Chord progression techniques??

[blindasfcuk]

I'm using live but I also have Studio One which I would make my main one if it wasnt for if being a complete CPU hog

At the moment its probably easier for me to start with the chords and then do the melody as I find I have more structure to keep me from just randomly hittin notes hoping for the best but its something I probably also need to practice. One thing though in the clip I posted all I can hear is a basic chord progression with no real melody other that the electro sound that comes in and moves up and down.

[Nystul]

One thing though in the clip I posted all I can hear is a basic chord progression with no real melody other that the electro sound that comes in and moves up and down.

There isn't a proper melody as such. But there is this catchy little hook that repeats over and over about a million times. And it has one or two supporting voices under it which provide harmony. I think you are hearing this as the chord progression of the piece, but I don't think it really is the progression for two reasons. First, some of these melody eighth notes are really just passing tones and not important to the harmony of the piece even though they occur as block chords. Second, the harmony of the piece changes dramatically depending on what is happening in the bass, even though this hook stays always the same. Sometimes, the harmony is rooted on E throughout. Other times, there is a bass line that goes C,D,E,D and this simple addition changes the chord progression and gives more of a major feel. But the main point is these block chords in the lead synth do form a catchy little melodic theme, and that is what people are going to be humming when they wake up with a hangover the next morning. I can definitely picture someone playing that melody while goofing around with a mono bass and then building that whole track up from there.

[Real Grooves Audio]

It's better to play something short and mean it then try to play something long.

+1 Precisely why I never got into granola crunchy Jam Bands.

[blindasfcuk]

Cheers Nystul I was just coming back on here to ask exactly what was goin on there. I figured it was something very simple and I was wondering where I should be starting and what chords I need to give it that kind of an urgent feeling.

[Nystul]

I think it's not so much the chords you use as voicing them in a manner where you get a nice riff from the top notes or a nice moving bass line. You can get some tension from a dominant seventh chord leading back to the tonic or from suspended chords or even diminished chords. Everything is always going to going back to the tonic eventually.

It probably is something you need to experiment just playing thing and see what works. Basically here the piece is going back and forth just between an E minor and D major chord. But, if you have an E in the bass under the D major chord, then it becomes a jazz voicing of an E sus4 chord. And then when there is a C under the E minor you have a C major 7. But that change in the harmony by adding that second bass line could be something of a happy accident.