Song 2 Analysis - Chords
Lesson 31 from: Music Theory for Electronic ProducersTomas George
Song 2 Analysis - Chords
Lesson 31 from: Music Theory for Electronic ProducersTomas George
Lesson Info
31. Song 2 Analysis - Chords
Lessons
Introduction
00:58 2Basic Music Theory Terms
08:07 3Keyboard Layout and Octaves
06:19 4Working out Major Scales
08:58 5Perfect 5ths
06:42 63rds - Part 1
08:05 73rds - Part 2
07:39 8Perfect 4ths
04:36Chords and Inversions - Part 1
10:05 10Chords and Inversions - Part 2
09:13 11Chord Progressions - Part 1
10:22 12Chord Progressions - Part 2
08:26 13Inversions
08:53 147th Chords
09:48 15Chord Extensions
08:09 16Suspended Chords
02:40 17The Circle of 5ths
04:30 18Minor Scales
08:09 19Chords in the Natural Minor scale
09:56 20Harmonic and Melodic Minor
09:30 21Write the Chords, then the Melody
09:03 22Write the Melody, then the Chords
18:01 23Arpeggios
08:00 24Writing Bass Parts
11:35 25Writing Bass Riffs and Adapting Melodies
14:10 26Song Analysis - Chords, Part 1
10:17 27Song Analysis - Chords, Part 2
05:58 28Song Analysis - Melody
08:55 29Song Analysis - Arrangement
07:30 30Song 2 Analysis - Arrangement
05:04 31Song 2 Analysis - Chords
08:55 32Song 2 Analysis - Melodies
06:34 33Song 3 Analysis - Chords
11:41 34Song 3 Analysis - Melodies and Arrangement
06:55 35Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 1
10:22 36Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 2
18:47 37Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 3
18:49 38Create a Song from a Drum Beat - Part 4
08:21 39Create a Song from a Chord Progression - Part 1
08:16 40Create a Song from a Chord Progression - Part 2
08:07 41Create a Song from a Melody - Part 1
07:27 42Create a Song from a Melody - Part 2
09:05 43Modes Intro
04:10 44Ionian
00:43 45Dorian
04:31 46Phrygian
02:09 47Lydian
01:35 48Mixolydian
02:13 49Aeolian
00:39 50Locrian
01:50 51Dorian Mode Example
09:12 52Pentatonic Scales
12:27Lesson Info
Song 2 Analysis - Chords
OK. Now we're going to have a look at the chords I use for this track. Let's just, first of all, have a listen to this. So you can kind of hear what's actually going on. It's basically just these four chords repeated round and round. They have this two bass notes, but there's actually four chords going on. So let's just hear this. There's an intro part where I have this kind of weird effect that I've sampled and then the chords enter, let's just play it from where the chords enter. Then there's a rift there that enters and then the cords come, then the cords come in after this as well. With the rest, these are basically the chords and there's different riffs that enter different melodies. But it's basically just these four chords. There's more stuff that goes on. I recommend listen to this track if you really wanna go through and have a listen to everything that's going on. But for the chords sake, it's just these four chords, two bass notes and then four chords. I've got the, the kind...
of organ sound ramped. So we have some richer thicker sounds going on. So it makes it sound a bit dirtier as well. We've got two different pads here. Uh One pan, left, one pan, right to create a bigger sound. But this isn't a lecture about mixing music. This is a lecture about chords. So let's open up and have a look at these chords. So we've included the base note here and the first one you can kind of see it's a similar chords pretty much the same, same with the second one. So it's kind of two chords, but then a slight adjustment of the chords, what I wanted to create here was tension and release. So the fir first chord is quite tense, then it releases and then the third one's quite tense, then it releases just to kind of add a bit of movement and kind of depth to my music personally. So let's have a look at the first one we've got this note here, which is a G. So let's write in G. So that's the base notes. So let's put the base note down here. This is how I like to work it out. Start with the base note and then build it up. Then we have a G there as well. Then we have a B flat or an A sharp, let's call it A B flat. And then we have ad so we can work this out. 123412345. So that's four and five. So the first one is uh G minor. The next one is a G A B flat and ad sharp. So the way I've actually done this is it starts released and then the tension builds up and then yeah, it starts more tension and releases. So it's just a, a matter of releasing tension and building up tension. So I actually started with release tension. Then I build it up a bit here because we go up a semitone. She isn't the most comfortable interval ready to go up. I did this purposely just to create tension. A lot of the time. I don't think exactly how can I write these chords in this chord progression and a lot of the time, it's how can I create a mood or movement and you really have to go through and internalize all different chords. So you know which chords you can play. But to start with just try and experiment with creating tension when you're either playing a keyboard or writing in the piano roll editor, just experiment with creating something that you think the listener will kind of take them on a journey. It's more than just writing music for mathematically and writing stuff out. It's about creating the art form. It's kind of a, a combination between the maths of music theory, working out the patterns and also the kind of artistry side the the side