You’re not alone. Many aspiring musicians, from guitarists shredding solos to vocalists belting out tunes, find themselves playing by ear or rote memorization. While that’s a fantastic start, there’s a vast, rich world beneath the surface of every song – a world governed by music theory.

And before you picture dusty textbooks and complex equations, let’s stop right there. Music theory isn’t about stifling your creativity; it’s about empowering it.

The Myth vs. The Reality: What Music Theory Isn’t

Myth 1: “Music theory will make me sound robotic.” Reality: Quite the opposite! Understanding theory gives you the tools to break rules intentionally, to create unique tensions, and to craft more compelling melodies and harmonies. It’s like learning grammar before writing a poem – it gives you the framework to truly express yourself.

Myth 2: “It’s only for classical musicians or composers.” Reality: From pop to rock, jazz to EDM, every genre is built on theoretical principles. Knowing why certain chords sound good together, how a melody evokes a specific emotion, or why a bassline grooves the way it does will profoundly impact your playing and writing, no matter your style.

Myth 3: “It’s too hard and boring.” Reality: Like learning an instrument, it takes dedication, but with the right approach, music theory can be incredibly engaging and immediately applicable. Think of it as learning the secret language of your favorite songs.

The True Power: What Music Theory Is (And Why You Need It)

Imagine these scenarios:

• You’re trying to write a song: Instead of aimlessly searching for chords, you’ll understand why a certain progression creates a feeling of joy, sadness, or anticipation. You’ll know how to build a chorus that lifts and a bridge that provides contrast.
• You’re improvising: You won’t just be playing scales; you’ll be navigating chord changes with confidence, hitting “target” notes that make your solos sing, and expressing emotions through your melodic choices.
• You’re learning a new song: You’ll pick up on patterns and structures faster, understanding the underlying harmony instead of just memorizing finger placements. This drastically speeds up your learning process.
• You’re communicating with other musicians: When a bandleader says, “Play a ii-V-I in G,” you won’t stare blankly. You’ll instantly know what to do, making collaboration seamless and enjoyable.
• You want to understand why music moves you: Theory provides the vocabulary to articulate the magic behind your favorite tracks. You’ll appreciate music on a deeper, more intellectual, and emotional level.

Ready to Unlock Your Musical Potential?

If you’ve ever felt limited by not knowing why certain things work in music, or if you’re eager to take your playing, songwriting, or overall appreciation to the next level, then it’s time to demystify music theory.

At Morning Dew Media, we believe that understanding music theory should be accessible, practical, and, most importantly, fun! That’s why we’ve created the Music Theory for Beginners course.

This course is designed specifically for aspiring musicians like you, breaking down complex concepts into digestible, easy-to-understand lessons. You’ll learn:

• The fundamentals of rhythm, melody, and harmony.
• How to read and write basic music notation – we also work with piano roll!
• The secrets behind chords and progressions.
• What scales and modes really mean for your playing.
• And practical ways to apply everything you learn to your instrument and songwriting!

Stop guessing and start understanding. Stop memorizing and start creating with intention.

Your musical journey is about to get a whole lot more exciting and fulfilling.

Click here to explore our “Music Theory for Beginners” course and start your transformation today!

Also check out my video “Learn simple music theory in 5 minutes“!

// Mattias Holmgren – Composer & Educator
Morningdew Media Education

The post Unlock the Secrets: Why Every Aspiring Musician Needs Music Theory (It’s Easier Than You Think!) appeared first on Morningdew Media.

NEW! Join my Logic Pro for beginners course http://bit.ly/3yYtSDI

What is Chromatic Mediant Modulation?

Chromatic mediant modulation is a harmonic technique where a chord progression changes from one key to another that is a chromatic mediant away. What does that mean? It means that the new key is three half-steps up or down from the original key. For example, if you’re in the key of C major, the chromatic mediant keys would be E-flat major or A-flat major.

The Magic of Chromatic Mediant Modulation

So, why do composers love chromatic mediant modulation? Because it creates a sense of surprise and tension that can be incredibly powerful in music. It’s like taking a sudden turn down an unexpected path. The listener is taken on a journey that is both exciting and satisfying.

Chromatic mediant modulation can be used to transition between different sections of a song or to add an emotional impact to a specific moment. It can also be used to create a sense of resolution or to create a feeling of unease. The possibilities are endless.

