New riff in Bb chromatic

TwilightOdyssey

Darkness on the edge of Tone
Started working on a new song this evening. Bb chromatic.

Edit: revised clip is in post lower down this thread.
 
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Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Bbm7 (phrygian)
C(7b9)/Bb (phrygian dominant)
B(maj7)/A# (lydian)
Bb(7b9) (phrygian dominant)

dont ask me why i did that.
dont even know if its useful.
i just like the changes. Very much flamenco harmony.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Man, you nailed it. Great ear! That arrangement is dense and with the temp guitar tones/temp synth is not very distinct.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Cool riff. Very progressive indeed. Wow, good ear indeed gibson175, I'm impressed.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Bbm7 (phrygian)
C(7b9)/Bb (phrygian dominant)
B(maj7)/A# (lydian)
Bb(7b9) (phrygian dominant)

dont ask me why i did that.
dont even know if its useful.
i just like the changes. Very much flamenco harmony.

Can I ask . . . what do you do (or have you done) to practice ear training? I'd really like to improve in this area and you obviously have it down pat.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Can I ask . . . what do you do (or have you done) to practice ear training? I'd really like to improve in this area and you obviously have it down pat.
I cannot speak for gibson, but the way I learned relative pitch was the old school method.
Step one, turn around so your back is to your instructor/partner.
Step two, they play Middle C on the guitar.
Step three, they then play another note and you have to tell them what the interval is.

And the other aspect I learned was how to hear the 'beats' when two notes are played together, which only works for temepered instruments, like the guitar (and piano). This is, in fact, an old piano tuning trick, but the 'beats' within intervals was espoused by JS Bach.

The third phase was to expand to 3 notes, then 4.

While you are doing this you are also learning how to site read, chord melodies, and principles of composition.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Also, to add to the above: there is a small percentage of people that can hear intervals in their head without needing to hear the pitches relative to each other; we say these people have 'perfect' pitch (opposed to relative).
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

I cannot speak for gibson, but the way I learned relative pitch was the old school method.
Step one, turn around so your back is to your instructor/partner.
Step two, they play Middle C on the guitar.
Step three, they then play another note and you have to tell them what the interval is.

And the other aspect I learned was how to hear the 'beats' when two notes are played together, which only works for temepered instruments, like the guitar (and piano). This is, in fact, an old piano tuning trick, but the 'beats' within intervals was espoused by JS Bach.

The third phase was to expand to 3 notes, then 4.

While you are doing this you are also learning how to site read, chord melodies, and principles of composition.

Yeah, that's more or less what I've been doing for the last few years . . . But there's a big jump between recognizing a static interval and just hearing some playing and identifying a mode. (I understand the perfect pitch thing, but had always assumed that this was pretty rare. My mom has the opposite . . . She can't hear that there is a difference between two notes played one after the other. I've tested her on this many times. It's the weirdest damned thing, but she still likes music . . . Just listens to the beats.)
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Unless it is written to be deliberately disonant, the more complex a composition is, the more it adheres to music's 'rules'.
Unlocking an arrangement is not magic, it's the application of countless hours of study.
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

Can I ask . . . what do you do (or have you done) to practice ear training? I'd really like to improve in this area and you obviously have it down pat.
Worked on theory a lot and combined that with listening and playing.
Start with intervals, then scales and scale formulas. Then chords, arpeggios, chord extensions, chord function and chord substitution. Thats pretty much it. There are lots of good books on theory, just start at the start. Play each element until you have "internalized" it and can hear it in your head.

To be honest tho. I did not pick those scales in Twilights composition out of thin air, i don't know how some people can do that. I need an instrument in my hands to play thru and check what my ears are telling me. I just found it an interesting progession so i grabbed my axe and worked through it till i understood what he was doing harmonically. Its really adventurous stuff hes doing.
 
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Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

That was a super-cool riff..it's got tension/mystique going on..but is also just plain catchy as hell :)
 
Re: New riff in Bb chromatic

I dig it! Sort of remind's me of a 60's spy TV show as well. It would be a blast to solo over...
 
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