Dark Chords?

[Prime Suspekt]

Can anybody tell me some dark chords to use? Right now, I'm trying to make a beat, and I already got the drums and strings bangin, but I feel the track needs a piano in it somewhere, and since the track already sounds dark, I thought I'd ask yall for some nice chors to toss inot the mix to make the track fatter. Oh yeah, if you know of any good music theory websites that might help me, can you leave links? Thanks.

 

[Silas Holmes]

http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Chord_Progressions_REALLY_Work_73-75.htm#75.

 

[Artelis]

First you have to understand that the more sharps a chord has, the brighter it will sound. The more flats, the darker it will sound. But wait, you're thinking, you can just use the end-harmonics to make the sharp flat, so your logic is flawed. Wrong. The nature of an EMajor chord is to be bright, but so is an f flat minor chord. The reasoning is because of how a piano is tuned. If you really want to get into, do some studying on how a piano is tuned. Chords are tuned, not individual notes. That is the most accurate way to do it.

After that lengthy introduction, I'll give you some dark chords.

Try e flat minor or anything added onto it (sus7, 7, 9, 11, 13) Those extras are a nice touch for variety. a flat minor is also fairly dark. If you want to go for dark and tense, try e flat dimminished or a flat dimminished. Remember though, if you create a lot of tension with a dim chord, you're going to want to resolve it by going back to pure minor (or major).

 

[Prime Suspekt]

First you have to understand that the more sharps a chord has, the brighter it will sound. The more flats, the darker it will sound. But wait, you're thinking, you can just use the end-harmonics to make the sharp flat, so your logic is flawed. Wrong. The nature of an EMajor chord is to be bright, but so is an f flat minor chord. The reasoning is because of how a piano is tuned. If you really want to get into, do some studying on how a piano is tuned. Chords are tuned, not individual notes. That is the most accurate way to do it.

After that lengthy introduction, I'll give you some dark chords.

Try e flat minor or anything added onto it (sus7, 7, 9, 11, 13) Those extras are a nice touch for variety. a flat minor is also fairly dark. If you want to go for dark and tense, try e flat dimminished or a flat dimminished. Remember though, if you create a lot of tension with a dim chord, you're going to want to resolve it by going back to pure minor (or major).

Thanks for the info! That helped out alot, and thanks for the site Silas! Anybody else have some tips or websites?

 

[sensorium]

http://www.musictheory.net/lessons.html

 

[THM]

Also have a look at this for chords info: http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/ .
Enjoy !!

 

[Scarecrow]

wow those 2 pages posted are awesome good lookin out with those

 

[tungtung]

also,.another easy way to ,find the chords u hearing in yer head,.is to literally use yer hands on the keyboard,.just like some one tellin u where u hurt,.and they not being in your body,.hope my lil bit helped,.peace

 

[yamex5]

First you have to understand that the more sharps a chord has, the brighter it will sound. The more flats, the darker it will sound. But wait, you're thinking, you can just use the end-harmonics to make the sharp flat, so your logic is flawed. Wrong. The nature of an EMajor chord is to be bright, but so is an f flat minor chord. The reasoning is because of how a piano is tuned. If you really want to get into, do some studying on how a piano is tuned. Chords are tuned, not individual notes. That is the most accurate way to do it.

After that lengthy introduction, I'll give you some dark chords.

Try e flat minor or anything added onto it (sus7, 7, 9, 11, 13) Those extras are a nice touch for variety. a flat minor is also fairly dark. If you want to go for dark and tense, try e flat dimminished or a flat dimminished. Remember though, if you create a lot of tension with a dim chord, you're going to want to resolve it by going back to pure minor (or major).

Er,

This is a *myth*.
Before J.S. Bach's time (and for a short time thereafter), there were many tuning methods for keyboards. Bach and several others were looking for tunings that would allow them to use the entire chromatic scale. The well tempered tuning he used was *slightly* different for each key, but close enough to make them all playable.
Today we use equal temperment, which makes the intervals for each key identical (well, as close as can be gotten!). It is true that the extreme ranges of the piano are altered, but since this is *not* done per key, there is *no* validity to the claim that one key is darker or brighter than another.
Eb will sound darker than all keys above it solely due to the fact that as the frequencies get lower, the tones get muddier due to the richness of the audible harmonics. This thickness is perceived to be "darker".
-Mike

 

[krushing]

Real Men™ use chromatic keyboards...

...not to mention little japanese girls

 

[dpinya]

Wtf?^^^ lol, thanks for the links. What i do, is go thru each note when making chords and pick whatever notes that give me the feeling for a certian vibe i want, its hard to explain. But if u just move notes around and try to use your musical ear. It will get easier with time. Hope that made sense lol.

Peaccee