/r/musictheory

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/r/musictheory is a community for the discussion of music theory and related topics.


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4) No off topic posts. Posts not about Music Theory or Music Theory adjacent topics do not belong here. Questions about Composing, Orchestration, Songwriting, Music Production, Audio Engineering, as well as specific questions about Instruments (playing technique) are best asked on or at least cross posted to other forums. We’re here to talk about the Music Theory! How relevant a topic may be is up to the discretion of the Mod Team. Check below for a list of other Music subs where your question may be more appropriate.

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/r/musictheory

560,933 Subscribers

0

Describing the tone in music when it's used to symbolize an end/departure

Among all the types of music I listen to, one style that always hooks me is the kind that makes you feel "this is the end", that the chapter the song was playing for/about is now closing. I've wanted to be able to search for more type of music like this, as well as understand why it has this type of feeling, but I'm not sure how to describe it. Using something like "emotional" or "melancholic" isn't quite fitting or too generic. Even trying to title this post was tough since I don't know exactly what I'm asking for. Decent examples of this style I'm looking to define are:

Symphony of MapleStory: New Beginning Not the End Entire track kinda fits the bill Hanezeve Caradhina, Made in Abyss The Shores of Our Land, Dragonland The last minute of the song specifically when it transitions to deep, bassy strings and soft subtle brass. The female vocals are incredible and fully match that kind of "sad but not sad ending" feeling. The Last Rose of Summer played on Koto This isn't quite the same as the above, but still fits in with this evocative tone. The rendition gives this feeling of sitting on your porch as the sunset crests the hill. A light breeze being felt as it crosses the meadow in front of you, everything bathed in the soft warm, orange light as the day ends.

As stated, I'd love to be able to describe this type of music but also want to understand the underlying music theory of it if possible. I can understand music theory, but far from well versed in it. Also not quite sure what flair best fits this.

0 Comments
2024/03/13
05:12 UTC

0

Can anyone help me figure something out?

I’m learning the song “Absolution” by Ghost on guitar. I feel like there is some kind of ear candy thing going on. Either that or the accidentals just seem very strategic or something.

The song is in G. There’s a chromatic walk down thing in the intro. My dumb caveman guitar brain can work that part out.

The riff at the turn is like this: E F E D C#

That flat 5 sounds kind of strange to me. But this is the whole bit that gets me confused: G G# G F E

Can somebody explain to me what I’m hearing here? Hopefully I’ve articulated it well enough. I know some of these are accidentals but they just function so well. Is it modal? Thanks!

3 Comments
2024/03/13
04:41 UTC

11

It's cool that Han and Leia's theme opens with a rising major 6th, while Anakin and Padme's theme has a rising minor sixth

That was definitely intentional on John Williams' part, pretty neat

0 Comments
2024/03/13
04:23 UTC

9

How would I play the eight note here. Both of the staves are treble clef, both right and left hand. So doesn’t that mean it is the same A note?

4 Comments
2024/03/13
03:40 UTC

1

Even flow's chorus

Maybe this is a no brainer, but seeing that the progression is, from the I, D-Bb-D-C and since every chord is major, it sounds like we are in a minor tonality except for the tonic chord; but I know that's not how theory works. So how do you think of this chord progession? Maybe as a D Mixolidyan with a modal interchange?

1 Comment
2024/03/13
03:31 UTC

4

Ear training community project

I'm currently training my ear in the arts of relative pitch, specifically through interval recognition. I want to make a small community/group to boost motivation and make friends in the progress. The goal is to be able to improvise comfortably as if you were speaking your birth language, to be able to recognize any sound you hear no matter how fast or complex. So it is a serious project and I only want to meet with serious people who really want to be the best musicians they can and want to put in the hours every day, this takes a lot of time and dedication. Just comment and tell me what you think of the idea if you want in and we can build the community together.

The real reason I'm doing this is because I don't know of anyone who wants to do this. And I feel very discouraged to practice everyday. I figured there must be others like me going through the same struggle, and would like to meet people sharing the same experience. Everything is better in cooperative mode.

4 Comments
2024/03/13
03:29 UTC

1

I need help understanding this chord prog and solo (jazz/bossa)

Theres this song i really like with a nice chord prog and solo but i really wanna understand it so i can learn from it.

My main problem is that the chord progression seems to be in a peculiar scale (not major or minor)

Also the solo im talking about starts at like 1:12

Thank you!

4 Comments
2024/03/13
02:19 UTC

0

Can someone tell me what key this song is in?

The song is slowrocker by Evan T, but I can't figure out what key it's in. Any help would be appreciated. Link in comments

4 Comments
2024/03/13
01:44 UTC

11

What is this cadence that is commonly used in gospel music?

