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Fundamental Concepts of Composition
History: How We Got To Tonality
Theory: The Major-Minor System
What Makes a Decent Melody
Practical: Composing a Basic Melody
Download: Basic Melody Worksheet
Guided Exercise #1: Compose a Melody
Guided Exercise #2: Compose Another Melody
Set some goals, and help me craft a better course
You Thought You Knew C Major
C Major Worksheet v4
Learning Chord Progressions for Composers
Download: Connecting the Chord Tones Worksheet
Connecting the Chord Tones
Limitations and Creativity
Guided Exercises #3: Connecting the Chord Tones
Guided Exercise #4: Connecting the Chord Tones
Intervals
Download: Worksheets for Understanding the Essentials of Harmony
Making Intervals Intuitive
Making Chromatic Intervals Intuitive
Interval Workout
Triads and Inversions
Making Triads Intuitive
Seventh Chords
Making Dominant 7th Chords Intuitive
Basic Chord Progression No. 1
You're ready for the next step!
Live Composing Session: How it All Comes Together
Complete Course Workbook: Fundamentals of Musical Composition
Béryl
Very appropriate
Great !
Kenneth
fairly understandable; and easily followed
I am not sure about this one
Takis
Great for beginners
I am a mandolin player. I wanted to know how to compose music that I would like to write. This was a great course for me ushering me into understanding fundamentals. Thank you!
Anthony
Very adequate
Very adequate
Himal
This is the bridge between theory and applications
From this cause I learned how to use all rudiments for composing music
Anne
Highly recommended
Inspiring, encouraging, succinct, well organized, valuable. I enjoyed every minute, and have registered for the next course.
Brent
Thanks!
Just started this course, it's a really excellent introduction to composing. I really appreciate the pace with which you are working through the fundamentals to more advanced concepts. Highly recommended!
Rafael
Great course
I love how this course is challenging and educative, as it guides through the basic music theory you need to know, to then face more specific elements of music. I am so thankful because now music makes for me a little more sense. Highly recommended
brian
Fantastic Introduction
This is both a fantastic introduction to the composition process and a great incentive to move beyond the free lessons. I shall certainly be doing so!
Stan
An Adventure into Composing
A delightful fascinating introduction into The Art of Composing. The information and its clarity, I enjoy immensely. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
L
Simple introduction to harmony with basic chords
Finally a course that explains the basics of harmony and melody while keeping it light and easy to understanding. It focuses more on harmony with a single type of chord, and lets you mostly improvise on melody, but giving you clear constraints: the advantage is that whatever you make, it is likely to sound good, and otherwise easy to fix. I wish a few notation details like the upperscript 6 in V6 ii6 were explained, it seems like they will be explained in the future but that gave me the feeling I missed something while reading the exercise sheets.
JOSE RODRIGO
excelente
muestra los primeros pasos para iniciar en el camino de la composición.
Thomas
`The best music composition course you will find.
The course that John Brantingham created is quite strong. He makes no assumptions about your level of knowledge; he takes the true beginners through basic ideas while not losing the more advanced students. I am hooked on John's courses and use this site to refresh my understanding of ideas that I hadn't used in a while.
briana
A taste of reality
This demonstration is a great guiding point for amateur composers or anyone who wants to have a better understanding of music theory and vocabulary. I am very satisfied that i spent my time going through this and will look into the related lessons offered.
Varun
Cool course, but abrupt endings
I just finished section one of this course, and I am definitely going to continue. The videos are high quality and I like the instructor's teaching methods. However, I wish there was a "Pre-course" on music theory because I feel like this would enhance the learning experience. Additionally, the ends of the videos are extremely abrupt, unlike how it was on the YouTube channel.
