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Chord Progressions (Music Theory)

I'm kind of confused...for major scales it goes:

I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi vii^o...correct me if i'm wrong...

now can someone tell me how to get that for the minor scales and the modes? i just need a little help..but thanks

yeah, correct

Minor (harmonic minor) is:

i, ii^o, iii^+, iv, V, VI, vii^0

Natural Minor: i, ii^o, III, iv, v, VI, VII

Harmonic Minor: i, ii^o, III+ (rarely used), iv, V, VI, vii^o

So you get: i, ii^o, III, iv, V or v (V preferred), VI, VII or vii^o

hope that helps.

TK

You all are the shit...thanks a lot

What about this...which ones flow to which...and how about some common progressions...is that the same as the major scale? (just learning this if you haven't noticed)

Here's a great site for musical scales/chords

http://www.ocmusic.com/vpc.htm

Pull up a chair and brew some coffee - here's a link to a lot of info on chord progressions.. very useful..

http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Work_Index.htm

sorry for posting so many replies.. but here is the entire book.. free online..

http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Full_Index.htm

i love tranceaddict...you all are so helpful

Yes! Music theory is important, and often overlooked by people getting into producing that have never learned a previous instrument.

Music theory kicks ass

Since i was kind of bored, I made....

Newbie's guide to trance chords:

First comes first - these are not rules, they are �guidelines for beginners� Second - this will only work for normal, regular trance. No goa, maybe hard trance, dunno.

[Begin lecture]

Trance usually is in minor. Sure, a few songs are in major (solar stone - seven cities first comes to mind) but most are minor. For this little tutorial thingy, i�m gonna use A minor, since it�s the easiest to work in. You can easily change this later.

So, you have no idea how to make some good chords? This is an attempt to help.

We have to distinguish between a �main chord� and a �transition chord�. I�ll use Rank 1 - Airwave, since everyone knows it. The first bit follows the progression:

i-vii-VI-vi, or Am Bm (well Bm7 actually) FM Dm

The first and third chords are the real ones. These are the ones your baseline is going to be following. The second and fourth are transitions, they are there to make things sound nice

First, you start on your tonic, the key you�re in. This would be A minor, or �i�. You usually have this chord for 8 beats. You can have a transition after it if you want. The next big chord in most trance is usually a C Major (III) or an F Major (VI). AvB - Communication is an example of CM and Rank1 - Airwave for FM.

The third chord is really up to you. Pretty much anything works here.
F Major (VI) can go to a C major, a D minor, an E minor, a G major, back to A minor. B is a maybe, it might sound kind of weird. C major can transition to lots of stuff as well.

Since there are usually 4 chords in a trance chord progression (or at least at the 5th chord it goes back to tonic (i)), the last chord is also important, and there are many options. Usual last chords are (from A minor) E Major, F major, G major, or G# diminished (G#-B-D). Many others will also work.

So how does our example Airwave work?

i - transition - VI - transition - v - transition - VI - transition - i - transition - VI - transition - III - transition - VII - transition - i

[/lecture]

Fits the pattern nicely

The hard part, after this, of course, is actually making the melodies, and if you suck at that, then perhaps it�s time to skip this tutorial and move on to making Techno 8-)

quote:

The hard part, after this, of course, is actually making the melodies, and if you suck at that, then perhaps it�s time to skip this tutorial and move on to making Techno 8-)

I always had a hard time composing melodies but once I learned about chord progressions is "all came to me" and composing an entire 8 measure melodies takes like 10 mins at the most (once I've spent 10 hours perfecting the progression and harmony of course )

cheers MrCowski, a lot of my melody is guess work - although I have studied chord progressions kind of. Can you recommend any further reading?

I come from a jazz background, so I've had music theory bashed into my head for as long as I can remember.

What I would recommend is finding a nice piece of classical (definatly NOT jazz) music that you enjoy, and getting some chord progression ideas from that. Many classical pieces are in minor keys (it usually will tell you in the title) and have progressions that are beautiful, yet relatively simple. The reason I say not to use jazz is simply because you have way too may chord changes to really be able to use them effectively in a trance piece. There are some jazz standards that would be usable, but the theory needed is probably above the average producer's head. I've been experimenting with "jazz-trance," but a lot of time it comes out sounding more loungey than anything.

Do we have any other jazz-heads out there? Although performing live jazz will always hold a place in my heart for the intamacy of the group and the challenge of the music, I find electronic/trance music to be untouchable in its energy. Just my thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by alanzo sorry for posting so many replies.. but here is the entire book.. free online.. http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Full_Index.htm

"On rare occasion, a rank amateur will actually write a great tune, by sheer dumb luck."

Can you recommend any further reading?

check out this website.. it has an entire section on chord progressions and 3 other sections on theory in general..

http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Full_Index.htm

oh wait.. I alredy posted that link in here... well READ IT!

i have read that, i meant further than that!

well this website it pretty good.. on the bottom of it are two free e-books that are quite worth the read..

I pushed enter to put in a space and the Post sent..

here's the link..

http://www.dolmetsch.com/theoryintro.htm

If you want even further then that try the forums on http://www.futureproducers.com

If you want even further then that.. go to your local book-store and pull up a chair

cheers, going to give them two ebooks a read.

All this information is great...but, to tell you the truth, after going through all that shit, i still don't know anything about minor scale chord progressions. What chords can lead to waht, and sound good? is it the same as major scale?

He definitly explains all that - read through it again as it can be a bit confusing if it's your first time learning all of it.

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