For chord writing: What i recomend you guys to do is download a favorite song with as few instruments as possible and a clear main instrument. I used Rihannas song - Stay. Then import that into daw. Then i put repeat region on for each chord pattern the song has and put on solo. Then i try to imitate each and every note each chord has by ear until i completed writing off the entire song by ear! - You can do it to! Its called Ear Training & is extremely useful! 👍
Yes ur right, i learned a lot by recreating Visiting Hours by Ed Sheeran, u can use a lot of Ed Sheeran songs cus they r mostly a guitar or piano or both.
Good tip also captain chords is great for making something quick and fast to get u going and also adding the tips for this video makes your chords better
This is truly a great tip. I only learned about this back with Deadmau5 - Strobe, I was fascinated by the song and couldn't find any stuff online back then and had to use this technique to recreate the song to learn from it. I'd also like to recommend Orb Suite. It is split between different plugins such as chords, melody, bass and arpeggiator. First you load the chords, randomize to get chords you like, then you can add any of the other plugins (melody, bass etc) and it will create notes for it based on the chords from the Orb Suite chord plugin. Very helpful to destroy writers block and get freshest of fresh ideas.
I use base notes so i can play both piano chords & guitar rhythm notes. Then i move to lead piano & guitar. After that i fill it with drums. & i add after that. All songs follow basic notes no matter the speed or lyrics. Just a different key
it's so crazy how these smaller content creators can make really good stuff like this, it's real helpful, probably great for people experiencing writer's block as well
Tips for music making: don’t be afraid to go out of scale. There also is no right or wrong to music making. My favorite type of chords to end a progression are the c suspended and then g major, which kind of gives it that sort of Disney movie vibe.
“don’t be afraid to go out of scale” So true. Just consider groups like Sonic Youth, listen and try to guess the chords/notes they play… ^^ Plus, the diatonic scale is the main occidental approche, but some people do differently in other part of the world. And even considering the diatonic scale, there is a relatively large range of frequencies in just one semitone. I think of Sonic Youth when I read “out of scale”, but I too like (in an other genre) Kölsch, who also makes great music while being sometime “out of key”. It’s fun to think that in the middle-age, what was considered admissible chords was an even more reduced set than nowadays.
Hey everyone! What types of tutorials would you like to see more of this year? I'm going to stop taking month-long breaks and begin posting weekly stuff. Reply here and let me know what you want!
@@Jesterzero138 haha I vi IV V is overused as heck, I like this one a little bit more for the music I make, with a very tone dominant inversion it sounds sweeeeeet.
Guys, remember that it's also important whether or not your progression is moving down or up in pitch. A chord progression that moves down causes the listener to feel sadder since the progression imitates a sigh and lack of hope. On the contrary, when your progression moves upwards, the feeling of happiness and motivation is underlined :D
@@wvlfyce that’s because there’s so much more that influences emotion in a song, it’s not just this, it’s also time n everything else that gives the ambience.. imo music is the most fun thing there is to get your creativity out solely cuz of the reason that everything connects to each other, and everything has to add up together, you can’t do half of the work; it’s all or nothing..
I like to make the first one medium, then the second one around 2-3 semi tones higher, then drop it around 5 semitones, and finally put it up 10 semitones, idk it just sounds good
Great stuff! Although I'm no beginner when it comes to chord patterns, the TONIC note and the importance of that is something I had very little understanding of. I always take away at least one songwriting/production technique away from your videos regardless of whether I'm a beginner, average user, or advance in the subject. Thanks for what you do, Alex!
I think that I - vi - iii - V is an interesting progression since it sounds sad but is also in a major key. The Weeknd uses this on Save Your Tears and it just sounds so good
The uplifting chord ,the last rhythm you changed that sounded so fuckin gorgeous, plz do make a tutorial of how to make more uplifting chords with such rhythm.🙌
First time I watched I get impressed and after many times, so after music theory is very very simple but helped a lot. It is like you playing 1-5 in i-v-iv-v happy chord v and IV major chord at C progression, and using 1-3 note kipping much closer as possible the hand movement, note that 3 note define if it is minor or major I'm many cases, puting up will enhance the sense of the note obviously. Second variotion: almost same chord, A is the relative of C major. So it will allow you to put Sad tendency melodies or major scale, vi-v-iv-v progression, has you see for me doesn't exist sad chord it depends in where you came and go, there're all tendencies, if you go through left direction you get black, sad feeling tendencies a bit up is like you are living that situation, as you see at I, second and 3 variotions when the chords go up and down, you can make happy chords with sad tendencies or happier tendencies, Third emotion: iv-v-iv-i as you see the most important notes are iv-v you can variate the way you want to feel and the note I or vi( relative). So when you add the main chord witch is C it make the chord sound like the same with a bit of variotions, this determine the distance of the notes, so jumping to the last chord just want to let you know that the 3 such major chord note used Has changed the way after diminished because it is minor now, it is an instable dark note tendency, so in fact for me doesn't sound good, when you play in high note it is trying to convence you. So there no rule in music if sound good to you it is good to you.