This cadence is so ubiquitous in gospel music and I am curious if anyone knows what it is, why does it work, and how did it become so integral to the gospel music style?

The cadence is as follows in the key of Ab:

Abdim7 Ab7

That's it, just two chords but usually voiced with the root on top. It shows up everywhere in gospel music, but I've never heard a similar cadence in any other style of music. At first glance I don't even understand why that would work at all, but it is everywhere. A longer form of the cadence might look like this:

Ab/C Db Ddim7 Ab7/Eb

Does this cadence have a name? Is it common (or even heard at all) in any other styles of music?

3 Comments
2024/03/13
01:43 UTC

7

I made a variation on the Science Blaster theme and was wondering if y’all could give me some feedback?

If you want to screenshot this and try and play it for yourself go ahead!

8 Comments
2024/03/13
00:13 UTC

0

Pitch forks in aural exams

Hello all! I am super super struggling with Aural. I was wondering do you know if pitch forks are allowed in aural exams? Or any other ways to get better at aural? I am practicing but I feel like I’m getting no better at all.

7 Comments
2024/03/12
22:32 UTC

1

children's music

anyone have any tips/insight for writing music for children? i plan to keep instrumentation super simple with just my acoustic guitar and voice. thanks to anyone who responds.

2 Comments
2024/03/12
21:41 UTC

0

What the heck is going on with this section?

I’m a student teacher, working with high school students. I just started this new piece with them and am trying to figure out some harmony. I’m totally stumped here!

The “A^Q C” was just my way of writing a quartal chord from A up to C. I realize as I’m writing this the downbeat of 23 should be Cmsus4/G, or maybe it’s an add11?

The piece is called “Bravada” by Nowak. Any ideas would be great!

7 Comments
2024/03/12
22:15 UTC

1

Uhhhh

So I don't know what this is can someone explain to me what these are

2 Comments
2024/03/12
18:54 UTC

1

Instrumental-wise, why does Sudno sound more gloomy than the other songs by Molchat Doma?

If we look purely at the instrumentals and ignore the lyrics, what chord and notation aspects make this song sound so gloomy? On the other hand, their track Toska sound more "bright", for example.

Note: I'm a newbie with music theory regarding notes and chords.

2 Comments
2024/03/12
20:11 UTC

2

Maybe stupid question, but is this song in major or minor?

7 Comments
2024/03/12
20:06 UTC

6

What is the history of Polyphony across different genres of Rock music? (Prog Rock, Post-punk, Math Rock, etc,)

I've been interested in the concept of Polyphony lately and its history of rock music. I know that the Prog Rock movement of the 1970s had a more common use of polyphony due to the heavy influence of classical and jazz music, so I would be curious what the best examples of that from this genre would be.
The next style of rock music that I think of as possible incorporating polyphony is the Post-Punk / New Wave movement specifically because of the band Television. They were famous for pioneering the "interlocking guitar" sound on their debut album Marquee Moon. Their version of Polyphony may have actually come from a more jazz conception of the idea as their frontman, Tom Verlaine, cited avant garde jazz musicians like Ornette Coleman, Miles Daivs, and John Coltrane as influences on the band's sound. I believe Ornette Coleman's musical philosophy was that every instrument could act like the human voice, which seems to match up with what polyphony is about. While Television may not have been the jazziest of the post-punk / new wave bands, they certainly were one that was was a band that was hugely influential to many of them.
In the 90s, I think the rock style that made the most use of polyphony might have been Math Rock, as it was sort of a hybrid of Prog and Post-punk ideals, and (according to wikipedia at least) made use of Counterpoint techniques by some bands. And of course there have been alot more alternative rock acts that are not as easily classifiable that could utilize polyphony, although I imagine certain Emo and Post-Rock acts might also have used them more often. So I wanted to ask, does anyone here know of some good examples of polyphony in these previous rock subgenres I mentioned? (Prog Rock, Post-Punk / New Wave, Math Rock, Emo, Post-Rock, and other less classifiable alt-rock acts.)

13 Comments
2024/03/12
20:00 UTC

0

are there any problems with making and analysing songs only from minor perspective?

i am study music only for few months, and for simplicity i use only minor scale. if any given scale has a relative minor, why i can't use only them? am i losing something? for example, analyzing songs on hooktheory i always "transpose" them to minor, there is very comfortable and easy way to do that. so i can compare these elements between each other not messing with major, minor, dorian and so. i just curious why all dont do that? why we have all that strange mode? thank you very much

35 Comments
2024/03/12
19:53 UTC

7

Can you please explain why F, G, C, C# works?

There is a mistake in title! It's F, Gm, C, Db!

I have came up with the chords at random. I kind of assumed that I am playing in F key, and all of the chords - are steps in the F major scale. But C# isn't, it's between v and vi.