Famous Examples of Chromatic Mediant Modulation

Many famous composers have used chromatic mediant modulation in their music. For example, in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the transition from the third to the fourth movement uses chromatic mediant modulation. In Chopin’s Prelude No. 17 in A-flat major, the modulation from A-flat major to F-sharp major is a chromatic mediant modulation. And in the Beatles’ “Something,” the modulation from C major to A-flat major in the chorus is a chromatic mediant modulation.

Try It Yourself: How to Use Chromatic Mediant Modulation in Your Own Music

Now that you know what chromatic mediant modulation is and why it’s so magical, it’s time to try it out for yourself. Here are some tips on how to use chromatic mediant modulation in your own music:

1. Identify the key of your song and find the chromatic mediant keys.
2. Choose a moment in your song where you want to create a sense of surprise or tension.
3. Use chromatic mediant modulation to transition to a new key.
4. Experiment with different chord progressions in the new key to create the desired emotional impact.

In conclusion, chromatic mediant modulation is a powerful music theory trick that has been used by some of the greatest composers of all time. It can add a sense of surprise, tension, resolution, or unease to your music. So go ahead, give it a try, and see where the magic takes you!

The post Why Every Great Composer Make Use Of This Music Theory Trick: The Chromatic Mediant Modulation appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Rings of power music analysis

In the rings of power music analysis you will learn how the song was composed and arranged. I believe it’s crucial to study great themes and songs by master composers (like Howard Shore) to learn and get an idea of what makes a great song.

RIngs of Power opening theme – midi file

DOWNLOAD Rings Of Power (MIDI file):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wbIbfRdsfFfBxU1jewUQ_Jj1nkRnAORA/view?usp=sharing

What do you learn from the Film Scoring for Beginners Episode 8 – Rings of power?

• Melody writing tips.
• Song structure & song arranging tips.
• Harmony and voice leading ideas.
• Instrumentation and sound design.
• Counterpoint.
• Instrument layering.
• + much more!

But where are the other film scoring for beginners episodes?

If you like the film scoring for beginner series, you can watch all episode in the playlist below:

The post Rings of power music analysis – Film Scoring for beginners episode 8 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

The opening theme to the Rings of Power is a grandiose and powerful cue highlighting the light… and the darkness of the world of Tolkien. While the Rings of Power’s first motif (out of the larger theme) begins with a major tonality, it later returns in minor. Believe me, this is excellent song writing and tribute to the original Lord of the rings themes. Simple but effective and strong themes!

The Rings Of Power opening theme song

On friday 2022-09-02 the first two episodes of The Rings Of Power was released on Amazon Prime and the opening theme instantly gave me goozebumps. I can’t wait to hear more themes composed by Howard Shore and Bear McCreary (God of War etc.).

Enjoy my rendition of “How to play the rings of power opening theme on the piano”.

Diatonic Mediants in the Rings Of Power theme

The main themes harmony makes use of diatonic mediants which was used extensively in the original Lord of the rings soundtrack composed by Howard Shore. In The Rings Of Power theme songs first two chords we have a C Major to E minor. The tonic-chord to the third-chord.

In the second motif we find an F Major to A minor chord, again diatonic mediants.

We will discuss the theme song harmony, melody and arrangement in more detailed in the next Film Scoring for beginners video.

Until then make sure to watch this Rings Of Power clip and get to know the theme.

Want to know the MUSIC THEORY behind the Rings of Power theme? Watch my video below:

The post How to play The Rings Of Power theme song on piano appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Time macro – library sounds

The Time macro library contains the sound of mid-sized orchestral ensembles and choirs. Combined to create unique shifting textures–clearly rooted in organic sound, but imperceptibly drifting up into the ether. Advanced articulations and dynamic gestures add nuance and movement. With full sections, 10 individual ensembles, and evocative ‘Chrono Structures’, TIME macro is instant inspiration. Essential for all kinds of contemporary scoring, and perfect for underscoring and sound design.

Time macro highlights

• Long, sustained, shifting textures
• Rhythmic clockwork patterns
• Pendulum swells
• 10 individual large ensembles
• Female and male choirs
• Unique textural patches ‘Chrono Structures’
• Full sections for strings, woodwinds, and choir
• Harps & Vibes

Time micro – library sounds

In addition to Time macro, Time micro is the sound of small ensembles and solo instruments playing with the utmost restraint and precision. Here too, the focus is on sustains that move and shift, with a wide range of articulations and complex ‘Chrono Structures’. Exercising the power of the understatement, this is a secret weapon for underscoring, sound design, and all kinds of modern music production.

