Len’s Music Blog

Len’s current Music Blog is intended for people who have already had some exposure to music notation. A later blog will be created for absolute musical beginners. Stay ‘tuned,’ to coin a phrase.

INDEX to all of Len’s Music Blog Posts (so far):

NOTE: If you click on any of these links (by clicking anywhere in the underlined portion), you will leave this website and will go to the actual blog.

Post 1: (6/7/24): This is Not a Treble Clef. When a G-clef is also a Treble, and when it isn’t.

Post 2: (6/14/24); This is Not a Bass Clef. Ending some of the confusion about when an F clef is also a Bass Clef. Or not.

Post 3: (6/21/24): This is a C Clef. The other clef. The one nobody talks about.

Post 4: (6/28/24): Guido. Meeting the man who invented music notation.

Post 5: (7/5/24): How the Notes Got Their Shapes. The title says it all.

Post 6: (7/12/24): Beyond Notes. Other musical shapes, besides notes and clefs.

Post 7: (7/19/24): Why Italian? An explanation for why so many words used in music notation come from one particular country.

Post 8: (7/26/24): More Italian Words and Some More Shapes.

Post 9: (8/2/24): Tuplets, etc. What happens when there’s no way to do it?

Post 10: (8/9/24): Metronomes. When you need to use a musical speedometer.

Post 11: (8/16/24): Music Notation Variety. How to get beyond bare-bones musical grammar.

Post 12: (8/23/24): Intervals. The math (or lack thereof) in music.

Post 13: (8/30/24): Transposing. What transposing is, and the man who did more of it than anybody.

Post 14: (9/6/24): Triads. What is a chord? And what isn’t?

Post 15: (9/13/24): Four-Note Chords. Basic musical complexity.

Post 16: (9/20/24): Voice Leading. Making music more ‘singable.’

Post 17: (9/27/24): Counterpoint. Music thought of as a flow through time.

Post 18: (10/4/24): Sebastian. The most famous Bach.

Post 19: (10/11/24): Karl. The used-to-be-most-famous Bach.

Post 20: (10/18/24): Color in Music: An introduction to Chromaticism.

Post 21: (10/25/24): Felix. The man who resurrected Sebastian.

Post 22: (11/1/24): More About Rules. Did famous composers ‘play by the rules’? Or did the rules play by them!

Post 23: (11/8/24): Relativity. All about key signatures and Stuff Like That.

Post 24: (11/15/24): The Three Minors. Which is more important–harmony or melody? Or maybe something else.

Post 25: (11/22/24): Temperament: Why keyboards and other instruments are playable.

Post 26: (11/29/24): Accidental Pandemonium: The vast array of pitch modification symbols and what they do.

Post 27: (12/6/24): Series: The foundation of all harmony.

Post 28: (12/13/24): More About Series: The different ways to count up from a fundamental note.

Post 29: (12/20/24): The Seventh Partial: How Middle Eastern Music remained ‘pure’ when ours didn’t.

Post 30: (12/27/24): Ranking the Intervals: Why some intervals are more important to our ears than others, and what that means for harmony.

Post 31: (1/3/25): Circular Reasoning: What is the Circle of 5ths and why is it important?

Post 32: (1/10/25): How to Use the Circle: The Wedge, and how it helps you understand harmony.

Post 33: (1/17/25): Leaving the Wedge: When and how to exit the wedge of the Circle of 5ths, and how to get back.

NOTE: Posts with publication dates in the future are not available to click on just yet.

Post 34: (1/24/25): Substitutions: How you can substitute minor for major without breaking the rules. (And vice versa.)