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!

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"where east meets west meets moscow meets amsterdam meets dance meets trance meets porsche meets lada meets pravda meets prada meets boy meets girl meets love meets you meets me..."

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..

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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?

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"where east meets west meets moscow meets amsterdam meets dance meets trance meets porsche meets lada meets pravda meets prada meets boy meets girl meets love meets you meets me..."

Check out this website.

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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.

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"where east meets west meets moscow meets amsterdam meets dance meets trance meets porsche meets lada meets pravda meets prada meets boy meets girl meets love meets you meets me..."

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!

Last edited by Haimoimoi on Sep-18-2002 at 20:21