Category : songwriting

Algorithmic songwriting

Try applying algorithm to chord progressions if you feel like you can’t find something new.

This can be really simple or really complex.

 

Simple

Use every third chord in the key.

If you’re in the key of C…

 

Cmaj       Dmin       Emin      Fmaj       Gmaj       Amin        Bdim

 

…every third chord would be.

 

Cmaj      Emin      Gmaj      Bdim       Dmin       Fmaj      Amin       Cmaj

 

There might be a couple of moves in there that you like, moves you wouldn’t have thought of without using this technique.

 

A little less simple

Two rules: Use every third chord in the key; make every fourth chord  a seventh chord.

 

Cmaj     Emin     Gmaj     Bdim7     Dmin      Fmaj     Amin7    Cmaj    Emin     Gmaj7            Bdim      Dmin     Fmaj7      Amin7      Cmaj   etc

 

Less simple still

Three rules: Use every third chord; every fourth chord is a seventh chord; change key every fifth chord. I’m changing keys by going around the circle of 4ths: Cmaj – Fmaj – Bbmaj – Ebmaj.

 

Cmaj     Emin     Gmaj     Bdim7    Fmaj      Amin      Cmaj7     Edim     Bbmaj      Dmin7       Fmaj Adim    Ebmaj7   Gmin   Bbmaj    etc.

 

I find this a bit limiting since it basically just plays the same four-chord progression in a different key. Let’s try making every fifth chord the I chord in the new key and move by thirds in that key. The keys are now Cmaj – Dmin – Emin – Fmaj

 

Cmaj     Emin     Gmaj     Bdim7     Dmin     Fmaj    Amaj   C#dim7    Emin   Gmaj   Bdom7       Dmin   Fmaj7    Amin7    Cmaj    etc.

 

These are just off the top of my head. They aren’t designed to be earth-shattering; they’re just for teasing out sounds that you may not have discovered by doing things the way you normally do them.

These ideas can be extended. For example, alternate moving the chords by a third and then by a fourth (i.e. Cmaj to Emin is a third; Emin to Amin is a fourth, etc.)  Notice that I’m staying in the key of C.

 

Cmaj     Emin      Amin     Cmaj     Fmaj     Amin     Dmin     Fmaj     Bdim      Dmin

 

With this technique, you get chords repeating themselves more often.

The basic idea here is to think of something to change, and then make that change at a regular time-interval (every third chord; every sixth beat, etc).

Pedal

Everyone seems seems to like pedal.

The pedal is that unchanging, drone-like note that gets sustained while other notes or chords change.

 

Scale-tone triads

This is where scale-tone triads work well. I’m going to use some in the key of A major that I haven’t presented before. I’m using the key of A because I want to use the open 5^th string A as the pedal.

Here are the scale-tone triads in the key of A:

 

Play up and down the scale to get used to the shapes. Notice where it shifts string sets at the 6^th chord. Once they feel comfortable, start adding the open A string to them. Try it both strumming or arpeggiating.

 

Making 7^th chords

When you add the pedal (5^th string A) to different triads in the A major scale, you get some 7^th chords.

• Adding A to the B minor triad gives you a B minor 7^th chord (B, D, F#, A)
• Adding it to the C# minor triad gives you an A major 7^th chord (A, C#, E, G#).
• The E major chord turns into an E major add 11 chord (E, G#, A, B)
• The G# diminished chord turns into a G#, B, D, A chord. It makes more sense to spell this B, D, G#, A to produce a B minor 13 chord.

 

We don’t really hear these chords that way, but knowing this gives you an idea of why the whole thing sounds richer. In the end, though, we tend to hear them like triads sliding around under the pedal rather than 7^th chords.

 

Adding to songs

This is a good technique to use when you want some contrast between verse and chorus, or when you want an interlude going from chorus to verse.

To use this technique in other keys, just tune the 5^th or 6^th strings to the note you want. For instance, if you want to use the C as a pedal, tune the 6^th string down to C. If you want to use the G as a pedal tune the 5^th string down to G.

Building 7th chords

The guitar is all about patterns; chords are the most obvious example of this.

Triads are three-note patterns; 7^th chords are four-note patterns. If you’re into permutation, you’ll know that there are a lot more four-note patterns.

A quick bit of theory (you may already know this, from me or from some other source):

Triads are built on every other note in a scale. Take the C major scale…

 

C   D   E   F   G   A   B

1   2   3   4   5   6   7

 

…and take the first, the third, and the fifth note (C, E, and G ) of the scale to form a C major chord. Add the seventh (B) and you have a C major7 chord.

