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Music Theory and Composition

How to Make Video Game Music (with a JRPG Town Theme Walkthrough)

Loop design, a complete JRPG town-theme walkthrough, and adventure and dungeon examples from The Legend of Otoe: how to write video game music that holds up.

Music Theory and Composition

Counterpoint in Music: A Beginner's Guide to Writing Lines That Work Together

Counterpoint is the art of writing lines that work together. Learn the core principles, the five species, and how film and game composers use it today.

Music Theory and Composition

Mixolydian Mode: Scale, Chords, and How Composers Use It

Mixolydian is a major scale with a lowered seventh. Here's how to build it in any key, which chords bring out its color, and how composers use it.

Music Theory and Composition

Phrygian Mode: Scale, Chords, and How Composers Use It

Phrygian is a minor scale with a lowered second. Here's how to build it in any key, which chords bring out its color, and how composers use it.

Music Theory and Composition

Lydian Mode: Scale, Chords, and How Composers Use It

Lydian is a major scale with one raised note. Here's how to build it in any key, which chords bring out its color, and how composers use it.

Music Theory and Composition

Dorian Mode: Scale, Chords, and How Composers Use It

Dorian is a minor scale with one bright note. Here's how to build it in any key, which chords bring out its color, and how composers use it.

Music Theory and Composition

Modes in Music: The Seven Modes Explained for Composers

The seven modes are seven flavors of the major scale, each with its own color and mood. Here's how they work and how composers use them.

Music Theory and Composition

Anime Chord Progressions: 8 Classic Japanese Progressions Explained

Eight chord progressions behind anime and JRPG music: Royal Road, Nichijou, Just the Two of Us, Evangelion, the Mario cadence and more, with chords in C.

Music Theory and Composition

Japanese Instruments: A Composer's Guide

The traditional Japanese instruments composers actually use — koto, shakuhachi, shamisen, biwa, and taiko: what they're called, how they work, and how to write for them.

Music Theory and Composition

Japanese Scales: A Composer's Guide

The essential Japanese scales for composers — hirajōshi, insen, iwato, yo and the pentatonic family: note spellings, sound character, which instruments they live on, and how to use them.

Music Theory and Composition

Music Scales: How They Work and How Composers Use Them

How music scales are built from interval patterns — major, minor, the seven modes, pentatonic and the scales film composers reach for, with fifteen diagrams.

Music Theory and Composition

Piano Chords: How to Build, Play, and Use Every Chord Type

How piano chords are built, how to play them comfortably, and how composers voice, connect and use them — with twelve keyboard diagrams.

Music Theory and Composition

Syncopation: What It Is and How Composers Use It

What syncopation is, how to count and write it, and how film, game and trailer composers use accents against the meter — with examples and diagrams.

Music Theory and Composition

Modal Interchange: Borrowed Chords and How Composers Use Them

What modal interchange is, why borrowed chords still make sense in the key, the palette composers use most (iv, flat VI, flat VII, flat III, flat II), and how film, game and anime writers use them for colour and lift.

Music Theory and Composition

Augmented Chords: How They Work and How Composers Use Them

What augmented chords are, why they sound unresolved, their two jobs as altered dominant and passing chord, why one augmented triad reaches six keys, and how composers use them for magic, mystery and tension.

Music Theory and Composition

Diminished Chords: How They Work and How Composers Use Them

What diminished chords are, the three kinds (triad, dim7, half-diminished), how they resolve, why one diminished seventh reaches eight keys, and how composers use them for tension, pivots and atmosphere.

Music Theory and Composition

Secondary Dominants: How They Work and How Composers Use Them

What secondary dominants are, how to find one for any chord, and how film, game and anime composers use them for momentum, chromatic bass lines and drama.

Music Theory and Composition

Leitmotif in Music: Meaning, Examples, and How to Write One

A leitmotif is a short musical idea that stands for a character, a place, or an idea. What makes one memorable, how film composers use them, and how to write your own.

Music Theory and Composition

The Circle of Fifths: How It Works and How Composers Actually Use It

How the circle of fifths is built and read, and how film, game and anime composers actually use it: descending-fifths chains, key planning and modulation.

Music Theory and Composition

What Is a Tritone? Why It Sounds So Tense and How Composers Use It

What is a tritone, why does it sound so tense, and how do composers use it? From dominant chords and tritone substitution to the Blackadder chord and horror scoring.

Music Theory and Composition

The Royal Road Progression: Japan's Signature Chord Progression

What is the Royal Road progression (IV–V–iii–vi)? Why it defines anime and J-pop harmony, how Japanese composers modify it, and how to use it in your own music.

Music Theory and Composition

Chord Progressions: The Complete Guide for Composers

What chord progressions are, the ones composers reach for in major and minor, borrowed-chord colors, Japanese progressions like the Royal Road — and how to write your own.

Music Theory and Composition

Sentence Form in Music: How This Phrase Structure Works

Sentence form explained — presentation, repetition and continuation — how the phrase structure works in classical, jazz and pop, with a score example.

Music Theory and Composition

How to Write a Catchy Melody: 10 Tips for Film & Game Music

Ten practical melody tips with examples from Zelda, Mario and Jaws — simplicity, rhythm, repetition, contrast and the hook.

Music Production

Virtual Instruments: How to Choose and Use Them

Want to know more about what virtual instruments are and how to use them? This article breaks down the basics of one of the most important ‘instruments’ for a modern composer and how to use, choose, and implement them in your music.

Music Theory and Composition

How to Write Anime Music

Discover the secrets to writing music for animes: ranging from learning how to write melodies, harmonies, which instruments to use, the different styles you can try, and even how to highlight the storytelling itself.

Music Theory and Composition

How to Write Cinematic Music: Instruments, Themes & Contrast

The building blocks of cinematic music — instrument roles, dynamic contrast, memorable themes and the composers to study. A quick-start guide.

Music Production

How to Mix Orchestral Music: EQ, Reverb, Panning & Depth

A step-by-step guide to mixing orchestral music: mic positions, panning, EQ, two-stage reverb, compression with intent, and the mono check.

Sound Design

How to Learn Sound Design: A Beginner’s Guide

This article is the perfect beginner guide for starting sound design, from key concepts like frequency, amplitude, and timbre to essential tools like DAWs and plugins.

Music Production

What Is EQ in Music? Equalization Explained for Composers and Producers

What does EQ mean in music? How equalization shapes frequency, gain and Q, the four EQ types, and how to EQ a mix, from the Master The Score mixing curriculum.

Trailer Music

How to Write Trailer Music: A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn how to write trailer music: the act structure editors need, hits, risers and braams, hybrid sound, trailer styles, mixing, and how tracks get placed.

Music Production

What Is Reverb? Settings and Mixing Tips

This article breaks down the basics of reverb in music production, covering key settings like decay time, pre-delay, and wet/dry mix. It’s got practical tips and creative ideas for using reverb plus some great plugin and best mixing course recommendations!

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