Diana
Sequentially Incoherent
First off, I love that this is free and this guy seems very genuine in his passion for teaching composition. Some of the exercises were good but the order and level of difficulty seemed very disjunct. Example: When Jon jumps from the C7 chords to Fm or F#...I started to feel like I had stopped to examine and put together what he was trying to show me JUSTTT one too many times. Another Example: I liked the improvisational chord tone exercise but the three clefs (one bass and two treble) for the exercise made me a little confused. More examples and working his way up from simple might have helped (though it was simple)...maybe just have more pointers rather than "common mistakes" as the wording for the "common mistakes" section was strange to decipher. With that, I am by no means an expert so my opinions may be superfluous. Thanks Jon. All the best.
Dharmendra
Thorough Basic Music Theory
First of all I am sorry for not being regular in following your nicely structured video course. Secondly in some Tutorials, say last ones, it requires big screen; so I have purchased a Device from Google to stream out your Tutorials from Mobile via Smart view and this Google Device to watch it on my 27 inches T.V. As I told you I have printed out your 97 pages book of Art of Composition and I wanna go very slow to capture your every sentence by heart and understand thoroughly so that there would be sound and strong Musical Foundation on the basis of which i can harmonize and compose English & Gujarati Songs and Prayers and Bhajans of my beloved Lord Swaminarayan. Sir I am very thankful to you for taking strain to make these Tutorials. May I ask you something ? How long did it take you to study, learn and master these Musical stuffs? From your youngwood or in recent 5-10 years. God bless you and your family and your team on Diwali and Hindu New Year.
Nick
Awesome
your use of figured bass is confusing, for people who have never met this. i know what c/g is, i know what 2nd inversion of C triad is, figured bass does not make this clear
David
Tonality: Major Minor Diminished Scales Modes
Graphics are very good, make sure the vocabulary used has been explained previously, the, major-minor-augmented & diminished explanation is one of the best I have ever heard. I am wondering if your new fundamentals course goes more slowly into Music Theory and Form-Analysis....My Real weaknesses, from really understanding Triadic Harmony and the Very Basics of Voice Leading, I have struggled since Music Theory 101 with Dr. Jerry Curry at USC-Columbia in 1975. Two Music Ed Degrees and 30 + years teaching, with Bands in Chicago-Midwest Clinic and having Conducted in Carnegie Hall, Atlanta's Symphony Hall, I still struggle understanding the basics of Theory and Composition. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQVCQRvfM3xsM5eGeVNk1A https://www.youtube.com/c/DavidWoodardMMED/featured
Joe
A Good Overview
Best for those with some background in music theory, this course helped me understand how basic harmony and composition practices work on the keyboard.
Mark
Great start
Loving this course so far, thank you.
Dave
`Very good title but wonder if it could be extended to improvising too
Very good examples, they guide you started to compose using a flexible technique
Pedro
Loved it
Very clear and to the point.
Ian
Really good start for students
So much more to learn from this great teacher!
Carroll
First Course
Nicely done and well organized.
Laurie
Build Your Composition Vocabulary
A good lesson for beginners.
Bruce
Great start for creating choral, structured melodies
Just enough theory to plant ideas for future study. Holds my attention and keeps it moving logically.
Mark
Great Course!
Straightforward and accessible teaching style. I am taking this course as a refresher and to spark some inspiration for taking my composition skills to the next level. The instructor brings a fresh look at some basics in this course. Thank you!
Gerard
Thanks
I started trying to composing about one year ago.You advice has been immediately helpful.
Rox
Giving helpful advises while enhancing learners' confidence
I find this course while randomly searching for a self-learning project, with provided resources, I just make my first melody that sounds delightful, instead of just cramping "cool effects" and random notes into a pile. It provides throughout explanations and guided practices, making it easier to learn composing.
Rico
The title is very good. It describes exactly what the lessons will be covering and explains the direction we are taking
Tensons
the course is broken presented in such an interesting way. it led me to study music theory more and got interesting ideas on compostition
Ganapathy
The Best
This is possibly the best course on composing music. I am a novice with some basic understanding and I am able to follow the course so well, and the exercises are fun instead of taxing. I am REALLY learning here! Big Thank you!
