Ask me anything about Composition/Harmony/Form/Piano

jaycentury

New member
Alot of the threads ive read in this subject are very very specific.

I've been playing piano for 15 years, and studying theory for 10. I study composition and performance in piano in University In Montreal, and have done pretty good for myself in finding jobs and gigs around town, writing for commercials and working on Indie Films. I've written music for EPICMEALTIME, and 3 Loco. (Dirt Nasty, Andy Milinakis, Riff Raff) and others.

I believe theory and composition are very important and could change the way a new producer makes their music... even if they have just a general understanding of progression, harmony, and theory in general.

Il be able to answer any questions about music theory.
...Although the best type of study and learning is by listening. So keep listening and listening to the type of music that YOU want to make. SET THE BAR HIGH... And be hard on yourself.

Il be on this whole week. Cheers

Jay
 
Yo jay I have a big problem at making my melodies and chords sound well together basically i don't know how to harmonise. It would be a huge help of you could give me some tips or any suggestions . Thx
 
what notes are in your melody?

from there we can cover potential chords to use and then decide on possible alternative renderings that will work
 
thats a hard task seeing that i cant hear your beat, and you probably not knowing what key your track is in. Solo first your chords and then your melody, see which one you really like better then i could try and help you formulate something better. Youtube "tutorial on harmonic progression"
 
The problem is that my main melody, counter melody, chords are all in the same key but it sounds like a chaos i am trying to make songs similar to this ----Flume-Paper Thin ----i cant send links yet this guy have so many things going on but sounds so well together. I' ve been trying 2 weeks to even have just some bars sound like this but nothing ... i really need help but i can't find it anywhere.
Thx for the replies guys
 
Hey Jay

How do you feel about modes? I come from a guitar playing background (but never learned any modes). I have heard mixed opinions on modes. Some say they give you a unique flavour in your melodies. But others have said not to use them at all because they need to 'agree' with the chords they are playing over.

For example if using a certain progression say i - iv - ii - v in c major with a certain melody written in c major, you can't just suddenly use a mode in C and expect it to work over those chords?
 
most of those other modes will not work above chords based on the major scale - of course we know that the blues scale does, so using C aeolian should work as well, the other modes less so as they are not as closely allied to the progression

consider this

Scale/ModeStructureBased on C
Ionian/Major1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C
Dorian1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7-8C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb-C
Phrygian1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8C-Db-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C
Lydian1-2-3-#4-5-6-7-8C-D-E-F#-G-A-B-C
Mixolydian1-2-3-4-5-6-b7-8C-D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C
Aeolian1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C
Locrian1-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7-8C-Db-Eb-F-Gb-Ab-Bb-C
Blues1-b3-4-#4-5-b7-8C-Eb-F-F#/Gb-G-Bb-C

Now consider the chords that are built on each of the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th degrees of each mode.....

Scale/Mode1st2nd4th5th
Ionian/Major1-3-5
major
2-4-6
minor
4-6-1
major
5-7-2
major
Dorian1-b3-5
minor
2-4-6
minor
4-6-1
major
5-b7-2
minor
Phrygian1-b3-5
minor
b2-4-b6
major
4-b6-1
mior
5-b7-b2
diminished
Lydian1-3-5
major
2-#4-6
major
#4-6-1
diminished
5-7-2
major
Mixolydian1-3-5
major
2-4-6
minor
4-6-1
major
5-b7-2
minor
Aeolian1-b3-5
minor
2-4-b6
diminished
4-b6-1
minor
5-b7-2
minor
Locrian1-b3-b5
diminished
b2-4-b6
major
4-b6-1
minor
b5-b7-b2
major
[/td] [/td] [/td] [/td] [/td] [/td] [/td] [/td]

I have not included the chords for the blues scale as it usually used over the major or aeolian or the harmonic minor so the chords are either

I-IV-ii-V
i-iv-iib5-v
i-iv-iib5-V

lower case for minor or diminished (mb5)
uppercase for major or augmented ((#5))
 
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That's great. Thanks for that.

Another question...I am aware you can construct chord progressions out of the triads in a given scale. But how do we work with the other chords, let's say Cmaj scale: Csus2 and Cadd9?

Are there any 'shortcuts' to know what scales/modes/notes would work well over these chords?
 
Do you know off any good software programs for mac to help me learn to play keyboard. Im a beginner so im looking to start with the basics and work my way up. thanks
 
[h=2]Pharell Williams/Pamola Faith 'I just cant rely on you'[/h]
Hiya guys iv'e been listening to this Paloma Faith track entitled 'I just cant rely on you' produced by Pharell Williams. Ive been tryna work out what key its in. I think it might be B Major but not to sure as I can hear an A note played in the riff and a D note in the brass chords.

let me know what you think heres the link

 
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If you can answer my question as simple as possible please do so. I play guitar now let's say I make a melody with the Em pentatonic scale, what chords can I use? Is there a rule to this? How do artists do this? I believe someone asked already but I didn't understand much.
 
If you can answer my question as simple as possible please do so. I play guitar now let's say I make a melody with the Em pentatonic scale, what chords can I use? Is there a rule to this? How do artists do this? I believe someone asked already but I didn't understand much.

Em pentatonic - let's make some bald statements about the notes first of all, as there is more than one minor pentatonic

Notes are E-G-A-B-D

Based on this collection of notes only two chords are directly available:

Em ~ E-G-B and G ~ G-B-D

Now let's consider where this Em pentatonic minor is based i.e which of the minor modes can it's note be found in?

E Aeolian = E-F#-G-A-B-C-D
E Dorian = E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D
E Phrygian = E-F-G-A-B-C-D

All three of these are candidates as they all contain the core notes of E pentatonic minor

If we now consider the possible alternatives for chords we get the following:

Chord degreeNameNotesHome Mode
iEmE-G-BAeolian, Dorian, Phrygian
[sup]b[/sup]IIFF-A-CPhrygian
ii[sup]b5[/sup]F[sup]#[/sup]m[sup]b5[/sup]F[sup]#[/sup]-A-CAeolian
iiF[sup]#[/sup]mF[sup]#[/sup]-A-C[sup]#[/sup]Dorian
[sup]b[/sup]IIIGG-B-DAeolian, Dorian, Phrygian
ivAmA-C-EAeolian, Phrygian
IVAA-C[sup]#[/sup]-EDorian
v[sup]b5[/sup]Bm[sup]b5[/sup]B-D-FPhrygian
vBmB-D-F[sup]#[/sup]Aeolian, Dorian
[sup]b[/sup]VICC-E-GAeolian, Phrygian
vi[sup]b5[/sup]C[sup]#[/sup]m[sup]b5[/sup]C[sup]#[/sup]-E-GDorian
[sup]b[/sup]viiDmD-F-APhrygian
[sup]b[/sup]VIIDD-F[sup]#[/sup]-AAeolian, Dorian
 
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whats a good way of finding bass notes to use in your progression besides just the root note of the chord your playing

your choice is only limited by your ability to handle dissonance vs consonance

You can use the root, 3rd or 5th of your chord in each bar
You can use the 7th and 9th as long as you resolve to the root or the 3rd (or 5th)
 
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