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-- ???Keys n Chords???
???Keys n Chords???
Uhm, i dont get it.
Iv bin making tunes 4 2 years now and id really like to know what everyones goin on about when they say things like, this tunes in E minor. Whats a minor chord, a major chord, a minor key and a major key and what are the differnces, somebody please explain. Oh yeah and i know where all the notes are n shit like that. Like my latest tune uses the notes D, D# F, G, A A# and C. Is it in a Key? Which key is it? Why does playing a D sound really good but a C generally doesn't fit aswell?
Cheers!
well trance tunes generally arenst in a key theyre more often than not a random bunch of notes put together because they sound good, Ligaya is in a key however, would be seen as its nicked off a classical tune 
dunno which tho
As for chords, well to put it simply, major chords have a 'happy' sound and minor chords have a more sad, more dramatic sound <-- bit hard to explain
An example of a major chord is C Major, with the notes C, E & G, and the C Minor chord is C, D# & G, hopefully that will clear up what I meant about the sound of the chords 
the ligaya melody is written by an classical writer.. he wrote it specially for ferry..
Every single Pro trance song is written in a key, the key may change throughout the song (only a couple do that, PVD - another way is the only one I can think of at the moment) but they all are in a key. If they were just a bunch of notes it would sound like shit. There is order to chaos in good music. A bunch of notes that sound good together IS A key. Damn, too many music theory classes I've had.
You can just pick whatever sounds good... it may not be a major or minor key but chances are its some kinda key...
Fuzzy, you seem to know the deals, is there newhere i can go to read up on this shit, i really wana learn, i always like to know why things work. So what key would my tune be in if i used them notes shown above? And why is it in that key?
Cheers for that,
Its an interesting site, i found out my tune was in the key of D Phryigian
Wot the fuck that means i dont know, still need to have some shit explained.
Now u gotta learn about chords and partwriting and stuff like that...
theory is too confusing for me lol, we do some in school but I just don't get the "big picture" about how you apply all the little stuff you learn (like triads, etc.) to the composition of an entire piece.
I wouldn't worry about it, you don't need it for trance. If you try some more symphonic stuff, though...
You don't need to worry about the details so much. The fact is, is that certain keys create certain emotions in the human brain, and chord progressions in those keys can make even stronger emotions.
Personally I like to start writing most of my songs in the key of Am because it has that movie soundtrack emotion behind it and also you don't have to worry about the black keys . If I feel the need to change the key later, I just transpose it while it is in midi. There are certain chord progressions that will always produce winning songs. Just pay attention to the songs you listen to. I bet that your most favorite melodic songs feature the same basic chord progression. This is Very true in pop and rock music also.
Most pop tunes are in the same key, and use the same six chords
Mind you, certain pop trance producers are pulling the same trick. That's why it all sounds the same, and shite.
I have taken some college-level music theory, and answering your question is more complex than you might think. There are two major issues you'll deal with: key signatures and scale.
We'll start with your scale: D, D# F, G, A A# and C. You're actually in the major key of Bb (at least, in it's simplest form. D Phygian is correct if your 'root' note is D.) The basic scale is Bb (A#), C, D, Eb(D#), F, G, A. Now, the D sounds really good because it is either your root or a third from the root. It is the middle note in a Bb I. major triad. Now a 'C' will dissonant because it is too "close" to the root. The same goes for 'A'. These notes are useful for creating tension in your music, used as a suspension.
Ok, to learn chords, you need to start with the basic triad. If you are in a scale (say C for example), you can create a C major chord by playing C, E, and G together. This is the I. (or first) major chord in that key signature. There are three natural major chords in a scale, I, IV, and V. That is in C, the triads that start on C, F, and G. The others, ii, iii, and vi are minor chords. The chord starting on B is a special case called diminished -- it's a minor chord with the 5th being a half step lower.
Sorry if that was a little confusing, but it takes years to get everything straight. To give you an idea of what you're up against, here's a chart of natural chord progressions:
http://members.aol.com/chordmaps/genmap.htm
Ack!
If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to help though!
My God man!! That's very interesting yet extremely confusing no matter how many times I read that, and the link just completely threw me off! LOL Thanks though!!
