Improvising/Composing

[Bump]

I am going through the piano/music theory links right now as well as learning some mainstream songs but while I read through the theory notes and rules I still have one question. How do you actually compose? Obviously certain chords go with other chords and certain notes shouldn't be used with otheres but when writing a song...how do you know what to use for the sound you want?

For example I want to do a song that has a summer feel like a real chill vibe thats "happy". How do you pick and choose which notes and chords and such for that style song. You have to know your scales and all, I know, but you also have to have an idea which mood certain ones have, right?


If this makes sense...any help is appreciated.

 

[2GooD Productions]

From my personal experience its taken me time to be able to hear what tones sound right. Especially with chords.
But from having to learn through experience I can now start improvising over pretty much anything.
It comes with practice, also by playing the music of others you can study the way they did and learn that way too. For me its being through repetetive practice, and learning by mistakes that sound good.

 

[mono]

just fool around with the keys until you come up with something decent. but without knowing the core basics your composing skills will stay very limited. learning the circle of fifths, chord transitions and progressions would bring you a giant step forward. but its quite some work.

 

[afriquedeluxe]

learning theory is good, but don't get too caught up in it. you will need to use your ear in combination with theory to really get ideas from your head to the keys. in this case, for that summer vibe you want, you will use theory (use major key and chords) and use your ear to judge whether to use a few minor chords and play around with the melody to see what sounds "summer-ish"

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Generally speaking:
While studying theory I learned one thing really quick: There Are No Rules! It all rests on your ears and imagination from Composing, to mixing, to the lyrics. it's completely on you. I know some things sound bad together but even those awkward notes/chords have meaning and use. I was told to really learn the scales (paraphrasing here) a,c,e,g then the others and the chords will fall into place. From there the keyboard is your playground and your imagination is the only limitation (corny but true).

 

[classic]

just build from ground up....

 

[Relic]

Classic has it right, I mean its a you got it or you dont, learning all the book stuff Im sure is good but I'll build you 12 trax by the time your book has been read.

For that vibe dude I would use a gtr strumming sound and just play on the keys until you find the sound, its really not hard , to me, you just get to foolin around until it hits you, you'll know because you will feelthe "Thats it" feeling and then it just sorta takes off.
Dont be afraid to make crap at first it impoves with practice!!

Can I get a woot woot?

 

[Bump]

thanks for the tips guys. ill see if I can figure something out. i still need to learn scales past major/minor/harmonic but I really just wanted to start putting some basic things together. I get my computer back today and i'll mess around with it.

 

[2GooD Productions]

just fool around with the keys until you come up with something decent. but without knowing the core basics your composing skills will stay very limited. learning the circle of fifths, chord transitions and progressions would bring you a giant step forward. but its quite some work.

I have no clue what that chart means.

 

[mono]

I have no clue what that chart means.

it's the circle of fifths.
"In music theory, the circle of fifths (or circle of fourths) shows the relationships among the twelve tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys. More specifically, it is a geometrical representation of relationships among the 12 pitch classes of the chromatic scale in pitch class space. Musicians and composers use the circle of fifths to understand and describe those relationships. It is intended to be a guide for composition and now it has become essential to writing music due to its design that is very helpful in composing and harmonizing melodies, building chords, and moving to different keys within a composition." (wikipedia)

 

[2GooD Productions]

Damn, I dont know a thing about Major or minor or 7ths. All I know is what sounds right when I play it.
Although most of my chord progressions do involve adding a flat note. It just depends on if thats what sounds right, normally it does, thats why I use it so much.
I think ive learned some theory and dont even know it.

 

[Relic]

Guess what I do that works?

I just hear it in my head first, THEN I put my hands on the keys... No theory required.

 

[daproduct]

"learning" music theory is somewhat like amateurs making crack. add this, this and this... oh wait it didnt quite come back... too much cut

whereas someone who got it in their head already will lay it down and bring it back in a minute based on pure instinct

 

[mono]

sure, if you already can play. but if you're only starting out, knowing those twelve keys can kickstart things and bring you quickly to where others don't get after years of producing.
and you'll "lay it down and bring it back" in a second, based on instinct AND knowledge.
no rocket science. 12 keys and knowing what flats to be applied in what key, that's it.

 

[Step Soprano]

ya'll who sayin knowin knowin theory is worthless probably don't know the theory. I'm not that great at it either, I always played be ear like ya'll, but now that im learnin it, its makin a huge difference. Still gotta learn your way around the keys by ear tho.

 

[Sucio]

Word, I'm actually learning it as we speak...Hopefully sooner than later I get it down pat..

 

[MagnaOpera]

learning theory is good, but don't get too caught up in it. you will need to use your ear in combination with theory to really get ideas from your head to the keys. in this case, for that summer vibe you want, you will use theory (use major key and chords) and use your ear to judge whether to use a few minor chords and play around with the melody to see what sounds "summer-ish"

quoted for truth... look what happened to del the funkee homosapien... dude totally screwed the pooch with his latest album after some 5 year hiatus learning "music theory".

Hip hop was not created by people who had an intimate knowledge of theory. It's important to keep that in mind.

 

[2GooD Productions]

Hip hop was not created by people who had an intimate knowledge of theory. It's important to keep that in mind.

And neither was motown. it never did them any harm.

 

[mumkai]

theory is very good, however, i think only if you are good at notation and thinking in that way its really useful. i look at it as patterns in some ways. patterns in chord progressions and intervals etc... grew up with it so some is second nature then some is is just crazy complex, but thats for crazy progressions where you can have 12 parts going on at the same time...classical.
i look at it as more of a tool than something to depend on. when i think of a melody or dope hook i dont think E flat to G and then tell myself i should to down a minor 6th blah blah actually i feel that some theory has got in the way of creativity at times. jeff clayton the sax player said 'when eyes open the ears close' meaning that when you read music you're more focused on what you are seeing that what you should be listening to...

anyway i say it wont hurt to learn, but dont go overboard!

my two cents!

 

[7thangel]

just fool around with the keys until you come up with something decent. but without knowing the core basics your composing skills will stay very limited. learning the circle of fifths, chord transitions and progressions would bring you a giant step forward. but its quite some work.

except for the notation this is the weirdest circle of fifths i've seen. it's unnecessarily vague.

i learned with something similar to this

to the op, there are some generally accepted scales, chords, etc that convey those feelings and others (i'm drawing a blank right now). why it's great to muck about, that's what i usually do, knowing those things and how to play them is important if you're specifically looking to invoke feelings, as it will cut down the time wasted while allowing for more time for creativity and expermientation. it is really important if you're scoring a movie, tv or commercial with where a client wants something done yesterday with weird ass requests like:

'i want it to sound.., i don't know, it has to sound like the colour green, with a little drama transitioning into a warm feeling that makes you remember sunday b-b-ques back in the 50's'

even doing stingers and shit like that would be helped by a basic knowledge. it's not the end all but it sure as hell makes arranging and composing and willfully breaking the rules easier

you could check out shit like keyboard magazine, they always have the scores/notes/scales/etc for songs and arrangements including shit that would help for your specific request.