I am 70 year with 65 years of music making and am really enjoying your videos, so much so that I am thinking of working towards my grade 6 theory, and exam I never took when younger. After watching your videos along with some other videos on youtube I have found a distinct improvement in my playing. I have played the organ since my 20's and really enjoy playing interesting harmony. Thank you for your efforts.
That's great to read. I'm so pleased to read about the positive impact on your playing. If you want any one to one lessons for grade 6 in due course that is easily arranged on Skype. All the best.
Music Matters Thanks. I am going through the syllabus bit by bit and once I have established where I need help and I will be back to you. I am thinking about working towards the Autumn exam.
never thought that trying to learn and play Tool on the guitar would eventually lead me to try to learn music theory in depth, but here i am and i'm glad people like you are here to help. thank you so much
I'll be honest: I have found your videos a little slow until now BUT you absolutely nailed it with this one. It was a a very thorough and thoughtful explanation of the thought process involved in going through what seemed at first like a daunting exercise. What a brilliant lesson. You have more than earned my subscription. Thanks.
@@MusicMattersGB You really do cover the ground, and I'm extremely grateful - as are your other thousands of subs. I play guitar but never saw the need for any of this stuff (didn't read music etc) until subject scheduling left my daughter with no alternative but to study A level music (which she begins in September). She plays piano reasonably well but is very bad on theory/reading music etc. so I am learning theory with her in order to support her through the summer as she tries to get to grade five theory by late August. Your lessons are an invaluable tool in helping her succeed. And for that, I am eternally in your debt.
This was a great video that gave me a lot of ideas! I'm a DJ and composer/producer who is returning to my roots and taking theory gradings whilst teaching guitar and drums, this made my task seem even brighter!
Hello Sir, just wanted to share my happiness and satisfaction with you. My exams went very well and this method for composing a Melody of yours immensely helped me out and I could finish it exactly on the last minute when they said pens down. I thank you whole heartedly again and congratulate you for your huge help you're providing.
Thank you for sharing this. The melody composition is the area that I am least confident about but your video has been very insightful. I feel better prepared for that part of the exam now.
You are incredibly positive, helpful and humble at the same time. I ADORE YOU! (below are my thoughts in my mother tongue: Turkish) Ya sen nasıl bir adamsın ya? Nasıl bu kadar pozitif, yardımsever ve alçakgönüllü şekilde anlatabiliyorsun konuyu? Vedat Milor'un deyimiyle: neden bu kadar İYİSİNİZ? Harikasın abicim/dayıcım/sir.
My G5 exam is in a weeks time (1st March), and this is my bete noir... This was very very helpful, and I've finally got some confidence about it. Now if the given bars are in A major and look like that, I'll be very happy!
Music Matters THANK YOU SO MUCH...IM ACTUALLY WORKING IN BOOK TWO OF MASTER THEORY WORKBOOKS AND I WOULD GLADLY STUDY UNDER YOUR TUTELAGE MAESTRO....I WILL BE IN TOUCH 🎼🎶🎶🎶
Thank you so much for this video! I have one question though - approximately how many marks would the piece get? Thank you so much, my exam is tomorrow and this helped me a lot
1. How long is the exam? 2. Can we change the two bars we are given? 3. Which instruments do we need to know about (capabilities, clefs, etc.) for the exam? Thanks!
Watching now 6 years after the same date it was published. I really enjoy these type of lessons! I'm not a bit of a music junky but now I learned so much from you! Please keep on teaching!
Sir, I saw in a music theory book that there is no rule for composing melodies. So, it is requested that excluding any particularisation you may discuss the techniques endless in general eg chord changes,inversion,related keys,dramatic changes,chromaticism etc etc. Thanks. arun dey
Hello, my name is Mel, and I love your work. My question is what program do you use to display the notes of the keyboard as you play them. Also, can they be displayed in real time. Thank you.
+Tommy Iglesias Hi. Have a look at www.mmcourses.co.uk where you can download the Advanced Theory course, which includes melody writing for grades 6-8 plus every other aspect of the syllabus. Skype lessons are also available if helpful.
