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-- yet another question bout chords....

yet another question bout chords....

i've been searching every post about chords and i still haven't found an answer to my question...more on the lines of music theory. i know there are many types of chords, like major, minor etc. My question is tho, when u use major chords does it require that u well be writing in a major scale ? or minor chords in a major scale? does it differ or even matter? hopefully someone well understand what iam trying to ask.

cheers =)

nope, each scale doesnt matter if major or minor, includes some major and some minor chords...also some diminished etc...

in MAJOR scales:
the first chord is major (named I)
Second and third chords are minor (named ii and iii)
fourth and fifth are major (IV and V)
sixth is minor (vi)
seventh is diminished (vii�)
and the last is repeat of first, so it's major (I)

in MINOR scales:
first is minor (i)
second is diminished (ii�)
third is major (III)
fourth and fifth are minor (iv and v)
sixth and seventh are major (VI and VII)
the last is a repeat of the first so it's minor (i)

here you can see that even writing in minor scale you can still use major chords and if you're ok to go with only two chords you can write in for example D Minor scale but use only major chords

In laymen's terms:

If you play a B-minor triad with your left hand, then you play a G-major triad with your left hand (these are both being played as your right hand plays around a melody in the scale of B-minor), you are still in B-minor, since G-major -fits- into B-minor. Get it? G and B and D are all in B-minor, but since your tonic, or base note, is B, and your melody is in B-minor, the G-major triad is technically in B-minor.

This is obviously a simplification, but hopefully it'll clarify.

wow, thanks alot guys...that really cleared up alot of questions

Let me jump on the bandwagon now...

I'm learning my scales and chords, big job it is.

I'm trying to understand the big picture.

When I use a certain scale, does this mean i should only use those particular keys, and chords that fit in the keys of that scale.

Is that why I learn scales, to know what notes/chords sound good together?

Do i need to know them, from what I've gathered it's quite important.

My favourite is the C major scale

quote:

Originally posted by ralpheeee When I use a certain scale, does this mean i should only use those particular keys, and chords that fit in the keys of that scale. Is that why I learn scales, to know what notes/chords sound good together?

yes, if you use other tones they'll simply sound off but with experiments you can (i think theoretically) add a note that would work with the rest of the scale...but I doubt it...

quote:

Originally posted by ralpheeee My favourite is the C major scale

one would think A minor is easier...
A minor = A B C D E F G
C Major = C D E F G A B

which is easier? :P

There are definitely major chords to be had in pieces written in minor keys. The trick is that you have to resolve back to minor to maintain the sad/wistful sounds associated with trance.

quote:

When I use a certain scale, does this mean i should only use those particular keys, and chords that fit in the keys of that scale.

Not necessarily, sometimes a note that doesn't fit into the scale has to be written in to maintain coherency. This is called, at least in sheet music terms, an accidental, and is fairly common in music.

quote:

Originally posted by BOOsTER yes, if you use other tones they'll simply sound off but with experiments you can (i think theoretically) add a note that would work with the rest of the scale...but I doubt it... one would think A minor is easier... A minor = A B C D E F G C Major = C D E F G A B which is easier? :P

Ha Ha thanks Booster, I just learned a new scale!!

So what scales do people use, are there certain ones which are better than others.

Different scales and chords create different moods in the song.
Minor Scales/Chords sound not as happy as Majors

So basicaly you are saying, try them all out and see for yourself.

Correct?

I was hoping for an easier answer

So basicaly you are saying, try them all out and see for yourself.

Correct?

I was hoping for an easier answer

an easier answer to how the sound of chords invoke feelings or moods ????

Booster gave you all the ammo you need above to get started. Not much more I can explain really.

Just play some 2 or 3 chord sequences and try to make them all blend together so they sound in harmony with each other. Then play a short melody using notes from the scale for each chord.

For trance music I would usually use an arpreggiator running on the chords which I would play using a pad/string type instrument.

What chords I use all depend on what type of mood I am in and what type of mood I want for the song. Happy Songs or Sad Songs or Crazy Songs

Most Chords are either 3 or 4 notes played together at the same time, so on a piano for instance you could just randomly pick 3 or 4 keys for a chord until you find the ones that sound in harmony or in tune. Repeat this until you have found 3 or 4 or 5 chords that build up or down when played in a sequence.

Actualy Bedlam, that was realy helpfull thanks!!

Sorry to bother u guys with my dumbass questions.

quote:

Originally posted by ralpheeee Actualy Bedlam, that was realy helpfull thanks!! Sorry to bother u guys with my dumbass questions.

no need to say sorry, for me it was quite a good way to remind all the theory myself.

Basically many trance tunes use A Minor, because it's so sad and because it's so f*ckin easy. I hope you won't be the same lazy ass producer and will experiment a lil bit more...

one thing I can recommend you is this: http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

it's a lil page which displays most of the scales and chords in any way you might need them. I sometimes use it too. But! You should learn how to do any scale with transposing at least the usual ones like major or minor...
I do it this way...let's say I need B minor scale, but I have no clue what notes should be there...because it's very easy to remember I know what is A minor scale so...I write down A minor

A B C D E F G
now
I gotta know how many semitones it's up to B...so it's A-Ais-B
it's 2 semitones, so I transpose each note in the scale by 2 semitones
it becomes

B Cis D E Fis G A

you can go the same way about creating any of the major scales, just transpose the C Major.
Let's say I need the Cis Major scale.
I write down C Major again

C D E F G A B
now I know that Cis is one semitone up, so i transpose by one semitone each part of the scale again.

Cis Dis F Fis Gis Ais C



this way you can make any scale you want, without looking at a kind of chord calculator, but trust me I'm a lazy person too, so if I have the possibility I always look at that page and find out ... it's easier

but definitely you should know at least this transposing way, memorizing scales is no use...(maybe someone disagree here but heh, each to his own)

Booster!!

Thanks for your informative and helpful replies, I feel like I am getting closer to understanding this stuff.

All the best

Or you could memorize the way major scale is build:
tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone

And minor scale:
tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone

quote:

Originally posted by Chronosis Or you could memorize the way major scale is build: tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - tone - semitone And minor scale: tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone

yeah, but having alphabete already memorized it's easier to remember A minor

at least for me

and if you know that C Major is same as A minor though C being the start note you're set

Just spent a few hours bashing away and I've gotta say that scales are cool.

I guess, that's why they where invented...

This is pretty heavy but complete..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode


there is anothe pretty interesting (and actually very fundamental) artical here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_tempered

The "Cliff Notes" version is that on a keyboard instrument each scale is actually slighly off tune for some of its relative pitches. This enables one keyboard to play in many keys without any sounding wrong. if you are interested in micro tuning seting up your instruments to correctly map to a key can be quite a revalation.

I've yet to see a softsynth support this though, but I'm sure there's more than one..

There is some sort of tuning option on the z3ta synth.

No way im even gonna try it meself, but have a look if you are interested.

That stuff you posted Dijinerd... Ouch, my head hurts

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