So I'm working on harmony...

[cream123]

...and I think I'm getting somewhere with this finally. Here's a clip that I made with my cheap little mic. The parts with harmony go like follows

Front guitar: Emaj7/B | B7 | B7sus | B7sus | Amaj7 | Amaj7 |
B7sus | B7 |

It switches between B7sus and B7 at the end and the harmony part ends on a B7sus.

Harmonies: the notes underneath follow the chords played by the front guitar directly

Eb and B | A and Eb | E | E | Gb | E | Eb |

E and Eb switch with B7sus and B7


The riff at the end of the part with 2 guitars goes like this under a B7sus chord

E | Eb | E | Gb | E | Eb | B |


here's the link

I don't know why I called the song that. I personally think the chords sound like a mix of Modest Mouse and a bit of Jazz without the rythms.

How does it sound? I'll name off the chords a bit later. This took too long as it is.

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Edit! it makes sense to me now! Maybe it will to you too

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Nobody? Osensei? Slade?

 

[danglybanger]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

what you wrote seems to work just fine, but I'm having trouble seeing how you incorporated that into the song...

The song actually starts out pretty catchy, but seems to fall apart in a few places... It does sound kind of cool though sounds like you're putting the effort in... let me come back when I'm more sober

 

[Osensei]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Some of it sounds ok! Good effort but you really need to concentrate on your instrument right now. Some of your chords were suspect. Are you sure that you've got them spelled correctly. If so, are you sure you have them fingered correctly. Cuz some of them just went "PLANK"!

Also you need to be aware of form! Songs just don't meander about. There are usually two or more sections to a song. This is usually expressed in the form of a main theme followed by a bridge section. So if you consider the main idea as the A section and the bridge the B section then one common form you'll see much of is AABA. That's main theme (A) followed by a restatement of the main theme (A) followed by the bridge (B) and then a return to the main theme (A).

The bridge is the introduction of a new theme and it's in a different key then the main theme. However, you need to consider that sometimes the main theme can change keys as well. In this scenario, the main theme will be in one key but then on the restatement they key changes.

You see! There is alot to cover when it comes to musical composition. Chord substitution, key modulation, theme and variation plus you have to know rhythm, feel, phrasing and style. It's too much to try to learn while your trying to learn to play your instrument at the same time. I say get your instrument down then tackle composition later.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

I didn't take it as a song so much as I took it as a practice in how to implement harmony...

your technique needs a little brushing up, but with a little practice, I can see that you won't be bad at all

There were a few parts of that song that showed a real talent for piecing chords together.

I still think you should do covers

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

I still think you should do covers

I am, I am. I just learned 2 Modest Mouse songs.

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

You see! There is alot to cover when it comes to musical composition. Chord substitution, key modulation, theme and variation plus you have to know rhythm, feel, phrasing and style. It's too much to try to learn while your trying to learn to play your instrument at the same time. I say get your instrument down then tackle composition later.

Awesome, I don't believe I can do any of those :smack:

 

[Osensei]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Working on your rhythm guitar is what I would suggest short of taking lessons from somebody. You need to be able to keep time with your strumming or finger picking. The ability to keep time is one of the most important aspects of playing. This allows you to fit in with the rest of the rhythm section. You need to be playing along with the record so you can get the feel. The other option is to actually play with some other people.

Also adjust your tone. There is more to an amp than simply turning it on. You need to listen to other guitarists and try to match their tone for now. Once you get a nice tone dialed in then you can make adjustments to suite your personal taste. But first you need to find at least one nice tone setting. Keep in mind that tone settings might change from song to song. Tone settings will definitely change between styles.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

don't practice without a metronome.

that really makes you listen to music in the correct way... so many casual listeners seem to neglect rhythm, but guitarists have to keep it in mind.

Yeah... you might need to tweak your amp knobs a bit experiment. But before all that... practice is the only thing that makes you sound better. Not settings or equipment. So I wasn't going to mention that

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Working on your rhythm guitar is what I would suggest short of taking lessons from somebody. You need to be able to keep time with your strumming or finger picking. The ability to keep time is one of the most important aspects of playing. This allows you to fit in with the rest of the rhythm section. You need to be playing along with the record so you can get the feel. The other option is to actually play with some other people.

This is just too hard. I mean call me a quitter but I'm pretty sure I'll stick with other peoples stuff that I still can't play very well.

 

[firebirdV]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

That could've made great video game music (not an insult). It's a hell of a lot better than I can do, I don't really play original stuff much at all and definitely not that competently.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

it's honestly not that bad...

 

[firebirdV]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

That game thing wasn't an insult, I was dead serious...



and to let you in on a secret, I might... have some soundtracks to some recreational activities... So when I say that it would be great in a video game, I mean that I could see myself buying a CD with it on it.

 

[BigAlTheBird]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

It's really not that bad dude. You're better than I was when I was 14.

Just don't give up dude!

 

[Osensei]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

For one thing, if Modest Mouse is the kind of stuff you're trying to do then let me say this! This is the worst band in the world for you to be trying to cover at your stage of learning. The reason is because they are way too unconventional for you to learn anything conventional from. As a beginner you need to concentrate on conventional harmonies.

