Music Theory Question

C

Coldfuzion

New member
Hey guys,

I want to preface this buy saying that I've gone through the above stickies & watched a few theory videos but i'm still kind of confused on something.

When writing a track after I pick a key like F# minor does that mean all melodies have to be written in F# minor (I understand that I can use the circle of fifths to decide what other minor / major key will work). But for example if I was writing chords in a minor scale can I just go to like a middle eastern scale or will it sound off? Can I switch to any other scales & work as well or do I strictly write in that specific mode?

(I'm using Maschine currently & I use it's scale mode etc to write)

Any & all feedback is greatly appreciated.
 
all instruments should be playing in key at the same point in the song, yes. You can switch keys in a piece though but all of your instruments should change to that key. And I think F# harmonic minor kind of has a middle eastern sound (with a raised 7th, E# in stead of E). I'm sure theres a better scale for the sound your looking for, but I was messing around today with F# minor and F# harmonic minor and definitely remember noticing the "middle eastern" sound the harmonic minor had.
...So you can start writing in F sharp minor, and later in the song switch to F# harmonic minor, ...but all of your instruments have to switch for harmony in the new scale.

If anyone can correct me, please do. I'm still learning as well, but try it out. it should work.
 
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Ahh okay that makes sense. So like circle of fifths says F# minor & A Major will sound fine together so when making a transition from the F# minor to A Major I can leave the rest of the pieces aside from whatever i'm altering / adding in F# minor right?

Appreciate your response Epsilon!
 
ya, they have the same sharps and flats (both keys have same notes). Each scale (or key) just starts on a different note (F# vs. A) so they have different chords, but the notes from both are identical and will stay in harmony.
 
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Keys are a rough guideline, but very little music is actually 100% in one key.

Notes outside the key signature are called accidentals and they pop up quite a lot.

Also, being in key doesn't guarantee that you avoid clashes entirely. Generally you want long notes and notes on the beat to harmonize with the current chord if possible- play B over an F major chord in the key of C and it'll sound pretty nasty, but fine in passing if you're just going up and down the C major scale. When you get better at music theory, this is what you pay attention to more than the current key
 
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Ahh I see. So much complicated stuff. To keep all of this simple (as my goal is to make music not to get lost down roads of learning as i've been using that to procrastinate for a long time on making music) do you recommend I just pick one key (F# minor for example) & just play my melody & chord progressions using the notes that fall in that scale?
 
Yes!^^^^

As you develop your composing, other ideas will come. They will work, or won't (and then you'll eventually discover the theoretical basis for that working or non-working status). Just write!
 
What you are trying to do is Modulate (change from one key to another).
Traditionally this is done through the use of a pivot chord (or a chord that fits into both, the key you're moving from and the key you want to modulate to).

This is a good way to know if the keys you are using will connect well, or not.

For example: If moving from C Major to D Major..
The V (Dominant Chord) of C Major is a G Major Chord (G - B - D). With this being said, the G Major Chord is also the IV (Subdominant) of the key D Major.
So when creating your chord progression, rather than going from V (G - B - D) to I (C - E - G) in C Major, it could modulate by treating the G Major chord as if it is now in the key of D Major. IV ( G - B - D) to V (A - C# - E) followed by I (D - F# - A) to establish the new key.

I hope this helps and is not too complicated, for more info i suggest researching modulations, as this is merely one of many ways it is done traditionally. Though, music is what you make it, so this is just a guideline for which you can choose to follow or not.

-AMinc.
 
The OP _may_ be wanting to modulate. We don't know based on the OP's inability to express to us what him/her are really trying to do, based on inexperience and unfamiliarity with musical vocabulary.

Modulations such as Amusing Music Inc. describes above do occur, but it is more commonly used as a device at the end of a song, rather than within a chord progression, to be able to drive the melody/hook home even farther without too much repetition making it boring. A key change lets you repeat the same material in a different key, thereby extending the use of those melody/hook elements.
But another use could be as described above, if you want to use simple chord changes, but make them sound less predictable and get more mileage out of them. Great description and a good tip!
 
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Coldfuzion said:
Ahh I see. So much complicated stuff. To keep all of this simple (as my goal is to make music not to get lost down roads of learning as i've been using that to procrastinate for a long time on making music) do you recommend I just pick one key (F# minor for example) & just play my melody & chord progressions using the notes that fall in that scale?
Click to expand...

Start this way but don't assume it will work- you have to use your ears too because just playing in key doesn't guarantee good music.

Hooktheory is a website which gets recommended a lot, you could give it a go
 
This type of modulation is more prominently used in music of the Common Practice Period.
In Modern music it seems to have an abrupt modulation to signify the transition between sections (hook/verse/ect).

Some other techniques for modulation include the following:
-Altered Chords as Common Chords (Changing one or more of the accidentals in a chord to favor that of another key)
-Sequential Modulations (using a repeated musical motive at different pitch levels to modulate)
-Modulations by Common Tone (modulating using one common pitch between two keys, rather than a chord)
-Chromatic Mediant Relaionship (advanced - modulating the third scale degree, with specific rules involved)

And many, many more. This may be a little difficult for a beginner to understand, but the knowledge is there for whoever needs it.
 
Appreciate everyones feedback! Gonna take in all the new info & try to process it the best way I know how which is applying it in my next track. I may come back with some more questions & hopefully they'll be more specific (however as stated above my musical vocabulary is very limited). I really do appreciate all the feedback & working with me through this process.
 
Scrapheaper: (for some reason in the quick reply when I hit reply w/ quote it didn't work but anyways)
So that's actually how i've been starting my tracks right now. Creating a chord progression in hook theory & then importing it into my Maschine - selecting the scale I had chosen within hooktheory & writing from there. That's why I was asking the question earlier. I guess a better way to put it is i'm asking about scalar quantization. I was trying to figure out the easiest way to know what different scale modes I could use in Maschine knowing that technically the sounds I produce should sound good together. I totally get the ear part but for me as a perfectionist (which is so counterintuitive when it comes to music) it's always more comforting to know that when I am writing my track at least technically it should sound good & I can deviate from there. If you have any additional feedback ("cheats / hacks") that could help with how I can make sure the scalar quantization is technically correct i'd greatly appreciate it!
 
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More good stuff, Amusing. Also, playing with altered scales (accidentals) over standard/same key progressions is also an interesting soloing/lead approach (and by extension can be used to write more interesting melodies). The difference between a blues approach to playing blues, and a jazz approach to playing over the same changes, would often be the use of altered scales.
 
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