Hi everyone, I am producing a new shorts series for Orchestration for Beginners, which focuses on the elemental things that you need to know. As per usual, this will not be 'sexy' or 'cool, amazing tricks,' but practical information that will lead to a successful piece, if followed. These will be clips and extracts, reformatted, from a video that I released in January 2025 on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Iyai04wwDes. I am still making the shorts from this series, but for the most up-to-date information, just stay tuned here on Skool. Best of luck with your orchestral works! -Barney

Hi everyone, I made a 6 week harmony course for the absolute beginner, that is designed to rapidly get you in shape for harmony, so that you can get to your orchestration, fugue, and compositional goals with more focus and success I will be posting clips over the next few weeks, until it is ready. This course will break everything down, and will have homework, answers, and lots of repetition, so that you can iron out any deficiencies in your technique. This is the beauty of the French method: it exposes everything, you cannot hide, but as a result, we can diagnose problems sooner, and get you onto the right path, in terms of technique. As a reminder, composition itself is a totally different beast: écriture musicale, which French Harmony Exercises falls under, will steer you in the right direction, and make you super stronger, but it does not replace getting performances of your own music, in your own style. Enjoy the short, and let me know if you have any questions! -Barney

Hi everyone, I just want to remind everyone of a central distinction, for which some of you who are now may not be aware of: the French Harmony Exercises series is for mastering technique. It will not make you a great composer on its own, but it will act as a weapon to your advantage, if you are actively composing. If you just do French Harmony Exercises, and not compose, then once you compose, you will likely default to very safe, and predictable writing. You need to compose separately, where you are free. Do not try to seek your creative expression in French Harmony Exercises: there are lots of rules, which, if followed, will lead to a sharper ear, and this will guide you when composing. If you are new to composition or want to get started with composition, you have to get experience as a composer, by getting your pieces performed. This is different from ´ecriture musicale,' which is what French Harmony Exercises falls under. One of the problems in France, is that a lot of young musicians get super good at 'écriture musicale,' but then their music is very safe and boring. So we need both: your pursuit of your individual voice, and the pursuit of supreme technique. When you compose, do not try to apply French Harmony Exercises thinking: you will misapply and make boring, safe music. And when you do French Harmony Exercises, do not seek creative expression, as you will then seek weird or strange realizations that are not practical. Keep the two separate. If you are a beginner composer, then you can watch a recent video I released on this manner: https://youtu.be/k6jBP908vOc

Composers & performers, I have just updated the Absolute Beginner Exercises with Soprano Exercise #1. You may already be familiar with it from the YouTube Channel in 2025, but I have updated the exercise to make the cadential points clear (tip: go for them first), and have added two answer sheets: one for the bass & soprano, the second one for all 4 voices. This is the most basic level that we have, so if you have a struggle, then this is an emergency that must be rectified AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, as not attending to these types of gaps in your training, will prevent you from realizing your dreams as a composer. To access: https://www.skool.com/composition/classroom/d3e5b616?md=37de0d3c580d4983b29cea805a076169

Hi everyone, I just released a video on the YouTube channel that shows you how to self-correct your harmony homework: https://youtu.be/Zn-nEH35m5Y. There are 3 main ways to catch parallel 5ths & 8ths in your exercises: 1) Look at the soprano and bass uniquely, and pay particular attention when they are moving in the same direction. 2) Bass moves by step: other voices must move in opposite direction, except for a deceptive cadence, in which the leading tone resolves UP TO THE TONIC. 3) Doublings: when you double the third or fifth, and then go back to a standard doubling (root), there is a high propensity for parallel 5ths and octaves. Watch the video in full for more details. Have a nice day! -Barney