The Musical Theory of Trap

H

Hinojosa

Guest
I've been trying to nail this down for some time but i just can't seem to fully understand. I know the elements to trap, dirty snares, 808s, hi hats, orchestral hits, brass and some sort of melody. I've been playing piano since i was 5, im 18 now, and the more trap beat videos i watch i see that most people dont even stick to scales and stuff and just play minor chords and then transpose them down. When i made trap beats i played in Cminor, played C5 and then just raised the G to G# and got a trapish effect, but i see that there is way more to this, generally, how many steps should i tranpose down, or up?

Please no "dont do trap" answers, i play lots of stuff, i just want to master this.
 
Trap music is more of a feel than theory. 98% of people doing it couldn't tell you what scale or key to what they have created.

Want to make a better trap beat? Unplug the midi keyboard....use the keyboard on your laptop or desktop.....erase all theory...go by ear. Don't even try to figure out what the notes are that you are playing. If what you are doing makes sense.......the rest is easy.
 
there still has to be some sort of chord progression and transpose up/down, all trap sounds the same, there most be a basic pattern that i am not seeing
 
Just listen and study and not every trap beat transposes its a feeling

All 3 trap beats

Transposing



No Transposing crazy dark vibe tho



No Transposing 808 mafia vibe

 
Last edited:
Sound selection is also the key. The thing that fools a lot of people is thinking they are going to get what they want with ONLY brass and orch sounds. Layer those brass and orch sounds with a synth......or two.....or three.......watch what happens.
 
Just learn how to play chords and then transpose the keys. If you learn music theory, you can learn how to play chords and then transpose them. You should think about getting music lessons.

Also, you need to learn how to play drums to get the rhythm and percussion correct.
 
I spent a couple hours studying it music wise. You can grab any minor chord and then step the 3rd note a step up, and thats it, the melody has to be in the same scale of the root of the chord, you can transpose whatever direction you want, i got it, and whoever said to unplug my keyboard and stop thinking theoretically, imo youre wrong, i had an easy tiem figuring all this out thinking theorically
 
there still has to be some sort of chord progression and transpose up/down, all trap sounds the same, there most be a basic pattern that i am not seeing

Hmmmm, what would Mozart do? Hmmmm.

LOL
 
i've been trying to nail this down for some time but i just can't seem to fully understand. I know the elements to trap, dirty snares, 808s, hi hats, orchestral hits, brass and some sort of melody. I've been playing piano since i was 5, im 18 now, and the more trap beat videos i watch i see that most people dont even stick to scales and stuff and just play minor chords and then transpose them down. When i made trap beats i played in cminor, played c5 and then just raised the g to g# and got a trapish effect, but i see that there is way more to this, generally, how many steps should i tranpose down, or up?

Please no "dont do trap" answers, i play lots of stuff, i just want to master this.

see this is a reason why i'm scared to learn to play the piano and learn music theory etc.. Your making shit harder then it is.. Just go in make a loop and go by what sounds nice.. If i were a pianist and knew all the shit you knew. I'd prolly freak out like you 2..
 
Traps beats do have some music theory, but its also a lot of playing around and seeing if it sounds good.I have never read a music book with a section on creating super fast hi hats and snare rolls idk about you lol.
 
A fellow instruMentalist of mine told me that he spent a lot time trying to make trap beats. He applied theory, as he is a talented musician, but said that he just couldn't quite pin down that x-factor that made for solid, catchy trap beats.

Surprisingly, he told me that the TUNING of the extended snare and cymbal rolls did a great deal toward solidifying the sound he was looking for. Pitch-shifting, he told me, added a particular character to the compositions.

Try tuning your rolls, varying the notes during each roll, making sure to tune the roll to the rest of the melodies and bass lines. Sounds like it's worth a try to me.

Peace.
 
The moral of the story is trap beats go by feeling more than anything... People who make excel at making trap beats don't know how to play the piano or know much about musical theory *coughs* (lex luger)
 
Most Trap is Crap
I mean the sound of most Trap sounds so cheap in general. So fake.
I heard very sick Trap beats on the beatbattles here though.
But i don't like Lex Luger to be honest.
 
A fellow instruMentalist of mine told me that he spent a lot time trying to make trap beats. He applied theory, as he is a talented musician, but said that he just couldn't quite pin down that x-factor that made for solid, catchy trap beats.

Surprisingly, he told me that the TUNING of the extended snare and cymbal rolls did a great deal toward solidifying the sound he was looking for. Pitch-shifting, he told me, added a particular character to the compositions.

Try tuning your rolls, varying the notes during each roll, making sure to tune the roll to the rest of the melodies and bass lines. Sounds like it's worth a try to me.

Peace.

yeah i always tune the snares/808s to whatever root the chord im playing is in, sounds waaaay better.

Traps beats do have some music theory, but its also a lot of playing around and seeing if it sounds good.I have never read a music book with a section on creating super fast hi hats and snare rolls idk about you lol.

they do but they kind of bend the rules, you are not caged within a scale, you can do whatever you want as long as you are using minor/ 5th chords.

see this is a reason why i'm scared to learn to play the piano and learn music theory etc.. Your making shit harder then it is.. Just go in make a loop and go by what sounds nice.. If i were a pianist and knew all the shit you knew. I'd prolly freak out like you 2..

yeah it was really hard for me to understand what was going on since im not used to this i dont know how to describe it, pros and cons of knowing theory i guess.
 
Well, if there is no music theory behind trap beats, woudn't that mean that it isnt real music?

Think about it.....
 
Back
Top