KVR Audio

argo30 · Post by **argo30** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:30 pm

Hi folks. This is my first post here. I've dabbled in and out of music for 20 years and I'm looking to get back into it a bit and I'm looking for some (probably) beginner information. If I'm in the wrong place, please say so.

So I started writing some riffs (as I always end up doing) but I never can take them anywhere. I've always gotten confused on where to take them, what to play over them, and where to take the next part of the song.

My question currently is about a riff I have and what chords I can play over it. I have charts and a general understanding of music theory but no chord progresssion I play over this riff sounds right (as usual) and I'm really trying to figure this stuff out so I can maybe start writing and recording again. I'm not really sure what to ask or how to ask it but that's where I'm at. Help appreciated in figuring this out. Thank you.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:51 pm

find your notes, work out your key.

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:53 pm

I assume you're talking about guitar? What sounds wrong about the chords and melodies you put together? Does it sound like it's in the wrong key in general, or that certain riff notes or chords sound dissonant?

argo30 · Post by **argo30** » Tue May 05, 2020 4:59 pm

vurt wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 4:51 pm find your notes, work out your key.

Haha. Exactly. That's the stuff I'm stuck on. I have this chart (attached) and I'm trying to use the chords in A which is what it feels like it's in but it's not working really. These are the notes in the riff (not in this order). A,C,C#,D,E,G

Any help is greatly appreciated.

argo30 · Post by **argo30** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:03 pm

Forgotten wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 4:53 pm I assume you're talking about guitar? What sounds wrong about the chords and melodies you put together? Does it sound like it's in the wrong key in general, or that certain riff notes or chords sound dissonant?

Hey there. Thank you for the reply. Really appreciated. I don't know, they just don't work and I have a pretty good ear. I can tell when things don't sound right. I mean if I posted the riff here as an attachment would that be okay or is that not something that is done?

Thanks again for your time and patience (so far!) hahaha.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:04 pm

the c c# d doesnt seem right for a key, so you have borrowed notes. as 3 consecutive semitones is not in key...

why are you thinking a?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:05 pm

feel free to post the riff

excuse me please · Post by **excuse me please** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:07 pm

What kind of riff is it? Rock, pop, jazz... etc

argo30 · Post by **argo30** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:11 pm

vurt wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:05 pm feel free to post the riff

Sorry, new to this site. Doesn't seem like it allows many file types. What file type does it have to be for this site to accept it?

Forgotten · Post by **Forgotten** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:11 pm

The chart above is the diatonic chords for Major keys. Maybe what you're playing doesn't fit into a Major framework? Have you thought about minor?

Typically the diatonic chords aren't used randomly either - most of the time you will be trying to achieve a sense of resolution, such as V to I. Post an example of a chord sequence - it might show why it sounds odd if there are some untypical changes.

It's really difficult to tell what the riff sounds like from just a sequence of notes - how many bars does this represent? I don't suppose you can write music on a staff can you?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:14 pm

argo30 wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:11 pm
vurt wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:05 pm feel free to post the riff
Sorry, new to this site. Doesn't seem like it allows many file types. What file type does it have to be for this site to accept it?

ah youll need to upload it somewhere and link here sorry.
soundcloud is free if you have no hosting or dropbox

fese · Post by **fese** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:17 pm

Usually, you look at the notes you play and determine in which key you’re in and which scale you are playing. For this you need a basic knowledge about keys and scales and chords.
Say, you play the notes A,C,D,E,G, you should know that these are the notes in the a minor pentatonic scale, which is a subset of the a minor scale (A,B,C,D,E,F,G). Then you can use the chords of the a minor scale (building triads): Amin, Bdim, Cmajor, Dmin, Emin (often replaced by Emajor), FMajor, Gmajor.
This is basic theory you have to learn: scales and chords and how to build chords from scales (or look at your table)
In your case, it is a bit difficult as the notes you play don’t easily fit into a commonly used scale. You could argue for e minor, but the C# doesn’t fit. This would require a bit more experience and experimenting. Hard to say when I don’t know the riff.
Depending on how the riff works I might just drop the idea of adding chords to it and keep the song completely riff-based. Not that uncommon in rock music.

argo30 · Post by **argo30** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:18 pm

vurt wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:14 pm
argo30 wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:11 pm
vurt wrote: Tue May 05, 2020 5:05 pm feel free to post the riff
Sorry, new to this site. Doesn't seem like it allows many file types. What file type does it have to be for this site to accept it?
ah youll need to upload it somewhere and link here sorry.
soundcloud is free if you have no hosting or dropbox

Got it. Figured that was going to be the case. Here you go:

https://soundcloud.com/user-499562900-337600429/r1-1

fese · Post by **fese** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:23 pm

This would call mostly for A minor, except where you play the C#, where you can change to Amajor for two beats.

fese · Post by **fese** » Tue May 05, 2020 5:25 pm

Or:
Amin, Amaj, Amin and Cmaj, Dmaj for the last bar of the riff.

Newbie stuff....How can I figure out what key and chords I can play over a guitar riff?