Modest mouse has drunken hillbilly harmony with all sorts of open strings and wild dissonances. You'll never get a grasp on basic harmony by trying to cover their stuff. An experienced player that is already well schooled in conventional harmony would do better at trying to cover that band. But a beginner? No!

I'm afraid this is typical of the Alternative Rock genre! These bands either don't know what the hell their playing or they go out of their way to be unconventional! Either way trying to play that stuff as a beginner will not lead to any good knowledge of the fundamentals. Learn the rules before you break them.

I would've never learned to play if I had tried to cover the Mahavishnu Orchestra or King Crimson when I was first starting out!

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

I don't know, I think they're good but yeah you're right they do have some weird harmonies :laugh2:

I don't know who I should be following. Fall Out Boy? If you say I might have to hurt someone :laugh2:

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Honestly, I actually liked it. Its weird and the disonance and "flubbed" chords and jerky rhythm give it charm.

Don't be so hard on yerself man. I mean its good to be self Critical, But not to the point of Hateing yourself. Just practice if ya wanna be "better", Try doin like others said an use a metronome.
Personally I see no point in learning theory or anything like that, Cause its really useless in most cases, and Does nothing but hinder the creative process (Having rules Ruins art). Just keep goin like your goin, and just work on your technique. You've got a totally unique style goin already man, and thats a VERY good thing. So Try not to lose that, Just take what you got, and Fine tune it.

I mean lessons, and learning technique, and other peoples songs is fine and all, But in alotta cases doing all those things results in one loseing they're Uniqueness (which is why we have so many "great" guitarists that all sound pretty much the same). Everything I've heard of yours is very very Unique, an alotta times people don't like to hear Unique/different. So when they hear sumthing thats very different from everything else, they automatically assume "well this is not like anything I've heard before, so it must suck". An they'll all tell you what your doing "wrong", But what do they know?

Anyone can Play a cover of Smells like teen spirit, Or Enter sandman, Or whatever. But not many people can do something Original. So just keep at what your doin, Just Fine tune it. Try adding some Lead melodys (not Solo's or anything nessicarrily, Just melody lines that hold the rhythm and keep the listeners attention), Don't worry about song structure That much (but having structure does help in keeping someones attention), and Just Keep doing what your doing. You got the talent, and ya Got the mind to write good music, Ya just need to work on your technique a little.

 

[cream123]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

for some reason I was waiting for Low_fi to chime in as he is the Dancing Gnome's biggest fan. :laugh2: I like the way I play now honestly, and I don't want to change the way I play. so I'll just fine tune (with a metronome ).

 

[Osensei]

Re: So I'm working on harmony...

Personally I see no point in learning theory or anything like that, Cause its really useless in most cases, and Does nothing but hinder the creative process (Having rules Ruins art).

:chairfall :chairfall :chairfall
So every painting that doesn't look like a Piccaso is BS. We should just take a wrecking ball to the friggen Sisteen Chapel, I suppose! :chairfall :chairfall :chairfall Handel's Messiah, Beethoven's 9th Symphony and Wagner's Gotter Damerung are all ****ed up! :chairfall We should close ****ing Juliard because Low_fidelity says they're teaching BS that makes musicians retarded! :chairfall

I mean lessons, and learning technique, and other peoples songs is fine and all, But in alotta cases doing all those things results in one loseing they're Uniqueness (which is why we have so many "great" guitarists that all sound pretty much the same).

:bsflag:
"Great" guitarists sound the same because they don't want to sound different! It's much easier just to play your damned guitar and make a paycheck than it is to try to be "unique". Well educated musicians could stretch their boundaries if the wanted to but an ignorant SOB could never change!

Everything I've heard of yours is very very Unique, an alotta times people don't like to hear Unique/different. So when they hear sumthing thats very different from everything else, they automatically assume "well this is not like anything I've heard before, so it must suck". An they'll all tell you what your doing "wrong", But what do they know?

:bsflag:
Popular music is all about unique/different! Music producers and record labels don't give a **** if their acts know how to read music, know theory or anything else. They don't even give a **** how the group sounds or even if they know how to play musical instruments. :chairfall

As long as they can create some BS image, sell them as sex objects, package them as a bunch of social misfits or tatoo their asses from head to toe then they have mass marketability! So the public gets "unique" shoved down their ****ing throats all of the time! For the most part, the public eats it up! So your premise that people don't like "unique" is BS!

But groups like this will only last 2 - 5 yrs at the most, then nobody will give a **** what happened to them. People will always wanna know what happened to Clapton but they'll forget Blink 182 ever existed! Or if they are remembered they'll be remembered in the same way people remember the bad fashion they wore when they were young!:chairfall

Anyone can Play a cover of Smells like teen spirit, Or Enter sandman, Or whatever. But not many people can do something Original. So just keep at what your doin, Just Fine tune it. Try adding some Lead melodys (not Solo's or anything nessicarrily, Just melody lines that hold the rhythm and keep the listeners attention), Don't worry about song structure That much (but having structure does help in keeping someones attention), and Just Keep doing what your doing. You got the talent, and ya Got the mind to write good music, Ya just need to work on your technique a little.

That's right kids! And you too can sound like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdzn0nCLhEA

But it doesn't matter because, "He's so cute"! ROFLMAO!