Cheers for that, it did make a suprising amount of sense, i mean i know i dont understand a lot of it but i get the basics. MY tune did start on D so i gues it was in D phyr;kljnfcak but then i changed it to start at G coz i thought it was actually in the key of G. From this site:
http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/
it says this would mean its in
G Melodic Minor (Descending)
is this just G minor or is it something else?
there were two other G minor
G Melodic Minor (Ascending)
and
G Harmonic Minor
which one is the actual minor key???
does that mean the Bflat major and G minor are the same key????
There are actually all sorts of minor keys, the simplest being the harmonic minor. However, the best is the melodic minor. The ascending/descending thing comes about because classical music theorists felt that a scale sounded better going up in the ascending version and better going down in the ascending one, because the shifted note in the ascending version leads more strongly to the tonic (the tonic is C in C major/minor, D in D major/minor etc). Personally I feel that if you've got a lot of notes coming in rapid succession, as you often do in trance, then it sounds dissonant to switch between the alternative notes, so I usually stick to the ascending version as it has more tension.
Bb major and G minor aren't in the same key because they have different root notes. This makes a difference when it comes to chord progressions, as you tend to lead to the tonic. Tunes written in the two keys actually sound quite different. I think that's the harmonic minor that shares all the notes anyway, so who cares?! Melodic minor! Melodic minor! Bb melodic minor! It's the best!
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Michael Russo Now u gotta learn about chords and partwriting and stuff like that... theory is too confusing for me lol, we do some in school but I just don't get the "big picture" about how you apply all the little stuff you learn (like triads, etc.) to the composition of an entire piece. I wouldn't worry about it, you don't need it for trance. If you try some more symphonic stuff, though... |
(btw I'm trying my best to explain all these in eng ) If we ignore the intro and outro, we have like this 1st buildup - 1st climax - 2nd buildup - 2nd climax. Comparing it with the Jingle bell structure "ABAB", they are the same! And also note that all trance are in 4/4, 4 bass drum in a bar with (usually) melody not at the same position as the bass drum, and at every 4 (or in multiple of 4) bars either some new sound comes in or go out. The difference of them is the time the song last. While a normal short tune maybe last about 20sec - 1 min, a trance last for over 6 min! We may say that a trance tune is actually a magnification of a short melody tune. Okay then we know this but how does it help in our composition of trance?
omg! this is complex stuff! but very interesting as well! nice thread, that makes my brain go like..aaaw
sorry i cant add some stuff, i dont know abything about chords n keys.. 
re:chords
If you're using FL 3.5x to make trance or any type of music, I do knowe that the piano roll can be setup to make automatic chords for you, based on what your main note is. Check the manual from www.fruityloops.com or PM me if u want to know more of what I'm talking about.
Im hearing so much good shit about fruity, should i just fuck reason n cubase off?
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Haimoimoi I have taken some college-level music theory, and answering your question is more complex than you might think. There are two major issues you'll deal with: key signatures and scale. We'll start with your scale: D, D# F, G, A A# and C. You're actually in the major key of Bb (at least, in it's simplest form. D Phygian is correct if your 'root' note is D.) The basic scale is Bb (A#), C, D, Eb(D#), F, G, A. Now, the D sounds really good because it is either your root or a third from the root. It is the middle note in a Bb I. major triad. Now a 'C' will dissonant because it is too "close" to the root. The same goes for 'A'. These notes are useful for creating tension in your music, used as a suspension. Ok, to learn chords, you need to start with the basic triad. If you are in a scale (say C for example), you can create a C major chord by playing C, E, and G together. This is the I. (or first) major chord in that key signature. There are three natural major chords in a scale, I, IV, and V. That is in C, the triads that start on C, F, and G. The others, ii, iii, and vi are minor chords. The chord starting on B is a special case called diminished -- it's a minor chord with the 5th being a half step lower. Sorry if that was a little confusing, but it takes years to get everything straight. To give you an idea of what you're up against, here's a chart of natural chord progressions: http://members.aol.com/chordmaps/genmap.htm Ack! If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to help though! |
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