Composition 103: Mediant Chords

[@anatomicallymodernhuman5175]

Here’s the thing. I already “know” all the music theory and composition stuff you talk about. I have a B.Mus., I later took an in-person course taught one of the most successful TV composers, and I taught a composition class at a small local college. But when you present it, it’s clearer, more meaningful, and simply inspiring. After watching one of your vids, I can’t help but go write something immediately.

[@Larsmannetje66]

Hi AMH, I can’t pretend to be at your skill level, but your reaction struck me, as I feel the same very much. Cheers from NL!

[@peen2804]

I love how half the comments are “well akchualy i wait 4 ur videos cuz I like them”. yeah obviously you’re not the kind of person that message was directed toward. She’s addressing the alarmingly large group of people that for reasons unbeknownst to anyone think any information they learn on KZbin must be a long guarded industry secret that the elite cabal in their ivory tower don’t want the small folk to learn and these altruistic KZbinrs are risking it all to provide the masses with knowledge

[@freyatilly]

Know how you feel the swing.

[@TonyThomas10000]

We wait for you because you are a really great instructor and provide great examples!

[@wingflanagan]

If no one has recommended his work, yet, I would like to put in a word for Alan Belkin. He is a retired professor of composition and an excellent composer, himself. He has a KZbin channel with lengthy, multipart videos on things like counterpoint and harmony, along with exercises and loads of examples. He wrote a very practical textbook on composition called _Musical Composition: Craft and Art,_ which focuses on a lot of things that composition books don't usually cover.

[@rgallitan]

I second the recommendation for Alan Belkin. His content is a lot drier than Anne's to be sure, but very enlightening and thorough. In a totally different vein I've also been getting a lot from Charles Cornell recently. It isn't exactly a composition channel really, more music appreciation, but his ability to drill down into what's happening and instantly reinterpret it on the piano makes each video a fun little snippet of score study.

[@yannschwab8816]

that's exactly what I was going to say. Alan Belkin's serie on counterpoint is the best that can be found on online videos. His other series are excellent too, but since Anne talks a lot about counterpoint on her ending message, it's the best place to start online. The other guy that everyone should know about regarding orchestration training is Thomas Goss, of course. He has done so much already, and is building such an amazing community on "orchestration online" ...

[@BirdYoumans]

I just found you a couple days ago but realized immediately that you are special. You have a gift for music, but you also have a gift for teaching. Yes, there are books, scores and tons of videos, but few distill it into a useable product so to speak like you do. I've known music theory for 50 or more years, but you bring a neat perspective to it. It's one thing to know what a "hammer and nail" are, but it's another thing to learn to be a carpenter. I've made a living in music all my life and the one thing I have learned above all is that, you never know all there is to know about music. Why? Because just like the infinite variations we can derive from twelve tones and rhythm, there are infinite ways to "look at" it. I went thru the number system in collage but did not fully grasp it's power until I saw Bernstein explain it one day in a 5 minute segment of one of his children's concert series that I just happened to catch one Sunday afternoon on PBS. Back then we only had a few stations we could get and no internet at all. But there was my life in music before that 5 minutes and there was my life in music after that. Bernstein was also not only a great composer/conductor, he was a great musicologist and teacher. In your own way, you have that same teaching skill that he had. I just want to encourage you to make as many of these as you can. You probably have no idea how important you will be to many "newbies" and us "old dogs" as well! You just have an incredible grasp of how to simplify what in a book would seem complicated. You are indeed special!

[@dbmusicproductions9181]

Keep bringing this content, please. It doesn't matter how many times these things are viewed and reviewed. Sometimes it's the presentation that enables learning. Clearly there are a whole lot of people who take away a lot from yours. Thank you for presenting!

[@freyatilly]

1st time here... Having learnt basic theory (plus history) its nice to have a fresh look at this. My tutor was so good at conveying the rudimentaries that it was like going leaps and bounds with ease. Well done Anne-Kathrine for such a clear easy to follow mini class.

