Music theorists help please.

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bigheadood

New member
I am finally beginning to write my own stuff (no longer just slopping stuff together).

This is just a song intro that seems to me to have alot of potential.
It's not recorded very well, I'm just tracking new ideas and song arrangement at the moment.

From a music theory standpoint, does this song make any sense?
any help or comments are appreciated.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=322877

Thanks
Nick
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

I'm no expert, but I know some theory. The big thing I don't know is all the damn modes and scales. I can tell you what a major/minor scale is, maybe one or two of the other weird ones.

In any case, I like the intro, the arpeggios set the stage very well for the lead that comes in overtop, as well as the rest of the progressions following. As far as I'm concerned the song makes sense. Even if it doesn't follow any "rules" (which I couldn't verify), if it sounds cool to you and it flows then it's cool. Sort of reminds me of Castlevania :D.

Sorry if that was unhelpful, but it's a cool track so far.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

music theory takes a back seat to what sounds good.

Music theory will find a way to describe what sounds good.


Music theory is needed but it is ultimately only a tool. It sounds to me like you are doing a good job with what sounds good.

I liked it.......can't wait to hear the finished product.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

HA! HA! Sounds like HBO's Tales From the Crypt! :chairfall

Look dood, it's like I said in some other posts. Modern music theory is much like archeology! It only attempts to analyze and describe what already or previously existed. You should no more try to use music theory to create a composition as you should try to use biology to create a human being! Heir Doctor! ROFL!

Music theory simply helps the creative process! It is not ment to dictate to it!
 
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Re: Music theorists help please.

Sounds great! But it needs a big tempo change imho to set it off. Now record us the rest please!
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

Osensei said:
Music theory simply helps the creative process! It is not ment to dictate to it!
Click to expand...
:smack:
I guess that is what I'm looking for; the overview of what this is musically to help the creative process along. This didn't come by 'accident', it is just beyond my musical knowledge. I'm hoping a different perspective will yield more ideas.

Thanks
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

I would find some theory books if I were you. Perhaps a college bookstore might have something to get you started on the road to understanding music theory. I cannot honestly say that knowledge of theory won't help you. I would have to be an idiot to suggest something like that.

Don't expect the heavens to open, however. At best, having a firm grip on the theory well help you make intelligent choices. But just like anything else, theory can become a crutch and it can actually hinder your development if it is not kept in it's proper place.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

It seems to me that you're looking for where to go next with this piece, right?

IMO, while theory isn't the only answer, it can be part of the answer if it makes you hear (or see) things in a different way than you would have otherwise. If proper theory moves you to understand that many others hear X chord as resolving to Y chord, yet you never realized it and you like the way that it sounds, then I think that a little study of proper theory is certainly in order.

I'm not as knowledgeable as I would like to be when it comes to music theory, and I know that my occasional study of it certainly makes me see and hear things in a different way than I did when I was totally ignorant of the concepts. It's kinda like insurance, I guess. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. If theory moves you closer to writing what you want to hear, then learn it.

To answer your original question, I like the darkness and descending chromaticism of what you've got so far. I'll be looking forward to what you add to it. This is your baby, so it can be whatever you want for it to be. Let your ears be the judge.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

IT sounded so sci-fi that i am going to do the startrek thing and summarize someone else's complex ideas into a simple analogy.

Trying to write a song from theory is like trying to listen to music with your eyes.

It may help a little, but it won't work alone.

and also, great work. are you thinking of doing that all the way through, or adding some heavy rythm, words, shred? just some ideas of where to go from there.
 
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I like what Fretology said about music theory finding a way to explain what sounds good. I didn't try to figure out what you were playing, but it was obvious there were some key changes, but a lot of good songs change keys, including metal. The advantage, in my opinion, to knowing theory helps you learn common ways to change key, an understanding of how what you're playing fits, which for me just leads to a better solo/lead part because you know what notes to highlight etc... What you played sounded great, so essentially anything can make sense theory-wise, especially if you're utlizing multiple keys, intentionally or not. Just be sure to make sure the leads fit over the chords, unless you start playing jazz, then all bets are off.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

SubsidyMusikk said:
Just be sure to make sure the leads fit over the chords, unless you start playing jazz, then all bets are off.
Click to expand...


Not true! The lion's share of jazz fits the chords very closely, unless your talking about the more contemporary/free styles of jazz. Remember that jazz encompasses many stlyes spanning decades. All jazz is not created equal.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

SubsidyMusikk said:
I like what Fretology said about music theory finding a way to explain what sounds good............
Click to expand...

Hey cool that doesn't happen to me very often.......most people hate my guts:banana:
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

Thanks everyone, for the replies.

SCI-Fi...Really?
I thought it sounded kind of ominous. Hopefully not too goofy.

I've got some new ideas for this song...It's definately going heavier, and faster. Perhaps 7 string. I will post after new ideas are recorded.

Thanks
Nick
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

bigheadood said:
:smack:
I guess that is what I'm looking for; the overview of what this is musically to help the creative process along. This didn't come by 'accident', it is just beyond my musical knowledge. I'm hoping a different perspective will yield more ideas.

Thanks
Click to expand...


Keep using your ears & listen to the music that is apparently in your mind already. Like a few others said, theory can help you make decisions faster, and maybe give you more choices, but the music comes from within you not from a theory book.

It sounds like you have a good basis for a tune here! I'd agree with you that it sounds a little forboding. A lot of that "feel" may have to do with the fact that you're constantly modulating by shifting the implied tonic. By "randomly" shifting the same or similar arpeggio patterns, you're basically changing keys almost every time you start a new arpeggio. This sounds cool, but definitely keeps the listener guessing and feeling on edge.

Wish I could go into more detail, but I don't have the time to analyze the tune... besides, knowing which arpeggios/which keys you're switching between is probably less important than understanding the bigger picture...

If you want to anchor the tune after this intro, you may want to settle on a main tonal center, probably in minor or a minor-inclined mode of some sort... or stick with the exotic feel and go with a modified modal sound. Then it's just a matter of figuring out the main chords that work in that tonality & using your ear to guide which chords you try where.


Hope some of that was helpful... :smokin:



--Nightrunner
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

I agree that theory is just another tool in the creative process. Being a band director, I had to take plenty of it in college. It helps to already know what you want because you learned about a certain pattern or resolution, since pretty much everything has already been done. I would say creativity over theory, but I wouldn't downplay music theory's importance either, as long as you study what you want to know and stay away from stuff you'll probably never use like neopolitan dominants or tritone substitions (not trying to show off btw, just a warning to guitarists who might not care about that stuff!) It can get very confusing. I still probably should take years more!!!
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

Complicated theory scares the crap out of me. It should scare you two. Fear theory. Ignore the rules and go with the flow. It's your music, it can happen as linearly or as randomly as you want it to.
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

I started listening, but kind of wandered off, & wound up clicking on your other stuff. Barium Nitrate Version2 is rockin' my balls off! :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

bigheadood said:
Ok, I've got a few more riffs...Went to 7 string guitar, 'Tried' to clean up the beginning a bit. Could use a different mix in the beginning.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=322877

Let me know what you think.
Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...


I gave the new clip a listen... Great job! By adding a bit of structure to the arrangement, you've pulled in some of the loose ends and given the song some direction! It really is rooted more firmly in a particular tonality now & the repeating phrases give listeners something to latch onto.

Where will it go from here? :firedevil


--Nightrunner
 
Re: Music theorists help please.

my theory tells me its melodic minor ... would that be accurate?

If so, look up some chord progressions that are derived from this scale, and see where that leads you.

... maybe a key change in the middle that uses the same notes of the scale?
 
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