Forums - Theory / composition / technique
Subject: I feel stupid...
Original Message 1/22 23-Feb-00 @ 05:32 AM - I feel stupid...
So take deep house/garage for example:
If I decide the key of a song, and want to make a bassline, what scale should I use - minor, major...what?
Should I bang out a bassline using the root and fifth notes? What rules do a simple bassline follow?
Once I know what key my song is in, how do I know what chords I can play with it?
Does house, or disco follow a chord progression?
I try not to let music theory ignorance get in my way, I'm still managing to churn out some nice house grooves, but time and time again it comes back to haunt me. So any theory tips relevant to making dance would be a welcome change. I just want some simple rules to point me in the right direction, I don't want to follow a dull formula, just lay down some rules that'd help or inspire me.
Hopefuly, any answers will benefit other people like myself who come from a dj'ing or more technical background.
Message 2/22 23-Feb-00 @ 05:34 AM - RE: I feel stupid...
Message 3/22 23-Feb-00 @ 02:51 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
I known it's pretty tough at first learning this things, since i figure out most of them by myself time ago. There may some innacurancies in the following stuff... but I'm pretty sure that I learned the basic ;)
I discover that... yes, there are rules, but they are not so much. Let's start.
When u have decided the key of a song you usually decide the minor / major stuff also, since the "minor" and "major" flavors lead to different notes in the scale. So for example if u decide that C is your key and "major" your flavor then you'll have the simple: C D E F G A B scale, instead if your choice is the "minor" one, well, you'll have the C D Eb F G Ab Gb scale (I didn't play this one... I hope it's correct).
As far as i known, the "minor" flavor is somewhat "sad"or "dark". After all, i think it's a personal choice, I think. If you are jamming around in, say, Dminor, and u find a nice riff your entire song should follow that scale.
Then... u've found that nice riff in that minor scale, right? Then the bassline should follow that scale also. Simple. Bassline however should follow the beats rather than your riffs... just listen to any decent track. Using the root and other notes of the chosen scale assure you to stay in tune with the rest of the song parts.
Chords. Again you chose the chords by playng only the notes in the scale. For example if your scale is C you can play the C major, A minor, D minor and so on.
There's ton of docs on the internet about chords... jum p to: http://www.harmony-central.com/ and take a look.
There's tip #1... stay on the scale!
bye.
Message 4/22 23-Feb-00 @ 06:57 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
Message 5/22 23-Feb-00 @ 07:34 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
Message 6/22 23-Feb-00 @ 10:21 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
peaceout
Message 7/22 23-Feb-00 @ 10:30 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
Message 8/22 23-Feb-00 @ 10:31 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
Message 9/22 23-Feb-00 @ 10:39 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
Peaceout
Message 10/22 23-Feb-00 @ 10:41 PM - RE: I feel stupid...
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