[@vleiratfilms2020]

Reading the comments I see that what you bring to us is something unique ... whatever it is to each of us, we are all glad we found you. Thank you❤️

[@DraconisMusic]

Hey Anne, great content as usual! I'm not one of those who complained about something, in fact I am super grateful for what you're doing, but I will share my opinion about this topic, because I think it's a big problem for beginners: I can hear/feel when something is "off" in my compositions, but often enough I can't figure out what the actual problem is. Yes, in theory I could look it up somewhere (YT tutorial, book, online course etc.), but that assumes that I can name the problem... Thing is, when I don't even know that a certain "thing" or concept exists, I can't look it up and that's exactly where your videos come in very handy and are helpful. You not only introduce beginners to concepts they've never heard of, you also show them what it's actually about plus you show examples of how and why it's used. One huge mistake I see many beginners (including myself) do is they look up mixing tutorials for how to clean up their muddy mix, because they heard somewhere that it's probably a mixing problem, when in fact the problem can be the arrangement itself. Realizing that was an eye-opener for me and so I started to look up how to write better arrangements. But finding the problem was difficult, because as a beginner you don't even know what mistakes you're making...😅 All you have is this underlying feeling that something is wrong... The sheer mass of music education content that's available on YT today can be overwhelming for beginners and they can get lost quickly and start to confuse one problem with another and look up the "wrong" solution. At least that's my experience haha... Conclusion: I consider your videos to be of the best and most helpful in the field of music education/film scoring. And also your personality and the way you teach are very pleasant. That's probably what makes people wait for you to upload a new video. Please excuse the wall of text.. 😅 All the best, Chris

[@grobinson9352]

I don't know what those folks are talking about, however, I enjoy your videos because 1-I am brand new and wouldn't know which way to look. 2- You break things down that I can understand and make me try different things with what you share. and Finally--3--I LOVE your videos and easy way of talking. Thank you so much!!

[@AnneKathrinDernComposer]

That's an interesting perspective, thank you for chiming in! I hadn't actually thought about it this way but it's something I encounter when I look for video related stuff - if you don't know what to look for (e.g. the right terminology) then how can you look for it? I always need to ask actual video professionals in my life what to Google because otherwise I'd never find the right source of information. This is great input, thank you!

[@martijnvanbeek4387]

@@AnneKathrinDernComposer I have this experience an awfully lot of times too! Looking into let's say a part to fix something and in internet store A they call it this, in B that, in C that etc. If you're not familiar with a term you're like a baked potato: overexposure without a found solution. And in YT looking for some instruction to get you on the way fixing your bike e.g. gets you to go through all the advertisements too. I guess YT should make a difference in really pure instruction videos and entertainment videos as to the amount of shown advertisements. Well, probably¥ they just want to sell you (and me) a subscription fee to their website....

[@danymalsound]

I'm a metal guy and I'll never forget when I first heard chromatic mediants on a Children of Bodom record, back in college : ) Cheers!

[@jaseyn]

I guess most of the people here are exatly the ones who watched hundreds of KZbin videos before they found your channel. And those who understand that your vision and explanation are exactly what they were looking for.

[@ferencercseyravasz7301]

You're right about the multitude of resources. But here's the thing: you explain these things way better and make things much clearer than most. I know, because I'm a teacher and one of the things I teach is Musical Illustration to Digital Media majors, that is students who normally have never really studied music. So I know how difficult it is to select the relevant information which they can understand and which will get them going (assuming that if they will decide that they need more, they can learn everything that I cannot possibly teach them about studio work and musical creation in the course of a short semester). So thank you, you really reinforce the idea that - as Kodaly put it - music belongs to everyone.

[@garysalyers7611]

I have only watched a few of your videos, but I have gotten TONS of information I “knew” but never heard explained like you do. Simply incredible information that makes hungry to compose! That’s rare for me. You have a gift!

[@IgorMuller]

Thats the thing about being a good teacher, you teach something that is already a common knowledge but for some reason you do it very well and people follow you because of that. And you are a great teacher!

[@johnhoekstra8979]

I found myself mentally singing the opening phrase of “Dock of the Bay” to these progressions for some really interesting results! Thanks for the lesson!

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

Ground Control to Major Tom ....

