Music Student 101

160-Listener Compositions Pt.10

This, our 10th listener compositions episode, is dedicated to sharing the talents and music of our ever growning listening community. And some amazing talent it is! This

159-Intro To 20th Century Music

Almost all of the music theory we've discussed at this point, in Western music, has been based on tonal music. In the 20th century, atonal music and a host of other style

158-10 Year Anniversary

This episode will be a celebration of the 10 years we've been doing this show! Let's talk about where we've been, where we are and where we're going. We will also have a

157-Harmonic Progression Pt.13 (All 7th Chords)

This ear training episode will be like many others. The difference? All chords (except the tonic) will be full 7th chords! Will these additions muddy up our analysis? Let

156-Women In Music Pt.3

Continuing where we left off on episode 97, we will now cover several influential female composers from the Romantic Period!

155-Orchestration-Woodwinds Pt.2

On episode 154, we began a discussion on orchestration for the woodwinds section and it's instruments: the flute, the oboe, the clarinet, the saxophone and the bassoon. W

154-Orchestration-Woodwinds Pt.1

Orchestration is the art of choosing the right instruments, and the proper balance thereof, for a composition. Different considerations go into conveying different moods

153-Tips For A Gigging Musician Pt.1

It's time to discuss playing a live show for money (a.k.a. "gigging")! We hope most musicians will experience this at some point. In this episode, we will focus on practi

152-Polytonality Pt.1

What is polytonality? Can a piece of music be in more than one key at a time? Where do atonality and polytonality differ? What does this music even sound like? If you hav

151-Listener Compositions Pt.9

This, our 9th listener compositions episode, is all about our talented listeners and their ever growing writing skills. We are calling this "The Reunion" because we have

150-The Big Recap Pt.5

It is again time to reminisce on some of the topics we've covered in past episodes. This, part 5 of our recaps, will cover episodes 101-130. These episodes cover a lot of

149-The Baroque Period (Early)

Departing from episode 148, Renaissance Music Pt.2 (Late), we now arrive at the Early Baroque period! Up for discussion will be some pioneer composers of this period such

148-Renaissance Music Pt.2 (Late)

Continuing from episode 144, Renaissance Music Pt.1 (Early-Mid), we will now get into the late Renaissance period! In this episode, we will cover the composition techniqu

147-Shenkerian Analysis Pt.3

We will now further our discussion of Shankerian analysis with linear intervalic progressions, compound melodies, transition between voices, more on the neighbor note and

146-The Big Recap Pt.4

It is time to dedicate another episode to the purpose of reviewing some of the topics we've covered. This episode, part 4 of our recaps, will cover episodes 71-100. By ep

145-Music Apps 2025

We've touched on music apps in past episodes. But we thought it might be nice to dedicate an episode to some great apps that cover ear training, rhythm, notation and prac

144-Renaissance Music Pt.1 (Early-Mid)

Continuing from episode 134, Middle Ages Music Pt.2, we will now get into the early to mid Renaissance period. In this episode, we will cover the composition techniques a

143-The Big Recap Pt.3

We decided to dedicate another episode to the purpose of reviewing some of the topics we've covered up to a certain point. This episode, part 3 of our recaps, will cover

142-Melodic Dictation Pt.8-Locrian Mode

Melodic dictation, the act of transcribing and notating a melody by ear, is a crucial skill for a musician to cultivate. In this episode, we will focus on the ever elusiv

141-The Blues Pt.3-Piedmont and Texas Blues

In episodes 64 and 89, we discussed the roots of blues and country and delta blues. Now we spread out from these genres to cover Texas blues and Piedmont blues. We will d