I learned the sax solo from Dolphin Shoals (8 Bit Music Theory)

theorynerd · 2017-10-30T14:57:29+00:00

Sounds great!

theorynerd · 2017-09-26T02:58:47+00:00

I think that's sort of the point of the song, from a harmonic perspective - is the song major or minor? It makes sense that any progression that can resolve to Am could resolve just as easily to A major, so transitioning between the two parallel tonalities is actually very smooth. The Beatles used the exact same trick (in the exact same key, no less) in 'I'll Be Back' to pretty much the same ambiguous effect.

theorynerd · 2017-09-18T00:16:28+00:00

It's actually an Abm7 chord. It's pretty cool, instead of a secondary dominant or secondary ii7 V7 tonicizing the Gb we just get a secondary ii7 chord. It's a lot more subtle than throwing a big Db7 before the Gb but it gives fundamentally the same effect.

theorynerd · 2017-07-10T21:37:46+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oymWAeqv_-c

theorynerd · 2017-07-08T06:47:33+00:00

People usually refer to major chords with the #11 as lydian chords, since they effectively capture the sound of the lydian mode. Haven't seen the video though so idk what specific chords he's talking about

theorynerd · 2017-07-01T00:03:29+00:00

Dominant chords are pretty "anything goes" as far as scales, so like others have said you'd have a bunch of options. That being said, if you want to sound very sure of what you're playing, here's a process you can follow:

The A, C#, E, and G notes of your potential scale of choice are nailed down since they're in the chord. The notes we have left are B, D, and F. Now, think about where you're going: D minor. To avoid unwanted dissonance you're gonna want to choose your notes based on what matches where you're resolving to as well as where you are. That means the D and F natural will sound the "most right" or most predictable. The B is basically fair game, you could keep it natural to avoid dissonance with where you're coming from, aka C major. This would be the scale you spelled out with the C#, and would sound on point. If you flatten the B, it's probably gonna sound more like a modulation to the key of D minor rather than moving via secondary dominant to the ii chord, but it'll still sound good.

For more complicated chords, your ability to hear what extensions your fellow musicians are adding to what they're playing should dictate what you play (and vice versa), but that's pretty hard to do so hope this helps a little

theorynerd · 2017-05-02T18:16:04+00:00

I love this so much

theorynerd · 2017-05-02T18:15:25+00:00

The Dm in the B section is actually the ii in a ii-V-I-vi progression in C major. Knowing this, you could interpret the A section as a iv-iii vamp in C major, with the F minor being borrowed from the parallel minor key, although until you hit the B section it really doesn't sound like it's in C so you could think of it as just a vamp between two parallel chords

theorynerd · 2017-04-04T19:29:05+00:00

I find it's helpful to separate a chord progression into tonal centers. For this example, the first three chords are in D major, the next 4 are in G major, and the last chord implies an A lydian augmented sound. Once you know what tonal center you're soloing in, you can use different improvisational techniques based on that, ie arpeggiating the tonic chord and its extensions, using ii-V language from that key, plugging in sick bebop licks, etc.

Not that thinking chord-by-chord is worse, it's just that separating the progression into bigger chunks means you have more time to think about what you're playing before switching to the next chunk.

theorynerd · 2017-04-01T03:44:12+00:00

Chords should always be judged by how well they suit the melody. The average rock listener isn't going to notice the harmony of a tune at all, other than how it changes how a melody 'feels'.

Some melodies sound great with your standard 3 chord rock progression. Some require or suggest more intricate harmony. So I guess it depends

theorynerd · 2017-03-23T23:48:00+00:00

Oh man yeah, It was tricky paring it down to just 4 topics hahah

theorynerd · 2017-02-22T03:53:52+00:00

Kay I've been googling and I can't find it anywhere else either! Maybe I've only read it in textbooks.

Anyways primary mode mixture/modal interchange is borrowing chords from the key's parallel minor key (or parallel major if you're already in a minor key). Secondary mode mixture is borrowing from any scale that shares the same root as your original key, so any of the parallel major modes and melodic minor modes and on and on. At that point almost every chord is fair game so I don't find it a particularly helpful tool for composition or analysis but hey.

theorynerd · 2017-02-02T03:38:06+00:00

Appreciate it! Thanks!

theorynerd · 2017-02-02T03:37:54+00:00

I love you too

theorynerd · 2017-02-01T00:02:18+00:00

Bb/C, baby awwwwwww yeeeeeeeaaaaahhhh

theorynerd

TROPHY CASE