[@gregwatkins5980]

Sometimes it is those simple, honest comments from a gifted artist that makes all the difference. Thank you for sharing not only your profound knowledge, but your delightful authenticity.

[@Guitarpima]

I used to practice my scales in fourths. Now I do it in fifths. Now, I am going to do them in thirds.

[@emmavandick1]

Hey Anne! You know, self-taught musicians currently use a lot this type of content. This video and your channel are a great find for me, thank you!

[@TheSoundConnoisseur]

My goodness. You make the chords sound very rich

[@MrGarlandSnow]

Great lesson, probably one of the simpler explanations ive seen on mediants. I subscribed.

[@duncanthompson957]

I’m a new AKD channel junkie! I’ve learnt so much, or rather gathered so much inspiration, in the last week of bingeing. Thank you so much! You’re great. Brilliant! Thank you.

[@BellXllebMusic]

Yesss this lesson taught me exactly what I've been wanting to learn but didn't know what it's called

[@jonasherzog4805]

Thank you so so much! I've been searching for such a long time to find a good video like this one!

[@maggle1891]

Thanks you so much for sharing this precious content with us.

[@jesseallenholan]

I love your videos! I studied composition at Uni, so what I like most about your videos is definitely the DAW and MIDI end of things. Also your insider perspective/ terminologies of the film music industry 🤓 It’s like there is a ladder now into this field and to write mock-ups and orchestrations for any type of music! As an important example from my training, Hans Zimmer’s MasterClass was super great for motivation and interpersonal work relationships view of the job, but you get into the nitty-gritty details and how-to’s (of deeply complex topics) with very elegant simplicity! Thank you for making these 🙏 ☺️

[@jesseallenholan]

I should add that I also genuinely appreciate videos like this one too, where you demystify the harmonic language of film scores with the same in-depth but pleasantly audible and visible approach 🌝😎

[@-KAIYULEE-]

This is actually very interesting. I’ll be incorporating this into my compositions. I appreciate these videos!

[@martifingers]

It's amazing how you present material so clearly without dumbing down. Perfectly judged delivery. Thank you.

[@J.SebastiánCollao]

I would like to highlight the example at minute 10:56 when he adds the sixth flat to the arpeggio, that resource added to the movement by thirds is instantaneous magic.

[@gm5542]

To be fair, in my case it has always been about wanting to know about this stuff, but because I didn't even know such names and terms I was never able to find about it. If you look for Chromatic Mediants on KZbin you'll find plenty of stuff, but for most beginners the challenge is to find out about the names of these concepts such as the Harmonic Planing one. I think that's why it seems like it's such a hidden secret. I've been googling about movie soundtracks for ages and I've watched a lot of content about it but only found out about Planing last week. And afterwards, the KZbin algorithm recommended me other videos about planing from 4 years ago. But still, after taking a look at those, the one who made the most sense to me, and the one that I learned the most from was your video. So I think that's why people might be so grateful to you too. At least that's my case :)

[@paulstatezny4185]

I'm familiar with so many of these progressions but as a non-professional I wasn't aware they were encapsulated in the term "Mediant Chords". Thanks! Great stuff!

[@crescienrico2172]

Grazie, generosa Anne.

[@peterclote3689]

Sie sind wahnsinnig begabt. Vielen Dank für die klare Einleitung. Fantastic!

[@juozasg]

Great series - thank you!!

[@peev2]

Wow , you are amazing! Please keep up the good work!

[@darindriscoll8582]

In the early 90's, out of anger and frustration I quit my university music studies. My major was composition and by that point I had 3 years of college music studies and was more than half way through my second year. I did, however, have a wonderful career in the music industry over the years despite my leaving school but quitting my studies has always bothered me. 12 years ago, I stopped eating, sleeping and breathing music and began a new career which afforded me the ability to purchase the recording software, plugins, gear I wanted and have a recording studio in my home but something was missing. I had to finish what I started and left so many years ago. I have no desire to go back to school at my age but I am reinvesting in myself and I am studying music again. Your teaching style inspired me to embark on my journey to write orchestral music. Thank you for that and if you ever decide to put an online course together, I will be student #1. In the meantime, I'm going to buy you several coffees!

