help with chord progressions

[leighbeynon]

so ive been playing with the chord plug and get some nice sounds, but how would you create your own progressions as if you have it set up for maj7ths you wouldnt just play all maj7ths

is there any way i can set it up so it shifts into different chords, or a way i
can key change, so the chords sound quite different ?

any help would be great im a total novice to this but want to learn more,
thanks

[Aequitas123]

i haven't done it, but i believe you can (and should) map the chord type to a midi controller knob so while you're playing a note you can rotate the knob to get the desired chord.

[el_camello]

you can use a chord per key with a midi effect rack doing a key-split. fun for diatonic chords.. you can map the out of key notes to alterations (?).

or a few momentary switches to choose intervals? i think i will try that when i get back from work. it can be like fretting different chords by holding down buttons instead of strings, then hitting keys instead of strings.

[Tone Deft]

it's much simpler than that.

if you only play the white keys you're playing in C major (or A minor but let's keep this simple.)

pick a key on the keyboard and count to the right, 1 2 3 4 5, play the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, every other key, you're playing some chord that's in the 'harmonized C major scale.' IOW C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am or Bdim. the note you're playing that's on the left is the root, if that note is a D, then that chord is a D minor. (I'm talking very basic, let's not get into inversions.)

if you play 4 notes (on every other keyboard key) you're adding 7s to those chords,
C7, Dm7, Em7, F7, Gmaj7, Am7, Bdim7.

if you set the scale plug-in to be major scale X and you play 4 notes like this you're playing the chords
X7, X+1 m7, X+2 m7, X+3 7, X+4 maj7, X+5 m7, X+6 dim7.

google the phrase 'scale harmonisation' to learn more.

edit - if you play 5 notes you're playing '9ths', 6 notes are 11ths, 7th notes are 13ths, or the whole scale at once. then you get into leaving out notes which gets into sus chords and add9 or add11, things like that.

[leighbeynon]

hhmmm ok, well i understand the way chords are constructed although i cant play them quickly or play progressions, thats why im just trying to play with the chord plug in,

so if im set to minor each single key i press is just a minor chord right ?
so wouldnt it be interesting to move between maj, min, aug, dim ?? with some sort of
set up ?

or is there a way to emulate the circle of 5ths with min, mag etc so each chord moves to another and works well ?

or am i being too complicated?

[Tone Deft]

re-read my post. with no scale plug in or chord plug in, if you play 3 consecutive white keys at the same time you can play major, minor or diminished chords. if you play 4 consecutive keys you can play major7, dominant7 and diminished7 chords.

of course you can play chord progressions!! start on the note C, play that note and the two notes to the right of it, that's a C major chord. then move all three one white key to the right, that's a Dm chord. play C then Dm then C then Dm, hey!! you're jamming!!

that takes ZERO musicianship, if you're that uncoordinated, go outside and play.

[giggedy]

This is absolutely incorrect.

If you play CDE (3 white keys next to each other), then you get a chord alright, but not a diatonic C Major chord.

In order to get the diatonic chords, you stack thirds. In order to do that in C, you pick a white key, that is the 1, then skip the next white key (the 2nd), and use the next one, the 3rd. On top of that, you then skip the next white key (the 4th), and use the very next white key, the 5th.

If you start on the note C, then you get a C Major chord containing the notes C, E, G. If you want to add the 7th, then you can stack another 3rd on top of the 5th. That note would be B, and the chord C Major 7 contains C, E, G, B.

If you start the same process on a different note, then you'll get different chords. For the full 7th chords, here is what you get:

Dmin7
Emin7
FMaj7
G7
Amin7
Bmin7b5

There are no diminished 7th chords which are diatonic to C Major (white keys on the piano) either. The diminished triad based on the B note, is expanded to a half diminished chord, also known as a minor 7 flat 5 or min7b5 chord. The diminished 7th chord is similar, but has the 7th lowered even more, which is enharmonically a 6th.

If you have any questions, let me know.

[Tone Deft]

damnit, it should be EVERY OTHER WHITE NOTE.

you should be able to spot a simple mistake.

[longjohns]

so ive been playing with the chord plug and get some nice sounds, but how would you create your own progressions as if you have it set up for maj7ths you wouldnt just play all maj7ths

you could, and it would be called a modal progression

e.g. "maiden voyage" = all sus chords

[longjohns]

check out the chordspace plugin, it's kind of fun.

[Tone Deft]

so ive been playing with the chord plug and get some nice sounds, but how would you create your own progressions as if you have it set up for maj7ths you wouldnt just play all maj7ths

you could, and it would be called a modal progression

e.g. "maiden voyage" = all sus chords

please elaborate.

[longjohns]

maiden voyage

D7sus4 D7sus4 F7sus4 F7sus4
D7sus4 D7sus4 F7sus4 F7sus4
Eb7sus4 Eb7sus4 Db7sus4 Db7sus4
D7sus4 D7sus4 F7sus4 F7sus4

maybe I'm not correct about it being called a modal progression. I thought it was, but now googling people seem to be talking about something else.

edit: It's correct to call this a modal song, but it is just a simple example, not a _defining_ example. hehe

[mbira]

All "modal" means is a song that is in one key (or mode) and goes back and forth to another key (or mode) within the progression-note this is different than a song that modulates.

[Tone Deft]

There are no diminished 7th chords which are diatonic to C Major (white keys on the piano) either. The diminished triad based on the B note, is expanded to a half diminished chord, also known as a minor 7 flat 5 or min7b5 chord. The diminished 7th chord is similar, but has the 7th lowered even more, which is enharmonically a 6th.

If you have any questions, let me know.

wow, I screwed up that post pretty good.

I knew I had the dim7 chord wrong, I did at one time learn that it's a min7b5 but in the long run I ALWAYS forget the formula and I don't apply it rigorously enough to get this fact down. do you know of any tips to help remember it? I mean other than remembering the chord spelling, relating it to the major scale and spelling it out.

TBH in the long run I just throw out the locrian mode, I'm a hack guitar player, grunge, rock, blues, whatever, I rarely play jazz although it could be interesting to check out Maiden Voyage. dim chords are very rare for me and they're so dissonant (to my limited playing world) that I find it easier to dismiss it. your mileage varies, of course.

thanks for any advice!

[giggedy]

here are some tips to remember, this is a website that I made:

http://emeraldtablet.vndv.com/