Jake Lizzio

Live in 1 hour: Reviewing your FINAL Submissions

Hey everyone! To close out our Modal Mixture Masterclass, I'll be going live in 1 offer my thoughts on everyone's final submissions. The link to view live or later on is here:

https://youtube.com/live/aoHX6dgv3ww?feature=share

All I can say before then before spoiling anything is REALLY NICE W...

Using Advanced Modal Mixture to Make Prog Metal

Here's a video breakdown of what I made for the week 6 challenge: https://youtu.be/asuN5jQuNVA . Next week I'll be reviewing all of your songs as well, but please have them submitted by tonight!

Overview: The piece revolves around the notes of the D minor (F major) key. The tonal center begins on Dm (the vi triad) a...

Finally Revieiwing Your Week 5 Music!

I didn't rush through this one, so I think everyone who submitted should receive some helpful feedback!

Also - Tonight is the deadline for your week 6 submission. I'll make another patreon post soon with my song and a breakdown of how I wrote it. Next week we'll do a live listening party and review everyone's music on Monday evening around 7pm ct.

See you in a bit!

Post your FINAL Compositions here!

This is where you'll post your final compositions for week 6's modal mixture class. The goal is to write a piece that includes all 12 notes, and also features two tonal centers (as described in week 6's lesson). The deadline to submit is Tuesday Feb 18th.

I'm almost done with the rhythm tracks for my song, and soon I'll be doing leads. Afterwards, I'll make an entire rundown of the track...

Live in 1 hour: FINAL LESSON in Modal Mixture Masterclass

At 7:30PM CT we'll be concluding our modal mixture masterclass with a brief look at relativity and how it can expand our tonal choices. This will open up doors to myriad harmonic possibilities and give you an idea of what to explore next on your own. Since this final lesson is MUCH shorter than the previous ones, I'll have ample time to answer any questions and help wrap up our understanding of...

Reviewing your Week 4 Music Submissions

Better late than never! I'm impressed, once again...

The FINAL lesson of the MMM will occur this Monday night at 7:30 PM. Don't be scared though - the hard stuff is out of the way! That lesson will tie the modal mixture concept into relativity and also point the way outside of the restrictions we've created.

Submit Your Week 5 Music HERE

Your goal this week was to write in the major key and feature b2 OR VI (aka V/ii), and also use at least one other non-diatonic note. Here's my submission (note, this is not what I demonstrated in the lesson, I started over!).

C - Fm - C - C [I - iv - I - I ] (x2)

That is a major tonic chord but I've lowered any instances of the 6th. Even though I'm thinking "Mixoly...

Modal Mixture Week 5 of 6 Starts in 1 hour

We're nearly finished here folks! A huge congratulations to those of you who have made it this far, I hope you've found it helpful and inspiring.

Today at 2:00PM CT, we're going to complete our understanding of the major key as it applies to modal mixture. The link to view live or later on is here:

2025-01-28 19:00:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Tomorrow at 2PM CT - Modal Mixture Masterclass Week 5 of 6

Only two weeks left in this class! If you haven't submitted music for week 4's lesson, you have a few hours until I start listening to them. I'll post a video tomorrow morning where I review everyone's submissions.

Tomorrow we'll be finalizing our understanding of the major key and popular modal possibilities we'll see to enhance it. I know the time and day is a bit strange but I also kno...

Submit your Week 4 compositions here! (And a brief walk-through)

This week's intimidating goal was to write a minor key piece that utilizes the tritone (easily introduced via the II chord) but ALSO demonstrates a clear usage of melodic minor.

I've attached an extremely simple example of melodic minor below. It's just i - V in Am (so Am to E) with A natural minor occuring over the i and A melodic minor over the V. Here's what the melody looks like - not...

Live in 1 Hour: Modal Masterclass Week 4 of 6

Tonight we'll be completing our understanding of the minor key. We'll explore the misunderstood melodic minor scale, and how to write with it while briefly looking at its modes. We'll also take a peek at an interesting mode of Harmonic Minor and get a better grasp of what your advanced modal options will look like beyond this course.

I'm excited to actually teach melodic minor, at long l...

Reviewing your Week 3 Submissions

A hearty applause to everyone who submitted compositions for week 3! The results were outstanding IMO, and I've reviewed them all in the video here: https://youtu.be/w-Ebhv9aJnw

Tonight we'll be conquering the melodic minor scale while expanding our options in the minor key. I'll post a 1 hour before start so stay tuned....

Tomorrow @ 8PM CT: Modal Mixture Week 4

Tomorrow morning I'll be listening to all of your submissions and giving feedback, so there's still time to submit your piece in the last post!

Tomorrow evening at 8PM CT we'll continue our exploration of modal mixture by finally conquering the melodic minor scale, and rounding out our understanding of the full minor key. After this, there should be two more lessons till the FINAL PROJEC...

Submit your Week 3 compositions HERE!

This week's goal was to write a piece in the major key that features at least one borrowed chord "from" Aeolian, and also use at least two seventh chords.

Here's my submission that I showed at the end of the last lesson. I added a lead on top since then, and here's how it works:

Cmaj7 - Am7 - Dm7 - Dm7b5

Over the first three chords, I solo using C major scale. Then over Dm7b5,...

Grading your Week 2 Submissions

EXCELLENT WORK. Make sure to watch week 3's intro and outro to hear more thoughts on your stuff.