Thanks. So many people make it all far more complicated than it needs to be. It’s possible to cover the detail in a logical way, making it much easier to grasp.
Thank you for the great work! I have a question though: Around 8:54, why did you decide to use notes from bar 5? Could you explain in a bit more detail?
+Robs Tech Channel Hi. Thanks for your message. Composing a melody is about developing given material without too much repetition yet also without creating continuous new material so we have a sense of cohesion, development and repetition. It's a balancing act. Hope that helps. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk
Hi Gareth, up to now I have bougth your ABRSM THEORY GRADES 1-8 & COMPOSITION, I am up to grade 4 now in your Theory videos, do you discuss "suspended chords" in any of these videos I have purchased in later grades? I want to learn more about it.
Thank you for this I’m just getting ready to take my grade 5 but this isn’t in the paper now however however my tutor saying I’d be fantastic at writing my own music? I haven’t a clue who so I’m going to be watch this to get me started :)
That’s great. Enjoy. On 13th October I’m running a live webinar that’s a revision for Grade 5 Theory. Come and join us online. The details are at www.mmcourses.co.uk and we are going to cover as much of the syllabus as we can, working exam-style questions.
Dear sir, I love your videos so much and i learn a lot from it! thanks! but you know english is not my native league,so sometimes I feel quite confuse! in this video, At one minute and 19 seconds, you said"But when you come to writing the melody for THAT,all THIS should apply in some way again.",I am not sure what does this sentence mean and what does "that and this"refer to? At 3 minute and 44 seconds, he said"and if you can begin to hear what you're doing,and you want to be very creative,then there'll always be credit given for that if it works." I am confused about this sentence too! would you please explain those two sentences to me,thank you so much! have a nice day !
Don’t worry too much about the second sentence. It’s just saying that if you don’t want to follow the suggested plan you could do something more creative and credit will be given if it works. The first sentence is encouraging you to learn the technique then apply it to any situation.
A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here ru-vid.com/show-UC8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.
If I understand correctly one no longer needs to compose a melody (or indeed to draw any notes at all on a stave) for the ABRSM grade 5 theory exam now -- which seems a little sad.
Gareth can I ask, how do you feel about atonal contemporary music? I only ask because I am loving all your videos on composition/music theory/writing in keys etc, but I have found out many undergraduate music schools/colleges etc are pushing atonal contemporary music on students, one professor actually said to me in a email he cares not for key signatures, it is a thing of the past, and why do something what many have done before. I listened to some of this "new music" and I can not enjoy it, I can not hum the melody, it just sounds like noise and I wonder how people can call that music, I have no idea what to do as I want to do a degree in composition but this particular conservatoire does not teach students to write in key at all. I spoke to others about it and quite a few people said the same thing at their university, they push atonal music and will not let the students be creative in what they have passion for, another guy said he was told writing a symphony is something of the past and that is not composing, then kicked him of the course. I really do not know what to do as I want to pursue a career in composition, but I do not want to be told I must write my own music in a certain style which has no sense of key or tonality
+anton mclouglin Hi. I can appreciate your position here. Many people would like to explore composition in more traditional styles. Most Universities want to encourage 'original' composition rather than pastiche. The challenge is to find a way of being original while still writing in a style that has integrity for you. Whichever direction one takes in relation to style, I think technique is essential. That's why the traditional skills of writing harmony, learning to design a melodic line, orchestration etc equip one with the technique needed to move in any direction.
Certainly melodies need to fit beats and to have rhythmic character. Much more at the Music Matters website including our complete Theory course www.mmcourses.co.uk/p/music-theory-grades-1-to-8
Hello Sir, I am having my ABRSM Grade 5 Theory exams in 5 days. I have an important question regarding this exercise. Can we really COPY (identically) the first bar melody to the 5th bar? Please help. Thank you
What a great tutorial, thanks so much. I was quite scared about this aspect of the exam but you have explained it very well and managed to make it fun :-)
+Corrie De Beer Absolutely true in this case but don't forget that e natural MIGHT be something to do with F# minor descending melodic minor i.e. there may be a mixture of E# and E natural. Hope you found the film helpful.