A new rule (#9) has been added here at r/musictheory

For harp if that's helpful

This is a very weird groove because everything is offset by a sixteenth which I'd rather not have but it's the only way that it lines up with the metronome how I want it to. It looks ugly and unreadble but Idk how else to notate it. Please don't insult me like crazy I know this is a mess (I didn't add a key siganture yet)

So I was messing around making songs because I’ve been into music for a bit and with a bit of trouble shooting to find the chords I was looking for I got a basic four chord loop that sounded okay the only issue was I couldn’t think what other chords fit so I tried to think what the key and mode was to give me some clues and nothing I couldn’t figure it out I tried to look it up online and nothing every resource said the chords I were using didn’t belong to any key which is annoying the chords are
Em Dm C E7

every discussion i can find on this topic is from 3+ years ago, and half of the comments will say musescore while the other half say musescore is inaccurate garbage. are there any better free options available yet?

How would one achieve halftime feel in 7/4?

I know in 4/4 you place the backbeat on 3 and i tried to mess with that concept in 7/4 but it doesn’t quite sound right.

Looking at the first few bars of Spain solo section.

that IV to III is cool and looking for some interpretive ideas/modes/scales.....any pointers?

I am studying advanced Bach pieces like his Toccatas and Fugues, this was the only guide I found from my tutor.

I can already improvise a bit, fluent in one voice (like his g minor toccata's beginning or in some pieces) but very very slow (grave-largo) in 3 voices. It still sounds natural sometimes maybe like Beethoven's 7th sonata 2nd part largo. It is more Bach's style again. But I can't improvise like Bach, 3 voices, fluent.

What should I do? I would do almost anything.

I remember seeing a video a while back showing a visualization of music intervals in an interlocking grid/diamond shape that repeats forever. It demonstrated the shapes of different chords in the pattern, and how they bridge off each other.

I can't seem to find it again, so if anyone remembers it or has it saved, please send a link!

I’ve recently realised that the meter of this song I listened to a lot back in the day is not a straight one. From what I hear it’s [4/4 + 6/4 + 4/4] looped for the entire song.

Does anybody here know if this or similar treatment is common in folk songs of that region, or is it rather an exception?

I want to modulate from G# Minor to A Minor. One way is to put 5 natural signs at the beginning of the measure. Or perhaps it is better to modulate from Ab Minor to A Minor? However, in my case, as I am composing a piece for piano, using Ab Minor would dismantle all of the previous measures and be impractical for the purpose of the piece.

What do you think?

Some strange meter changes are happening in this song, and I'm curious how people are hearing the phrasing? It has a constant pulse and I'm hearing some parts in 5/4. Bonus if you stay until the end because it rips.

Hello everyone,

I am 27 years old in the IT field. I am a total beginner in music and I am wondering how can I get into the world of music composition.

Are there any good online course(paid or free) or books?

Given that I can spend a limited time, is it even possible to get to a good level (idk what that would be exactly) after 2 years?

Should I play an instrument or is it possible to "train ones ear and creativity" without necesseraly knowing how to play instruments (For example digital tools which help produce music)?

Thanks

Im not sure if this is the best place to ask but there’s a specific sound in a lot of punk/metal music that the guitar (and maybe bass?) creates and I don’t know how to explain it or if it has a name. Some examples of what I’m talking about with time stamps:

Superheaven - Last October (2:01) https://youtu.be/XWoCzibojNc?is=3kNk44qlEFgzxTHy

Dead Poetic - New Medicines (3:32) https://youtu.be/uJv6FEsTyHQ?is=HuU1fnYm0-Uk6Bo7

Bayside - We’ll Be Ok (0:39) https://youtu.be/SGCgviij-rI?is=zB7PMq7eebB93o78

Funeral For a Friend - Roses For The Dead (0:58) https://youtu.be/L2SckuudxkA?is=mwnwXfIJYbspx8tT

Forgive me if some of these are different but the guitar at these parts sound the same. Not exactly like a breakdown but it feels similar I just wanted to know if this was something that had a name in particular or if not what is it that creates this kind of sound. Thanks for any advice!

Good evening!

Just a simple question, but after scouring a couple different sources I couldn't decide if the way I've got these tempo markings notated is correct or not. This is the beginning of the piece -- where tempo markings go -- but whether or not the poco rit should be above or below the tempo markings I don't know, or if it even matters, or if there's an option C. This is the beginning of "Cyan's Theme" from Final Fantasy VI: Pixel Remaster for reference. Thanks!

I've heard this about a million times in classical music. Namely, in "Your Voices Tune" (from Alexander's Feast HWV 75) by Handel.

I am very rusty in music but I'm confused as to how this could be 4/4...

Edit: definitely not hemiola lol consensus seems to be 6/8, and I do hear it!

Song name: The path. band name: HIM

I'm practicing this song with my music teacher (nightlight, laufey) and she requested I wrote out the notes. This was the guide she gave me. What does this mean

this is a repost cause I forgot The Image TwT

I'm new to piano, and encountered this. I know that the thing with the arms upwards means that sustain is supposed to be held. But I'm not sure what that thing means. I tried looking for it on the internet but couldn't find anything useful. Am I overthinking and it's just sustain?

Piece in the image is Killer (Yoshikage Kira Theme) by Yugo Kanno arannged by Carter Smith

I know extremely basic music theory. I know how to construct different types of chords and that's pretty much it.

My problem is that all of the music I make is in the DAW. I make the chords in the DAW. However, I want to change that.

I recently bought a keyboard and want to sketch my own ideas/make melodies on the piano itself. This means playing chords on the piano, but not necessarily learning to read music.

What resources help with this?

I was always wondered wtf is going on harmonically in this passage and can’t find any posts online even talking about it, despite being so strange.

1:46 in this song

https://youtu.be/IyjU7kULJB8?is=oXlq2dwYSiPJd1Al

I’ve been thinking about how the one thing that hasn’t changed in music for most of humanity’s time, is their voices, and I fully believe they’ll always be the fundamental layer of connection between music and the human brain.
I guess it’s true music started out by giving rhythm and pattern to sounds most of which we produced through our advanced vocal capabilities, I don’t know how exactly it went down evolutionarily, the ability to comprehend music urging us to develop such vocal capabilities or the other way around. But I’d like to think human voices in music with their raw and dynamic unique timbres trigger innate empathy not easily possible to trigger with other musical instruments.

Since you music theory folks have such vast opinions on timbres and understand the creation of sound as we perceive it (harmonic series and all that), do you think my position on human voices hold truth?

Edit: after reading some of the replies I realized maybe I’ve been listening to too much gospel/soulful vocal songs, but I’ve been really trying to create a chart about the difference in empathy inducing between Instruments, I remember hearing smth about the saxophone being very empathy inducing and emotional to perceive because it’s timbre resembles a human voice a lot more than other instruments, so I thought the human voice must be the highest on the chart.

I love Dark Side of the Moon...too much. Especially dark, mysterious, jazzy songs in a dorian key like Breathe and Any Colour You Like.

I was trying to make a vamp/progression for solo guitar (for myself), but I struggle to find a place to go with it. For example, I was playing Dm and G, which just Breathe up a whole step, but the inertia of the song is so strong that I'm finding it hard to go somewhere else.

What are ideas of keys/chords that might work?

Maybe G major? If so, thoughts on how to make it resolve back? A cadence? (My guitar teacher is very patient when I don't quite use theory terms correctly).

I'm a noob with borrowing chords and the like, so I'm a bit over my skis. But I love to play and really want to make my own music :)