[@Birdy8441]

I love Anne's videos. She is so bright and intelligent.

[@AeGeR97]

You have a very good point in the fact that there's so much information out there. It's hard not just to find what you're looking for, but also finding a source that can explain it so that you, the individual can digest it. I have utilized different sources on the same subject to come out with a new perspective each time . Also, sometimes, in our unguided journey, we stumble upon things that might be a few steps ahead of our understanding and don't realize it. It's easy to get discouraged. You're providing little guideposts. Thanks dude!

[@moodkhosh-ik7ux]

It's a challenge to find the correct information, and I'm so happy that I found your channel, so informative and good media. Thanks

[@jayhunthuntcreative]

You make it easy to listen and learn. We all appreciate your wisdom on this and it helps a lot.

[@zipperhead101]

Thanks! I like your vids. I am a hobbyist desperately trying to make a side hustle yet still have fun.

[@marklarm]

Anne you are special treat. I love watching your videos because you DON'T cover typical mainstream material/concepts. I have a diploma in Jazz from 1992 and it's been ions since i've even thought about this topic when writing. It's just ingrained in me now. But i've enjoyed thoroughly listening to you cover this. It's rekindled my urge to explore this concept in my own writing - but actually THINK about it more in depth and with intention. Thank you VERY much for being you and NOT blending into the crowd out here on the interwebs. KUDOS!

[@bookstuart]

Excellent overview! Danke Anne-Kathrin for the work you put in these videos.

[@timflatus]

Yeah it may have something to do with the fact you present well and you're a great teacher. Books are great, but having the MIDI examples play while you explain is incredibly useful. I've done enough music theory to know there are no secrets and I've watched enough music theory videos to last me a lifetime. You're helping me to understand corners of music theory I never really got before, that's really valuable. Thank you!

[@adamsmiddy]

Yes! This is a great example of "Show Don't Tell". Love it. Can continually rewatch the vid for references. Thanks for putting it together.

[@stewartkingsley]

Thanks for the Mediant Chords Appreciation video. Helps to be aware of things so that they become something that can be further investigated.

[@matswessling6600]

You are really inspirational! you make it simple!

[@robertbowles199]

Thank you, Anne, for teaching this study on the mediant chords.

[@toddd.8496]

This! More of THIS!!! :)

[@theparadoxist6514]

I have to say, you are utterly fantastic at taking compositional topics and making them relatable and approachable. Funny enough, I explored what I now understand to be mediant chords in my recent compositions without realizing it until you demonstrated it here! The music of Howard Shore and Ramin Djawadi are deeply ingrained into my musical palate, and I was so glad to see you bring up the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in the examples at the end. I now have a better understanding of this technique that I always loved the sound of, but never had a name to give it. All that to say, I find your videos highly relatable and you keep inspiring me to grow my music in new directions. Thank you so much for all you do!

[@dannuttle9005]

Thanks for the addition to my musical toybox. I will have a lot of fun playing around with these ideas.

[@omiguelfernandez]

thankyou! Iearned a lot with this video!

[@fretnesbutke3233]

I've found that mediant progressions are a little easier to conceptualize if you think in terms of the parallel major + minor relationship. C major and C minor have the same tonic,yet their key signatures are minor 3rd apart. With the two keys and their relative major and minor,you have 4 keys: C/Am,Cm/E flat. Each of these 4 keys has their own subdominant and dominant. Choosing chords between these four keys results in really rich,expressive harmony while still firmly in the Common Practice style. Imo,the past 20 years or so of popular music has really been ignoring the expressive possibilities of harmony,and mediants are one of the richest sources.

[@richardcasey7521]

The Harvard Dictionary of Music is a wonderful resource. You are providing a wonderful musical service.

[@TheSoundConnoisseur]

It’s actually crazy that I know so much theory. And I’m very proficient in my writing. But your videos break something down that is very game changing. Thank you 👏👏

[@curtvona4891]

Excellent explanation.

[@supernerdinc5214]

I think you underestimate how accessible you make this information.

[@golfmanbil]

WOW, I'm just a low life guitar player but these examples have really inspired me to break out the midi keys and load up some Kontakt soundscapes. Really great demos and expertise. Thank You Anne-Kathrin

[@igormatutinovic971]

Your tutorials and advices are great - thank you very much for that!

