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Chord Progressions (Music Theory)
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SpeakInSympathy
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
MrCowski
yeah, correct

Minor (harmonic minor) is:

i, ii^o, iii^+, iv, V, VI, vii^0
The Keeper
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
SpeakInSympathy
You all are the ...thanks a lot
SpeakInSympathy
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)
alanzo
Here's a great site for musical scales/chords

http://www.ocmusic.com/vpc.htm
alanzo
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
alanzo
sorry for posting so many replies.. but here is the entire book.. free online..

http://www.completechords.com/Pages..._Full_Index.htm
SpeakInSympathy
i love tranceaddict...you all are so helpful
TI2ance
Yes! Music theory is important, and often overlooked by people getting into producing that have never learned a previous instrument.

SpeakInSympathy
Music theory kicks ass
MrCowski
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 :D

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-):D
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