Time micro highlights

• Soft, shimmering, delicate sounds
• Pendulum swells
• Experimental articulations
• 14 small ensembles and solo instruments
• Long, sustained, shifting textures
• Rhythmic clockwork patterns
• Unique textural patches ‘Chrono Structures’
• 5 specialized Combined patches

Time macro and micro bundle available from Orchestral Tools

TIME macro and micro is available as a bundle from Orchestral Tools. Read more about Time macro and micro bundle here.

The post TIME macro and micro review – You never heard the orchestra like this! appeared first on Morningdew Media.

What is music without tension and release? 

Not much! 

That’s why I made this new video on how to build tension and anticipation in music.
Music is much more exciting if it’s going somewhere! 

This trick you will learn is used all over the place…and in all kinds of genres. But not everyone knows how to use this trick to it’s full potential!

Pedal point

Today we will talk about pedal point, or pedal note, and how you can use this really easy (yet powerful) trick to achieve excitement, suspense and anticipation in your songs.

What is pedal point

Pedal point is when you play a note repeatedly or sustained throughout a section of a song. Sometimes the pedal point is used thoughout a whole music piece. Around (above / below) that pedal point you can have different chords happening, but you keep that pedal note running.

The pedal point creates the effect of anticipation and adds a driving force to your music.

The pedal note yearns to resolve!

Pedal point and ostinatos are VERY common composition tricks used in game music and film scores.

What is the most common pedal point?

The most common pedal point to use is the fifth in your scale. The fifth is dominant and has a really driving force to resolve to the tonic (root note). That’s why it works so great!

If you’re in the Fminor scale. Your pedal point would be a repeating (or sustained) C note.

Another common pedal note is the root note, which gives a different feel. You can also play the fifth and the root note (at the same time / rhythm) to create the pedal point effect.

You can obviously use other notes as pedal point too, but the fifth and root are the most common ones.

The post How to build tension in music with pedal point appeared first on Morningdew Media.

How to find videos to practise scoring

In the video I first show the service I use, pexels.com, to find attractive AND free video clips that I use in some of my music videos.

These free video clips are excellent to use when practising film scoring because ultimately you want to show your demos to film producers, on YouTube and social media…so you need these clips to be legally free to use and share in your work.

Secondly, we also look at how to edit a few selected video clips into a longer short film in the free video editing software Davinci Resolve.

Furthermore, I show how to render (export) the video clip in Davinci Resolve with the proper video export settings.

Finally we import the video clip into a DAW to begin the film scoring process.

Enjoy!

The post How to find videos to practise scoring – Film Scoring For beginners episode 6 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Welcome to Film Scoring For Beginners episode 5. In this episode we look at how to score action scenes in a film. Todays film score is from the short film, Bag of bones. A film I scored a few years back.

This action film score consists of two distinct parts; a suspenseful introduction which leads into the actual action cue.

How to compose action music for film scores

In this film scoring for beginners video we talk about the composing process behind action music.

How do we find a suitable tempo? What instruments and sounds to use for action music? Why is question / answer and dynamics important throughout the music cue?

Furthermore, we talk about what kind of chords and notes one can use to build suspense and action.

How do we drive the scene forward? How to build momentum in the music?

Obviously, there are million ways to score an action scene, I’m not an expert, but this is one possible way of approaching an action scene.

About the film – Bag Of Bones

Bag Of Bones (An AJP Productions short film: ajpprod.com)
Director: Aurélien Lainé
Director of Photography: Michael Lindberg
Producers: Aurélien Lainé & Hee-Young Sunwoo.
Music: Mattias holmgren.

Enjoy!

The post How to score action scenes – Film Scoring for beginners E05 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Generally you want to work with less compressed video file formats when editing. A less compressed video format will tax your cpu less during playback. When you play back an encoded file format the cpu (or hardware gpu) will have to decode the data in order to show the images. Compressed formats result in a more demanding processing.

What is the best video format for film scoring?

If file size is not an issue, the best choice is an editing codec like ProRes. ProRes is a native format of Apple Final Cut Pro. You can also use DNxHD (Avid’s native format). These video codecs run smoothly when scrubbing to preview your video. They are also economical in terms of allocated memory per video file. Codecs like Photo-JPEG and Motion-JPEG work well too.

The above formats will result in a larger file size, compared to a more compressed format, like h264.

H264 allows for small video file sizes but can be a problem because of the variety of encoding parameters which heavily affect the performance while scrubbing.