Another big technique for setting a mood that I use all the time is to borrow chords from nearby keys. Specifically, using the bVII (major chord with a flattened 7th as the root) sounds very good as a way to resolve "even further" past the root. In C major that would mean using a Bb Major, in G it'd be an F major, etc etc. Borrowing from the other side gets more complicated because that produces a sharpened 4th, which is enharmonic with a tritone, so it doesn't sound as pleasant on its own but it is very powerful for building tension. This can be applied to other chords too, but sticking to ones from "neighboring" keys means that most of the notes will fit, and so it's relatively simple to apply even in improvisational settings, but feel free to use chords from keys that are 2 or more accidentals removed from the piece's key to get an even wider array of sounds.
Oh hey! I'm early for a new video! This actually was a great topic for me. Made me realize why a lot of my stuff is considered Dark. I guess I've been following a pattern. Haha
7:55 pretty. I would’ve only used the first 3 chords though, maybe using the 4th one on the very last bar of the song. Also, it’s always amazing to me, and one of my favorite things to compose cause I’m a sad human being, is that even major chords can be used to give a sad sounding progression. I.E. 9:45 Also, I saw an AD for a program called “Unison” I think. A program where you can just find any chord progression you want, pick one and just drag it into existence. It’s nice that it’s an easy tool to use but I feel like we’re gonna get a lot of “Tik Tok” musicians outta this. Basically “musicians” that don’t much know if anything about music. You don’t have to know all of theory but learning the I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii• is extremely important, along with knowing how to use “borrowed chords” IMO.
I'm just happy said you said use a harmonic minor for a "dark" sound... ;) It's my favorite scale... ( I typically also throw in a flat 5th for the fun of it... not a replacement... just an extra note )...
Saludos amigo, soy de Argentina y tus videos me ayudan mucho. No soy musico, tampoco estudie.Pero en mis tiempos libres puedo llegar a sentir que estoy entendiendo lo que es la musica gracias a ti. Mejore como un 300% en el Fl studio. Greetings friend, I am from Argentina and your videos help me a lot. I am not a musician, I did not study either, but in my free time I can come to feel that I am understanding what music is thanks to you. Improve like 300% in the Fl studio
Alex, you are the dude! I'm gonna have so much fun tomorrow using your formular! I have so many things fly around in my head now, thank you, thank you, thank you.
0:56 Happy Chords
4:40 Sad chords
8:12 Uplifting Chords
11:10 Powerful/Aggressive Chords
17:00 Dark Chords
;-;✨✨
@@laladyxxxdiedn____x.n8613 👌👌
thx :)
hero
hero
For chord writing: What i recomend you guys to do is download a favorite song with as few instruments as possible and a clear main instrument. I used Rihannas song - Stay. Then import that into daw. Then i put repeat region on for each chord pattern the song has and put on solo. Then i try to imitate each and every note each chord has by ear until i completed writing off the entire song by ear! - You can do it to! Its called Ear Training & is extremely useful! 👍
Yes ur right, i learned a lot by recreating Visiting Hours by Ed Sheeran, u can use a lot of Ed Sheeran songs cus they r mostly a guitar or piano or both.
piggy backing off this. you can also use an analyzer, spectrum if I'm not mistaken (at least in FL studio) to copy the notes in the chord.
Good tip also captain chords is great for making something quick and fast to get u going and also adding the tips for this video makes your chords better
This is truly a great tip. I only learned about this back with Deadmau5 - Strobe, I was fascinated by the song and couldn't find any stuff online back then and had to use this technique to recreate the song to learn from it.
