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Pitch Class Set Improvisation Series

Pitch Class Set Improvisation Series is a collection of courses that teach the use pitch class sets within contemporary improvisation and composition. Think of a pitch class set as any group of two to twelve notes. Yes, a major scale is a pitch class set but there are many other groupings of notes that can give you beautiful new sounds that can be used in any idiom.

Background on Pitch Class Set Improvisation Series

I started working with pitch class sets around 1990 and have created many recordings and books on the subject. As I mentioned pitch class sets can be used in any idiom. In the 30 years that I’ve been using pitch class sets I’ve recorded music using them in the idioms listed below.

Hopefully the examples found above will show you the diversity that can be accomplished using pitch class sets and how they can give even to most simple chord progressions a new and interesting sound.

Pitch Class Set Improvisation Courses

Along with recording a catalog of music using pitch class sets I also created many books to help students to understand, apply and move their musicianship into a place that allows free use of pitch class sets when improvising and composing. There are four types of courses in the pitch class set improvisation series and they are discussed below.

Four Types of Pitch Class Set Improvisation Books

There are four types of books found in the Pitch Class Set Improvisation Series. Each type can be purchased as a bundle or as individual courses. You will find the bundles available on this page. If you want to order specific courses in each series click on the book cover or follow the links provided below to find out more about each of the four series.

Applying Pitch Class Set Courses require no knowledge of Pitch Class Set Theory. These courses primarily give you three note pitch class sets to replace the common chords or chord progressions found in various styles of music. These replacements can breath new life into even the most simple chord progression.
Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Courses assumes that you understand Pitch Class Set Theory and gives you multiple examples of great sounding melodic lines that can be created using various techniques. You really don’t need to understand Pitch Class Set Theory to read through these books and to be influenced by the melodies. But obviously, knowing what is going on internally with the melodies gives you even more benefit. These books of course, require that you can read music.
Pitch Class Set Theory Courses give you deep knowledge on how to use pitch class set improvisation theory. These books help you organize, create and apply new and interesting melodies and chords from various combinations of notes. The Tools for Modern Improvisation and the Bruce Arnold Composition Compilation have been included in this group. These books give you examples of how you can use Pitch Class Sets to compose and improvise over various styles of music.
Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Courses are books that combine some pitch class set theory with various exercises. These books often assume some knowledge of pitch class set theory. Pitch Class Sets like any scale or chord can be used in a multitude of ways. These books highlight many concepts that most students are unaware of thus giving them a new sound to add to their palette.

You can see from the list above that a musician can dabble in Pitch Class Set Improvisation with the Applying Pitch Class Set Courses, work on hearing melodic lines with the Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Courses, get involved in understanding this subject in-depth with Pitch Class Set Theory Courses or work with études and the presentation of a pitch class set theory with the Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Courses. In general, Pitch Class Set Improvisation Theory is not rocket science but does have some ways of organizing pitches that will seem strange to a novice. Once you understand some of these idiosyncrasies you will find a whole new world of sound opens up for you. When Pitch Class Set Theory is presented in any of theses books, it is written in very simple language and of course you can can always contact us if you have questions.

Applying Pitch Class Set Courses

For those who want to dabble I created a series of books called Applying Pitch Class Set Series. This series requires no knowledge of Pitch Class Set Theory just gives you exercises to apply pitch class sets. Although it doesn’t give you any theory information it is still an excellent series to work through because it helps you to replace traditional harmony with pitch class sets. These four courses are mostly meant for pianists, guitarists and composers because they deal with chords structures.

Applying Pitch Class Set Series Course Bundle

Buying all the courses in the Applying Pitch Class Set Series Courses separtely would normally cost you $120.00 USD. Get all courses for 49.99 with the Special Bundle Price Below. This Bundle includes:

Add digital copy to cart – $49.99

Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Courses

The 23 Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Courses were honestly create for my own education benefit. When first learn pitch class sets there unfortunately isn’t an abundance of music examples of using pitch class sets in improvisation. You of course can find examples of sustained application of Pitch Class Sets like John Coltrane’s late recordings where he used 013 exclusively on various compositions. But in general many great artists have signature licks and ideas that are taken or can be easily explained and expanded on via Pitch Class Set Theory. Thus, I created étude books so that I could read through them to gain an aural, physical and musical knowledge from hearing the melodic lines contained in these books. Obviously the étude books require an ability to read music and are meant for any instrumentalist. Here is a list of books.

Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Course Bundle

Buying all 23 courses in the Pitch Class Set Improvisation Études Courses separately would normally cost you $325.00 USD. Get all courses for 49.99 with the Special Bundle Price Below. This Bundle includes:

Add digital copy to cart – $49.99

Pitch Class Set Theory Courses

The 3 books in the Pitch Class Set Theory Course give you a solid background in Pitch Class Set Theory as well as many examples of how to use Pitch Class Sets in composition and improvisation. Sonic Resource Guide in the main book in this series. It should be thought of as the encyclopedia of applying pitch class sets to an improvisation or composition setting. It gives you a list of:

All chords that work over any group of notes.
Includes all hexatonic trichord pairs that can be derived from six and seven note scales.
All chords that can be derived from any group of notes.
All diad pairs that can be derived from any group of notes.
Much more content. It’s an 800 hundred page book!

The Sonic Resource Guide also gives you a detail theoretical explanation of what pitch class sets are and how to use this book to figure out the hidden information behind all possible scales. If you want to understand pitch class set theory as it applies to contemporary improvisation and composition then The Sonic Resource Guide would be your go to book.

Tools for Modern Improvisation is also part of this collection of courses. This course gives you examples of my music and how I incorporated Pitch Class Sets. It is an excellent course for finding new ideas on how to use and think about Pitch Class Sets in modern improvised music. The Bruce Arnold Composition Compilation gives you 89 compositions composed over the period of 1992 through 2018. Complete with scores and recordings it is best to think of this course as a way to hear the application of Pitch Class Sets to modern music in multiple styles. It is also as a way to see how to express these ideas in a score as well as exploring ways to broaden your composition palette.

Pitch Class Set Theory Course Bundle

Buying all the courses in the Pitch Class Set Theory Course would normally cost you $75.00 USD. Get all courses for 39.99 with the Special Bundle Price Below. This Bundle includes:

Add digital copy to cart – $39.99

Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Courses

The Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Courses were honestly create for my own education benefit. When first learn pitch class sets there unfortunately isn’t an abundance of music examples of using pitch class sets in improvisation. Not that small examples are used by many contemporary musicians but find a whole solo or composition based on a single pitch class set is not easy to find. Thus I created étude books so that I could read through them and gain both an aural, physical and musical knowledge from reading through these books. Obviously the étude books require an ability to read music and are meant for any instrumentalist. Here is a list of books.

Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Course Bundle

Buying all the courses in the Pitch Class Set Theory and Practice Course would normally cost you $90.00 USD. Get all courses for 39.99 with the Special Bundle Price Below. This Bundle includes:

Add digital copy to cart – $39.99

Music Education Genealogy Chart

You might find the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located on Bruce Arnold’s artist website interesting. You will clearly see the historic progression of pedagogy that is the basis for Muse Eek Publishing Products. Great musicians throughout history have been studying the ideas presented by Muse-eek.com which derives its content from a a lineage that stretches back to Scarlatti!