[@kaeleb1968]

Another informative video! We appreciate all that your do, Anne!

[@DJKennethA]

This is great. I always appreciate any information you impart from videos like this. It's really helpful to see and hear it in action. Thank you!

[@gnomeache2926]

Thank you for the thorough examples!

[@TomStrahle]

These are so great, Love the examples.

[@don4476]

"Mr. Frodo. I can't carry the ring, but I can carry you." Great lesson!!!! You just doubled my music theory knowledge. 😉

[@Studio_Coda]

I really like it! you haven't made simple things easy for listeners, excellent, keep it up.

[@CharlesAustin]

Your capsulation of all these important aspects in music are inspiring and will lead to further study and experimentation. Thank you !!

[@pauloluisdemoraespereirape9484]

Thank you!!!

[@elierouhana1181]

Thank you 💐💐

[@KrystofDreamJourney]

At 15.54. ESSENTIAL information from Anne-Kathrin. It DOES work miracles. Performing instrument-by-instrument into your DAW will teach you absolutely everything you need to know. Anything Ravel, anything Holst from "The Planets", anything Stravinsky, anything Bartok, Mahler etc. All is available for FREE as PDF or for a small $12.99 on Amazon as an actual paper book (recommended). Many composers in media (Hollywood and elsewhere) learned the art of orchestration/composition THAT WAY, since MIDI became available (mid 1980s). It takes time.. no shortcuts 🙂

[@joewhitfield6316]

Well, we wish it was possible for YOU to cover every conceivable and relevant musical subject. But, let me just say, there are teachers and there are teachers. They are NOT all created equal. Many teach but very few can masterfully "get it across" or as we used to say "plainly lay it out for you". This includes many of the master class presenters. Thank you for all you do from your soothing scenic video intros to your last word. And know that whatever you choose to present, there are those of us who are eagerly waiting to be glued to our seats in receipt of your explanations and examples.

[@cactusowo1835]

Thank you, a lot.

[@lieciorodriguez]

fabulous!!!

[@kappabravomusic2101]

Yet another great video. Thank you for such great explanation and advice.

[@Arch5280]

I'm enjoying watching your KZbin videos, so far just the one on mediants. You too seem to be having a great old time explaining all this. And you're good at it! I'm amazed that you give away these ideas for free; I picked up most of the ideas you presented by fooling around on kbd instruments, e.g. pipe organs, but my training never moved into improvisation, so it's startling to hear it presented this way. Arch

[@Moignet-Y]

I love to watch your videos before a composition session. It’s very inspiring, clear and helpful to structure my workflow, as a beginner. :-)

[@TheSoundConnoisseur]

There is one thing I want to say” gatekeeping” and it’s that we want to learn, we want to know what this is. We hear it. And we know that it’s being used in specific things. But nobody’s telling us what it’s called, or even what “ books” to go look for. Nobody’s telling us what these methods are even titled as, so that we can go on our own and search them. So yes, we do have to wait for people like you to give us content like this, and videos like this. Because now guess what, I am actively on a simple Google search on these terms, and this theory. That I did not know before, even though my ears heard it before

[@ericdanielmeyer]

lol’d at the berklee ad before your vid. THIS CHANNEL IS WHY I DONT NEED YOU ANYMORE BERKLEE! but for real, thanks for these deep-dive theory bits. Love it…and very useful!

[@GillisGil]

Love you videos. Also love your intro's!

[@JohnWilson-ru7xd]

Thanks for introducing this concept. Really good teaching style.

[@DojoOfCool]

Just discovered your KZbin channel a few days ago and have watched a handful of you videos and various topics. You're very impressive you knowledge musically, technically, and from music biz standpoint. I grew up and spent most my life in Venice area so the openings of your videos bring back a lot of memories. I'm an Jurassic age guy I remember when there wasn't a Marina Del Rey, I spent half my life working in all aspects of the music biz, playing, live sound, recording engineer, and worked for one one of the great music schools in L.A. back in the day the Grove School of Music which was known for it's arranging and composing program. So working at the school and later in recording studio I was around film and TV biz, so familiar with how things were done before computers so hearing you talk about how things are done now is very intriguing. So really glad I discovered your channel and look forward to watching more videos.

