September Sale – Get 20% Off Action Harmony 1 & 2

Sale ends Sep 30th.

Action-Music Harmony 1

Learn common octatonic techniques for chords and melodies from classic blockbuster films.

Lifetime Access

No need to rush through the course. Take the time you need to learn the material thoroughly.

Composition Exercises

On every section of the course with answers. Files in MusicXML and PDF formats.

Quick References

Review courses quickly and easily with summary notes on key points and details.

20% off until Sep. 30

$125 $99 USD
Duration: 6 Hrs 34 Min

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Also get 20% off Action 2!

$125 $99 USD
Duration: 7 Hrs 32 Min

Learn About Action 2

The octatonic scale is one of the most commonly-used resources in classic action music. Learn the power of its versatility in these three lessons. Lesson 1 builds a vocabulary of common octatonic chords in action music from the 70s, 80s and 90s, many of which are connected by the “Alpha chord”, a key concept which has never before been applied to film music. Lesson 2 explores techniques for writing octatonic melodies and for stretching chords out into short passages. And Lesson 3 shows how to write longer and more complex passages.

The course comes with a set of composition exercises that are in MIDI format for DAWs, MusicXML for notation software, and PDF for pencil and paper. You can also get feedback directly from the instructor by posting your answers in the site forums. And review content quickly and easily with the Quick References section.

Octatonic Course Breakdown

Lesson 1 – Octatonic Harmonies

Lesson 2 – Drawing Octatonic Materials Out

Lesson 3 – Advanced Octatonic Techniques

I wanted to thank you for making this course, it has saved my life so many times in my work this year, with the crazy deadlines I have had and 8 films releasing on Amazon (including Exorcist Vengeance, Jurassic Valley, and The Offering) I can go straight to what I now know works without guesswork or dead ends and I’ve only scratched the surface! My advice to anyone would be to hold fire on that new sample library and level yourself up with this course.
Mike EllawayFilm Composer
This really IS the holy grail… Most of us are happy to admit that composers of classic blockbusters have a command of a harmonic language that seems sometimes impenetrable. But it isn’t… This course literally shows you note by note HOW it’s constructed and the logic that goes into it. Before this course the notes from many great cues made sense when I heard them, but when I literally went in and picked them out one by one, I’d go HUH?! Now I don’t. AND now I can write music that has the same harmonic flavour.
Ed BullerFilm & TV Composer, Record Producer
The content in this course is second to none. Mark’s ability to explain and simplify some of the most complex topics in your favourite action music writing and make them approachable is unparalleled. The layout of the course is excellent and is divided into easily digestible chapters, that not only cover topics that aren’t discussed elsewhere but teach you the principles of how to think and write with the mindset with which they were written.
Greg StuckeyComposer, Songwriter, Record Producer

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