About This Course
For years I’ve been teaching Music Theory in the college classroom. These online classes I’m making use the same syllabus I’ve used in my college classes for years, at a fraction of the cost. I believe anyone can learn Music Theory – and cost shouldn’t be a barrier.
Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation’s Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I’m taking those classes in an online format in order to reach more students and give them the joy of Music Theory.
My approach to music theory is to minimize the memorization. Most of these concepts you can learn by just understanding why chords behave in certain ways. Once you understand those concepts, you can find any scale, key, or chord that exists. Even invent your own.
This class is a Comprehensive class – it will have many parts, going through my entire annual curriculum.
This class is Part 4: Modes (Musical Modes, AKA The Church Modes) and Counterpoint.
Throughout this class, I’ll be providing you with worksheets for you to practice the concepts on. Also in this class, I have several complete analysis projects that we will complete together – just like in my college classes.
In this class, we will cover:
- My approach to Music Theory
- Tools you will need to learn Music Theory quickly and efficiently
- How Modes Work
- The History of Modes
- Identifying the Musical Modes
- Incorporating modes into popular music
- Analysis of popular and classical music, including the Simpsons TV Theme Song, and the Beetles.
- Interval Exploration
- Compound Intervals
- Rules for Inversion
- Augmented Intervals
- Diminished Intervals
- Enharmonic Equivalence
- Labeling Dissonance
- Counterpoint in Species
- The Rules of Counterpoint
- Compositing with Counterpoint
- Types of Contrapuntal Motion
- Creating music with Counterpoint
- …and much, much more!
You will not have another opportunity to learn Music Theory in a more comprehensive way than this. Start here.
Dr. Jason Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer and a Ph.D. in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater. His 2015 album, Aniscorcia, reaching the CMJ Top200 Charts and radio broadcasts nationwide. In 2014 he was named a semi-finalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award.
He is currently an adjunct professor of composition at the University of St. Thomas, and the CEO of Slam
Academy in Minneapolis.
Praises for classes by Dr. Jason Allen:
“Without a doubt the best explanation and ease of use that one can get. It leaves you enough room to go explore. The classes go by quick, so you can be on your way at being proficient. What are you waiting for!”
“Amazing – Seriously Loved It! I took all his courses and have to say I’m so happy! Learned loads! Jason is an awesome teacher!”
“I have never had any formal training in music at all. Trying to learn all the notes and how everything translated was a serious challenge. After going through this class, Dr. J has totally brought down the barriers. The content was very useful and was easy to grasp for me.”
“I like these courses because you can get up and running quickly without having to spend hours of time wading through TMI (too much information!). Jason hits the high points but shows you what you need to know. Thanks!”
“I’ve watched many other videos on scales and chords before, however, this one has been the best. I now understand minor scales and chords and even how to analyze songs. It really gave me the confidence to start producing music because I feel like I have some structure and guidelines to follow. AWESOME!”
“Clear and Informative – Jason has a clear uncluttered style (with the important dashes of humor) of presentation that is focused on the important key aspects of this course. Recommended for those starting out!”
“Dr. Allen does it again with his music theory series. This course really opened up everything I learned from the 1st section, and now I understand more about the composition side of things for music. I highly highly recommend this course to anyone!!! Really opened my eyes to many things I wasn’t aware of.”
“The Best Teacher Ever, who makes you understand the ins & outs of Music Theory by all means without giving what you don’t want to know.”
What are the requirements?
- Students who have taken Music Theory Comprehensive Part 1 – How To Read Music will benefit from some concepts, but it is not required.
- Students who have taken Music Theory Comprehensive Part 2 – Chords, Scales, and Keys will benefit from some concepts, but it is not required.
- Students who have taken Music Theory Comprehensive Part 3 – Minor Keys and More will benefit from some concepts, but it is not required.
- This courses assume students know the basics of how to read music. (Those who can not identify notes in treble clef should start with Music Theory Comprehensive Part 1)
What am I going to get from this course?
- Composing music using modes and counterpoint
- Create unique melodies by understanding the rules of counterpoint
- Create more emotional music by taking advantage of the musical modes
Who is the target audience?
- This course is designed for anyone who has wondered about music theory and is ready to fully explore it.
- Songwriters, producers, and instrumentalists will benefit from this course by understanding music on a deeper level.
Our Promise to You
By the end of this course, you will have learned about musical modes and counterpoint.
30 Day Money Back Guarantee. If you are unsatisfied for any reason, simply contact us and we’ll give you a full refund. No questions asked.
Get started today and learn more about musical modes and counterpoint.
Course Curriculum
Section 1 - Welcome And Overview | |||
Overview | 00:00:00 | ||
Tools We Will Use In This Course | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Free Staff Paper | 00:00:00 | ||
Review Session: Major And Minor Scales | 00:00:00 | ||
Review Session: Diatonic Chord Progressions | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 2 - Modes (The Musical Modes, AKA The Church Modes) | |||
Overview Of Modes: New Harmonic Territory | 00:00:00 | ||
How Modes Work | 00:00:00 | ||
The History Of Modes | 00:00:00 | ||
The Ionian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Dorian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Phrygian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Lydian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Mixolydian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Aeolian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
The Locrian Mode | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Worksheet No. 1 | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 3 - Using Modes | |||
From Old To New Again: Modern Uses Of Modes | 00:00:00 | ||
Analysis: The Simpsons (TV Theme Song) | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] The Simpsons (TV Theme Song) Sheet Music | 00:00:00 | ||
Analysis: Missa Pange Lingua (Choir) | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Missa Pange Lingua (Choir) Sheet Music | 00:00:00 | ||
Analysis: Eleanor Rigby (The Beetles) | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Eleanor Rigby (The Beetles) Sheet Music | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 4 - Deeper Into Intervals | |||
Melodic Versus Harmonic Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Using Visual Landmarks To Quickly Identify Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Compound And Simple Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Major / Minor / Perfect Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Rules For Inversions Of Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Summary Of Intervals So Far | 00:00:00 | ||
Augmented And Diminished Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
The Tritone | 00:00:00 | ||
Enharmonic Equivalence | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Worksheet No. 2 | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 5 - Consonance And Dissonance | |||
Consonance And Dissonance In Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
Resolution | 00:00:00 | ||
Interval Classes | 00:00:00 | ||
Analyzing Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Bach 2 Part Invention No. 8 | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Worksheet No. 3 | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 6 - Introduction To Counterpoint | |||
What Is Counterpoint | 00:00:00 | ||
The Different Species Of Counterpoint | 00:00:00 | ||
Connecting Melodic Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
First Species Counterpoint – Melodic Rules | 00:00:00 | ||
Connecting Harmonic Intervals | 00:00:00 | ||
The 4 Types Of Contrapuntal Motion | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Example Analysis Files | 00:00:00 | ||
Parallel Fifths And Octaves | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Worksheet No. 4 | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 7 - Writing Note-to-note Counterpoint In Strict Style | |||
The Beginning And The End | 00:00:00 | ||
The Middle | 00:00:00 | ||
The Riemenschneider | 00:00:00 | ||
The Rules: All Wrapped Up | 00:00:00 | ||
[DOWNLOAD] Worksheet No. 5 | 00:00:00 | ||
Section 8 - Thats It For Now! | |||
What Next? | 00:00:00 | ||
Thanks And Bye! | 00:00:00 |