Next stupid question: the usefulness of learning / practising scales?

[lingyai]

sjm, jopy, thanks both of you

[felipescalador]

I think scales are more useful for writing melodies than chords. Although some may differ..

Scales have certain feel to them so they are like a guide..

Lets take for example the modes.

Major (ioian)
Sounds happy, very vainilla very major

Aeolian (natural minor)
sounds sad, minor

Lets say you are feeling down and you want to make something sad.. you know the aeolian mode has a sad feeling to it so you choose pitch like A aolian. I use it like a guide I still go out of Aeolian if I want to and come back etc..

Harmonic minor.
Sound a little bit oriental.

They are good guides to let you achieve a sound

[lingyai]

I think scales are more useful for writing melodies than chords. Although some may differ..

Scales have certain feel to them so they are like a guide..

Lets take for example the modes.

Major (ioian)
Sounds happy, very vainilla very major

Aeolian (natural minor)
sounds sad, minor

Lets say you are feeling down and you want to make something sad.. you know the aeolian mode has a sad feeling to it so you choose pitch like A aolian. I use it like a guide I still go out of Aeolian if I want to and come back etc..

Harmonic minor.
Sound a little bit oriental.

They are good guides to let you achieve a sound

Thanks for that, it sounds like good advice. Now, patience with yet another stupid question, I'm just starting to get this ( I think) (again, I have 0 training in theory) -- maybe I am confusing keys and modes, but... suppose, following your advice, I want to make something sad. I could choose the key of, for example, E minor. I can see from a reference chart that the notes in this scale are E, F♯, G, A, B, C, D, and E. So if I were to stay "purely" in this key, I would confine myself to those notes for the melody, and this would "make sense" and sound "right"?

[felipescalador]

yes. Although key is more strongly defined by the harmony.

Try making a progression of E minor. Then jam using E minor over... it will make sense musically.

But very few music is like this (well at least music I find interesting). Strictly in key. Mostly music that never changes key sounds like everything else out there..

For example

guns n roses sweet child o mine everything is in Db major exept for the solo which is in Ebm.

but still he has some acidentals but mostly its in that key

Now for example royksopp



Dm - F - G# - Am - G - F - Dm - Am - Dm

This is mostly in the key of C
all chords are of the C major scale except for G#

So now is when I think? how did they arrive to this progression? did they sat down and said hhmm lets make a progression of C major but lets modulate to for a single chord and then come back to C major?

Maybe.. but I think not. Music theory is mostly a guide to understand why thinks work but it will not compose for you.. They probably sat down and played those chords and they liked them.

I sugest searching for songs you like and analyze them.