Hardware accelerated h264 video encoding

Some graphic cards support hardware decoding of h264 and/or h265 files which can help your cpu from overworking. Before buying your next graphics card, make sure to check if the hardware support video format encoding.

Video Encoding Tip

If you want your video to run smoothly during scrubbing, use a key frame interval (IDR) of 1 frame. Which means that every frame is encoded separately.

Also lowering the video resolution (e.g. from full-HD to 720p) helps to increase the playback performance. Video files with a lower resolution will consume less memory too.

Encoding a video with proper settings will help your audio or scoring session.

Frame Rates

Movie frame rate may differ from your DAW project frame rate. Make sure to match the frame rate in your DAW to play along with the film clip frame setting.

Most video files for film work are output at 24fps. But while doing indie film and commercials you might see various resolutions. Again, just make sure you use the same frame rate in the DAW.

Video Compression Format

H264 compressed picture offers the best tradeoff of resolution versus size, and this seems to be the format most cutting rooms use these days. On a typical modern feature you’ll be getting a lot of versions of picture, so even though disk space probably isn’t an issue any more and the internet is fast, you still want reels to come in at a sensible size. 4-5 Mbit/s target compression will usually bring in a 20 minute reel under 1GB and still looks great (and means you can download an entire 8 reel movie in under an hour on a reasonable internet connection).

If your computer has problems playing back the h264 file your receive from the film director, try and rebuild the video in a less compressed format, like ProRes. Importantly, this will result in a larger file size, but will probably play back more smoothly.

–

Right, so we talked about the video encoding formats. But what about other important parameters before we can get started with the actual film scoring? What do you need from the cutting room in order to get started with the scoring?

From a professional cutting room the video should contain

• A standard 8 second (12 feet) leader.
• Sync “plops” 2 seconds before and after the reel (with accompanying pip in ALL the sound files).
• Burnt in SMPTE time code * on screen (aka BITC, Burnt In Time Code)
• Burnt in feet + frames (standard time reference in the US).

* SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) time code is a standard way to label frames on a piece of video or film. It takes the format HH:MM:SS:FF (hours, minutes, seconds and frames). On a feature film, each reel traditionally begins at the hour of the reel number (eg. Reel 1 starts at 01:00:00:00, reel 4 at 04:00:00:00, etc). The number of frames displayed will depend on the film / video format. Film has 24 frames per second, PAL TV has 25fps and NTSC 30fps.

This is the traditional data you will see in content sent from a dedicated cutting room. It’s the traditional way of sending video during editing and the film scoring process.

Video syncing data from indie film makers

Personally, while working with commercials / game companies and indie film makers since 2003, I have rarely seen such a comprehensive set of data bundled with the videos. When working in an all-digital-format we can just sync everything to the start of the film-clip.

My clients often send over a pretty compressed h264 file as a reference for the film scoring. For me the h264 format has worked out fine.

Exporting the score from Logic Pro X

After scoring the video, we export the audio from the start of the film clip to the end of the film-clip. It’s pretty easy to select this exact area and import / export the audio from a DAW like Logic Pro X.

In Logic Pro X you can also select to export and burn the audio into the video clip, which is an awesome feature!

The indie video editor can look at the video preview video and confirm if the scoring is ok. FInally, they can import the audio file you sent and sync (snap) it to the beginning of the video in their video editing program (Final Cut Pro / Davinci resolve…or whatever editing program they are using).

If you want to learn more about Film Scoring you can check out my Film Scoring for beginners series here:

Everything will be in sync if we are using the same sample-rate. Speaking of sample rate…

Standard Sample Rate and Bit-Depth for film scoring

48khz 24bit is standard.

Anything else should be discussed before you stat the project. Other, more high-definition formats, like 196khz 24bit is special scenarios when editing for a specific format like blue-ray or cinema.

The post Best video format for film scoring or audio post appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Film Scoring for beginners #4

In the Film Scoring for beginners episode 4 I show my work process when it comes to transforming music themes from one mood, to a totally different emotion. 

We begin with a quite happy / heroic original melody which we created in the “Melody inspiration” video.

Theme variations in film scoring

In the film scoring for beginners part 4 video, we talk about the process of adjusting an original melody into:

• scary / mysterious theme
• suspensful / thriller theme
• nostalgic love theme
• adventure / hero theme

I spent a lot of time figuring out and preparing this video and I hope it will be helpful to you as a composer. Even if you are not writing for film or games I think this “thinking process” is nice to know and explore for any music producer.

The post Film Scoring For Beginners #4 – Theme Variations appeared first on Morningdew Media.