Score of the month - a short piano prelude


Hello! Last week we featured George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" a lot, including a special session of the Music Master Class in which we listened to a complete performance and I discussed its form at length. I think you'll find this session especially insightful. You can check out the recording in the archive.

Meanwhile, I have tentatively decided to launch the first cohort of my counterpoint course on March 4 - less than two weeks from today. I'll be sharing more details about this next week, including full details on how to enroll and participate. Like the harmony course before it, the counterpoint course will be an eye-opening - and ear-opening - journey that has the potential to really transform your music. I look forward to telling you more in the next issue of this newsletter!

Mastering MuseScore

If you are interested in getting the most out of the world's most popular music notation software, join our community with a Mastering MuseScore membership for the most comprehensive training & expert support available!

MuseScore Café

This week in the MuseScore Café with Marc Sabatella, we continue our third-Wednesday "score of the month" series with a relatively obscure Bach prelude, BWV 924.

The free MuseScore Café is live on Wednesday at 12:30 PM Eastern (16:30 GMT, or 17:30 during the winter months), and you can access past episodes in the archive.

Tip of the Week

A new feature recently arrived in MuseScore that provides improved integration between the notation software itself and the score-sharing website musescore.com. There is now a button on the website that opens a score for editing directly in the notation software. In this video post, I show you how this works.

Musicianship

If you are serious about learning music - theory, composition, improvisation, and more - become a Gold-level member and receive access to all of our music courses and workshops, as well as exclusive benefits like my weekly Office Hours, in addition to our acclaimed Mastering MuseScore resources.

Music Master Class

This week in the Music Master Class with Marc Sabatella, we'll look at music submitted by members.

The free Music Master Class is live on Thursday at 12:30 PM Eastern (16:30 GMT, or 17:30 during the winter months), and you can access past episodes in the archive.

In Theory

A sequence is a musical passage that repeats itself a step or more higher or lower. Sequences that repeat a step lower are especially useful and common. In this video post, I show how this arises naturally from the circle of fifths and how to take advantage of this in your music.

Until next time, keep making music!
Marc Sabatella

c/o ConvertKit, 113 CHERRY ST #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
Unsubscribe · Preferences

Outside Shore Music / Mastering MuseScore

My name is Marc Sabatella, and I am the founder of Outside Shore Music - a pioneer of online music education since the dawn of the web. As the creator of Mastering MuseScore, A Jazz Improvisation Primer, and other resources, I have dedicated most of my life to helping as many musicians as I can. Subscribe to my free newsletter for MuseScore tips, theory insights, and more information on how to create your best music!

Read more from Outside Shore Music / Mastering MuseScore

Hello! This week we continue our focus on melody in the Musicianship Workshop space. If you'd like to join us for this month-long exploration of melody, please become a Gold-level member of the Outside Shore Music community, then pop over to the workshop to see what we're up to and get started! Mastering MuseScore If you are interested in getting the most out of the world's most popular music notation software, join our community with a Mastering MuseScore membership for the most...

Hello! This month I am introducing a new theme for us to focus on: melody. This is an area of study that often gets short-changed in educational settings. I assume that's because it's hard to talk objectively about what makes a good melody. There are fewer "rules" to follow than for chord progressions, and there is also correspondingly more incentive to make your melody unique. So in many cases, people are left to fend for themselves in terms of composing melodies. The one area of my...

Hello! This week we will wrap up our summer focus on orchestration and listen to more of the final projects members have submitted. Starting in September, we will be changing gears to look at another topic - to be announced - that I think many of you will find at least as interesting and useful!In other news: the music notation software Finale - for many years the leading program of its kind (and what I used for many years before MuseScore) - is being discontinued. The company that produces...