transposing into other keys. music therory

[the_antagonist]

iv made a track in A major and no matter what i do it seems sombre. im new to music theroy. is this typical of this key or could it be my arrangement.

if i take the time to transpose the whole thing into another key am i likly to get a more fun track. or is the track just meant to be sombre.


do i need to provide an example?

[4.33]

as for modulations, try transposing:
1) a major 3rd up - C#
2) a minor 3rd down - F#
3) a perfect 5th - E
4) parallel tonality - Am
5) you can use any tonality's dominant chord (V) to modulate into that tonality, for example A-C-F (C is the V chord of F major)

it's fun

[the_antagonist]

am i likly to get the results im looking for in one of these examples.

[4.33]

am i likly to get the results im looking for in one of these examples.

try and see

[the_antagonist]

very well. i will report back!



i may be a while.

[the_antagonist]

sorry i rote my track in A flat major if that makes a difference.

[smartass303]

sorry i rote my track in A flat major if that makes a difference.

i dont think so. correct me if im wrong...

[4.33]

sorry i rote my track in A flat major if that makes a difference.

i dont think so. correct me if im wrong...

edit: A flat major is a doomed tonality, which does not allow for ANY modulations

[the_antagonist]

its not been looking good so iv gone back to basic and doing the whole thing in C...

[the_antagonist]

like i said im new so i picked a key at random.... go figure!


what do you mean by modulations.

[4.33]

modulation is simply a broader term, for example transposition is a simple modulation, when you simply move your chord sequence / melody to a new key.

and for example when you use a V chord of the new tonality before jumping to a new key, that's called prepared modulation you can also alter your chord changes in the new tonality

i'm no music theory guru either, i only had a crash course from wikipedia (just follow the related articles)

[the_antagonist]

In C it still sounds sombre

[jeffplaysmoog]

Haha, who is that who says Ab is doomed? Anyway, is the song completely in Abmajor (just jams on the chord) or does it follow some sort of typical Abmajor progression? If it just jams on the chord then throw one of the chords in that 4.33 mentioned above (but we need to think in Ab):

Relative minor/Submediant (iv) - fminor
Mediant (iii) - cminor
Dominant (V) - Eb
Mode mixture (i) - Abminor

But also a bit of clarification. First, this does not represent a case of modulation if you are sticking to Abmajor or one of it's enharmonic or harmonic chords (transposition is not modulation). Also, as far as the dominant is concerned in modulation, this is not a typical chord to use for such purposes since it has such a strong pull back to I/i. Anyway, as far as the key, I would not suggest that Ab is a somber chord or key so maybe you could post an example? I don't believe that there is a single key that sounds more "fun" than any other (although F#minor is the saddest of all keys, of that I am convinced). If you do switch the key to C then you will have to transpose the examples above... I have always enjoyed the III, IV chord progression in minor (or even in major but you will have to play Eb - bIII). In the case of your song, play a long cminor phrase (just something that jams on the chord), then throw in III, IV, i... This progression is evident is such hits as "North American Scum" by the LCD Soundsystem as well as countless others...

[the_antagonist]

tough stuff. i may try and digest that during my lunch at work tomoz.

the track is now in c and a second version from scratch is on the way. if i get round to it i will post my findings

thanks everyone.

[longjohns]

keep in mind that "lick my love pump" was written in the saddest of all keys