of music where it's imagery, it's a journey, it's experience for the listener. So you're kind of combining your left and right brain. So you're the artistic side with the kind of logical side. So it can be quite difficult sometimes. But remember, trial and error, you're not gonna get it right. First time you're gonna have to do a lot of experimenting, a lot of getting stuff wrong. But as long as you're enjoying it and you're realizing it's slow and steady progress, don't worry if you get a few things wrong, everyone gets stuff wrong all the time. As long as you're learning from your mistakes, mistakes are absolutely fine. So the second chord is a G, then we have a B flat and then we have this a flat. So it's a bit different here. So it's a minor. But instead of the fifth, we've got the sixth. So in the G minor scale, we have the E flat as part of the scale. So this is a G minor six to the second chord. Let's try this in G minus six. So it's a bit tenser. So we have this kind of a semi to movement which makes it a bit tenser. So we have the release and the tension. The third one is this F. So it's an F at the base, the bottom. And then we have this note here, which is B flat, then we have this note here, which is ad so this is kind of a, an F slash G cos we have the, the third and the fifth of the G, the base note of the F. So you could write this as F slash G, which means we have the F as the base note and then G as the chord or G minor F slash G minor, or you can write this as F, it's quite hard to tell if it's a minor or major because the B flat is both in a major scale and a minor scale. But what we can do is call this FSS four because we're playing the fourth instead of the third to be flat. So if we count up 1234, then we also have it's kind of sixth note, the, the D instead of the C because the, the fifth note of F is ac. So it's kind of a F sus floor slash six. You could call it or you could call it F slash G minor. So you could call it that. So basically, it's a G minor chord, but there's a F note in the base. So there's a few options there. It doesn't really matter too much what you call it. You just really need to know what's going on. Cos these chords might be a bit more complex than you used to, which is good. So it means you're trying something new or I'm trying something new and then we have an F cord, uh FF base notes and then the next one is F, then we have this here, which is a B flat again, then we have AC, so we've got the F in there, which is good. So we have FB flat and then say, so this is almost an F chord. But instead, we've got this B flat, which is the fourth note. So if we got 1234, so the fourth though, in a major and a minor scale. So really, this is a F Sus four because we're playing the fourth note instead of the third. So these are basically the chords going on. We have, yeah, a lot of tension here with this semi tonal movement kind of releases again, but the base note changes. So we start off with a release, then we have a bit of tension, then we release but of a bit of color because we're changing the base note, then we have the tension again, this with this uh Sus fourth. So it's kind of creating a lot of movement. But without actually moving the base note very much, the base note's only moving from a G to an F. But then we've got all these different chords above creating something a bit more colorful and a bit more exciting than just having the G minor and an F. If we just had a G minor and a F, it might be a bit boring. But as I've added this G minor, G minus six F slash G minor and F. So fourth, we're creating more tension, we create more movement, we're more stuff to actually hear. So let's just uh listen to this and s and just have it here to see if you can hear this tension and hear what's actually going on. It's basically just built around these four chords and that's kind of the song with different melodies and riffs. But I wrote it just around these chords. I was just playing around on my midi keyboard and I found a chord progression that I liked that I wrote and then I thought, let's write some melodies and riffs on top of this. And then after I wrote a load of different melodies, there was a lot more than the ones here. Then I went through and arranged it, but this is basically how I wrote the chords just experimenting. But it kind of started off with just G minor and f and then I thought this sounds nice, but it's a bit too bland. It's a bit too boring. How can I jazz up or how can I make this um G minor sound more interesting. So I played the six and how can I make this fa bit more interesting? So I change it to an F slash G minor and also change the fifth to the fourth. But you need to know what you're doing. But also try and let go at the same time, you think too mathematically if you're going over to that right side of your brain, you won't kind of let the feeling of the music take over. But at the same time, if you don't know the theory and you don't know the, the musical maths, you might not really write stuff as good as you could if you knew a little bit of music theory. So, thank you for watching this lecture. I hope I didn't go into too much depth and I hope you understand and get, and I'll see you in the next lecture where we're going to be looking at some of these riffs and melodies used in this song.
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Electronic Music Production