Question for your producers about scales and chords

[yungRC]

In HipHop is there a scale that is really common place and also how do you guys usually start to think of melodies? Do you guys improvise a few things?

Like Pentatonic is usually found in rock. What are some scales commonly used in HipHop/RnB.

 

[Delphine]

There's no particular scale that's preferable to anything really. Western music will use major scales, minor scales and modes. All depends on what sort of feeling you wish to evoke in your track.

Best thing to do is just experiment with scales and modes so you get to know their diatonic chords and what sort of feel you can put over with them.

Pentatonics are just five notes, the major and minor pentatonics when playing in either a major or minor key get used a lot because of their intervals, you can pretty much play the major or minor pentatonic over whichever scale you are using and whichever chord progression from the scale and it will sound right 99% of the time.

There's obviously a lot more than that to it, and sometimes people will play modes over certain chords too.

 

[StrifeII]

Purely depends on what you're going for melodically mate. Can't say much else than that because hip hop is a versatile genre!

 

[LSTheProducer]

OMG I have the exact opposite problem with melodies. My problem is I think of to many different melodies. So I end up have ChangeUps In most of my beats.

 

[StrifeII]

OMG I have the exact opposite problem with melodies. My problem is I think of to many different melodies. So I end up have ChangeUps In most of my beats.

Hahah, hang onto your files then. They'll come in handy one day when you're suffering from artists block!