 

Knowing the neck

Here’s where knowing the names of the notes on the neck of the guitar helps. If you don’t know them, what I’m about to talk about will hopefully motivate you to learn them. Knowledge equals power.

Here’s a diagram.

 

 

Take the notes of the C major7 chord: C E G B. Now let’s see how many shapes those notes make on the neck of the guitar.

I’m going to randomly choose the high E string to place my first note. And I’m going to randomly choose the 7^th of the chord (B) to place on that string. The most obvious placement is on the 7^th fret. The only other location for that note on the E string is the 19^th fret…don’t bother.

 

Puzzles

It’s kind of like a puzzle. You have one note. You need to find the others. We’’ll make it simple(r) and use adjacent strings – E, B, G, and D. We have the B on the E string; we need the C, E, or G on the B string. Once we have the note for the B string, we’ll move on to the other strings.

What’s possible? The C on the B string is on fret 1 or fret 13. Can you reach either of them while holding down the B? For most people it’s not practical unless you have hands the size of a gorilla’s.

How about the G? No problem. It’s on fret 8 of the B string. And the E is on the 5^th fret, so two choices. I’m going to randomly choose the E.

So now you’re holding down the B and the E. You need a C or a G to place on the G string.

You get the idea. Go to the next string (the G) and find a C or a G, and then on to the D string for whatever’s left. Here’s what I wound up with (the numbers below the chart indicate which fingers to use):

 

 

Universe of chords shapes

Then go back and use this process to build a new chord by keeping the B on the E string, and choosing the G (fret 8) on the B string. Then put the C and the E on the remaining strings.

Continue to build new chords. Instead of using the B on the E string, use the C, the E, or the G. Then find the remaining notes on the other strings. Use only adjacent strings like we’ve been doing.

 

Using non-adjacent strings

Then use non-adjacent strings, say the E, G, D, and A strings. Or B, G, A, and low E strings. You get the picture…

As it turns out, the chord I built above is a common major 7^th chord that you could find on any chord chart.

But you wouldn’t find this one built on the E, B, G, and low E strings (the 0 below the chart indicates an open string):

 

Probably because it’s ridiculously hard to grab in the middle of a progression, and only sounds good in particular situations. The point here is to use your knowledge of the neck of the guitar to build stuff you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

 

Exploration is good

Some of the things you find will be gold. Some things will need to be explored in different ways (strumming, arpeggiating, etc.) before you figure out how they can be useful. Some things will never be useful.

Now build chords starting on the second note of the scale. That’ll give you D, F, A, and C: a D minor 7 chord.

If it seems like there’s an overwhelming amount to do, that’s because there is. Just keep your eye on what you’re doing in the moment and after awhile, you’ll have a ton of material you can use to make stuff you never would have been able to.

You don’t have to know every possible chord…

Ambiguous triads

Ambiguous triads sound interesting because their quality (major, minor, etc.) isn’t obvious. Open chords, which I talked about in earlier posts, fall into this category.

 

Major and minor triads

The main thing that determines chord quality is the nature of the third above the root. It can be either major or minor. The C major triad (for example) has these notes:

 

• C E G

 

The C minor triad has these notes:

 

• C Eb G

 

In these cases C/E is a major third and C/Eb is a minor third (In case you’re not familiar with intervals: count from the first note (C) to the second note (E) – C, D, E – and the number of notes names the interval).

 

In ambiguous triads there’s no major or minor third above the root. This can lead to interesting sounds.

 

Scale-tone triads

A good way to work with this idea is to use scale-tone triads. Here are my posts on that.

 

http://davewallmusic.com/?s=scale-tone+triads+1&submit=Submit

http://davewallmusic.com/scale-tone-triads-2/

http://davewallmusic.com/?s=scale-tone+triads&post_type=post&submit=Submit

 

So take the major shape…

 

 

…and find the third. For this triad, it’s on the G string. Remember, this is the note you need to change for another.

To do that, all you have to do is move the third either higher or lower. Try moving the note as far up or down the string as you can.

Do the same with the minor shape. The third is on the G string in this chord, too.

 

 

As you work with this, you’ll notice that the new chord shapes are the same for both major and minor triads. This speaks to the ambiguous nature of these chords. When you get rid of the third of a chord, the chord could be either major or minor. Or neither.

If you want different chord shapes, you can move the other two notes in the triad around, too. This is a nice way of exploring new sounds.

 

Triads on all string sets

Here’s a link to major and minor triads on all string sets. Diminished, augmented, and suspended triads are on this chart, too, if you want to play around with those.

 

https://simonherring.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/just-like-buses-here-are-some-triads/triads-first-inversion/