• From: mo-town!
  • Registered: 2010-06-20
  • Posts: 13

Topic: cool chords!

in my new song i am constructing, i am adding a lot of cool sounding chords like Am7,Fm7,so on..
but i came across a whole new level that requires some of others expertise!
lyrics can be hard to write into music...but that's how i roll wink
i heard a song that has Gm9,and all theses different chords I've only heard about and i want to add em in my songs..only thing.... i am not to good with nice complicated chords!
i like how it sounded smile
but i ant to know when to insert them kinds of chords in music?
any help?

we have so much more to win then we could ever lose!- The Afters
  • From: Alabama Gulf Coast
  • Registered: 2008-06-24
  • Posts: 1,819

Re: cool chords!

gomezfoul, you have nailed the main problem with complex chords - where to insert them.
Using too many "funny chords" together sounds contrived and awkward in a song. A simple melody is best conveyed with a simple chord structure.
The objective is to use sophisticated chords only occasionally in a traditional song where they stand out and give the melody an origonal twist that is really noticed. The bridge of a song is where you usually find them - or coming into a verse (good place for an augmented).
A new player is usually better off underdoing rather than using these chords too often.
When songwriting, it never hurts to keep looking for an opportunity to insert a cool sounding chord.
toots

We pronounce it "Guf Coast".
Ya'll wanna go down to the Guf?

tubatooter1940's Website

  • Registered: 2007-03-24
  • Posts: 1,108

Re: cool chords!

+1 on above

I think sometimes those "funky chords" are really useful used sparingly whereever...and as 'tooter says too many can be crappy. Try mixing in with you regular 145 progressions sometimes they can be quite useful...suttle but effective

I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused.
Elvis Costello

4 Reply by StranSongs (edited by StranSongs 2010-06-25 12:15:58)

  • From: Belfast
  • Registered: 2009-03-31
  • Posts: 330

Re: cool chords!

Follow where your ears lead. Work on a chord sequence of three or four chords. Then start  replacing a root chord with a "fancy " chord with the same root note till you get something interesting.

Try playing the fancy chords with the same one root note - eg G7, G11, G13, Gsus2add4 - whatever - just to see how they all connect to each other.

Start off in one key, choose a note within that key and see how many fancy chords have that note within them - it can be endless, but your ears will pull you through.

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." Miles Davis

StranSongs's Website

  • From: Tennessee
  • Registered: 2008-08-03
  • Posts: 125

Re: cool chords!

I think this is the first time I've commented in the section,,so hello everyone! Gomezfoul, I'd say go crazy and be creative as possible with the complicated chords, maybe write a complete progression without the main chords. If nothing else by the time you finish your song, you will have the skill to put those harder chords into other music you write. StranSongs hit the nail on the head...let your ears guide the way. Just a thought and have fun.

Scott

"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." Yogi Berra
"It's like deja vu all over again." Yogi Berra
and my personal favorite Yogi Berra quote: "Ninety percent of this game is half mental."
  • From: mo-town!
  • Registered: 2010-06-20
  • Posts: 13

Re: cool chords!

hmmm... well.... i guess ill just make it crazy! wish me luck!

we have so much more to win then we could ever lose!- The Afters