Yet, it sounds fairly okay. I feel some tension to go somewhere that doesn't truly get resolved, but it's not causing dissonance, so it works.

What is happening here? Am I wrong, and this ends up not even being an F key because of this last chord?

Am I accidentally doing something that changes the tonality, and I am accidentally loading myself up for key change?

How could I even calculate and detect this sort of stuff? Can you give me a general advice, what knowledge am I lacking that helps to orient myself in all possible chord progressions?

There is a mistake in title! It's F, Gm, C, Db!

28 Comments
2024/03/12
19:49 UTC

0

Hi I'm learning how to make beats.

Hello friends, I am learning to make beats and I have 2 projects.Im Curious about u comments and criticisms

1 Comment
2024/03/12
19:33 UTC

0

Help with Song "Selfish"

Pretty new to figuring out chord progressions...

My ear finds, for the intro at least, B C# F# D#

Yet when I look up the key I see: Db Maj, Emin, and F# Major...

How do I know what's correct? To me, this is in the key of B maj...?

1 Comment
2024/03/12
18:56 UTC

0

What key signatures can the Moon Knight - Main Theme be in? Are there any arabic/egyptian scales, and I know it can be in diminished scales, does anyone know which?

1 Comment
2024/03/12
18:41 UTC

5

Questions about achieving “Eastern” sound?

I’m listening to this song and trying to analyze what makes it so traditionally “Eastern”. I’d like to make my own piece like this. Could someone lend some tips and verify/refute my thoughts? Things I’ve found:

  1. Melody mainly uses major pentatonic scale: messing around on my keyboard and trying to transpose by ear, it appears the melody is mainly using the pentatonic scale using mostly black keys.
  2. Key is Gb Major?
  3. Leads are typical eastern instruments.

When harmonizing the melody, would it just use diatonic chords in Gb major? And the Pentatonic scale melody naturally makes it sound “Eastern”? Thanks for the help

5 Comments
2024/03/12
17:48 UTC

1

Which notes gives a chord it’s primary sound?

Is it the root note? For example does a C major and a C minor both sound like a C with a slightly different mood?

I guess I’m just trying to figure out the best way to write chord progressions from my head. I’m looking at the best way to know which chord matches the sound I want.

3 Comments
2024/03/12
17:46 UTC

1

Analysis of Matthew Wilder's Break My Stride

I've been getting more and more into analyzing chord progressions and their relationships with the circle of 5ths. I'm trying to do more advanced progressions and I'm really struggling to understand this song. I've been using this website to assist me:

https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/matthew-wilder/break-my-stride

Starting with the verse, I understand the key is B flat. With the first chord shown (E flat minor add 6), I know E Flat is the IV, with this being labeled iv I understand it's minor, so within the circle of 5ths are those major chords (I, IV, V) able to become minors (i, iv, v)? How does that work? The next chord, B flat, is the I and that makes sense. The next chord, Dm, is the iii and that also makes sense. The next chord is Am and labeled as vii, I understand that is the 7th but I seem to only know vii* as the diminished 7th, so how is that vii an Am rather than an A diminished? Next the song moves back to the first chord in the progression, a flattened iv (still don't know how or why it's iv and not IV). Next is the iii again and I understand that as Dm. Next is a C or the II and I understand that as the 5th of the 5th and am I correct in understanding that as a way to modulate to a new key? Because then the chorus kicks in, in the key of F, and that F is now the I and the C is the V. I know that was probably very poorly worded, but if anyone could offer any sort of insight I would greatly appreciate it.

4 Comments
2024/03/12
16:54 UTC

0

In this sound clip, what is that speed between single and double time?

We've been having trouble with this because it's somewhere between single and double time. In this clip, first I play regular, then double time, then regular again, and finally I play it in the way that I like it to be in. But I don't know how to explain it to the drummer.

The time signature is irregular. I think of it as "12345, 123, 123". So I guess 5/4, 3/4, 3/4. Not sure if that's relevant though, since we're just talking about speed

https://whyp.it/tracks/163408/timing?token=6Az3q

EDIT: clearer recording with louder metronome and fewer mistakes: https://whyp.it/tracks/163410/ebtiming2?token=HL5tY

4 Comments
2024/03/12
14:58 UTC

17

Hey y’all, can someone help me identify the key of this music?

I’ve been playing with this song for learning accompaniment and realized that the sheet music I’ve been using is in a different key than the recording I have. Can someone help me find this key?

24 Comments
2024/03/12
14:47 UTC

3

Opinion about Slow Animals beat

Hi! I would like to know what is your opinion about the beat of this song by theStrokes, how can you describe the rythm, the texture, its influences and style.

5 Comments
2024/03/12
14:33 UTC

7

A bit of noob question, sorry. But how do I count this?

Right hand

11 Comments
2024/03/12
13:40 UTC

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