In part two, we learn how Copland created his distinctly American style and how McCarthyism impacted his career.

The Continued Evolution of Counterpoint Refresher: What is Counterpoint? In the post, Music Theory and Practice – Introduction to...

Carl Maria von Weber composed in an uniquely German Sturm und Drang style and is often considered the first Romantic composer.

Finding The Motivation Motivic Development What Makes A Musical Motive? A musical motive (sometimes motif) is the smallest...

Voice Leading or Chorale Writing What Is Voice Leading? Voice Leading, also called Part Writing or Chorale Style Writing, is...

Exploring Harmony Through Real Music Beginnings in The Baroque Era The Baroque era was a historical artistic period in Europe that...

Or, how studying music history makes you a better musician–no matter what genre you work in. Studying the history of music is beneficial...

Our First Featured Interview! For our first interview on the Perennial blog, I spoke with composer and educator John Dante Prevedini. ...

Celebrating the Beauty of Love this Valentine's Day In today's multimedia landscape, it's common—and often necessary—for one person to be...

Bringing the Baroque into the 21st Century What is Counterpoint? Counterpoint refers to an argument, idea, or theme used to create a...

Ruth Crawford Seeger: Modernist Composer, Music Educator, Ethnomusicologist, and Mother Before we get into our Mother's Day themed post,...

Inventor and Composer In previous posts, we've focused on the instruments played in the conventional Western orchestra, some instruments...

Music for Remembrance We've reached Fall 2020, a year that will no doubt be remembered as a year of transition and mourning. This past...

More Than "Just A Singer" – Voices As Instruments In the last post, I introduced the four main voice types, as well as additional...

Classifying the Voice There are four main voice types in choral music: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.

What images pop into your heard when you hear the word "texture"? Soft or hard? Dry or wet? Alive or inanimate? Slimy? Sticky? Fur, skin,...

Just as DNA is made up of the building blocks (nucleotides) that tell cells how to make up organisms, there are building blocks that make...

A Guide to the Circle of Fifths and Why You Should Know Them If you are new to music theory and/or composing and songwriting, the image...

Some detractors of music theory say that studying it limits musicians. However, this is false. Simply because we know the rules does not lim

VDMX Screen Capture With the constant inundation of audio-visual stimulation, it is difficult for the average person to go for more than...