Course Title
MUS 150 Essential Music Theory For Songwriters

Instructor
Danny Arena

Course Introduction
Listen to the instructor talk about this course:

Course Description
Specifically geared toward songwriting, this popular course gets down to the essentials of music theory without a lot of technical or fancy jargon. Hit song examples from Chuck Berry to Bob Seeger to George Strait and more help illustrate the fundamentals of constructing effective chord progressions in rock, pop and country music. In addition, you will discover how the use of chord substitutes can make your songs more creative and interesting. Finally, you will learn the basics of reading and writing charts for your own songs.

Course Content
Lesson 1: Introduction To Music Theory
Lesson 2: The Big Three: I, IV, V
Lesson 3: The Chord Substitutes: iim, iiim, vim
Lesson 4: A Complete Song Example

Estimated Time
This course consists of four lessons each of which takes approximately twenty to thirty minutes to complete. To obtain the greatest benefit, we suggest that you leave enough time after finishing each lesson to do all the exercises and fully absorb the material before beginning the next lesson.

Pre-Requisite Knowledge
This course assumes a thorough understanding of commercial song structures. Suggested pre-requisite courses include: SONG 100 Commercial Song Forms and MUS 130 Musical Elements Of A Successful Song. The ability to play some chords on a guitar or piano will also be helpful.

Software Required
This course uses examples that use Flash and iTunes For more information, see our system requirements page.