some music theory questions

[Moody]

A great way to extend your keyboard skills while in the key of C Major or Am is to look into Scale based or Scale Tone chords. Essentially these are the family of chords that are built off of each note of the chosen scale. It is a recurring pattern based on a group of notes with the same gap or interval in between so when you play them simultaneously they form a chord. In the key of C Major (using all the white keys) you would play the C-E-G combo of notes to form the C Major chord. Shift this one position up to where the starting note is on the D and you have D-F-A which forms D minor. Carry this on for each note of the scale and you have a family group of chords C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am-Bdim. Without going into the theory behind the names of these chords, just think of them as a good match for the single notes of the C Major scale. The two groups like to be played together. To extend your keyboard playing, try writing chord sequences with ONLY these chords and then write melodies using the related scale over the chords. Even better is to try to play the chords with your left hand while jamming the single scale notes with the right an octave or two higher. Making the connection between these two family groups can often be an Ahh Haaa experience for people wanting to get more out of their keyboard playing. Of course, once comfortable with C Major and Amin, move to the Keys of G Major and Emin as it will only introduce 1 black note, the F#.

Excellent explanation, this is the veil that inhibits so many people when dealing with theory. This is why I say advanced theory says the key signature does not matter (to a degree, obviously we could go even more advanced or less advanced ). Conclusion, just play the chords you like and plugin notes you like with them, there is some kind of theory to support whatever it is you are doing. Working with others is when it gets tricky.... trying to explain why you are playing whole tone scales over all minor voicings to your bass player may be tuff...

[nowtime]

Choosing the right key can make all the difference. Different instruments sound different in different registers.

This is actually very true. Each key has got its own color and flavour.

Also try to find out about modes: dorian -ie, from D to D in the key of C- and mixolydian -ie, from G to G in the key of C- (yes, nothing but white keys on your keyboard!). Those are great for electronic music.

Try different scales as well (blues, minor harmonic, minor melodic...).

Finally, try to understand some basics of harmony. Thrill awaits!

As someone said, your tracks will eventually sound boring repetitive if they're all in C Major or A minor, no matter how great they are independantly.

THIS^

I would also add that, in addition to color and flavour, different keys have their own emotional tone/feeling, which is just another word for color and flavour!

I would choose 3 or 4 keys to start learning in (maybe this was already mentioned) like C, D, F or G, and maybe Eb or Bb.

[UncleAge]

To the OP: There are some really nice tools out there to help you visualize things as you go along as well. If you are on a pc try out this http://www.chordspace.com/ChordSpaceindex.htm It's free and I found it to be quite useful when I would get into a rut.

In addition you might want to look at the app called Harmony Navigator. Its another tool that let's me visualize things when I'm writing. I doubt that either app will help you play whatever instrument you play with any greater skill level. But playing the instrument and composing the song are really two different disciplines. Understanding the relationships between the chords you hear in your head might help you - help yourself, so to speak.

I found them useful however, as always, ymmv...

[Cameron H]

Major and Minor are not the only key options. Medieval music, and a lot of modern pop music as well uses other "modal" keys that are neither major or minor.

Even by using just the white keys on a keyboard, you can compose music in many different keys (well 7 anyway) depending on which of the notes in the scale you treat as being the "home" note or "base" note of your composition.


http://www.standingstones.com/modeharm.html

http://www.slowplayers.org/SCTLS/modes.htm

[evon]

http://www.standingstones.com/modeharm.html

http://www.slowplayers.org/SCTLS/modes.htm

Very interesting. I had always wanted to explore these topics and this found me in the right frame of mind and I was able to digest quite a lot of it.