Live in 1 hour: Modal Mixture Week 3

Work the late shift? Don't work on Mondays? Live outside Americaville? NO WORRIES, the 10AM livestream is here! Today's class will build upon previous concepts and open up brand new doors we'll explore later. I've attached the slideshow I'll be using to teach off, and the link to watch is here:

https://...

Tomorrow @ 10AM CT: Modal Masterclass Week 3

Tonight I'll be listening to everyone's Week 2 submissions and giving some feedback. If you get yours posted (on the last thread here on patreon) before 6pm CT tonight, I should be able to take a look/listen!

Tomorrow's class will be a step up in complexity and will begin at 10AM ct. I'm hoping to catch some other time-zones with this choice, and I'll switch back to evening hours for the ...

Submit your Week 2 Modal Piece HERE!

This week's assignment was to write a short piece using the Aeolian scale mixed with Harmonic Minor, but also include Dorian or Phrygian (or both!) This will result in a minor key composition with at least 9 notes, but possibly 10.

Here's my submission. It's in Am, just a melody and chords on piano. The progression is as follows:

Am - - Em - - F - G - Am - -

D - - F - E - Am ...

Live in 1 Hour: Modal Mixture Masterclass Week 2

Great job to everyone who joined in last week! We're going to go a step deeper tonight with new challenges...

Join live if you can! https://youtube.com/live/C3mRn2hGCow?feature=share If you can't make it live, don't worry, this will be viewable in the future as well.

Also check below to ...

Grading ALL of your week 1 submissions

I decided to listen to ALL of your submissions and film it to get you all some feedback, from earliest submissions to most recent. A few of you should get a message from me as mentioned, but if I forget, please email me at signalsmusicjake@gmail.com

GREAT WORK!

Modal Mixture Week 2: Tomorrow Night!

AWESOME JOB to everyone who submitted music from week 1! I'll be reviewing your submissions tomorrow and will post them as a stand-alone video.

Tomorrow will begin week 2 of the modal mixture journey as we explore the minor key. The plan was to stream at 10AM CT but sadly I have to change that to the evening hours at 7PM CT (I'll post a link an hour before). I know many of you aren't abl...

Submit your modal piece!

Note: Attached in this post is a fixed PDF of the slideshow from yesterday's class (there were a few incorrect symbols, and I've also updated the old post)

Last night, we explored how to bend the Ionian scale into Mixolydian and Lydian. If you missed the lesson, here's a replay: https://youtube.com/live...

Modal Mixture Masterclass Begins in 1 hour

Tonight is the first installment of my Modal Mixture Masterclass for Patreon members! Here's the link to view live or later on:

https://youtube.com/live/-cfXGmelPCg?feature=share

I'm attaching a PDF of the slideshow that I'll be using alongside my lesson, you should find it helpful for the wee...

Modal Mixture Masterclass Starts TOMORROW Night!

Tomorrow night at 8PM CT I'll be going live with the first week of our Modal Mixture Masterclass!

What you'll learn over the whole class:

-What modal mixture means, and how to apply it

-How to juggle all 12 notes in your compositions 

-Easily match non-diatonic chords to scales that sound good

-Understand how "exotic" scales actually appear in...

HOLIDAY ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Here's something different! For all Patreon members, I'm starting a Monday Modal Mixture Masterclass on December 30th. This will be a series of 6 livestream to help build up your composing skills and understanding of the modes and how/why you should be juggling them all at once.  I'll be explaining the concepts, then composing and producing them into a complete piece. 

Each live...

[PATREON EARLY RELEASE] Composing With Double Tresillo (+ Tab + mp3)

LETS MAKE SOME MUSIC! This lesson shows how you can steal a rhythm pattern and grow it into an entire piece of music. We begin with a heavy metal instrumental, and then follow up with an early 80's pys-rock-pop experiment. The goal here is to concisely demonstrate the process of music making, and some of the decisions that are made throughout. 

A few weeks back, I did a live composin...

Going Live in 30 Minutes To Answer Your Questions

Only had a few questions come in this time, which means I'll have PLENTY of time for live questions!

Here's the link to watch live:

https://youtube.com/live/ZS3CSAdczYI?feature=share

Hope to see you there!

Post Questions HERE for Tomorrow's Live Q+A!

Hey folks! I'll be going live tomorrow morning (Saturday, Nov 2nd) at 10AM CT to answer your musical questions. Post them here and I'll answer them in the order that they're received.

If you're new in town, here's a few things to note:

-If your question involves a published song, please include a link to a YouTube or Spotify version

-If you're asking about your own music, ...

Composing Live in 1 Hour - Link here!

Join if you can! https://youtube.com/live/FMwBbbtqZh4?feature=share

Tonight the plan is to compose with the double tresillo and its variants. Instead of composing an entire piece, I'll try out several little motifs first to see if any of them bear fruit. Then whichever is the winner will be com...

Today: New Video! Tomorrow: Live Composing!

HEY FOLKS here's a new video for you all! This riff really is one of my favorite in history, and despite it's "simplicity", I think there's a lot going on to learn from .

Tomorrow night I'll be doing a live composing stream to write with the double tresillo. It will serve as a follow up to this Metallica video but we'll make sure it's not just metal music :)

Expect the stream to sta...