I'd also like to recommend Orb Suite. It is split between different plugins such as chords, melody, bass and arpeggiator. First you load the chords, randomize to get chords you like, then you can add any of the other plugins (melody, bass etc) and it will create notes for it based on the chords from the Orb Suite chord plugin. Very helpful to destroy writers block and get freshest of fresh ideas.
I use base notes so i can play both piano chords & guitar rhythm notes. Then i move to lead piano & guitar. After that i fill it with drums. & i add after that. All songs follow basic notes no matter the speed or lyrics. Just a different key
it's so crazy how these smaller content creators can make really good stuff like this, it's real helpful, probably great for people experiencing writer's block as well
Facts
I just came along this channel and it basically gets straight into the subject and nails it. Super rare in UA-cam tbh
Tips for music making: don’t be afraid to go out of scale. There also is no right or wrong to music making. My favorite type of chords to end a progression are the c suspended and then g major, which kind of gives it that sort of Disney movie vibe.
“don’t be afraid to go out of scale”
So true. Just consider groups like Sonic Youth, listen and try to guess the chords/notes they play… ^^
Plus, the diatonic scale is the main occidental approche, but some people do differently in other part of the world. And even considering the diatonic scale, there is a relatively large range of frequencies in just one semitone.
I think of Sonic Youth when I read “out of scale”, but I too like (in an other genre) Kölsch, who also makes great music while being sometime “out of key”.
It’s fun to think that in the middle-age, what was considered admissible chords was an even more reduced set than nowadays.
Hey everyone! What types of tutorials would you like to see more of this year? I'm going to stop taking month-long breaks and begin posting weekly stuff. Reply here and let me know what you want!
i remember someone commenting some time ago to do a tutorial of making an acoustic version of a song, that would be amazing! Great video btw:)
Could you teach us, how to make the bass sound at 12:50 ?
Sad chords and melodies
How to choose the right drum sounds that fit together and how to eq them :)
Rry
I-vi-V-IV prolly my favourite happy and poppy chord progressions, it sounds heavenly when played on a guitar with some chucks and mutes.
thats beautiful. It reminds me of the "rockabilly" progression I-vi-IV-V.
@@Jesterzero138 haha I vi IV V is overused as heck, I like this one a little bit more for the music I make, with a very tone dominant inversion it sounds sweeeeeet.
What an incredibly likable and talented teacher.
what a joyful man , he makes me happy every time . I pray for your happiness and peace Alex
18:59 "adds a lot of joy where i want ... darkness" You are the Bob Ross of Music Production to me.
u deserve way more likes, lol
that's so true
These tips are so pleasing to the ears
that aggressive one was actually I, VI, V, VII and III chords as opposed to the II chord. Awesome video Alex. Your stuff is so helpful and inspiring.
It's really incredible on how much music can impact a person emotions. Such a beautiful gift to have.
Guys, remember that it's also important whether or not your progression is moving down or up in pitch. A chord progression that moves down causes the listener to feel sadder since the progression imitates a sigh and lack of hope. On the contrary, when your progression moves upwards, the feeling of happiness and motivation is underlined :D
This is key for EDM music
not all the time, take a listen at the 28 days later soundtrack. the pattern rises up but it still remains dark and hopeless
@@wvlfyce that’s because there’s so much more that influences emotion in a song, it’s not just this, it’s also time n everything else that gives the ambience.. imo music is the most fun thing there is to get your creativity out solely cuz of the reason that everything connects to each other, and everything has to add up together, you can’t do half of the work; it’s all or nothing..
Neat advice 👌
I like to make the first one medium, then the second one around 2-3 semi tones higher, then drop it around 5 semitones, and finally put it up 10 semitones, idk it just sounds good
the fact that I can understand this, really shows you are a genius
Alex Rome The Goat!! Thank you for always making interesting videos!
Great stuff! Although I'm no beginner when it comes to chord patterns, the TONIC note and the importance of that is something I had very little understanding of. I always take away at least one songwriting/production technique away from your videos regardless of whether I'm a beginner, average user, or advance in the subject. Thanks for what you do, Alex!
Awesome video, thanks! FYI, you can use Shift+Up/Down Arrow to move midi notes up/down an octave easily.
THIS CHANNEL IS THE BEST.
This video was very helpful, I'm already hooked
I have to be honest, your videos are expanding my mind. Keep up the good job, you are the number one
You might be the most approachable production software instructor I've ever seen so far :D
Okay but your comment section is so helpful, knowledgeable, and sharing.
i have learned more watching Alex then 3 yrs in school..thank you mate
Alex makes me so happy. Keep it up!
