Need help with related scales and bridges

[esl]

I am taking a new approach to in my attempt to write songs, and I am hoping someone can help me, or point me to a resource that could help me.

Example: I have a song that is in C melodic minor. When the song goes into the bridge, what is a good/common scale or mode that I can shift into from C melodic minor that sounds OK?

I also have a song that is in D flat lydian mode. What is a good scale or mode that I could use for a brige with this?

Is there a resource for this info? Or am I just not making any sense at all?

[jopy]

apologies in advance for using wikipedia citations, but there are worse places to start.

"sounds ok" is of course depending on what you want things to sound like (smooth, abrupt, etc.). i think working around with the circle of fifths might help you find keys that are close to your original key:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths

for example, you can see at the bottom of this page that c minor is next to g and f minor on the circle of fifths (so those will sound very smooth), or you can go to the relative major (Eb). if you want something more abrupt or that has a more pronounced contrast, go to the other side of the circle of fifths.

for your other question, Db lydian is the same scale as Ab major (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode) so you can use keys based around the other modes in that neighborhood (e.g., any modes based on the Ab major scale, Db major, or Eb major are likely to sound very inside).

[esl]

thanks, I'll check that out.

[JumpingJackFlash]

I am taking a new approach to in my attempt to write songs, and I am hoping someone can help me, or point me to a resource that could help me.

Example: I have a song that is in C melodic minor. When the song goes into the bridge, what is a good/common scale or mode that I can shift into from C melodic minor that sounds OK?

I also have a song that is in D flat lydian mode. What is a good scale or mode that I could use for a brige with this?

Is there a resource for this info? Or am I just not making any sense at all?

My An introduction to modulation (changing key) might be helpful.

Common keys to modulate to include tonic, subdominant and dominant, and relative majors/minors of each.
Therefore, in C minor, likely choices to modulate to include F minor, G minor, Ab major, Bb major, Eb major.

There are many other choices though, but they may require more complex modulation to sound good (or else, just fiddle around until you have something nice).

[Schräge Musik]

That "fiddle about a bit" is as good as advice can get. Seriously. I remember reading about Frank Zappa - he picked up a book on music theory and opened it at a random page; the first thing he read said 'never play these two notes together' (I don't know what the notes were). He played them; they sounded great; he threw the book away.

[nuffink]

That "fiddle about a bit" is as good as advice can get. Seriously. I remember reading about Frank Zappa - he picked up a book on music theory and opened it at a random page; the first thing he read said 'never play these two notes together' (I don't know what the notes were). He played them; they sounded great; he threw the book away.

Yeah, thanks for joining. Original thinkers always welcome.