Julio
Composition
Absolutely amazing! The best I had ever seen! I have bought many textbooks about composition and I have never seen such great work!
Sebastien
Good Introduction
I really liked the introduction and learned a lot of new theory. I compose since 10 years, but never had the theory behind it, so to have words to put on what I'm doing and to know why sometimes I failed to do a proper melody is great. The only thing here is that I sometimes get a bit lost as there's a lot of new terms popping up. I understood how to write down the chord tones and how to place your notes, but I'm not sure I followed the Bass section notes (like how they were chosen and how to use them as references).
Hugh
After a long search this is the course I have been looking for
A great course. It works slowly stepwise giving you the scaffold to start writing simple melodies. Jon lays out the process very clearly and demystifies the whole process. I need to compose a short piece for my music exam and found it hard to get started as so many of the books either got too theoretical too quickly or were too simplistic and didn't give you an understanding of composition rules (you need to understand them before you can break them). Jon makes it simple without being simplistic. I've recommended the course to my performance teacher and the VCM who I take my grades with.
Luke
Finally! Something for the rest of us!
All the lessons were clear and concise. This was exactly what I was looking for- practical concepts and basic theory. This is for all of us who can read music but don't yet have a solid grasp of technical theory. I recently picked up a piano piece and realized that the melodic and harmonic ideas in it mirrored what I had just learned in the course. This is really practical stuff! Can't wait to delve into the paid course.
Brandon
It good
It taught me a lot about the basics of composition. There were some lessons that were a bit messy but I really learned a lot from this course
trent
Excellent!
Very clear and easy to understand concepts lay nice groundwork!
António
Good Title
It is a simple way of starting music writing with clear instrutions.
Andrew
Fundamentals Preview: Build Your Composition Vocabulary
Martin
A good introduction to composing music.
Scales and chord triads explained very well. Some good exercises on melody construction using chord tones only. I very much enjoyed the composing methods towards the end of the course and learned a lot from your bonus material on transposing to new keys.
Wim
Very clear
The course is a very good start. It makes clear how easy it can be to get result simply working with basic tools and setting limits.
Stephen
good basic course
a good basic intro - establishes principles of composition - I like the pace of the course - Jon teaches well. I am tempted to do more - money permitting.
Gloria
Starting out
I did learn from watching these videos. I only wished when you were doing live videos that you had the virtual keyboard also. When you were talking about placing your pinkies on notes, I got a bit lost. Other than that I enjoyed this. Thank you
Dicka
Great!
although this is the most simple and easy to understand for beginner
Anton
Excelente course
Great introductory course. Thank you Mr. Jon Brantingham for making such great courses, YT videos and web pages / content.
Suzanne
Engaging and Fun
Really enjoying this introduction. I will definitely be enrolling in the other "Art of Composing" courses.
Stephan
No redundancies
It follows from A to B to C; very good language; no, what I call, „brabble“ or arrogant self appreciation.
kelvin
d
d
Wudhi
Excellent !
Excellent !
martine
great
learned the importance of trying many combinations with just the idea to hear what they sound like
Elijah
Absolutely brilliant FREE course!
You really should be charging money for this. This is so helpful and really makes sure you're heading in the right direction when it comes to composing!
syazani
g
g
Becca
Composition vocabulary
Outstanding course, very helpful
Sarah
Brilliant course!
Joel
Awesome tutor
The tutor really breaks down the subject and make things a lot easier to understand.
iklimbade
Amazing!
It is like no other. It did help me a lot! And i will complete all the courses!! <3 - Iklim Bade ( Turkey,Istanbul)
Peter
Excellent
Simple to follow and enjoyable.
Klaas
Great course!
mollie
Marvelous Course
This is a marvelous course...I am in the midst of the lessons and am so pleased to have located the art of composing curriculum..very clearly explained and illustrated concepts...thank-you!
Pablo
Great material
Easy to follow and fast at the same time in getting to meaningful details and structured knowledge
Elya
Great course
From this first module I can say I enjoy the presentation of the basics and the approach for teaching the art of composition, for an art it is...
