The struggle of Gps learning music and sheetmusic

[Gps]

How could I ever have done this without my midi keyboard ?

Those three notes. I plugged in my keystation mini32, and tried the best I could, to play along to the mp3.

After I thought I got it right, I recorded a few beats.
I still can't play well but my sense for rhythm / timing is fine.

1....2,3 it seems to be.

Funny how I do stuff like this without thinking on a keyboard, but have so much trouble to get things like this right in lmms.
(by putting in notes by mouse)

In lmms terms it seems to be a note in the first square, second and third square empty, a note in the 4 th square, 5th empty 6th a note.
Then a rest to fill the beat.

Also did an attempt on some string part. Its Funny how far I do seem to get just by using my ears.
( I did not find anything about how to play this online )
So if I am close to the original key ? I doubt it.

I am most worried about some percussion parts, and I still doubt I can do this. But that never stopped me before.
Already learned something from this. A lot in this piece starts at 2 instead of one.

[musikbear]

In lmms terms it seems to be a note in the first square, second and third square empty, a note in the 4 th square, 5th empty 6th a note.
Then a rest to fill the beat. :P

'square' is ambitious, theres lots of them :p

Between 1 and 2 we have one bar
in 4/4 we have 4 beats in one bar
each beat has 4 ticks

That gives us a very neat way to illustrate notes in a piano-roll:
One bar, no notes:
0000 0000 0000 0000

Inserts your notes:
1001 0100 1001 0100

the link https://soundcloud.com/upload still dont lead anywhere :)

[Gps]

Much better system indeed.

1001 0100 |1001 0100 | 1001 0100 | 0000 0000 ( 1/16 notes )

It's what I found, but it does not sound like that number at all.
Still if I let the mp3 play, and mess with the piano roll, I seem to be in sync.
Very frustrating. ( mp3 is not imported into lmms )

This second part might be my Waterloo. Not sure if mine sounds so bad because of the sound I use, or that I do not match what Kraze did.


Intro part is interesting, Improved that, thank you google. ( topic was not related to this song, but when I read it, I decided to give it a go )
Two instruments, ( clone track) then on second one, add an echo and detune (pitch).
That seems to give this, how it sounds to me, weird echo as if the string is loosened, while playing.

I also have been reading about how to tune a piano, and that for most notes three strings are used.
That gave me the idea, to use three of the same instruments in lmms.
First one leave it as it is. Pitch to the left for second one, pitch to the right for the last one.
Then on third track, I moved all notes 1/64 to the right.

Just tried this, and it might be the answer. Second SF2 player has pitch -22 and the third one pitch + 17


Wondering if that pitch should be automated, to give it even a more Kraze like sound.
Let the note start , and then lower pitch.

Been looking for better sounds ( sf2 or wav) but only found good sounding piano's, which do not sound at all, as the honky tonky ? piano used in the party.

[Gps]

Question time.

I am reading up on chords. I found many pages but there is something I am missing.

Example:

http://www.howtocreate-music.com/howtoc ... ogressions

Armin van buuren - In and out of love 1-V1-111-V oriiginal in F minor. ( min - maj - maj - min )

Armin van buuren - Not giving up on love V1-1-11-V original in E minor ( maj - min - maj - min )

Sarah mclachlan - Silence 1-V11-V1-1 original in A minor ( min - maj - maj - min )

Sarah mclachlan - Silence ( chorus ) V-V11-V1-1 original in A minor ( min - maj - maj - min )

Motorcycle - As the rush comes 111-V-111-1 original in E minor ( maj - min - maj - min )

What is this I-VI- III-V and this min-maj-maj-min confuses me too.

I do of course understand it means minor and major, but beyond that I am lost.
Also on how to do this in lmms. I do know about mark current chord in the piano roll, but not how to apply this to the above.

[umcaruje]

Music Theory lesson incoming...

So, in music theory instead of telling chord progressions like Cmaj - Fmaj - Gmaj etc, its much better to use roman numerals for the chords.
What the roman numerals represent is the position of your specific note in your specific scale. so I - VI - III - IV in f minor is F - D flat - A flat - B flat. The numerals make it easier to transpose a specific chord progression into another scale. so e.g. I - VI - III - IV in d minor is D - B flat - F - G.


As for minor/major standing next to the chords, that's because there are 3 minor scales, not just one - Natural, Harmonic and Melodic minor. In each of these some of the chords vary (IV, V, VI, VII or others), so instead of telling you what minor scale the song is in, they just tell you which chord type is used in the chord progression.

If you are confused from where I know this stuff from, I've been learning music theory and playing french horn for the last 9 years, so I guess I can call myself classically trained in music. If you have any questions about music theory, I'll be glad to help.

[Gps]

What the roman numerals represent is the position of your specific note in your specific scale. so I - VI - III - IV in f minor is F - D flat - A flat - B flat.

I think I am starting to see the light. Thank you


Lets test if I really get this
So in lmms I would set chord to minor, and then mark it on F (first note) , D flat (second note), A flat (third note), and b flat for the 4th note ? ? ?

[slipstick]

Lets test if I really get this
So in lmms I would set chord to minor, and then mark it on F (first note) , D flat (second note), A flat (third note), and b flat for the 4th note ? ? ?

Nearly. The only thing you've missed is that even in a minor KEY not all of the CHORDS are minor. So in a I, VI, III, IV chord sequence the I and the IV are minor chords but the VI and III are major. That's what all the "min-maj-maj-min" stuff is trying to tell you.

So in LMMS you need to set chord to minor, put the F in, then set chord to major and put the D flat and A flat in, then set chord back to minor for the B flat.

If you did put them all in as minor chords you should notice that the second note up in two of the chords isn't a proper key note (if you're still using the "Mark current scale" option in Piano roll).

