Original Message 1/7                 Date: 27-May-00  @  11:00 AM   -   what is all this relative minor about

tonyanddave

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im pretty new to playing the piano and have had a few lessons,im a house remixer and most my stuff is sampled based

i can copy things out of most loops especially the basslines and melodys,im not bad at getting the chords as i have just figured out some of the 4 fingered type

my problem comes when im trying to write something new to run over my sampled loop

i think understanding the theory of music will help me and i keep coming back to this relative major and minor thing

im pretty confused about the whole key thing and cant figure out why sometimes the bass is in a different key to the melody or the chords are in a different key to the vocals

help me im confused just talking about it

help HELP help HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Message 2/7                 Date: 28-May-00  @  07:51 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

sitar

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Relative minor...if you take the key of C major, the scale goes C D E F G A B C. The tonic note in the Key of C is C by definition. In this scale A is the 6th. Now if you change the tonic to A but use the same notes as if you are in the key of C so that the scale is A B C D E F G A, you will be in the key of A minor. It sounds minor when you play this scale starting on A instead of C. Thus A minor is the relative minor key of C major. It's the same for all of the Keys. B minor is the relative minor key of D major. You use the notes in D major ie D E F# G A B C# D. But you use the 6th as the tonic which is B. The Key of A has these notes: A B C# D E F# G# A. F# is the sixth of A. So if you play the A major scale, but use instead F# as your tonic you have yourself an F# minor scale and it is therefore known like all the others as the relative minor scale of A major. Every note has a sixth in it's scale, and that scale when played using the sixth as the tonic is known as the relative minor scale of that scale. Tonic means basically "home" note. It is the note that you have chosen for your piece to resolve to, if you choose to have a resolution. It's probably safe to say that 99.9% or more of western music works around a tonic.

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Message 3/7                 Date: 29-May-00  @  02:31 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

ggehiere

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You seem to be quite accomplished, so if this is below
you, please ignore me.

If you're working with samples, particularily with
pitchshifting samples, remember that each sample is
tuned to a different key. For example, if you assign a
sample in the key of A to the C key, playing the C key
on your keyboard controller will simply trigger the
sample in the key of A, not C.

Things get pretty confusing if you work from samples
alot, and one needs to pretty much play by ear, not by
key.

Take

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Message 4/7                 Date: 29-May-00  @  09:21 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

tetsuo2

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OK, I work from all synth and no samples, so perhaps I can help a bit.

1st off, a sample will play at a pitch that U specify when sampling. For example, if u sample a C off a synth and map it to C on a sampler, the result will be that when u hit a C note on the sampler, U will here it as C... Same for A. If u sample it hitting A on the original... bla bla. The sample cd u use should tell u what pitch the note is, other wise, time to site down at a piano, and figure out which note the sample is really at. Having said that, a sample will never be or not be part of a key necessarily... It's just a note.

About relative minor, a major key's relative minor always begins three semitones down from its relative major. Ex: A is three semitones down from c. Therefore a is c's relative minor. Shit is confusing as hell, but in dance music, Hopping out of key is usually a bad idea.

I personally LOVE the A minor scale. Its all on the white keys (so its easy to use) from A to A. and if used right, its very dramatic!! Hope that helped.

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Message 5/7                 Date: 02-Jun-00  @  02:15 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

damballah

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If you're at a family reunion and you meet a relative who you think is really hot, but she's a minor... then you're Jerry Lee Lewis. Great Balls O' Fire...

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Message 6/7                 Date: 03-Jun-00  @  06:57 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

sitar

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Jeez Damballah.

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Message 7/7                 Date: 05-Jun-00  @  06:37 PM   -   RE: what is all this relative minor about

casparproject

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More and more, in genres like techno and house especially, you'll see basslines and melodies in defferent keys. sometimes they are mixed modal relationships ie. bassline in Cmajor melody in Aminor. But sometimes the relationship is totally "outside." This means that the relationship between the two lines is so far out (things like scales built on the 9th of the original scale but with a couple of weird accidentals etc.) that only the composer, and sometimes not even the composer, know the relationship. Newer TechStep often exhibits these qualities, and some feel that these pieces are just "atonal" but I for one believe that atonality doesn't exist, except maybe in noise. If this is nothing like what you meant then forget it.

Peaceout,

Peter

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