Hey All! Sorry for not posting in a while, but thanks to all 29 of you who shared my blog last week! Much love!
This week im going to talk a little bit about chord structure and songwriting. Words you don't know? Don't worry, it's not that bad.
Where to start? Well, one of the biggest things to first point out is the concept of "there's nothing new under the sun." This is completely true in music. We only have 12 notes, and eventually all the patterns can eventually be used up, right...?
Sort of...
Really quick, the reason songs that have the same chords (notes built on top of each other) don't sound the same is because they have different characteristics within them to make them sound different. Some of these characteristics include tempo (the speed of the song) and the timbre of the instruments (if any) that are being used. Timbre is the "sound" of the instrument or voice. Kind of a stupid definition actually, the easiest way to explain timbre would be to say that a violin has a different timbre than a tuba. A violin sounds different than a tuba, even if they are playing the same note. But, if I asked you, is that note from a violin, a singer, or a tuba, I think you would be able to guess!
Tubas. yes. cool. Alright so today we're going to be working in C Major. This is going to be our set of rules, or key that we're going to be working in. The key of C Major has no sharps or flats, just natural notes:
I've attached a picture, but for those stuck in 1999 I listed the notes below. Take note that a lowercase m next to the note represents a minor chord. More on that, and the Bdim, later.
C Dm Em F G A Bdim C
"But Travis! I never learned how to read Roman Numerals in High School! Why did you put them here?!"
Thanks for asking!
Those Roman Numerals represent the Scale Degrees of the key. When uppercase, the chords are major, when lowercase, they are minor. Scale degrees are listed in number order accordingly, such that C is scale degree 1, Dm is 2, and so on.
"Travis! Stop confusing me here! You said we were working in a MAJOR key!! Why would you confuse me with MINOR chords?!"
Here's where you have to pay attention a tiny bit. We're working in a major key, yes, but each major key has minor and major chords. How can you tell which chords are major and which are minor? Two ways.
1.) Memorize this pattern (M) (m) (m) (M) (M) (m) (Dim)
What the heck is that? That pattern my friends, lists the scale degrees for EVERY Major key. Scale degree 1 is major, scale degree 2 is minor, and so on, with the 7th degree being Minor Diminished. Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, minor-diminished. Ignore that funny D word for now.
The second way to figure out major and minor chords starts by looking at the notes in a key, then stacking the chords in thirds on the music staff(like the picture), then making making sure that you have even spacing and use all the necessary notes within the chord.
"Travis! Music Staff! Spacing! So many words I don't understand!!!"
It's one of those "easier explained then defined" sort of things..lets check it out.
The 1 chord in the key of C Major is C. Now, the C chord consists of a C,E,G stacked on the music staff (See the first picture attached). The reason the chord is major is because its a major third between the root, C and the third, E. Between C and E you have 4 half steps, which is the definition of a major third, such as:
C--> C# --> D --> D# --> E --> 4 half steps, in such that a half step is from one note to the next closest note.
To form a minor chord, lets look at the 3 chord, E Minor, which includes the notes E, G, and B... See a difference? Between the root E, and the third, G, lies a minor third.
E--> F --> F# --> G 3 half steps
We can't include the fourth half step here because that would give us G#...which is not allowed in the key of C Major.
Also, we're not going to worry about the 7 chord, the minor diminished, because it takes this lesson to another level. But, once again, maybe this will be the root ( hah...haha...) of our next post!
"Okay Travis. Now that you gave me a crash course in chord structure, and reinstated my knowledge of Roman Numerals, I wanna write a song."
WOO! Alright, lets do it. But, here's where I resort back to the, "there's nothing new under the sun" expression. I think its crazy that through similar, and as you will see, sometimes identical patterns we can write music that sounds extremely different.
Lets think about chord progressions a little bit. We can talk about chord progressions (chords played throughout a song) in terms of Scale Degrees. Lets try it.
One of the most common chord progressions is the the 1,5,6,4, or I, V, vi, iv in Roman Numerals.
Off the top of my head this includes, "With Or Without You" by U2, "Let It Be" by the Beatles, and "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5. As a disclaimer, my brain might have stretched the keys in my head meaning that these songs may not be in C major, but I can guarantee that they are 1,5,6,4! Cool huh? Three totally different songs, using the same four chords.
Those guys sold millions off of that progression, so lets try it!
Chord progression: 1,5,6,4
Key: Uh.... D Major!!
The notes in D Major are D, E , F#, G, A, B and C#... just take my word for it for now.
So, thinking about scale degrees, our progression would look like this:
D A Bm Gm
Get it? With 1 (D) 5 (A) 6 (Bm) and 4 (Gm), realizing which notes are major and which are minor, we can write a chord progression!
I could sit here all night on my computer throwing together chord progressions, but, I'm a college student. We all know that sitting down doing absolutely nothing at 1 AM is the last thing a college student is likely to do, right? Right Travis.
I've attached the chord shapes for some major chords so you can throw together your own chord progressions!
First, here's something to chew on. If I gave you a list of major chords, what would you do to make them minor chords?
What was the difference between major and minor chords? I mentioned something about a third. Right! in a major chord, we have four half steps between the root and the third. In a minor, we have three. So, flat the third to make it minor! Flat, or lower one half step, to make it minor!
So, I've attached JUST MAJOR CHORDS.... Make them minor when you have to!!
MUSIC!!!
Thanks for reading everybody. I hope my excessive use of the Command + B shortcut on my keyboard didn't annoy you too much. As always, feel free to give me a call for all your guitar and DJing needs, and throw some feedback or questions in the comments. I'm more than happy to help out!
Travis