Wow! You produce these amazing melodies with such ease! You’re hugely talented💪👍🔥🔥🔥
"Un-cheeseify the chord pattern"
- Alex Rome 2021
Drink every time he says uncheesify!
I think that I - vi - iii - V is an interesting progression since it sounds sad but is also in a major key. The Weeknd uses this on Save Your Tears and it just sounds so good
Yeah, it's bittersweet
It's delightful to watch you. You seem to have a good time making these tutorials.
Been watching your videos for years… as an abelton user. Couldn’t Believe my eyes when I opened this up😵💫🥴
i love your smile when you making music
The uplifting chord ,the last rhythm you changed that sounded so fuckin gorgeous, plz do make a tutorial of how to make more uplifting chords with such rhythm.🙌
Thank you! I started making music a few months ago and I appreciate the help.
You are a wonderful teacher👍
This was very helpful bro thanks a lot🙌
Excellent! You are so inspiring!
Phenomenal value in this video! Everyone should learn and memorize this concept!
im a new viewer but i must say you've helped me out so much thank you alex
I LIVE for your organic reactions to your creations because it reminds me of ME 😂
we watched the recipe a lot, this is the sauce and cream recipe.✌🥇
Omg I literally needed this and you posted it today 😫 btw tysm for the amazing content 🤪
Awesome tutorial man, grats!
I love that piano plug in..beautiful
Thank you UA-cam recommender God for sending me this as keys is exactly what I need to figure out right now.
First time I watched I get impressed and after many times, so after music theory is very very simple but helped a lot. It is like you playing 1-5 in i-v-iv-v happy chord v and IV major chord at C progression, and using 1-3 note kipping much closer as possible the hand movement, note that 3 note define if it is minor or major I'm many cases, puting up will enhance the sense of the note obviously.
Second variotion: almost same chord, A is the relative of C major. So it will allow you to put Sad tendency melodies or major scale, vi-v-iv-v progression, has you see for me doesn't exist sad chord it depends in where you came and go, there're all tendencies, if you go through left direction you get black, sad feeling tendencies a bit up is like you are living that situation, as you see at I, second and 3 variotions when the chords go up and down, you can make happy chords with sad tendencies or happier tendencies,
Third emotion: iv-v-iv-i as you see the most important notes are iv-v you can variate the way you want to feel and the note I or vi( relative). So when you add the main chord witch is C it make the chord sound like the same with a bit of variotions, this determine the distance of the notes, so jumping to the last chord just want to let you know that the 3 such major chord note used Has changed the way after diminished because it is minor now, it is an instable dark note tendency, so in fact for me doesn't sound good, when you play in high note it is trying to convence you. So there no rule in music if sound good to you it is good to you.
Well I guess I know what am doing tomorrow in Logic……re learning everything from Alex, fantastic and so inspirational….thank you very much kind sir
Amazing Video , you have great insight , Thank You
for uplifting chords you can use dorian scale the transision from I minor and IV major but in 3rd invertion is like super epic
But in the dorian scale, the sixth chord will be diminished right? So will the IV-V-VI-I pattern still work?
idk how to thank you! this changed my way of music production man! THANKS A LOT ❤️❤️❤️
I feel like you should have a Sesame Steet character helping you out with this video. You're delivery today is hilarious.
Amazing video. I've found much value in this. Thank you much.
What are you doing/using when you're playing the chords differently? Like at 10:44
Alex been super clutch lately with these tips man. I appreciate your work and knowledge sharing! hope to join your discord and classes soon! 🙌🙌
My boy droppping straight gems
Another big technique for setting a mood that I use all the time is to borrow chords from nearby keys. Specifically, using the bVII (major chord with a flattened 7th as the root) sounds very good as a way to resolve "even further" past the root. In C major that would mean using a Bb Major, in G it'd be an F major, etc etc. Borrowing from the other side gets more complicated because that produces a sharpened 4th, which is enharmonic with a tritone, so it doesn't sound as pleasant on its own but it is very powerful for building tension. This can be applied to other chords too, but sticking to ones from "neighboring" keys means that most of the notes will fit, and so it's relatively simple to apply even in improvisational settings, but feel free to use chords from keys that are 2 or more accidentals removed from the piece's key to get an even wider array of sounds.
