Fundamental Concepts #
- Notes: Individual pitches forming the basic unit of music.
- Melody: A sequence of single notes played in succession to create a phrase that conveys emotion, tells a story, or forms the backbone of a song.
- Chord: Three or more notes played simultaneously.
- Progression of Chords: A sequence of chords.
- Harmony: When two or more lines of music (e.g., melody and chords) play together simultaneously.
Understanding Notes and Keyboard Structure #
- Natural Notes: White keys on a keyboard, labeled A through G, repeating across octaves.
- Octave: The distance between two notes of the same letter name occupying different pitches (e.g., C to C, E to E).
- Black Notes: Represent sharps (up from a white note, e.g., C#) and flats (down from a white note, e.g., Bb). Each black note has two names.
- Whole Step Movement: Two keyboard notes away (e.g., C to D).
- Half Step Movement: One keyboard note away (e.g., C to C#).
Scales #
- Definition: A group of notes that sound good together, used to strategically combine notes to evoke a desired emotion.
- Minor Scale Formula: Start on any note, then add whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step. (W H W W H W W)
- Generates a more serious or darker tone.
- Major Scale Formula: Start on any note, then add whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. (W W H W W W H)
- Generates a more positive or brighter tone.
- Building Scales: Once you know the formula, you can build any scale from any starting note (Key).
- Using Scales in Melodies:
- Pick a scale that aligns with the desired emotion.
- Limit your melody notes to only those within the chosen scale; notes outside the scale ("stepping out of key") sound unnatural.
- Utilize different octaves of the scale notes to add variety and depth to melodies.
- Other Scales/Modes: Blues scale, pentatonic major scale, modes (e.g., Locrian mode for unstable character), Harmonic Minor scale. Each is designed to aim for specific emotions or moods.
- Practice: Learn the sound of each scale to effectively use them and develop your unique sound.
Chords #
- Purpose: Refine the broad emotional direction given by scales into something more specific.
- Building a Triad:
- Root Note: The bottom note of the chord, which its name is based on.
- Fifth: Seven half steps up from the root.
- Third: Added to make it a major triad (four half steps up from the root) or a minor triad (three half steps up from the root).
- Triad Naming: Based on the root note and the quality of the third (e.g., A major, A minor).
- Intervals: Two notes played at once (e.g., a major third or minor third).
- Chords and Scales Relationship:
- In any given major or minor scale, there are seven chords, one for each note/degree of the scale.
- Each degree of the scale is numbered (1 through 7); the chord on the first degree is the "one chord" or tonic.
- Chords can be built by counting degrees up the scale (e.g., tonic (1st degree) + 3rd degree + 5th degree for a triad).
- Seventh Chords:
- Built by adding a seventh degree to a triad (root + third + fifth + seventh).
- Produce a different, often more jazzy/bluesy, energy than basic triads.
Chord Progressions #
- Definition: The emotional backbone of any song, linking chords together.
- Musical Time (4/4 Time Signature):
- Most Western music uses 4/4 time.
- Bars/Measures: Sections of music, typically marked by numbers in a digital audio workstation (DAW).
- Beats: Four beats per bar in 4/4 time.
- Tempo: How fast the music moves in 4/4.
- Downbeats: The first beat of a bar (thicker grid lines in a DAW).
- Most chord progressions are four bars long or a multiple of four (e.g., eight bars).
- Writing Good Progressions:
- Pick any scale (e.g., A minor scale, which has seven available chords).
- Experiment with four-chord, four-bar progressions as a starting point.
- Listen to the emotion generated by different chord combinations.
- Examples of Emotion-Generating Progressions:
- Uplifting/Dancy (Minor Scale): 5 - 6 - 1 - 7
- Deep Vibe (Minor Scale): 1 - 3 - 5 - 4
- Fred Again (Adore You / Minor Scale): 7 - 1 - 4 - 5 - 6
- Popular/Happy/Uplifting (Minor Scale; Firestone by Kygo): 6 - 7 - 1 - 3
- Adding Interest to Progressions:
- Downward Moving Progressions: Tend to create a serious or sad tone.
- Upward Moving Progressions: Tend to create an uplifting or positive tone.
- Voicing/Smoothness:
- Root Form: Chords with notes stacked as root-third-fifth. Can sound basic.
- Open Voicing: Spreading out chord notes (e.g., taking the third an octave higher) for a different sound.
- Doubling Notes: Emphasizing important notes (e.g., bass notes or high notes) by duplicating them in different octaves.
- Inversions: Moving the third or fifth (or both) of a chord to a different octave to create a smoother, more linear feel.
- Rearticulate Chords: Change how chords are played (e.g., arpeggiating or staccato) to add energy or suit a genre.
Melodies (The Most Creative Part) #
- Infinite Possibilities: Melodies are less defined by strict frameworks than scales or chords, offering vast creative freedom.
- Scale Relativity:
- Every minor scale has a relative major scale that shares the same notes.
- To find the relative major of a minor scale: Go to the third degree of the minor scale.
- To find the relative minor of a major scale: Go to the sixth degree of the major scale.
- Applying Relativity to Melody Writing:
- Start with Chords: Provides an emotional foundation.
- Start with the Tonic: Begin a melody by rooting it on the tonic of the scale. This helps calibrate emotions and establish a starting point.
- Focus Note: Every melody focuses on one singular note, usually the tonic of the key.
- Manipulating Emotion:
- Root a melody on the minor tonic for a serious vibe.
- Root a melody on the relative major tonic (and compose in the major scale) to emphasize a more uplifting/positive feel.
- Beginner Tip: Use music theory (like starting on the tonic) as a structured starting point for melody creation, as free-form exploration can be challenging initially.
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