Hip-Hop/ R&B scales

SoulBoy

New member
I was wondering if anybody knows what key most hip-hop and R&B songs are in a minor key or a major key? I'm mostly wondering about club tracks, because when I try to make a club track in a major key it tends to sound too happy. Like some Barney/sesame street music. And if its in a minor key it sounds to emotional. So if anybody could give me some scales thats good for club tracks or answer my question I would appreciate it.
 
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That is the nature of those scales. All scales will have either a major or minor tonality.

The natural minor scale has a flattened 3rd, 6th & 7th.

The Dorian scale has only a flattened 3rd and 7th. The harmonic minor has only a flattened 3rd and 6th. And the melodic minor scale only has the flattened 3rd. Try the dorian, harmonic or melodic minor scales to see if they sound less emotional.

Or you could stay away from the notes that imply major and minor tonality(3rd, 6th and 7th) so that your melody & harmony sound nuetral.
 
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Good tips man. I tend to make my beat over crowded. I know that could be a problem when makin club tracks. Most of em have real simple compositions and I throw to many riffs and melodys in there.
 
I agree with you on that statement. When I make a club track, I just play around until it sound good. Sometime keep'in it simple is the key.
 
If you want to stand out: go for major key! The overuse (nearly 100%) of minor key in todays hip hop is partly the reason for the uniformness we've had since 2000. The reason, I think, is that minor key is considered tougher, more menacing than major, meaning an effect easier achieved. But in my opinion, if you manage to make something "hard" in a major key, you are truly great. Fact: about 70% of the first Wu-Tang LP, which is considered to be EXTREMELY hard, is in a major key.
Personally I am a musician, and I can't ****ing take another rap song in minor. I've said what I wanted to say, you can continue on...
 
to say it's about major being happy and minor being sad... its not completely black and white like that... sometimes two major chords can sound "menacing" or more akin to minor chords.. like E major to F major (try E for a measure, F for a measure, F again, and then E)...

plus, minor chords can evoke way more diverse and complex feelings than just "menacing" or "sad" .. listen to jazz progressions.. with 9ths and 11ths and crap on top of the chords, flatting and raising the 5ths and what not. even without going too crazy with those upper extensions you can get some varied feels.. these four popped into my head: Cmin | Adim | Abmaj7 | Gmin7 - G7(#9) G7(b9) ...same goes for major chord progressions, when you get jazzy or soulful with them they sound less childish-happy and more deep.. check these major chords out: Fmaj7 | Gmaj7 | Ebmaj7 | Bbmaj7.. loop that for a second and then stop, and play it WITHOUT the 7ths.. sounds like a kid's show or something. i'd say just listen to lots of music, play around with your own ideas, try using more complex chords here and there to get a feel for it and see what it brings you.. anyways, that's my two cents.. hope it helps.
 
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^^^^^^^^

Thats a great post Chris,

I personally like the Phrygian scale for that mean club shyt
 
wholly ****, they sounds fine to me man, deff have a big career in production, im assuming u can rad and play piano,
SoulBoy said:
I was wondering if anybody knows what key most hip-hop and R&B songs are in a minor key or a major key? I'm mostly wondering about club tracks, because when I try to make a club track in a major key it tends to sound too happy. Like some Barney/sesame street music. And if its in a minor key it sounds to emotional. So if anybody could give me some scales thats good for club tracks or answer my question I would appreciate it.
 
chrisjh said:
to say it's about major being happy and minor being sad...
Yes, very good post, but you misunderstood me. Did I not say that 70% of 36 chambers was in a major key, but still menacing?

I just saw someone talking about socalled club bangers and saw an oportunity to vent my frustrations. Of course I don't encourage people to make music only in a major key!

But when you search Youtube for "club banger", you mostly hear people trying to emulate exactly the sound I mean.

It was fun the first two years, but it's time to let it go now.
 
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Soleunity said:
wholly ****, they sounds fine to me man, deff have a big career in production, im assuming u can rad and play piano,
Appreciate that man. This thread is old as hell lol. I improved a whole lot since then. Yea I can read a LITTLE lol but know how to play.
 
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