonic Chords of C Major6:24
Roman Numerals and Scale Degrees6:53
Explore roman numerals and scale degrees in major keys, and how 1–4–5 and variations like 1–5–6–4 map chords (major, minor, diminished) across scales for musical communication.
Inversions11:55
Transposing5:38
Learn to transpose scales and chords, preserving interval structure and scale codes, from C major to D major, using roman numerals and 1-4-5-1 progressions.
The Natural Minor Scale2:04
Relative Minor, Circle of Fifths3:19
Explore the relative minor of C major and how A minor uses the same white piano keys. Learn how the circle of fifths links G major to E minor.

Chord Magic (1) - Analysis and Examples8:00
Analyze a groovy e minor progression with a f-sharp signature, built from two big chords—e minor and c major—using diatonic passing chords, inventive voicing, and bass patterns for groove.
Chord Magic (2) - Analysis and Examples6:53
Chord Magic - Sound 1 - Deep Sounds1:41
Chord Magic - Sound 2 - Ballad Hello0:35
Chord Magic - Sound 3 - Plucks0:49
Chord Magic - Sound 4 - Happy Tropic0:34

Writing a Melody with the C Major Scale (Francois)23:07
Writing a EDM-ish Melody with the A-Minor Scale (Francois)11:30
Creating an EDM Chord Progression and Melody (Tom)22:33
Writing Future Bass Chords (Tom)39:10
Writing a Tropical House Chord Progression and Melody (Tom)29:19
Learn to craft a tropical house chord progression in a minor scale and melodies weaving through chords using root, third, and fifth notes in natural, harmonic, and melodic minor.
Writing a Progressive House Chord Progression and Melody (Tom)27:34

No prior specific knowledge or setup needed.
If you're an Ableton Live user, the piano roll editor will look a bit more familiar to you, but everybody else will be just fine

What you get:

In the first part of this course you are going to learn the basics of harmony and chord progressions.
In the second part you will learn how to come up with great sounding harmonies and chord progressions and how to find voicings "that work" in your own compositions and make them sound more interesting.
Along the way, we are going to share a lot of our specific composition knowledge and experience.
You will get around 3 hours of studio sessions with Francois.

What you will learn:

Principles of western harmony
Theory of chord progressions
Applying this knowledge and finding better chord progressions in your own productions

We will show you how to come up with interesting and fresh chord progressions for various types of musical genres like house, pop, rock, rnb, blues, classic, future bass, progressive house and many more
We are going to show you many nice sound examples - offering a practical application of our theoretical frameworks
We are going to deeply analyze chord progressions and find out

Who is it made for?

This course is designed for electronic music producers - we are going to take the perspective of someone working inside a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation - like Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio).
The course is designed for beginners but its also suitable for advanced learners of the subject as we go into great detail after our first “basics” block is covered.

What students say:

"Fantastic tutorial on composition! I'll be checking more of your guys stuff out" - Nathan L.
"I am overwhelmed by your work. You can tell how much effort and time you spend on each video/track. I just wanted to say thank you for all the tips and tricks you have shown us!"
"The first course you provided is awesome! Give us a new one :) Love it!" - Woy R.
"I think your course "Producing a Modern Track from Start to Finish in Ableton" was phenomenal. Please make more courses like this!“ - Eduardo A.

This course is designed for everyone who's looking to learn how to make their own rather electronic music and come up with nice chord progressions and melodies - we are going to take the perspective of someone working inside a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation - like Cubase, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, FL Studio).
The course is designed for beginners but its also suitable for advanced learners who can refresh their knowledge in the "basics part" and then follow along as we go into great detail afterwards.
No prior music production knowledge needed
This course is probably not for you if you're looking to learn how to read sheet music.