theory

The Hosts Take on Their First Songwriting Challenge

About three months ago, we asked our listeners to suggest a songwriting challenge or prompt for us to explore. Organizations like the Toronto Songwriting Association often prompt their members with challenges such as “Take a cliche and turn it on its head”, or “Write a song about a home appliance.” Singer-songwriter and former Song Talk …

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Neel, Michael, Steve, and Phil

Steve Koven – Play Piano, See The World

This week, SongTalk welcomed jazz pianist and teacher Steve Koven. Steve is a composer, performer, producer and educator. He has one of the longest standing trios in Canada, performing, touring and recording together for over 26 year. Aside from performing and recording with his trio – Steve Koven Trio – Steve also has other recording …

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Phil, Neel, Jeff, Bruce, Michael, and Vanessa

All about Modes with Jeff Alan Greenway

Composer, singer-songwriter, and piano virtuoso Jeff Alan Greenway joined us to talk about musical modes — what they are and how they are used in songs. Jeff went through each mode and sang a well-known song live with his piano. Listen to the whole show: Additional resources about modes: https://ledgernote.com/columns/music-theory/musical-modes-explained/ http://openmusictheory.com/scales2.html http://openmusictheory.com/popRockHarmony-EverettSystem2.html Here’s an easy to …

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