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Music theory writing, published when there is something worth reading — no filler, no schedule pressure.
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What gets published here
Unity Works covers music theory from foundational concepts to advanced harmonic analysis. Articles examine real scores, specific chord progressions, and compositional techniques drawn from Western classical, jazz, and contemporary idioms.
Publishing rhythm and format
Pieces appear when the research holds up — not to a fixed calendar. Each article is self-contained and written to be read in one sitting, typically between 800 and 1,400 words with annotated musical examples where relevant.
Readers this is written for
The writing assumes basic notation literacy. It suits practising musicians, composition students, and anyone who wants to understand how music is constructed rather than just how it sounds.
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Counterpoint and voice leading
Recent pieces have looked at parallel fifths in Renaissance polyphony and oblique motion in Bach chorales — with annotated excerpts from the original scores.
Modal harmony beyond the basics
An ongoing thread examines how Dorian and Lydian modes function in post-bop jazz, with transcribed examples from specific recordings rather than generic scale diagrams.
Rhythm as structure, not decoration
A forthcoming piece argues that rhythmic displacement in 20th-century piano music does more structural work than pitch organisation — using Bartók's Mikrokosmos as the primary source.