Online Classes
Orchestral Score Study Series
These series of courses are designed to introduce students to the importance of orchestral score study and offers clear techniques to help guide you. All courses come with my own analysis of form and structure, harmonic reductions, and notes on orchestrational practices.
Topics covered in each course include: How to approach an orchestral score for study, Form and Structure, Harmony and Key Relations, Motivic/Thematic Development, Counterpoint, Orchestration/Texture/Spacing, Rhythmic Usages.
TURN OF THE CENTURY MASTERS—The Music of Ravel and Stravinsky
A ten-week course covering the music of Maurice Ravel’s masterpiece Mother Goose Suite and Igor Stravinsky’s Fireworks.
PROKOFIEV’S Peter and the Wolf
A ten-week course covering the music of Serge Prokofiev’s masterpiece Peter and the Wolf and and selections from his ballet Romeo and Juliet.
GUSTAV HOLST’S The Planets
A ten-week course covering the music of Gustav Holst’s masterpiece The Planets. We take a close look at five of the seven movements: Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Saturn.
MASTERS OF FILM MUSIC—The Music of John Williams and Bernard Herrmann
A ten-week course covering selections from John Williams scores to Star Wars and Harry Potter. Also included are selections from Bernard Herrmann’s phenomenal scores to Vertigo and Psycho.
MASTERS THROUGH THE CENTURIES
A ten-week course that covers music spanning from the 18th to 20th centuries. Composers studied include:
– Bach Air on the G String
– Beethoven Symphony No. 5 (Movt 3)
– Tchaikovsky “Overture” to the Nutcracker Suite
– Holst The Planets (Mars)
– Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 (Movt 3)
– Stravinsky The Rite of Spring (Dance of the Earth)
MUSIC THEORY
CHROMATIC HARMONY of the Romantic Composers
A ten-week course covering the chromatic techniques of composers such as Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Ravel, Gershwin, and more!
Topics covered include: Chromatic Non-Chord Tones, Modal Borrowing, Dominant 9th Chords, Neapolitan Chords, Augmented Sixth Chords (Italian, German, French), Secondary Augmented Sixth Chords (Tritone Substitution), Modulatory Sequencing, Chromatic Sliding Chords, Chromatic Modulation to Far Reaching Keys.
AURAL SKILLS 101
A ten-week course designed to offer a strong foundation in techniques of ear-training. The methods I use are mostly my own, developed after years of teaching. Whether you are new to ear-training or looking to strengthen your skills, this course will help provide you with a solid foundation and means to practice on your own. The goal is to develop the ability to “hear what you see, and see what you hear”.
Topics covered include: Basics and importance of Sol Fegge, Sight Singing, Hearing Intervals, Chord Qualities, Hearing Chord Inversions, Recognizing Meters and Rhythmic Patterns, plus… “Be Your Own Mozart”…a special technique I created to help you practice on your own and excel.