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Q is for Quaver
Today's Blogging A-to-Z challenge post explains how musicians keep time.Through all the examples I've posted this month, you may have noticed that a note's stem has a relationship to how long the note...
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R is for Rondo
Today's Blogging A-to-Z challenge post will take a look at common musical forms.We've already seen some examples of common musical forms, even though I didn't call them out: the canon and the fugue....
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S is for Syncopation
The Blogging A-to-Z challenge will get a little funky today as we look at syncopation, which is nothing more than an unexpected rhythm.Here's a simple example. Take this clunky melody:Now let's...
View ArticleQuick links
The day after a 3-day, 3-flight weekend doesn't usually make it into the top-10 productive days of my life. Like today for instance.So here are some things I'm too lazy to write more about today:More...
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T is for Tritone
Today's Blogging A-to-Z challenge post sits right in the middle of everything.The tritone is the interval between the perfect 4th and the perfect 5th. Depending on which direction you're going, it's...
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Coors Field, Denver
Sunday night I visited my 30th park. I have to say, Coors Field is better than Coors Beer.The Phillies won, because apparently I am a curse on all the ballparks I visit. But that's OK. Being in Denver...
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U is for Unison
The Blogging A-to-Z challenge entry today starts with a joke: what is the definition of a minor second? Two oboes playing in unison.Sorry, oboes.We already know what unison means: it's two voices...
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V is for Voice Leading
We're finally putting together a lot of what I've covered in this year's Blogging A-to-Z challenge. Today I'll touch on voice leading (known as "part writing" in the UK), which describes how individual...
View ArticleBusy news day
A large number of articles bubbled up in my inbox (and RSS feeds) this morning. Some were just open tabs from the weekend. From the Post:Reporters, tired of catching White House Press Secretary Sarah...
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W is for Well-Tempering
Today's Blogging A-to-Z challenge entry examines the physics of music. Specifically, when a musician looks at a note on a page, what tone does she actually produce?Most people today have passing...
View ArticleExpertise in subjunctive scaling of declarative fractions
University College of London researchers John Jerram and Nikki Shure have evidence that rich North American men are the most likely to employ bullshit:Study participants were asked to assess their...
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X is for Xylophone
The Blogging A-to-Z challenge sometimes loses its way when the topic you want to write about doesn't really have anything interesting to say for one of the letters of the alphabet.So let it be with...
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Y is for You
Our penultimate Blogging A-to-Z challenge post this year features the person in your life most likely to continue learning music theory: you.If you like music, go hear it. CDs and downloads are fine,...
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Z is for Zigeunerlieder
Today the Blogging A-to-Z challenge comes to a close, and for the fourth time this year, I have to punt.Search all you want: music theory really doesn't have any important terms starting with Z. So...
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Blogging A-to-Z 2019 topic list
Here is the list of topics I wrote about for the 2019 Blogging A-to-Z challenge on the topic of music theory:A is for A (April 1)B is for Bass (April 2)C is for Clef (April 3)D is for Deceptive Cadence...
View ArticleIs Moneyball killing a game show?
Washington Post columnist Charles Lane sees a disturbing connection between Jeopardy! champion's streak on the show and the data-driven approach that has made baseball less interesting:People seem not...
View ArticleWhy did all the writers fire their agents?
Agency Negotiating Committee Co-Chair Chris Keyser explains in s 15-minute video.(The WGA doesn't allow embedding; apologies.)
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Where plaid comes from
A farmer in Scotland tweaks American tourists:A cheeky farmer is winding up American tourists by spray-painting her sheep tartan – and claiming it’s caused by the animals drinking popular Scottish soft...
View ArticleAzure DNS failure causes widespread outage
Yesterday, Microsoft made an error making a nameserver delegation chage (where they switch computers for their internal address book), causing large swaths of Azure to lose track of itself:Summary of...
View ArticleCan't suspend disbelief on this point (GoT spoilers)
If you haven't seen Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 4 ("The Last of the Starks"), stop reading now.I need to rant about the impossible—not just improbable, but impossible—success of the Iron Fleet's...
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