[@zvenx]

Once again thank you so much for doing these... I have a comment on your final words :)... You are underestimating how fantastic and effective a teach you are.. yes the info is out there... I myself have probably ten books on orchestration...none of them I find as informative and effective as you doing it in one of these tutorials... thanks again.. rsp

[@zvenx]

but point taken.. the info is indeed there...

[@yvanroustan4426]

examples make the difference ! thank you !

[@hglundahl]

15:07 And Dieter de la Motte wrote one where different epochs from Renaissance to High Romanticism get different treatments. Renaissance was 12 tone polytonality WITH obligation to be fairly harmonic (what we call "dominant seventh" was at the utmost used in the position of double dominant, so not in the dominant itself), and WITHOUT the option of enharmonic exchanges, you are stuck with three crosses and two b ... (three sharps, two flats) ...

[@ddemassy]

Thank you to make me discover and understand median chords ! It's very useful for me to hear the chords the way you do it !! 😄

[@pihoihoi]

Love your videos, so inpsiring to try and compose my own music. Thank you so much! Lots of love from the Netherlands ♥

[@charlottemarceau8062]

This is great thank you (!) X

[@GMAtheory]

I really enjoyed this video. Your comments at the end reminded me of the story of Bach, I think, sneaking out of bed to copy scores by candlelight.

[@mycar4321]

I laughed when you gave the first example. When played I said, "Ooh Enya", then you said Radio head. Very different genre's but sounds great just the same. And yep, almost every soundtrack uses this wonderful technique Thanks for walking us through it.🙂

[@Kerphelio01]

I think what makes videos like yours valuable for many people (including myself) is that in books, all examples are written on paper. Which is to say that you have to either be a reasonably good piano player who can sight read fairly effortlessly, or you have to have your ear training up to a point where you can just "visualize" in your minds ear what's on the page. If you don't have those skills, it becomes very difficult to actually understand what the book is teaching, as you can't hear it. I can read music, but I'm not a piano player and I'm not good at sight reading, so figuring out even the tiniest example in, say, Korsakoffs book takes me forever. That said, I'm also a proponent of the "do a mockup" school of thought - just like I love to do cover versions of songs because it's IMHO the best (and most fun) way to learn more about songwriting. In any case, your videos are great and very helpful, thanks for sharing!

[@igor.cherny]

Thanks! It’s always nice to see you in the morning! Great beginning of the day! This video is very nice structured even if I knew this before, but you putted it in order.

[@WichyBaldwin]

I like so much your content. It's like, I don't know where to start because in every video I learn a lot. I hope you get to be the composer you aspire of.

[@vonStahlhelm]

Thank you a lot! That was a very clear, helpful an logic presentation of those concepts.

[@christophermartin2842]

Counterpoint is very fascinating I love the theory behind the counter pointing

[@Juniorpilot]

Thanks!

[@wmb5907]

Awesome! We need more of these lessons!

[@MusicalWizardryMarcoIannello]

I have always loved this technique, mediant chords are amongst my favourites ❤

[@radred609]

I know you point it out multiple times in the video... but i still can't over how many of these chord changes are just *so damn evocative* of the LotR score. there were only maybe two of them that didn't instantly just scream LotR to me. The strings patch you were using probably helped a lot though x'D

[@cablenelsonbabygrandpiano842]

Thank you!

[@didamello]

Thank you so much! Excellent content!! When you come to Brasil I'll invite you for a coffee hahahah

[@FrederickLewisDeAngelis]

Brilliant and inspiring demonstration. Thank you.

[@CarlosMartinez-gr1rp]

The topic with counterpoint is kind of true: I really want to learn it so I bought the Fux book and practiced every day for weeks. No amount of videos can replace the practice of the concepts and rules. But once you learn it you kind of cannot unlearn it and everywhere you start seeing interwined melodic lines. Then I kind of get OCD with the intervals between them :) I am really liking this composing series, what will come next I wonder.