composition question

T

tdubl

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I looking for new ideas to come up with melodies and got to thinking about trying to get a melody to modulate through a song or in certain parts to add emphasis. The problem I have is actually applying ideas with intent and purpose. The thing that's bothering me is that I understand how to invert chords to add flavor, I understand how to borrow chords from other scales and stay in the original key and changing keys seems pretty straight forward to me. However if you want to change modes during a song how can you be sure you've actually made a modal change and not a key change. In other words what is the reference that you base the "change" from? or do you have to establish a reference with a bass pedal or a repetitive progression? or can you make the change based solely on what was played previously? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
It is possible to change mode and key at the same time.

First, figure out whether you have changed key. Usually when changing key you begin on the root chord/note in that key to establish the change (or if you are doing a boyband thing and upping the key for the last chorus then you start on the first chord in the progression, but transposed up).

Then once you have figured out what new key you are in, see what notes are played in the melodies in conjunction with the notes in the chords being played. Having done this, you will have a list of notes. Check the notes with the notes in the different modes in that key and this will give you the mode you are using.

As long as all notes you are playing belong in a specific mode, then you can safely say you are in that mode. If you are only using a few notes, then they may belong to a several different modes. In this case, it is not essential to specify which one. Hope this helps.

It is possible to change key and mode at the same time.

First, figure out whether you have changed key. A key change normally begins with the root chord/note of that key.

Second, list all the notes being played. List all notes being played in chords as well as in melodies.

Third, match the notes to the notes in different modes of that key. This will let you know which mode you are playing in.


If you find that your notes dont completely fall into any mode, then pick the one that has the most notes in common. A couple of exceptions here and there doesnt matter too much. Anyway, hope this helps.
 
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I agree. Right now, I'm just relying on my ears. Knowing the keys better would make things so much more efficient.
 
Yep. I just banged out some weird Castlevania type chords about two days ago for a sinister Rap track, came out of nowhere. I've been playing songs by ear lately, which has helped me tremendously know more about the sounds of each key.
 
Also, just a little info about chord progressions. The key that a progression is in is irrelevent, its the interval between the chords that matters eg.

Amin - Fmaj - Cmaj - Gmaj

is the same progression as

Cmin - G#maj - Ebmaj - Bbmaj

just transposed up 3 semitones.
 
I've been doing the same. A couple of nights ago, I realized more chord associations as I was working on a track. It's amazing to see, feel and hear the progression. Practice is a wonderful thing.
 
If you want some progression info, I just happened to have a chart handy whenever I needed to write better (ie: complex) chord progressions.

I Leads to ANY CHORD
ii Leads to IV, V, vii
iii Leads to ii, IV, vi
IV Leads to I, iii, V, vii
V Leads to I
vi Leads to ii, IV, V, I
vii Leads to I, iii

This is good for any scale if you know anything about theory you should know what this means (sort of)
 
Third, match the notes to the notes in different modes of that key. This will let you know which mode you are playing in.


If you find that your notes dont completely fall into any mode, then pick the one that has the most notes in common. A couple of exceptions here and there doesnt matter too much. Anyway, hope this helps.[/quote]

You lost me there. Correct me if I'm wrong but all of the modes contain the same notes right. The thing I'm wondering is what do you use to distinguish one mode from another in a given key and express that in a given progression. For instance are there certain "blue notes" that if emphasized give you a phrygian feel or mixolydian or whatever, or is it a matter of reference to the chord or bass line playing at the time? The way I had it explained was to just use a pedal note and start your phrases from different notes in the scale to change modes. I'm thinking there has to be more creative ways you can express modal change without always having to use a pedal to hold anchor to that key. I'm just tring to tackle this mode beast to try and spark some more creativity in what I'm doing and tame this theory beast at the same time.
 
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