Petra
Love it.
I love it, it's all so understandable, I feel like I can compose whole concert, I love it.
Gary
Fundamental Fundamentals
Excellent 101-type course to introduce the history and fundamentals of music composition.
Jane
The representation of music was a language was really helpful
Excellent!
Jotham
Surprising.
The piece I wrote was quite pretty, and I'm enjoying my success!!! The skills in this course are ones I can pass on to my high-school students. I really enjoyed the balance of theory and practical. Based on the content on this one, I'm going to pony up for the paid course.
Ian
Great online composition basics
I haven't even started the modules I've paid for yet as the free course fundamentals is so thorough, accessible and easy to follow and understand with Jon. Thanks so much.
Pablo
Great course, both for beginning and advanced composers
This course helps to reconsider the foundations, as the beginning of all musical ages. It also has several, very useful and simple tips. Highly recommended, both for beginning composers and for more advanced ones.
Sarah
Brilliant course!
Ann
All love and thanks for all the knowledge that you give us !
Daniel
Practical and fun introduction.
The course does very well not overwhelming you with too much information which is the norm for online courses. You're given the perfect amount of structure, freedom within the structure, and simplicity to get started quickly.
Daune
Awesome
Very well presented. Explanation of fundamentals quite interesting and I see that I have a lot work / study to do yet.
Jose
Excellent
Excellent introduction to composition. Very well done!
Theo
Build your composition
Its been some time but I do understand , I have to learn on the piano , I do play guitar, but I fell that the piano is better for composition, Theo.
Pradeep
Amazing course
Learned a lot thank you
Vincent
Great!
Gradual and non-intimidating.
Rod
Well thought out. This is a good basis to begin further study.
The text is well laid out, both simple and thorough.
Sarah
Brilliant course!
Marcos
Pretty interesting,
Elizabeth
Clear and Methodical
This course may be what I've been missing all along.
Maureen
Create a Basic Melody
Ayooluwa
Great
Great
Tom
Great Course!
Very clear explanations and useful exercises.
Maria
GREAT REVIEW
Mark
Good on the basics!
Aboh
Preface to composition
Excellent
Joshua
Incredible course! I learned so much!
Joshue
Starting a great journey
I'm so happy I started this course, in a short time I feel I've gotten some clear and concrete tools and steps to being a more expressive and solid musician. The simple melody exercise is great and very satisfying :-)
vicky
Nic
First
Michael
Course review
What ever standard you are this course provides you with a good grounding in composition and will lay the foundations to proceeding on to the next stage. it is also an excellent course to take you back to the basics to revise material that a person studied many years ago.
Elijah
Brilliant course!
I really learnt a lot, this course is much better than other expensive courses in my opinion. It explains everything in a logical way and gives you guidance to compose your own music. Thanks so much!
Leo
Art Of Composing
Review
Ginger
Focus on Fundamentals w/ Piano
Great course on fundamentals of music vocabulary. My music college was many years ago and I need a review of fundamentals. Jon simplifies a very complex topic and places focus where I need it. I love that I can build my piano skills along with new composer skills at the same time.
David
My first pass though this superb course
I just finished my first time through this wonderful course. I deliberately did not do the exercises as I plan on going through the entire course again now that I have a basic idea of what to expect. While I am an amateur musician, this was my first introduction to chord progressions and music theory. I am very impressed by the depth of the material combined with the simplicity of presentation. This is a superb way to quickly get up to speed on the basics of music composition.
Shannon
Great way to start composing
I thoroughly enjoyed the exercises and found the concept of introducing limitations very helpful. I was disappointed, though, by the large amount of basic music theory that was included.
Frank
Helpful piano refresher
Good presentation of essential piano to get you going.
Lu
review
good. a bit too elementary.
Andrew
Fundamentals Preview: Build Your Composition Vocabulary
Lindsey
Excellent Basics
Clear and concise, easy to understand.