does this chord bother you?
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Posted on Sep 07, 2005 01:48 am
fortymile
Member Since: Jan 18, 2003
new song fragment in my profile. i am struggling to decide what to work on next, and so i picked up an old prechorus and worked on it for a bit.
'vanilla song' is an intro, a very short verse, and a prechorus. i am trying to get a feel, on myspace, as to whether it's worth working on. if you check it out, please dont hold back. it took ten minutes to write and record, so i dont care.
i like 'modal mixing' and this song is playing with that. i cant really even figure out what key it's in. but at issue is this:
1. some say the verse is boring. i agree, but have ways to spice it up, and if that fails, a new verse entirely is in order. whatever it turns out to be, it will revolve around that e minor chord.
2. the third chord in the prechorus feels non-diatonic because its root is the major third of the FIRST chord in the sequence, which is a MINOR chord (d min). and so of course because its weird, i'm attached to it. nevertheless, some find it disturbing in a bad way. it would be an easy matter to change it. the fourth chord is also up in the air.
theoretically, i have no idea why this even works, on some level, so if anyone knows, please explain. nearest i can tell, that third chord in the prechorus is the glue that relates the verse and prechorus to each other, since it appears in both.
keywise, no idea. i dont know what the tonal center of this song is, and i want to know. but ive been drinking.
verse: e min, emin+, Gb+ power chord
prechorus: d min, c, Gb+ power chord, Db
oh yeah, and if i do work on it more, i plan to speed it up. and the melody in the prechorus (not in this file) is cool, at least. two notes that persist as the chords change. sounds kind of yearning.
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BleakA small pie will soon be eatenMember
Since: Aug 26, 2004
Sep 10, 2005 07:30 am Forty, I really don't know what your even concerned about!
This sounds awsome! I'd LOVE to hear some more work on this.
I'm not sure it needs to be speeded up though, i reckon it has a great feel to it as it is.
Have you got much more done?
I'd love to be a part of it if it's just an idea at this point.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Sep 10, 2005 01:30 pm I agree I think it's a great start.
Dan
Sep 11, 2005 04:37 am wow so many divergent opinions on this one.
i think the problem im having is that that prechorus leads 'somewhere' but im not yet sure where.
glad to hear you dont hate it, cause i gave up on it in the last few days.
i would like to flesh it out and add complexity and get away from total power chords all the time. my wall of distortion sound is really not interesting to me. but there might be something about the progression itself that will bring me back and try to make it work.
bleak what might you want to add? the only thing i absolutely need to do is vocals.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Sep 12, 2005 11:37 pm Well much like Heathen, I think what really makes the song interesting is the chord progressions you use along with the sound. I'd really like to hear both this one & Heathen completed I really think both would be killer songs. I don't think complexity is needed for the sake of complexity, but there is alot you could do with either song, but put some vocals in there and I think you'd about be there myself.
Dan
Sep 13, 2005 02:28 am someone i sort of know from online called heathen 'gay' recently. i always thought that that song suffers from not being agressive or rocking enough, which i think is what she was getting at. but i cant tell: might be because of instrument choice and the way i recorded it and the robotic drums. i really dont know.
i focused for years on chord progressions and harmony. i still have lots to learn there, but right now i realize my biggest problem is song structure--the large scale architecture, with connecting sections and all of that. AND coming up with interesting rhythms for the riffs/progressions themselves. i think a song should almost originate with a rhythm, the more i think about it. it's so key.
heathen was the first song i ever wrote that tried to fix those weaknesses specifically. the result wasnt spectacular i dont think, but i can see the specific things i did. still have a long way to go. must do even more to kill the "4/4" sound i always get stuck with. i'm going to play more with stuff in 6/4 next week.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Sep 13, 2005 04:03 pm It all depends on who's doing the listening. That some might say a song is gay, has no real meaning at all to me. It's all about the intended audience of the music and whether it reachs them.
I find both songs interesting and strong in their own right. 3 or 4 minutes of chords though for the most part will never make a complete song and if you try it, it most likely be too busy for vocals. The music underneath a vocal or instrumental song is there to support not be the dominant part (of course there are exceptions). I guess what I'm saying is yes it's good to have interesting chord progressions and sound, but a song doesn't reach it's potential until the final parts are place be it vocals or instrumental.
Dan
BleakA small pie will soon be eatenMember
Since: Aug 26, 2004
Sep 14, 2005 06:56 pm Hey Forty,
Not really sure mate.
I could have a play around if you like and see if i can add anything!
But i'd like to hear more of what you are going to do for sure.
What's your plans with this one?
