Not sure where to post this but I'm curious to know how people here approach thematic variation in their music. Do you have a specific system of augmentation and dimenution? Do you play it by ear? When do you modulate? Etc. Cheers.
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astral cat
i never really have any specific system of when i want to augment or diminish i just play it by ear same with modulation. i think to myself, if i was listening to this song when would i like to hear a keychange or something and i just put it in 
so yes, very by ear for me.
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UK
an-cat-max wrote:
i never really have any specific system of when i want to augment or diminish i just play it by ear same with modulation. i think to myself, if i was listening to this song when would i like to hear a keychange or something and i just put it in
I'm much the same but I'm interested in trying new things. My problem is that I like repetition: I listened to Steven Reich pretty much exclusively for 12 months and it has fucked with my head.
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astral cat
i like repetition too if it's something really nice sounding
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Wolverhampton UK
Sometimes, what I do is write 2 comepletly different songs in the same key, then fuse them together, to make a sort of song baby.
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rochester, ny
Diamonds & Dynamite wrote:
Sometimes, what I do is write 2 comepletly different songs in the same key, then fuse them together, to make a sort of song baby.
i've done this before too. if you have a few songs that just suck, it's great to be able to take the best parts from them and do something new with it.
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BK
WOW actual musical theory discussion on a site about music? This makes me VERY happy.
For me, it's by ear, I'm the kind to just listen to my stuff on loop and find places where I can make changes, and when listening to a part bores me, I write a new part.
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Brazil
I do it by ear, but usually i get stuck right after an intro and into the proper verse. I can't do a bridge or a chorus properly, it gets messy.
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california
Interesting topic. It really helps for me not to analyze too much. Sometimes I'll write a little something on the piano, or guitar, just so I can get something flowing quick, and then move it to a tracker. If I think too much about structure it tends it block things up. However during periods when I'm not writing songs, I'll be more inclined to study chord changes and things in other peoples songs, or brush up on theory. I can find little things that get worked into my process.
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Washington DC
I make one loop, play it till it makes me sick. Make another loop, play it till it makes me sick. Rinse and repeat until I have something that resembles a song.
In general though, I tend not to have huge shifts in my songs. I'm more of a never-stop-piling-loops-on-each other kind of guy. Layers n' shit.
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AANABAY01
I like zis thread but I wish I could have my fingers respond instead of my brain, since my fingers are ze only part of me zat understand music 
as an amateur I can't identify intentional thematic variation in my work, only restless transition. I dare say it's not something zat occurs to songwriters, or at least far away from being ze first thing
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A gray world of dread
I try to keep melodies at least twice the length of a chord sequence. I usually copy that pattern and vary the melody, trying to preserve distinct bits. Often I'll add a counterpoint the second time I pick up the theme.
I have trouble with modulation, that's something I have to train myself a bit, the times I change keys are mostly accidental things I decide to keep.
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Brunswick, GA USA
There is nothing wrong with trying something calculated, but I only resort to that sort of thing if a deadline is approaching. Going "by ear" is not always as perfect as it seems- the old (Miles Davis I think?) saying about picking a note and not playing it is because if you only ever play what pleases you, if you look back on 10 to 20 works done that way you will realize that you keep on writing the same stuff over and over.
As in storytelling, a song usually has a sense of tension, climax, and release. If you understand nothing else (harmonic tension, etc) make sure your climax doesn't happen in the same way in the same place in every song.
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california
Not sure if this will be of interest, but I found this somewhere on the net. different types of modulation. I dont agree with shift modulation showing no skill, but whatever.
"SHIFT MODULATION: This is the sleaziest and easiest. This is what most amateur songs have. Basically you just choose a new chord and go for it. It takes no skill and it shows. The only way a shift modulation can sound good is if the new key repeats the same chords like a sequential modulation. Alot of 60s music uses that kind of shift. Like when the whole verse and chorus moves up one fret for the end of the song.
SEQUENTIAL MODULATION: This is when a short melody repeats then repeats at a different pitch, carrying the song into the new key. Like in the song "When Love Comes Knocking at Your Door".
RELATIVE KEY MODULATION: This is when a song starts in a key, then changes to its relative major or minor. Like if you started in A, you would change the key to F#m, or from C to Am. Now be careful when doing it this way because relative chords are closely related anyways, so using secondary dominants will help make it obvious that the key is truly changing and not just using its relative casually like most songs do anyways. Remember, tonality must be established for the new key to be apparent to the listener.
PARALLEL KEY MODULATION: The song starts in a major or minor, then modulates to the major or minor of the same chord. For example, you start in A and end up in Am, or start in E and end up in Em. Alot of old Kinks tunes do this.
PIVOT CHORD MODULATION: The song changes to a new key using a chord common to both keys. This is another tricky one because tonality can be blurry if you dont watch out."
Last edited by gizmo (Oct 4, 2010 3:39 am)
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BOSTON
(and by that i mean gradus ad parnassum, baby)
Last edited by BR1GHT PR1MATE (Oct 4, 2010 3:29 am)