Modal interchange 😊
quick tip 4 U Alex,
If you hold shift and press the up arrow, it puts all selected notes up an octave
You really Love Your Talent
the best production teacher
10:45 my fav part chord❤️
salute man. this is by far the best video i've seen on emotions and progressions. thank you, you teach very well :)
Makes me want to cry my eyes out 😀
I like using loops that are already pretty full sounding and make some synth sounds based off of the loops various instruments
Oh hey! I'm early for a new video! This actually was a great topic for me. Made me realize why a lot of my stuff is considered Dark. I guess I've been following a pattern. Haha
haha nice to see ya stop in!! glad I could shed some light.
@@AlexRome would you say you....shed light in the dark?? eh? eh??? ;P
Really useful stuff mate..... really appreciate your effort 👍❤️🙏
7:55 pretty. I would’ve only used the first 3 chords though, maybe using the 4th one on the very last bar of the song. Also, it’s always amazing to me, and one of my favorite things to compose cause I’m a sad human being, is that even major chords can be used to give a sad sounding progression. I.E. 9:45 Also, I saw an AD for a program called “Unison” I think. A program where you can just find any chord progression you want, pick one and just drag it into existence. It’s nice that it’s an easy tool to use but I feel like we’re gonna get a lot of “Tik Tok” musicians outta this. Basically “musicians” that don’t much know if anything about music. You don’t have to know all of theory but learning the I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii• is extremely important, along with knowing how to use “borrowed chords” IMO.
I'm just happy said you said use a harmonic minor for a "dark" sound... ;)
It's my favorite scale... ( I typically also throw in a flat 5th for the fun of it... not a replacement... just an extra note )...
more one awesome lessson thanks mr. Alex
All these chords can express every emotion. Don't box yourself in.
I really enjoy your videos.
I really like synth or techno music it hits me all the time, I really love it! This is a great video too! All these sounds I like.
This video is so helpful dude!
Thank you soooo much!
Thank you Alex, this really helped me out😁
Saludos amigo, soy de Argentina y tus videos me ayudan mucho. No soy musico, tampoco estudie.Pero en mis tiempos libres puedo llegar a sentir que estoy entendiendo lo que es la musica gracias a ti. Mejore como un 300% en el Fl studio.
Greetings friend, I am from Argentina and your videos help me a lot. I am not a musician, I did not study either, but in my free time I can come to feel that I am understanding what music is thanks to you. Improve like 300% in the Fl studio
Ableton you can double click, hold the second click and drag right to get the length you want. Up down will give velocity.
THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!! GREAT TUTORIAL!!!! SIMPLE AND EASY TO FOLLOW!!!!😇🥳
Dude! You're killing me! Seriously, thank you for some great advice. As a total beginner, I very much appreciate what you do.
LOL @2:41 he Says cheesy and happy right before playing what almost sounds like KC & the Sunshine Band's "Baby give it up", perfect description.
Thanks for the tutorial how to make the emotion music🥰
AR is the shit. Super funny and informative. Appreciate you man.
This was super dang helpful! Thanks Alex! Let's uncheesify the world!
The happy paterne gave me so much idea and maked me feel lot better ! Thanks you so much for that !
19:30 that melody fire
Thanks for this lesson wanted to know this trick for the longest while,
i learned so much in one vid this guy is a hero
Thanks for this bro helps a lot
めちゃくちゃわかりやすいです！！
4:00 nice chord
I am Japanese.But I can speak English just a little.
Can you do some tropical/summery chord progressions? Or some electro house chords?
thanks brother for this, its what i needed.
Alex, you are the dude! I'm gonna have so much fun tomorrow using your formular! I have so many things fly around in my head now, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thx Alex! Love your videos!
Thanks man that was AWESOME!!!
Thanks for helping us out dude really good info 🎹🔥
I love your tutorials thank you 🙏🏽
Really enjoying your channel, just found it tonight.
the type of music i'm trying to make isn't edm but videos like these are definitely helpful.
Hello Alex,
I would love to have time stamps on your video, so I can skip right to the emotion I want to make.
0:56 Happy Chords
4:40 Sad chords
8:12 Uplifting Chords
11:10 Powerful/Aggressive Chords
17:00 Dark Chords
thank you man this is so good for my brain
Thank you!
This video was so good. 🔥
I love this content ♥️♥️♥️♥️
Super tutorial ! 👍