Steve

[rghvdberg]

CRASH COURSE MUSIC THEORY

I'll just assume you are familiar with the layout of the piano keyboard (used in the pianoroll editor) and the names of these keys.

SCALES:
In western music we have 12 notes (thats the 7 white and 5 black keys on a piano keyboard)
Usually we don't use all these notes but just a selection; That's called a scale.
Most common scale is the major scale
If started on the C than the major scale is : C D E F G A B C ... yes all the white keys

If we count the keys between C and D we find one key (D#), this is called a whole step. Let's write this down as "1"
Between E and F there are no other keys, this is called a half step, let's write this down as "1/2"

The major scale is made of these steps
1,1,1/2,1,1,1,1/2
From C to D is 1 step
from D to E is 1 step
from E to F is 1/2 step
etc ..
Start on any key and follow the steps (1,1,1/2,1,1,1,1/2) to make any major scale

CHORDS
From this scale we can make chords : Take a note , skip a note and skip another ... thats a chord
C + E + G is a chord, D + F + A , E + G + B etc ..

DIFFERENT CHORD TYPES
Now it gets tricky (I guess)
The number of keys between the chord notes is what makes the chord type

MAJOR CHORD
Between C and E there are 3 keys (C#,D and D#) this is called a major third
Between E and G there are 2 keys (F and F#) this is called a minor third
A chord starting with a major third and ending with a minor third is called a MAJOR CHORD
So C+E+G is called C major, we usually just write it down as "C"
In the scale mentioned in this post there are 3 major chords
C,F and G
MINOR CHORD
Between D and F there are 2 keys (D# and E) -> minor third
Between F and A there are 4 keys (F#,G and G#) -> major third
A chord starting with a minor third and ending with a major third is called a MINOR chord
D+F+A is D minor, usually we write this down as Dm
In the scale mentioned in this post there are 3 minor chords
Dm, Em and Am

DIMINISHED CHORD
between B and D there are 2 notes (C and C#) -> minor third
between D and F there are 2 notes (D# en E) -> minor third
A chord starting with a minor and ending with a minor third is called a DIMINIHED CHORD
B+D+F is B Diminished, we usually write this down as Bdim
In the scale used in this post there's only one diminished chord
Bdim

THE 7 (VII) CHORDS
Sometimes the chords are given a roman numeral
I - C (c+e+g)
II - Dm (d+f+a)
III - Em (e+g+b)
IV - F (f+a+c)
V - G (g+b+d)
VI - Am (a+c+e)
VII - Bdim (b+d+f)

Remember that we can make any scale by starting on a key and following the steps (1,1,1/2,1,1,1,1/2) ?
This means that all major scales are constructed in the same manor and thus all the chords are constructed in the same manor.
So the 1st chord is always a major chord, the second is always a minor, the third always a minor etc, etc

NOTE:
1) Another important scale is the minor scale. google it
2) You can rearrange the order of notes in a chord. C+E+G is a C chord, but so is E+G+C or G+C+E
3) More chords can be created by adding more major or minor thirds ...
C+E+G+B for example or +G+B+D+F or D+F+A+C+E+G ... experiment!

[musikbear]

...waiiit a secd
This isent rocket science :p
We dont have to be quite so technical
Look here:


This is the first progression
Armin van buuren - In and out of love
1-V1-111-V oriiginal in F minor. ( min - maj - maj - min )

We do not have to change scale, nor do we have to think about that ( min - maj - maj - min )
All we need is to use common triads, where they are posible
Because we are in Fminor (Fm) the 'I' roman-numeral-chord IS Fminor
It HAS to be minor!
It is NOT possible to make a triad chord with root on F other than minor
It is again exactly what i explained in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEgx-_hMFYg
The same is true for 2. chord
It just the other way around
It says 'VI' so all we have to do is to count the notes in scale to the 6th scale-note
(numbered to make this easy) and drop the next triad IN SCALE!! -It HAS to be major!
Same for next one 'III'
Count from root of I to 3. in scale
Drop triad
HAS to be major!
Last is 'V'
count to 5 from root-I
Drop triad
Has to be Minor!

We ONLY need to know where 1. note in the scale is ...dohhh
And be able to count to 8.
Aaand know the structure of triad
Thats it!

Will a video help?

Heres is a pop-Quizz
If van buren had written this is Am
What are the chords?
:)

[Gps]

Lets test if I really get this
So in lmms I would set chord to minor, and then mark it on F (first note) , D flat (second note), A flat (third note), and b flat for the 4th note ? ? ?

Nearly. The only thing you've missed is that even in a minor KEY not all of the CHORDS are minor. So in a I, VI, III, IV chord sequence the I and the IV are minor chords but the VI and III are major. That's what all the "min-maj-maj-min" stuff is trying to tell you.

So in LMMS you need to set chord to minor, put the F in, then set chord to major and put the D flat and A flat in, then set chord back to minor for the B flat.

If you did put them all in as minor chords you should notice that the second note up in two of the chords isn't a proper key note (if you're still using the "Mark current scale" option in Piano roll).

Steve

I think I just found out, why all or most of my attempts at using chords did not work out right. They were all major or all minor, and because I did check if they were in scale, it was rather frustrating and limiting.

Rant:
Why can't I put the bloody notes were I want to ? I don"t wanna go up 4 keys to keep the chord in scale. Bleep you music rules.

But I saw something else last nite that also really helped me. A music teacher ( from the chord topic I opened in tutorials.)

This combined with a tut vid from music bear, how to copy a chord, and optional, move the upper or lower note one octave, to keep the notes closer together, should solve all my issues with chords.

Bring in the dancing girls.