How much does music theory apply to trap beats?

StanleySteamer

New member
Hey guys, really trying to improve my trap melodies here and I'm basically wondering how much music theory goes into making trap beats? I have heard it breaks alot of rules. I was originally and sample based producer so it was just find hot samples, add bass and drums and send it off but now that I'm original and composing I am working on my knowledge of music theory and composition and I am just wondering if someone could point me in the right direction of improving my melodies and how much music theory really goes into it. Idk if there is a list of rules or some stuff I should read but I am definitely eager too learn! Feedback always appreciated thanks alot!
 
Hey Stanley! so I've been making trap hip hop beats for a decent amount of time and what I can say is that trap style melodies tend to sound "evil" or "dark." A lot of making a melody comes with just trial and error but try half-step spacing between notes. This just means to try melodies with notes that come right after each other on the piano. Go for that dark feeling and almost horror movie type melody and put a nice beat over it and you should be on your way to producing trap style beats
 
id say that no matter which type of music you create a good understanding of music theory is always going to be beneficial

try to soak up as much as you can it can only improve your music
 
I've studied music theory for almost 10 years. I love hip hop and trap is fun to make. Unfortunately I have a difficult time adding interesting chords and applying my musical knowledge to trap music. Most of the time it just doesn't seem right. I notice whenever I make things extremely simple, it sounds the best for trap. I would say what you would want to know is keep the melodies in the minor scale, which is the dark sounding scale. But still music theory in general is really useful. Once you learn a lot of it and understand, it really unlocks a whole new understanding into the musical world. It's an amazing thing to know. I'm still reading books on the stuff and it's addicting to know more. You will not regret it at all
 
a lot more than you think. Music theory is about real life. Scales & Chords are not meant to be memorized but played. Like u are not classically trained so there's literally no need to know scales. Just have an cheat sheet of a scale you want to use( based on a VST sound you like) then work from there.

A scale is a preset for an instrument to get the best sounds out of it.
 
Basic chord extensions can make things sound more exotic, but don't go overboard. A lot of trap music just needs basic pentatonic work. I'd first start by adding 7ths / 9ths in on basic chords. I found a great music theory cheat sheet for producers called "Music Theory For Electronic Producers - ON ONE PAGE." Find it on Etsy for £5. It's just a simple resource that's meant to be printed out and stuck to your wall. Helpful for all of the concepts that aren't yet committed to memory.

Tim
 
Trap doesn't really "break a lot of rules" though - as said, most of it is just really really simple. Of course music theory always applies - it's not like it ceases to be just because you don't know what things are called.
 
Just because the harmonic and melodic structures are a bit different to what you would learn for say, pop, doesn't mean there's no music theory.

I haven't really come across any trap specific resources personally, you might have to do your own analysis and see what kind of things are common in that kind of music
 
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Understanding chords progressions will but you in the right direction more than melodies alone. I do mainly Neo Soul, R&B productions however I have recently started to incorporate these soulful progressions into Trap style R&B.
Once you get the chords down, the melodies are easy.
 
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