If you have garageband on your Mac, then you already know what I’m talking about. If you don’t, then fear not, we’ll get you rolling. In addition, there is some free editing software online that is very easy to use.
Are you interested in taking some online courses on songwriting or attending a music production school? I attended the Berklee College of Music and I can tell you all about my experience. In addition, there are other schools such as Full Sail that prepare you for a career in music as well.
Over the next few months I will be building out this site to include instruction on guitar, songwriting, lyric writing, recording, music schools and music licensing (including places to pitch your music).
If you want to be kept in the loop as the content becomes available, sign up below for my newsletter Songwriting-Unlimited.
Songwriting Blog
Want to learn music theory? Want to write better lyrics? Have songs but need to record them? Do you want to license your songs to TV?
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Musical Notation / Basic Music Theory
This FREE VIDEO online musical notation and basic music theory course is for beginners to advanced students. Each concept is accompanied by rich graphic and text explanation.
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Music Theory for Dummies
This music theory for dummies VIDEO page explains the basic ingredients needed to play or make music. They are pitch, pitch duration and beat.
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Treble Clef and the Treble Staff
The treble clef sits on the treble staff. It's also called a G clef because it wraps around the G note.
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Bass Clef and the Bass Staff
The bass clef sits on the bass staff. It's also called an F clef because there are two dots on either side of the F note.
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The Grand Staff and Ledger Lines
The grand staff combines both the treble staff and the bass staff. Middle C sits on a ledger line between the two staves. Piano players read this staff.
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The Whole Note and the Half Note
The whole note when played or sung is held for 4 beats of sound. The half note when played or sung is held for 2 beats of sound.
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Quarter Note, Eighth Note & Sixteenth Note
The quarter note when played or sung is held for 1 beat of sound. The eighth note when played or sung is held for 1/2 a beat of sound. The sixteenth note is held for 1/4 of a beat of sound. These m
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The Quarter Rest and it's Silent Family
The quarter rest is one silent beat of time. The whole, half, eighth and sixteenth rests are also silent versions of the notes. We beat the time, just without sound.
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Music Symbols and Musical Bars
Music symbols all sit on various staves which are divided into musical bars.
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Music Tempo
Music tempo is the speed with which we play music. We can set a metronome to give us our beats per minute (bpm).
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Common Time or 4/4 Time
Common time is the same as 4/4 time. Most of the music we listen to is in this time signature.
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Waltz Time or 3/4 Time
Waltz time is the same as 3/4 time. A lot of the music we listen to is in waltz time.
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Music Meter, 6/8 Time and Cut Time
This Music meter page explains the difference between compound meter and simple meter. We'll focus on the popular time signatures of 6/8 time and cut time.
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Free Music Theory Online
This FREE Music Theory Online Course, is divided into 31 music theory lessons with VIDEO. In parts 18 & 19 we focus on bringing together what we have learned to create a simple melody.
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Dotted Half Note and it's Family
The dotted half note is 1 1/2 x itself. Since a half note is worth 2 beats, a dotted half note is 3 beats. All dotted notes are 1 1/2 x themselves.
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C Major Scale
The C Major Scale is the easiest of the music scales to learn as it uses only white keys on the piano. It introduces the pattern of WWHWWWH which exists in all keys.
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Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti are solfege syllables that we learn in order to learn the major scale also called the Ionian scale.
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The Sound of Music Lyrics
The Sound of Music Lyrics can teach us a lot about music. The Do-Re-Mi lyrics teach us about basic solfege which is the beginning of ear training.
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Music Scales and the A Minor Scale
Among the important music scales is the natural minor scale. "A" minor is the relative minor scale to the "C" Major scale. Another name for this scale is the aeolian scale.
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Music Theory Intervals
Music Theory Intervals are the distances between pitches. The perfect fifth, the perfect fourth, octave and unison are very common music intervals, however many more exist. The other musical interva
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C Major Chord and Chord Theory
The C Major Chord is the "one" chord in the key of C. Let's use chord theory to build the rest of the music theory chords in this key.
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Music Theory Course on the Chromatic Scale
This FREE music theory course is 26 and 27 in a 31 part series on musical notation and basic music theory. The chromatic scale consists of 12 semitones that repeat over and over.
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G Major Scale
The G Major Scale introduces us to our first sharp in the key signature. F now becomes F# because when following the pattern of WWHWWWH, starting on G, we play our first black key.
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Music Theory Scales and E Minor Scale
Among the Music Theory Scales is the E Minor Scale which is also called the Aeolian Scale or the Natural Minor Scale. In addition, we will talk about the Harmonic Minor Scale and the Melodic Minor Sc
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Circle of Fifths and Music Theory Chords in G Major
Understanding the Circle of Fifths is helpful in building music theory chords. We will look at the Key of G Major and see how we build the chords I II III IV V VI VII. We now have our first sharp so
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Musical Dynamics and a Stairway to Heaven
Musical Dynamics are how loud or soft the music is. Mezzo Forte is medium loud and Mezzo Piano is medium soft. Stairway to Heaven displays an incredible use of dynamics.
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Free Music Theory Worksheets, Tests and Games
I have compiled some FREE music theory worksheets, music theory tests, free printable worksheets and music theory games to help solidify what we have learned in this course.
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Free Music Notation Software
The FREE music notation software of choice is MuseScore. If you want to pay a little for some quality music notation software then I would recommend Finale Notation Software. There are pl
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Learn to Play Piano
You can learn to play piano! I have compiled the best sites on the web so you can learn piano with free piano lessons online.
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Music Websites and Making Money
I have combined some music websites and my experiences in making money with music licensing, to help you promote your music and sell your songs.
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Free Internet Radio to Promote Your Music
Free Internet Radio is a great way to promote your music. You can submit music to internet radio stations that focus on free radio. There are also services that help you with the process.
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Performance Royalties and Music Licensing
Performance royalties are what you earn from music licensing. We'll discuss copyright law, royalty free music, synchronization licenses and places to place your music.
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My TV Show Music Placements
I have had many tv show music placements and you can too. I started getting my songs and instrumentals into a music production library about ten years ago.
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Amazon Music & itunes Can Sell Your Songs
Amazon music and itunes can sell your songs if you join a digital distribution company. You can sell on itunes or sell music online in a number of different ways, but tunecore and songcast are very e
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Music Business Schools and Berklee College of Music
One of the best music business schools in the world is the Berklee College of Music. In addition, it's not only the best audio engineering school but the Berklee School of Music is one of the best mus
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About
This is my "about" page. I attended the Berklee College of Music from '87-'91. I was signed to AMG Records in '99. I have been teaching music for 20 years. I got involved in music licensing in 200
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Contact
Contact form for Songwriting-Unlimited
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We’ll talk about why it can be important to play power chords on electric guitar when songwriting and arranging. We’ll talk about what diatonic harmony is as we learn how to play and write songs.
