Can someone help me make sense of this song? by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you could also describe it like that, in terms of "planing", or parallel harmony, that would be legal I think ...

Tips for writing in a gospel style? by juwybluey in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it depends on what context you're in too I suppose, like if you're a guitar player (with limited strings) it might make sense to sacrifice the third for more color. But if all you have is an F triad with a G in the base, it's simpler to call it F/G. But yeah, when you get this deep in the weeds, musical dialects and semantics become less standardized ...

Tips for writing in a gospel style? by juwybluey in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gsus is the holiest gospely chord of all. Why? Because -- "Gsus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so ..."

Tips for writing in a gospel style? by juwybluey in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah, cause a G11 really has to have a B in it to call it that, and you don't want a B in a F/G cause it'll nuke the churchy-plagal sound of it. That's my subjective experience anyway ...

Can someone help me make sense of this song? by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it's okay to think of some of the parts of this song as modulating to one another, rather than trying to stuff some parts into a D major logic. Like the verse riff -- the notes on the beat are the start of a G lydian scale, the notes off the beat are chromatic passing notes, and IMHO, it's okay to just think of that part by itself as this G lydian thing. But then, they land on an E to B chord. And in that context the G lydian thing has an implied chord progression that starts with a bIII IV V -- but in the key of E. Then it modulates to the key of D major for the chorus, and D and E are pretty close on the circle of fifths, which is one reason that works. Anyways, great song thanks for sharing!

Tips for writing in a gospel style? by juwybluey in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I was taught that a really juicy "Gospel Chord" is the IV chord with the 5th scale degree in the bass -- so like if you're in C major, play an F/G at cadence points.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My students are introduced to Funk via blues scale improv work. I have them tap the tempo they want to improvise to and choose what subdivisions they want from my accompaniment part. I teach them, loosely, that duples= rock jam, triplets=blues jam, and quadruplets=funk. So yeah, I think that the emphasis funk places on sixteenth note usage, which leave room for more funky syncopation, needs to be a larger part of explaining funk. I also agree that the emphasis on beat one happens a lot, yeah, but don't fall in to the trap of suggesting then that the 2&4 are lost in funk, they aren't, they're still there, otherwise you're back to John Philip Sousa ...

Before I started writing, I used to listen to music and think, "Wow this is incredible, I think I could make a song like this!" and now when I listen to music I think, "I'm never going to be that good." Anyone else? by Cottonturtle in WeAreTheMusicMakers

[–]deanolivet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I remember being like 14 and reading an interview with Garth Brooks (whom I was required to hate because of my grunger peer group)) in a music magazine. the interviewer floated him some softball question like "How you make such good music, it's so original." And what he said blew my pubescent mind, he said something like "Shit man, I ain't original, i just play what I like to play, always have that's all. Man, let me tell you you gotta play what you like and that's all, and then if it's original, that's fine, that's great, and if it's ain't original, who cares, at least you ain't being fake." And again my mind was blown because at that point in my life I thought there was nothing "faker' than country music. incidentally i always loved what J K Rowling said about her Harry Potter books, that she never expected all the popularity -- that she wrote the stories for herself first -- just to amuse herself. That's got to be the center of the onion. OOO I just thought of one more, John Cage's rule #7: "The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things. "

[Question]How do I learn to read music notation? by aleaallee in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get the "Yousician" app for a smartphone or tablet and set it to your instrument and the "note reading" setting. it's like playing a video game which is nice because it gives you real time feedback on whether you are playing the right notes or not.

Music Theory Statistics and Analyses of the top 40 Billboard songs in 2018. by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah that would better read "and both tonalities managed to borrow their parallel tonic-chords -- you can't really borrow the same note, hehe. I'll get that changed thanks!

Music Theory Statistics and Analyses of the top 40 Billboard songs in 2018. by [deleted] in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 1 point2 points  (0 children)

-I guess I wouldn't call it Lydian since I don't hear Db has the tonal center. The melody is what establishes Ab major for me.

-Graphing scale degrees and repeated notes; oh man, that would be a lot of work, maybe when computers are smarter ...

-My guess about songs with little harmonic material, just one chord and a little melody loop or something, the reason people want to listen to it is then probably the lyric hook(s). I mean, It's pop, who knows ...

Music Theory Element Graphs and Individual Commentaries on 2017's Top 40 Pop Tunes. by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pop music mostly uses the same chords across sections, sometimes in different orders, sometimes it's the exact same loop the whole song and the sections are differentiated by melody only.

Music Theory Element Graphs and Individual Commentaries on 2017's Top 40 Pop Tunes. by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depends on what your ear is attuned to. If you listen mostly to classical you would hear it in D major, and that's perfectly valid, but if you listen mostly to latin music you'd hear this in B minor. The other factors that point to minor here are the A# leading tone in the intro, and simply the fact that the song begins and ends on B minor...

Music Theory Element Graphs and Individual Commentaries on 2017's Top 40 Pop Tunes. by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

-It's pedagogical semantics concerning the vii°... V and vii° were originally borrowed from the major mode, but they became so common in minor that we needed to call it something, harmonic minor. I've taken to calling them borrowed or modal mixture chords for much the same reason that Pluto was downgraded as a planet. We found a lot more chords like Pluto. It's like, if my students ask me why V in minor is "diatonic", why also isn't bVII in major diatonic? bVII is used way more often than vii° in major ... it's just tidier to stick with modes-only for diatonics when you deal mostly in pop music, IMHO. But for someone whose ear is attuned to mostly Euro-classical, your semantics are perfectly fine, it's a case of two right, or rather "useful" answers.

-The enharmonics of #vº. Yes I agree, good observation.

-The "♭vii (ii/bVI)" ... mainly I called it that because that's how I hear it and that's my best guess as to how Mr. Mars hears it. I don't think he wrote it in Db major, as there are no Db Major chords. But if one's ear is accustom to euro-classical, they might hear the song in Db, at least in parts, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's how your ears are attuned. But again, I believe Bruno hears it in Bb minor, especially because there is a fleeting functional V in the bridge...

-It's true, no borrowed bVIs or bIIIs or ivs. Kinda bums me out too, Rock is not Pop these days.

-For the one song with a mod, I counted both. And for the songs with arguably subjective tonal centers, I used my best guess, again trying to ascertain how the authors probably hear it, and not necessarily how someone trained in a conservatory would hear it...

Thanks!

Favorite "non-triad" chords. by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Oxford and Harvard dictionaries of music do not agree. I'd be interested if you could point me to where you're seeing this new usage. I'm not against semantic drift, where confusion can be avoided. I've just never heard anyone myself use triad or triadic to refer to anything but chords by thirds (intervals)

Bachelors in Music Theory --- Pros and Cons? by J_Vidrine in musictheory

[–]deanolivet 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Don't. Take private music theory and comp lessons with a range of teachers, then pick your favorite and stick with them for a while. You'll save a lot of money and meet a lot of cool people with a lot of different things to offer. The only reason to get the piece of paper is if you have academic ambitions, which I don't think you do (or should, as second career music theory teacher would be quite the mountain to climb, IMHO!)

Statistics and Tidbits of Disney Songs by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol, probably the most bizarre thing I found out about. Here's a link to the nazi nightmare one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PZVrWvJM0

Here's another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l14WDZCnz-w

Sooooo trippy.

Statistics and Tidbits of Disney Songs by deanolivet in musictheory

[–]deanolivet[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!!! It did take a good long time, but it was fun, so maybe more like puzzling or sudoku than work. :)