Microsoft Excel Music Theory- Chords Redesigned-Improved

What you'll learn
Build complete chord families for all seven modes using modal whole-steps and modal half-steps.
Use Excel formulas to generate 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-note chords across any mode.
Apply modal numbering to keep chord construction consistent across all 12 keys.
Compare modal-distance chord naming to traditional chord symbols and understand the differences.
Visualize chord structures on the fretboard using a stable, movable modal system.
Identify where traditional chord naming breaks down (especially in Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Lorian).
Rebuild chord logic using Excel tables, indexing, rotation, and pattern-based formulas.
Translate clean modal names back into legacy chord labels for communication with other musicians.
Recognize how modes function as fixed "continents" within a musical system.
Analyze the historical problems of scale-degree-based naming and redesign them using logical modeling.
Apply system-design thinking to reconstruct a complex legacy framework using Excel.
Strengthen Excel skills such as formulas, data structures, mapping, and dynamic pattern building.
Requirements
No prior music theory knowledge required - all concepts are explained from the ground up.
Basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel (entering formulas, copying cells) is helpful but not required.
A curiosity about how systems work and how to redesign them more logically.
Description
This course is a full system redesign-part music theory, part business analytics, part engineering project. It takes the entire 7-mode structure of Western music (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Lorian/Locrian) and rebuilds chord construction from scratch using Excel as the logic engine.Traditional chord naming is a historical patchwork of exceptions, renaming, and contradicting rules. Scale degrees shift depending on the key. Extensions jump from 7 to 9 to 11 to 13 while pretending they're still "in order." Modes are often ignored entirely-especially the messy ones like Lorian-leading to naming systems that make even simple diatonic chords look like encrypted passwords.This course fixes all of that.Using modal whole-steps and modal half-steps, you'll build a system where:• Modes act as permanent coordinates ("continents"), not shifting reference points• Chords are constructed by consistent modal distances, not by renaming "the 6 is now the 1"• Every mode-from major (Ionian) to absolute chaos (Lorian)-becomes simple, predictable, and movable• Excel formulas become the clean mathematical documentation that traditional theory never hadWe go mode by mode across all seven:• Ionian: The "clean" mode that exposes how scale degrees hide complexity• Dorian: A minor mode that proves modal distances are easier than interval labels• Phrygian: The first taste of "danger zones" and where naming begins to wobble• Lydian: The raised 4 mode that reveals how the old naming system gets overloaded• Mixolydian: The blues/rock world that shows why modes should anchor naming• Aeolian: The traditional minor mode where the major-based naming system gets awkward• Lorian (Locrian): The final boss - where the old system collapses entirely, but the modal Excel system stays perfectly logicalThroughout the course, you will build full chord families for all 7 modes:• 3-note chords• 4-note chords• 5-note chords• 6-note chords• 7-note chordsAll constructed the same way:Start at the modal node → skip every other modal position → wrap around the mode cycle → label with mode + modal distances.No exceptions. No renaming. No contradictory rules.Excel handles all mapping, rotation, and translation into classical naming for compatibility.Why Business Professionals Love This CourseBecause this is a systems repair project wearing a music disguise.You learn:• Logical modeling• Distance calculations• Dynamic formulas• Movable data structures• Rotational indexing• Diagrammatic mapping• Auditing old vs. redesigned systemsMusic becomes the perfect case study:A legacy system used by millions, built on structural compromises, now rebuilt cleanly using modern tools.It's the perfect business analytics challenge with a fun topic.Why Musicians Will Eventually Thank YouThis system:• Removes ambiguity• Removes renaming• Removes the major-scale bias• Makes chords movable• Makes modes understandable• Turns Excel into the most accurate fretboard/keyboard visualizer ever createdIt gives musicians a better system than the one they were taught, and one that can be easily converted into standard theory when needed.What This Course Ultimately DeliversA fully functional, Excel-powered modal chord engine that:• Builds chords for all 7 modes• Accurately maps modal distances• Labels chords consistently• Converts clean modal names back to legacy names• Works across all 12 keys• Matches the physical reality of the guitar fretboard• Is ready for integration into modern DAWs, plugins, or theory education toolsThis is not memorization.This is system design - with Excel as your instrument and the entire modal system as your playground.
Who this course is for
Business professionals who want to learn Excel through a real, system-design project instead of generic tutorials.
Analysts and problem-solvers who enjoy improving outdated or inconsistent systems.
Musicians who want a clearer, more logical way to understand modes, chords, and theory structure.
Guitarists, producers, and DAW users who want a movable, mode-based chord framework.
Educators designing modern music-theory or analytics curriculum.
Anyone frustrated by traditional chord naming who wants a cleaner, more intuitive system.
Learners who prefer building things in Excel rather than memorizing lists of terms.
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