Original Message                 Date: 23-Feb-00  @  05:32 AM   -   I feel stupid...

stephenb

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Alright, time to swallow my pride and start asking some simple music theory questions. I've tried time and time again to learn, but lack of time and too much info not relevant to dance music always puts me off.

So take deep house/garage for example:

If I decide the key of a song, and want to make a bassline, what scale should I use - minor, major...what?

Should I bang out a bassline using the root and fifth notes? What rules do a simple bassline follow?

Once I know what key my song is in, how do I know what chords I can play with it?

Does house, or disco follow a chord progression?

I try not to let music theory ignorance get in my way, I'm still managing to churn out some nice house grooves, but time and time again it comes back to haunt me. So any theory tips relevant to making dance would be a welcome change. I just want some simple rules to point me in the right direction, I don't want to follow a dull formula, just lay down some rules that'd help or inspire me.

Hopefuly, any answers will benefit other people like myself who come from a dj'ing or more technical background.

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Message 21/22                 Date: 15-Mar-00  @  10:07 PM   -   RE: I feel stupid...

Defector_Z

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Craig - there are no mistakes in music, only bad notes. :-)

I think p. hit it. Trust your ear. One thing I like to do (if I wasn't so lazy, i'd point you to some tunes that I've written and put up on the web - but I'm lazy and don't have anything up) is alternate between major and minor. Key changes are very effective when used properly. You can change keys from one section of a song to another (maybe from the main riff to the bridge, etc.) or you could even do it in the main progression. Try playing chords Aminor for 4 beats, Dminor for 3 beats, Amajor for 1 beat, and go where your ear takes you.

I know classical theory, some jazz theory, and rock theory. Never heard of dance theory. Hmmm.

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Message 22/22                 Date: 17-Mar-00  @  02:41 PM   -   RE: I feel stupid...

nomad

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i dunno if this relates, but harmony central
had something called "running with the bass"
one of those tutorial type things. it's really
for bass guitar but it talks about doing
interesting bass lines over a given chord
progression. decent reading.

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