Does anyone know anything about music theory? Help please? -- demonwerewolf110's Journal -- Fur Affinity [dot] net

Does anyone know anything about music theory? Help please?

12 years ago

Welcome!



NEW ACCOUNT -  Kraest

(I'm posting this here instead of the new account because I'm not sure how many musicians follow the new account)

I'm stuck and need help. You may remember THIS JOURNAL, wherein I talked about this song in great depth.

Well, I've finished the first movement, Annigan's part (and ended it with a spectacularly blistering tapping solo...no really, it literally blistered me), but the next part is not coming easily. At the end of Annigan's section, I'm in a D minor key and I want to switch to a different key for the beginning of Malina's movement. It needs to sound sad, like, grievous kind of sad, but D minor doesn't sound all that sad and there's no real room for a segue into a different key, so it needs to be something that sounds good right next to the D minor. Maybe E major? I'm not even sure, because E major is also not that sad sounding.

Also, I can't seem to write anything that sounds sad enough. The best thing I've been able to do so far was to do a Db major, which is a sad sounding key, but when it's right next to a D minor, it really doesn't work and sounds like a completely different song, which is not what I want at all.

Also, if you want to look at the sheet music itself, I can send you the Guitar Pro file.

Halp plox?

Now get the hell out.



<3<3<3:  kdbolitho



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14 Comments

Blackminorscales ~blackminorscales

Digital Artist

12 years ago

Theory/Comp major here. The sort-of standard would be to go to the dominant key, in this case, Am. Another direction would be to go for a chromatic mediant, which could either be Fm or Bm. These are all decently easy to pivot to as well. But really, it's a personal preference thing in the end. Movie-scores usually use chromatic mediants, while Bach and Mozart used a lot of modulation to the dominant.

Kraest ~kraest

Illustrator

12 years ago

I do know that Fm is supposed to sound sad, so that's something there...

Okay, I just did a nice move up to an F at the end of the section, but I'm still unsure as to how to write something that actually sounds sad. lol Like, whenever I try, even utilizing all of the sad sounding note configurations of a scale, it still sounds kind of...hopeful, for lack of a better term. At this point in the story of the song, Malina has just been raped by Annigan, her brother, so it needs to sound like devastation. I'm really not sure how to actually go about doing that.

Blackminorscales ~blackminorscales

Digital Artist

12 years ago

Sounds like you're looking for some altered scales then. Try taking the 4th note in the scale up half a step (In this case, Bb would be B). Or you could also try for an F Phrygian sort of thing, with Gb's instead of G's. Moving between different modes with the same root is what I would go for, So sometimes a Bb, sometimes a B, sometimes a G, sometimes a Gb, sometimes and E, sometimes and Eb. These half-step difference can bring a nice sort of shattered anticipation while still retaining a common-practice sort of sound. So I'd focus on altering your 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, and 7ths if anything.

Kraest ~kraest

Illustrator

12 years ago

Cool. Thanks so much! :)

Comment hidden by its owner

shockwave77598 ~shockwave77598

Writer

12 years ago

My books aren't with me. So all I can do is give examples.

http%3a//www.youtube.com/watch%3fv=gRAh_hpc_4o

At 7:20 is the berceuse, which is one of the saddest movements I can think of in music. This particular version is made even sadder by the use of phase shifters on strings for a ethereal timbre

malcolmthebear ~malcolmthebear

Musician

12 years ago

I never really thought that certain keys sounded any inherently "sadder" than others, to be honest, except when comparing minor to major. But D minor compared to B minor or Ab minor or anything else doesn't sound any more or less sad to me--they just all sound equally sad. It's not so much the key but what you do with it that determines the mood.

Kraest ~kraest

Illustrator

12 years ago

That's my biggest problem, though. I'm not sure how to write something that sounds sad. I really need for this next section of the song to sound sad, but everything I've been trying to write for it doesn't sound sad at all. :(

malcolmthebear ~malcolmthebear

Musician

12 years ago

How sad are you feeling when you try to compose this? I was extremely depressed one day in college, and instead of just moping, sat down at a piano and turned my raw emotion into the first few bars of this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/171427/ If you want music to represent a pure emotion, it's best to feel that emotion when making the music. Find a way to embrace that sadness, think of something entirely depressing, then once you're in that state, start composing.

Kraest ~kraest

Illustrator

12 years ago

That's another problem I have...I can't write anything when I'm sad. lol I'll play a few notes and give up. ;P

malcolmthebear ~malcolmthebear

Musician

12 years ago

Can you hum or sing into a microphone? That'll at least get an idea down and could potentially use less brain energy than playing an instrument.

Foxpiper ~foxpiper

Musician

12 years ago

While I do not remember much music theory from high school, I will tell you this. The emotion of sadness can be expressed musically in both major and minor keys. For example, Chopin's piece, Tristesse (Sadness), is in E major, yet feels sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3VkODWhm2E

Switching between major and minor chords can be effective too. My Dying Bride's song, And Then You Go, is one good example, especially in the second half of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RB_QjiBt8M

demonwerewolf110 ~demonwerewolf110

Anthro Artist

12 years ago

Oh, I figured something out the other day. It starts in B minor, which leads into an F# minor chorus, which leads into the bass solo (because what's sadder than a bass solo?), then E minor guitar solo, eventually going back to the F# minor chorus. I have yet to do the keys, but when I do, they'll most likely be lots of strings. Big string sections make the best emotional bits. ;P

Foxpiper ~foxpiper

Musician

12 years ago

Here is another good example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbNbwbJypgY

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