Music Theory Basics 3

Delve into the more advanced concepts of harmony, including extended tertian chords (e.g., 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths) and learn the fundamental principles of musical form and motivic development.

The course begins with a brief review of music notation fundamentals, including key signatures, modes, meters, and time signatures. You’ll soon explore 7th chords and begin to train your ear to the subtleties of chord inversions. Building off these concepts, you’ll dive into chord extensions and lead sheet notation, so that you are able to identify and notate traditional and nontraditional chords in songs using lead sheet symbols—a strong skill to have when working with other musicians.

You'll then apply these concepts and explore melody and growth in compositions, with a focus on motivic development and manipulation. By the end of this course, you'll be well-prepared to appreciate, analyze, and create your own expressive compositions.

What you will learn:

✔ Create a short melodic example in a complex meter  
✔ Identify various seventh chords and their inversions in popular musical excerpts  
✔ Notate harmonic progressions using lead sheet symbols  
✔ Identify and construct 9th, 11th, and 13th chords, in addition to non-tertian chords, such as added tone chords and suspended chords  
✔ Create your own musical compositions

Join us and learn music theory online!

Prerequisite skills:

• Completion of Music Theory Basics 1 and Music Theory Basics 2, or equivalent knowledge and/or experience