[Ariyahn2011]

Hi All,

Just got a question, ive starting studying theory because my music is getting pretty limited and i just cant take that big step to the next level where my melodies and basic structure sounds nice. I dont get alot of time cause im a father so some of you may understand ! But here it goes,

Say for example i want to play a song in the G minor scale, do i need to build my chords off the G minor scale ( G A, bflat, C , D, eflat) for the chord progressions for the song to flow? (on a basic sence?) for example, would i play a G chord, an A chord, a B flat chord , C D and a E Flat chord ? can i play with those chords as well chuck in notes from a lower octive to give some more scope for the chord changes (i forgot the term for that is it interval chords or something?)

But basically within the G minor scale, i can use the G CHORD A CHORD B FLAT CHORD etc?

Is that right guys or am I WAY OFFFFFF?

Oh and finally if i play a A chord within the G minor scale, but i use an E from another octive the root note of the chord is the A right? from a bass point of view so i can program my bass nicely?



Thanks in advance for any guidance lads

(ps sorry if i confused you)

Cheers from Australia

Danny.

[Dugg Funnie]

Short answer: yes, using mostly chords that are based in the scale is going to create a sense of continuity and resolution to the tune.

Long answer: LoL. Ya you've got the basic idea, that's how simple progressions works, but soon enough you'll learn about things like secondary dominants and other types of borrowed chords which involve taking a chord from a related key signature and resolving either further out or back into the original key. for instance, you could have the classic V7 - I cadence, or get motha fucking fancy and throw a iidim7 - V7 - I like a boss. That's a super basic explanation as the concept is pretty tricky at first (at least it was while I was learning theory)

And finally, yes if you have the A chord (assuming you mean A minor) but you use E as the bass note it's still an A chord but it's is considered to be a 2nd inversion A chord, meaning the 5th of the chord is the bass note.

[TheAthleticNerd]

I agree with Dugg's response. For now, I would suggest starting off simple and sticking to notes within the scale for your chord progressions - you can worry about sharpening and flattening notes for flavor later on. It's also a good idea to look into different chord progressions - there are many that have been documented for their ability to resolve well (or lack thereof if that's what you're going for), the sort of feeling they can instill on the listener, and what kind of musical context you usually hear them in (for example, ii-V-I is a Jazz staple, IV-V-I is an everything staple, etc.). Once you get comfortable with that, you can try flattening or sharpening certain notes and see what that changes aurally - what kind of dissonance can be heard, what kind of setup that creates for the next chord, and so on.

Also like Dugg said, you can use notes from a lower octave to create inversions, which can make a chord sound more... open, spaced; makes it easier to build melodies around. Or you could pick one note as the root (the lowest note in the chord) and use that as a drone note. That means other notes of higher pitch can change to form new chords, but that lowest note stays the same. It's nice when it comes to filling empty space, or establishing tonality.

Hope some of that helped!

[Ariyahn2011]

Originally Posted by TheAthleticNerd

I agree with Dugg's response. For now, I would suggest starting off simple and sticking to notes within the scale for your chord progressions - you can worry about sharpening and flattening notes for flavor later on. It's also a good idea to look into different chord progressions - there are many that have been documented for their ability to resolve well (or lack thereof if that's what you're going for), the sort of feeling they can instill on the listener, and what kind of musical context you usually hear them in (for example, ii-V-I is a Jazz staple, IV-V-I is an everything staple, etc.). Once you get comfortable with that, you can try flattening or sharpening certain notes and see what that changes aurally - what kind of dissonance can be heard, what kind of setup that creates for the next chord, and so on.

Also like Dugg said, you can use notes from a lower octave to create inversions, which can make a chord sound more... open, spaced; makes it easier to build melodies around. Or you could pick one note as the root (the lowest note in the chord) and use that as a drone note. That means other notes of higher pitch can change to form new chords, but that lowest note stays the same. It's nice when it comes to filling empty space, or establishing tonality.

Hope some of that helped!

Hey guys thanks for the responses was awsome, i worked within A minor i can play the A chord B demished etc.. ill have to work out the other scales and cords as i go , but i guess for now i can try build my music from the a minor scale.. for the momment until i experiment more with the other scales.. ANYWHO dude what the heck are staples? and what do the times new roman represent!??

AND AGAIN THANKS U GUYS really did save me hours and hours of brain ache.

[Dugg Funnie]

lol

musictheory .net


meet your new best friend!

[manducator]

In the first post of this topic, there's a link to a great free music theory course. I think it's awesome:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click here to register]

[Dugg Funnie]

and the roman numerals represent what number of the scale the tonic (root) of the chord is. Capitals indicate major chords and lowercase indicate minor. so in the typical major scale the chords are:

I ii iii IV V vi vii(dim) I

or

(CEG) (dfa) (egb) (FAC) (GBD) (ace) (bdf) (CEG)

[Alarinth]

I'll emphasize what the others below this reply has stated.

Get a firm grasp on the basic before you delve into chords that are out of key.

However, when you decide to do so, instead of aiming to grasp the entire system (which is a lot, but easily understood if you try), you can aim for some "tricks". There are a lot of progressions which seem to work best in certain inversions, and these sound absolutely amazing, and are applicable in almost any key.

My favourite is VI - biib7* - i in minor (biib5b7 works too, but depends on key), and bii7 - V6/5 - I in major. The former one sounds downright brutal in minor, and the latter can sound quite funky if tried with the right inversion. A practical example of this would be this...

Imagine you're in B minor; the normal minor scale would be B, C#, D, E, F#, G, A. But the chord progression I said was VI (sixth, being G major), bIIb7 (lowered second, being C minor) resolving to the I (tonic). This is called a tritonus substitute, where I've substituted the dominant (V, fifth) with it's tritone (6 semitones in either direction). It's quite common in Jazz, but honestly I don't see why it's not used in a lot of electronic music.

A decent way of picking up resolutions like this, is to look at transcriptions of songs you like. Try to figure out exactly what makes you like that part of that song. Is it the chords? Why? What do they do, or rather, what is it they don't do that make them stand out?