Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Access Free Music Resources: berkonl.in/3HPNkYL
In this video from the Berklee Online course Chromatic Writing and Analysis, instructor Arnold Friedman explores how to compose and analyze music without relying on standard harmony or tonal organization. Using Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “VI. Andante Mystico” from Nine Preludes for Piano, he demonstrates how the piece—lacking traditional tonic or dominant chords—achieves coherence through recurring interval patterns. To make sense of this kind of freely chromatic music (Ruth Crawford Seeger was called an “ultramodern” in her time!) Friedman introduces pitch-class set theory, a system developed in the mid-twentieth century to describe and analyze modern music that defies conventional tonal analysis. Instead of Roman numerals, pitch-class set theory uses numbers to identify notes and measures intervals by counting half steps, enabling a precise, flexible way to understand dissonant or non-functional harmonies. Through this piece and approach, you’ll learn to apply PC set theory principles like integer notation, interval classes, and inversional equivalence to create and analyze music with consistency and variety—even in the absence of a key center.
Learn more about this course: berkonl.in/4mEHNqi
ABOUT ARNOLD FRIEDMAN:
Arnold Friedman taught at Berklee College of Music for 14 years and chaired the Composition department from 2012 to 2016. He has also taught at the University of North Texas, where he directed the NOVA Ensemble, and at Western Oregon University. His music has been performed throughout the US and in Italy. He has performed in the cello sections of the Dallas Opera Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, as well as with Dinosaur Annex and Notariotous. Friedman writes and performs in the Melde and Friedman Bass-Cello Duo.
About Berklee Online:
Founded in 2002, Berklee Online is the premier innovator and largest provider of worldwide music education, offering the renowned curriculum of Berklee College of Music at a fraction of the cost through award-winning programming and instruction. Contact an Academic Advisor today:
1-866-BERKLEE (US)
1-617-747-2146 (international callers)
advisors@online.berklee.edu
facebook.com/BerkleeOnline
instagram.com/berkleeonline
linkedin.com/company/berkleeonline
tiktok.com/@berkleeonline
Chromatic Writing | Pitch-Class Set Theory | Ruth Crawford Seeger | Andante Mystico | Music Theory | Berklee Online | Music Composition | Interval combinations | Song Analysis | American Composers | Interval Patters | Arnold Friedman
Access Free Music Resources: berkonl.in/3HPNkYL
In this video from the Berklee Online course Chromatic Writing and Analysis, instructor Arnold Friedman explores how to compose and analyze music without relying on standard harmony or tonal organization. Using Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “VI. Andante Mystico” from Nine Preludes for Piano, he demonstrates how the piece—lacking traditional tonic or dominant chords—achieves coherence through recurring interval patterns. To make sense of this kind of freely chromatic music (Ruth Crawford Seeger was called an “ultramodern” in her time!) Friedman introduces pitch-class set theory, a system developed in the mid-twentieth century to describe and analyze modern music that defies conventional tonal analysis. Instead of Roman numerals, pitch-class set theory uses numbers to identify notes and measures intervals by counting half steps, enabling a precise, flexible way to understand dissonant or non-functional harmonies. Through this piece and approach, you’ll learn to apply PC set theory principles like integer notation, interval classes, and inversional equivalence to create and analyze music with consistency and variety—even in the absence of a key center.
Learn more about this course: berkonl.in/4mEHNqi
ABOUT ARNOLD FRIEDMAN:
Arnold Friedman taught at Berklee College of Music for 14 years and chaired the Composition department from 2012 to 2016. He has also taught at the University of North Texas, where he directed the NOVA Ensemble, and at Western Oregon University. His music has been performed throughout the US and in Italy. He has performed in the cello sections of the Dallas Opera Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, as well as with Dinosaur Annex and Notariotous. Friedman writes and performs in the Melde and Friedman Bass-Cello Duo.
About Berklee Online:
Founded in 2002, Berklee Online is the premier innovator and largest provider of worldwide music education, offering the renowned curriculum of Berklee College of Music at a fraction of the cost through award-winning programming and instruction. Contact an Academic Advisor today:
1-866-BERKLEE (US)
1-617-747-2146 (international callers)
advisors@online.berklee.edu
facebook.com/BerkleeOnline
instagram.com/berkleeonline
linkedin.com/company/berkleeonline
tiktok.com/@berkleeonline
Chromatic Writing | Pitch-Class Set Theory | Ruth Crawford Seeger | Andante Mystico | Music Theory | Berklee Online | Music Composition | Interval combinations | Song Analysis | American Composers | Interval Patters | Arnold Friedman
