Creating suspense in music can be achieved in a number of different ways, but for instant suspense gratification, there's nothing quite like a diminished chord. It's a fairly safe bet to suggest that ...

Improvising Passing Diminished Chords There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds diminished chords. How do they work exactly? What chordscales do they take? How do you improvise over them? Gain some ...

After working with major, minor, dominant, and half-diminished chords, it’s time to explore fully diminished 7ths and augmented triads. These chord types offer unique harmonic possibilities and ...

The Darkness have never made any secret of their influences and often wear them on their sleeves. There’s the box-office theatricality of Queen, the ribald overdrive of AC/DC, the grandeur and alpha ...

Vivek Maddala is an Emmy-winning composer and a regular participant in The Number Ones Comment Section. After reading his takes on the music theory behind several historic hits, we invited him to turn ...