Which aspect of music theory should i concentrate on?

[musikmachine]

Basically i get stuck when it comes to chord changes and progressions.Playing by ear can only getcha so far or is that just me

I'm looking for any good books relevant to dance music,not jazz or classical and covers whats relevant to what i'm doing,like the dance music manual or a guide to synthesis.There are books for piano,bass etc but is there anything like this for synths and relevant to dance music?

When i'm learning this stuff i want to know why as well as how and what relevance it has to me.I think this is where lessons come in as they will be specific to what you need nad you can always ask the teacher questions and they can demonstrate things so you understand and i think this makes a huge difference.So whats the next best thing to lessons that is interesting,relevant(to me) and enjoyable!Something with video would be good,then i can see and hear whats going on too(another obvious advantage of lessons)

Whats the next best thing?

Thanks

[musikmachine]

One reason for the problem with chord progressions is i only know a few that i learned awhile back.I enjoy experimenting but i'd rather know what i'm doing and what follows if you follow

Like i say there's a basic section on music theory in the dance music manual so i'm looking for something that goes into more depth but is centered around dance music/electronica with video if possible

[MoreDread]

Not centered around dance music, but imho still relevant for you could be JumpingJackFlash's Introduction to Cadences. It's free, and there he describes what one can do with chords, and what follows... ;)

And then, his Topic about Modulation could also be useful for you, but I'm not sure if dance music changes key in one song, but if you do it, it gets more interesting for sure.

[johnny2johnny]

Dance music is as much about timber as it is about chords and pitch...


You really need to just sorta feel it out... and NarrOw the genre a little bit...


after all, Rock and Roll is dance music. But I doutb you are talking about 1/4/5 and a minor 6...


Ok, check it, start with basic, check out an intro to music theory, this guy david harp wrote one about 40 pages, then move on, eventually read about jazz and classical......

[musikmachine]

Thanks for the tips.Am i right in thinking there is anything for dance/electronic music?There's all these tutorial dvds and power tools books so why not something geared towards modern dance music. Or is all jazz theory?Which parts of theory do i need focus on that are relevant to the music i make..

Here's the areas i want to improve or understand better:

Basslines,Progressions,Melody,Chords and Keys and in a format so that i can put the stuff into practise so it's hands on

[nuffink]

Forget harmonic theory. Forget chords, keys and melody. That's the topping when it comes to dance music. Figure out how the interplay between drum and bass makes peoples arses move. Because that's what dance music should do - make people dance.

The other option is to buy a virus, set the arp to up and just call it dance music. It's ok, people who like this kind of thing recognise it as dance music but that's because they never dance. This seems to be the more popular route.

[Klemperer]

Hi Musikmachine, I asked myself the same (= after not caring about for years, and then reading a book that was more about jazz and chord-progressions, nice, but actually not quite what I was after).
A little recommendation that you might already know, and which at first sight seems wrong too as it's a piano book. There is a book by Rikky Rooksby called "how to write songs on keyboards". I at first thought "not for me", but then I just played chords and progressions and so on that were suggested there with my, say, Rhino2.
You learn a lot about how to move the left hand while playing, and stuff like that, and how that changes the sound in different ways (to me those things are not "basic" but sometimes lead to nice melodies or chords, arepggios etc, why not for dance music too).
So while learning something about chords, you can play with your favourite synths and see what you like? I never did stuff like this because I thought it wasn't necessary ("we have our ears" or so), and that's all fine and good, but then simply following a thread in music theory forum about what chord the notes "cd fg.." would be (and playing many variations) was something I really liked. I learnt something from simply taking this as a start and seeing what fits to it.

The book is here in the local library, so maybe at your place too, or some similar one. For me it is fun to read, even if it was not made for electronic dance music.
I don't think I have the same musical taste like the author (Rikky Rooksby) but it certainly is not a bad book, and why should it not be worthwhile to know "how to make chords more dramatic" or "more airy" or "how to use minor chords and make them slightly different with minor seventh chords (randomly taken out of this one), and use just what you can use with your synths? Just a suggestion maybe.

[soulata]

I don't think you'll get the book strictly about the dance theory.

If you already know how to program drums and bass to move people's backsides you're almost there.

There's not much difference between jazz and classical theory and there's not that much to learn really. Get a decent open-minded teacher and ask him all you need to know.

[soapninja]

Basically i get stuck when it comes to chord changes and progressions.Playing by ear can only getcha so far or is that just me

I'm looking for any good books relevant to dance music,not jazz or classical and covers whats relevant to what i'm doing,like the dance music manual or a guide to synthesis.There are books for piano,bass etc but is there anything like this for synths and relevant to dance music?

There aren't any shortcuts when it comes to understanding music theory. It's universal and applies to all forms of music equally. If you are having problem coming up with chord changes, you need to understand what chords are and how they are made. Learning about chords coincides directly with learning about scales and intervals as well.


Whether it's jazz, classical or dance, the building blocks are the same. Sure you can get by with trying to play by an untrained ear, but it makes it a lot more difficult to move the sounds from your brain to your fingers.

Ear training and pitch identification is important as well, it seems like a lot of work, and it is, but that's the direction you should head if you are serious about composing.

[wrench45us]

i'm a big fan of the Rooksby books as well
just about all of the songwriting books
I found it a great place to start and get some traction -- when a lot of other tries/resources didn't get me anywhere

the thing with learning theory is it gives you a lot of choices about where/how to go with a song

there is a another book specifically for dance music called (oddly enough) 'Dance Music Manual' and it covers a lot of territory from chord progressions, synth programming, arranging etc for the various electronic genre
sometimes a book like that can provide a jump start and get things moving again

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... ss=default

[soapninja]

You could always take some community college courses on music theory as well, those would be even more effective than books because you would have an instructor and step by step course work to take you through the learning process.

[musikmachine]

I don't think you'll get the book strictly about the dance theory.

If you already know how to program drums and bass to move people's backsides you're almost there.

There's not much difference between jazz and classical theory and there's not that much to learn really. Get a decent open-minded teacher and ask him all you need to know.

Thats what i thought but figured i'd ask anyway

A friend of mine runs music courses,the tutors maybe open to giving some lessons for a fair price.I'll have to get a full size keyboard first though..

Tbh i think i've improved a lot recently since i got my setup sorted.I'm putting more thought and focus into what i'm doing as well and it has made a difference but my actual theoretical knowledge is nominal at best but i'm happy with the stuff i'm doing these days

Peace

[jcivil]

never mind, mother superior jump the gun sorta deal

[musikmachine]

never mind, mother superior jump the gun sorta deal

As in the beatles?Still no sure what it means

Anyway thanks for the answers.I think i will take some lessons eventually to address things i can't get from stuff i read in a book or on the net.

Peace