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Midcoast School of Music | Courses

Courses

Midcoast School Of Music offers personalized lesson plans and one-on-one instruction with some of the finest musicians in New England, focusing on mechanics, theory, and performance. Below, you’ll see the courses available at Midcoast. For more information regarding available lesson times at our Portland campus, please click on the "Contact" button.

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Basic Music Sound

Learn the basics of “live” sound and audio recording. This course is essential if you want to understand and learn the process of recording your own CD, mix “live” sound, or become a music producer. This course will enable you to utilize current recording programs, such as Garage Band and Pro Tools. You’ll learn:

  • Digital audio

  • Microphone and equipment use

  • Basic sound physics

  • Live sound basics

  • Recording basics

  • Mixing audio, basics and beyond

  • Mastering

Music Theory 101

Pitch.  Rhythm.  Scales.  Intervals. Chords. Harmony.  If you’re serious about music these are fundamental concepts you need to understand and master.  Join our classes today for hands-on activities that will help you read, write, and truly hear the elements of music like never before.  Enroll today! By the end of the course you will:

  • Read and write musical notation

  • Construct all major and minor scales

  • Construct all types of chords

  • Identify diatonic and non-diatonic intervals (both visually and aurally)

  • Decipher standard chord notation

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Basic Improvisation

What notes do I play?” is the first question that comes to mind when a musician is asked to improvise.  Basic Improvisation will help you answer that question.  The course is designed help you develop your solos and organize your thoughts through a step-by-step approach that applies to all styles and any instrument. You will develop an understanding of the five elements of music: melody, rhythm, harmony, form, and color. You will be able to incorporate these elements into your own playing and also relate them to other improvisers regardless of your primary instrument. By the end of the course you will:

  • Learn a step-by-step approach to improvisation that applies to all styles and any instrument.

  • Learn to transcribe and techniques and nuances of the masters on your own instrument.

  • Apply harmonic knowledge to your improvisation by learning to use chord tones and chord scales

  • Introduce basic chromaticism to your playing

Elements of Music

Harmony, melody, rhythm, dynamics, instrumentation, and tempo. Have you ever wondered what these words mean? This course is designed to demystify these basic elements of music and help you to understand how music works. By the end of the course you will be able to:

  • Read simple music notation

  • Write rhythms in music notation

  • Read pitches on the treble and bass clefs

  • Construct major scales and chords

  • Deepen your understanding of music by breaking it into parts

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  info@midcoastschoolofmusic.com  (207) 837.2955

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