Chord progressions and harmonic/keymixing?

[MinorMan]

Hey people, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster! I've been studying theory for a little while, and recently have been suffering from serious writers block because of it - hence this post! I'm influenced by jungle, deep house, funk, jazz, reggae and good dubstep music so my sonic world is fairly diverse. A few years ago I decided to stop making sampled hip-hop and get into composing my own music.

I mainly work in FL Studio (the chord/scale helpers are cool guides, and I am used to the environment). I really like minor chords, minor 7ths, minor 9ths, etc. and find they work well with the music that I make. Apart from occasions where I get lucky with chords, or when I work directly from a specific scale, I find that when I reference my music, the chord progressions sound out of key..sometimes anyway.

Let's say I'm working in A minor (natural)...so all of the white keys from A...or Dorian D (I don't like it when people use C Major as an example, as I will probably never make at track in C Major!)My first chord may be a minor 9th/minor 7th...I'm tempted to go for another minor chord because I'm worried about clashing, but at the same time minor chord progressions sound dull! Where do I go?? Inversions and alterations confuse me, but I am sure the answer lies in voicing!!

I find loads of melodic and harmonic coincidence when I mix tracks, but only rarely (or unless I 'trace' my notes over another track in the same key) can I achieve it!

Excuse the ramble, I'm a little stoned!

[jcrisman]

Excuse the ramble, I'm a little stoned!

Maybe the tendency toward being a little stoned is a cause of your writer's block?

[MinorMan]

Excuse the ramble, I'm a little stoned!

Maybe the tendency toward being a little stoned is a cause of your writer's block?

So you read my post and contributed that? Thanks.

Yeah I'll definitely bear that in mind..

[wrench45us]

the same time minor chord progressions sound dull! Where do I go?? Inversions and alterations confuse me, but I am sure the answer lies in voicing!!

there's a pretty common progression of ii V I that I've never found all that dull in a minor key
since it goes ii as dim7, V7b9, i
or in the case of a minor
bdim7, E7b9, am

that's making use of the rainsgng the dominant to a major chord in one of the minor scales

[MinorMan]

the same time minor chord progressions sound dull! Where do I go?? Inversions and alterations confuse me, but I am sure the answer lies in voicing!!

there's a pretty common progression of ii V I that I've never found all that dull in a minor key
since it goes ii as dim7, V7b9, i
or in the case of a minor
bdim7, E7b9, am

that's making use of the rainsgng the dominant to a major chord in one of the minor scales

So let's say my root chord was Aminor9th, I'd go Bdim7, E7b9, back to Minor 9th/7th/triad?

Thanks for the reply

[trewq]

the same time minor chord progressions sound dull! Where do I go?? Inversions and alterations confuse me, but I am sure the answer lies in voicing!!

there's a pretty common progression of ii V I that I've never found all that dull in a minor key
since it goes ii as dim7, V7b9, i
or in the case of a minor
bdim7, E7b9, am

that's making use of the rainsgng the dominant to a major chord in one of the minor scales

So let's say my root chord was Aminor9th, I'd go Bdim7, E7b9, back to Minor 9th/7th/triad?

Thanks for the reply

Loose the 7th on that minor 9th chord, ok? - since the other 2 chords are from A harmonic minor, not A natural minor. It clashes when any chord change goes outside of any one scale (any scale).

[MinorMan]

the same time minor chord progressions sound dull! Where do I go?? Inversions and alterations confuse me, but I am sure the answer lies in voicing!!

there's a pretty common progression of ii V I that I've never found all that dull in a minor key
since it goes ii as dim7, V7b9, i
or in the case of a minor
bdim7, E7b9, am

that's making use of the rainsgng the dominant to a major chord in one of the minor scales

So let's say my root chord was Aminor9th, I'd go Bdim7, E7b9, back to Minor 9th/7th/triad?

Thanks for the reply

Loose the 7th on that minor 9th chord, ok? - since the other 2 chords are from A harmonic minor, not A natural minor. It clashes when any chord change goes outside of any one scale (any scale).

Ahh, I see. So a minor add 9 would be better?

[jcrisman]

Excuse the ramble, I'm a little stoned!

Maybe the tendency toward being a little stoned is a cause of your writer's block?

So you read my post and contributed that? Thanks.

Yeah I'll definitely bear that in mind..

Aren't stoned people supposed to be mellow?

Seriously though, I recommend this site:
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/scales-to-chords.php

Though it's geared toward guitar players, it's still useful to non-guitarists since it allows a person to:

1. See the notes within a given scale

2. See the basic chord progression of given key/scale

3. See the possible chords within the key (as well as chords that are outside of the scale) organized by step within the chord progression.

4. Hear each chord at a press of a button.

5. Access other useful links on the website such as chord names, reverse scales, transposer, circle of 5ths, etc...