After his time as a helicopter pilot in the army, Jon Brantingham returned to his love of music theory and composing. He’s been inspiring people with his practical approach to learning composition, which he’s been sharing in his blog and podcast, Art of Composing. In this episode of Composer Quest, Jon and I talk about what makes a good melody, how to modulate using “pivot chords,” and how to channel Beethoven without outright copying him. We also chat about what he’s been learning in his UCLA film scoring program. It’s a longer and more theory-heavy talk than usual, but it got my composer gears going, so I hope you enjoy it too!

[audio:https://charliemccarron.com/mediaftp/composerquest/composer-quest-098-jon-brantingham.mp3]

Right click to download Ep. 98, or open in iTunes.

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Resources

artofcomposing.com – Jon Brantingham’s blog and podcast

Hollywood Cadences: Music and the Structure of Cinematic Expectation by Frank Lehman

Classical Form by William Kaplan

The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman

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