When musicians write a song, they have to ask themselves a few questions. For example, does our song have a main melody? And if so, where do we repeat it? How many times? Do we need to add a second, contrasting melody, like a chorus? What about some buffer or break between the two melodies?

By dividing a melody into sections, we can rearrange and repeat certain parts to create something new and exciting. Of course, not all songs include every type of section. But the following outlines the most popular ones you’ll often hear: Like the rooms in a building or the acts in a play, each section is a small,

!!!WARNING!!! Okay, okay, I know. As an artist, you’re probably anxious to cut to the chase. You might be thinking, “let’s put our skills to use, and start making some music already.” And to be honest, I’m right there with you. But have patience, my child. These next couple of lessons focus a bit more

In our last song, “Pachelbel’s Canon,” we added even more chords to a progression to create some very cool sounds. By rearranging the major scale pattern, we ended up with something beautiful. And it’s a simple trick, really. All we did was take a few major and minor chords, switch them around a bit, and

When we say the primary chords (I, IV, V) are popular, we ain’t kidding. They show up all the time in music. And while a lot of simple folk and pop songs use these triads, the most common example of a primary chord progression is what musicians call the “12-bar blues.” Without a doubt, you’ve

As musicians, we’re always trying to come up with new stuff. Every day, we look for ways to use a cool little melody here … or some great chord progression there. Music is definitely an art—and it takes equal parts practice and inspiration. But like everyone else, we probably fall into a rut every once

Now that we’ve played through a few chord progressions, we’re definitely getting better. Our brains are bigger and our hands have gotten a lot of target practice moving back and forth between chords. But after a while, life would get pretty boring with only three primary chords, right? So to keep things interesting, musicians often

In music, primary chords are so popular it’s almost a cliché. In fact, a lot of musicians live on a simple diet of just those three chords—the tonic (I), subdominant (IV), and dominant (V). Like a nice plate of rice and beans, we can serve these three triads up in a variety of ways … and

It feels nice to know that nothing is set in stone. Because you can simply back out and start again. Unless, of course, you accidentally hit the following sequence of keys on your computer: Believe me, it could happen. And, personally, this pattern of computer keyboard commands is one of my worst fears. (Oh, the

You’ve got to admit, the flow between the tonic chord (I) and the dominant chord (V) is nice. And that’s because the movement from one triad to the next is like a short visit with a good friend. But after a while it’s fun to with hang out with other friends, too. So musicians like