Berklee Online presents
music composer working at their computer and keyboard

Music Composition Techniques and Resources

Learn various music composition techniques and resources that will help you get started as you write your own piece of music.

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Jazz guitar improvisation

Jazz Scales for Improvisation That You Must Know

Learn the 10 scales that cover 95 percent of all jazz improvisation situations with the help of Gary Burton.

5 Skills You Need to Become a Music Arranger

Berklee Online music arrangement course instructor and author Jerry Gates shares five tips to help you become a music arranger.

Gaye Tolan Hatfield, professor of ear training at Berklee.

Learn Ear Training with Gaye Tolan Hatfield

In this video series, Berklee Online instructor Gaye Tolan Hatfield introduces viewers to the most important concepts of ear training.

Tony Trischka on Banjo, Pete Seeger, Steve Martin, and Springsteen

Tony Trischka’s list of collaborators includes Pete Seeger, Bela Fleck, Earl Scruggs, and Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, so it’s no surprise that he has been called “perhaps the most influential banjo player in the roots music world.” 

Counterpoint in Music with Beth Denisch

Beth Denisch’s new book presents practical ways to use counterpoint in today’s musical industry, whether you’re writing rock songs, film scores, EDM tracks, or any type of music.

Reharmonization: Chord Substitution

In order to use chord substitution as a reharmonization technique, you must understand the division of the seven diatonic chords.

Modal Harmony in Jazz Composition

The modes have provided fertile musical soil for jazz composers since the late 1950s. In effect, modes can be viewed as displacements of the major scale.

Guitarist learning how to voice lead on acoustic guitar.

Voice Leading for Guitar

In jazz, you will encounter only seven kinds of diatonic seventh chords (from major, melodic minor, or harmonic minor keys). This article will show you how to voice lead smoothly and easily between these chords and their variations.

A woman playing piano using the music modes.

Music Modes: Major and Minor Modal Scales in Music Theory

Learn how to master the major and minor music modes with this excerpt from Berklee Online’s Music Theory 201 course by Paul Schmeling.