any unique sounding scales? or chord progressions?

[jazzraps]

Hey guys, I made this post because Im so sick of using and hearing the same scales and chords in music, and im getting kinda bored of using the same blues scale in my pieces.. Just wondering if you guys have any favourites that you use in your stuff...im looking for more of an exotic, darker, jazzier kinda feel..feel free to post regardless though! Thanks!

[jancivil]

super locrian: E F G Ab Bb C D.
octatonic variant: E F G Ab Bb C C# D.

Take a mixolydian and sharp the 4. some call it 'overtone' scale.

you could take the harmonic minor and take modes off of it the way people consider modes compared to major.

symmetrical octatonic: C D Eb F Gb Ab A B... or the same construction beginning with a whole tone.

C Db E F# A A# B. one way to consider that is as a kind of blues except at the tritone of your key...

pentatonics such as C Db F Gb Bb.

make them up yourself once you see a few of these as you like them.

a resource for many over the years is Slonimsky: Thesaurus of Scales and melodic Patterns.

You could get hung up on scalar thinking though, I did for a time. But these kinds of things are def. food for thought.

[Operator1559]

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Hey guys, I made this post because Im so sick of using and hearing the same scales and chords in music, and im getting kinda bored of using the same blues scale in my pieces.. Just wondering if you guys have any favourites that you use in your stuff...im looking for more of an exotic, darker, jazzier kinda feel..feel free to post regardless though! Thanks!

Check out this these two sites. I use them to decide what type of track I want to work on. I question the emotion one but it helps with ideas.

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/ (http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/)

http://www.gradfree.com/kevin/some_theo ... l_keys.htm (http://www.gradfree.com/kevin/some_theory_on_musical_keys.htm)

[Lost_Highway]

exotic, darker

Since I discovered it, I've been a big fan of the double harmonic scale, a.k.a. Arabic or Byzantine scale.

C Db E F G Ab B C

It can sound quite exotic (to someone raised on Western music) and lends itself to tritones and diminished chords quite a bit so can sound pretty dark.

I find it useful to flatten the seventh from time to time, turning it into the Phrygian dominant:

C Db E F G Ab Bb C

[HordePrime]

Im so sick of using and hearing the same scales and chords in music

I know what you mean. I'm sick of using and hearing the same letters of the English language all the time - it does get boring after a while doesn't it.

It constantly amazes me how people can keep writing books and screenplays using the same 26 letters. Surely there must come a point where all the combinations have been used? If we invent another letter or two, I'm sure books would be much more interesting.

[ariston]

I love Hungarian (or, politically incorrect: gypsy) minor:
C D E♭ F♯ G A♭ B.

Lends itself splendidly to vivid improvisations and "devilish" textures.

[tehlord]

exotic, darker

Since I discovered it, I've been a big fan of the double harmonic scale, a.k.a. Arabic or Byzantine scale.

C Db E F G Ab B C

One of my favourites.

[Aroused by JarJar]

Im so sick of using and hearing the same scales and chords in music

I know what you mean. I'm sick of using and hearing the same letters of the English language all the time - it does get boring after a while doesn't it.

It constantly amazes me how people can keep writing books and screenplays using the same 26 letters. Surely there must come a point where all the combinations have been used? If we invent another letter or two, I'm sure books would be much more interesting.

Bullshit comparison. In 12tET 400 cents is 400 cents is 400 cents and it's always M3 and dim4 and the fifth of the fifth of the fifth of the fith (i.e. Pythagorean ditone) etc. etc. A better comparison would be using the word "dog" for cats, lions and lemurs as well as dogs. Cf "pommes" in language.

[jancivil]

Im so sick of using and hearing the same scales and chords in music

I know what you mean. I'm sick of using and hearing the same letters of the English language all the time - it does get boring after a while doesn't it.

It constantly amazes me how people can keep writing books and screenplays using the same 26 letters. Surely there must come a point where all the combinations have been used? If we invent another letter or two, I'm sure books would be much more interesting.

You don't get what the OP is about. This is a truly bogus analogy. the OP is looking for extended vocabulary.

[Sendy]

Look into alternate tunings, such as Just Intonation. We've lost a lot of nuance by adopting the 12-tone equal paradigm. Even just applying a stretch tuning (adding a bit of keyfollow to pitch, just enough to push the extremes apart noticably) can breathe life into the most staid overused 12-tet chord sequences.

Hearing the same chords and scales IS a valid complaint and a very important one in modern music in my opinion, because often tuning issues are completely overlooked especially in softsynths. Hopefully soon tuning information will be standardized and "de rigeur" like MIDI was and all synths can share it freely.

[jancivil]

a number of these exotic scales are appropriations of things which were derived in other intonations, in fact.

[HordePrime]

the OP is looking for extended vocabulary.

Sorry, I thought they were trying to compensate for lack of imagination.

Isn't focussing on depth better than breadth?
There are hundreds of examples of amazing music which only uses a few chords.
Do you really think Mozart would have written better music if he had used the Hungarian Minor?

[ariston]

Sorry, I thought they were trying to compensate for lack of imagination.

Isn't focussing on depth better than breadth?
There are hundreds of examples of amazing music which only uses a few chords.
Do you really think Mozart would have written better music if he had used the Hungarian Minor?

Define "better" or even "amazing" music. Good luck with that.

It's not about "better", it's about finding new ways to express yourself. There are emotions that can't be expressed in simple major or minor scales - like biting into an under-ripe banana, for instance, or finding a curious lump in your armpit one tranquil Sunday morning.

[Bronto Scorpio]

the OP is looking for extended vocabulary.

Sorry, I thought they were trying to compensate for lack of imagination.

Isn't focussing on depth better than breadth?
There are hundreds of examples of amazing music which only uses a few chords.
Do you really think Mozart would have written better music if he had used the Hungarian Minor?

A lot of great music has been made with guitars, why should anyone learn to play piano? #terribleanalogy

Cheers
Dennis

[Sendy]

Make your musical life broad and the depth may well take care of it's-self.