modes and progressions

carpet
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Sun Nov 21, 2010 10:24 am

*Originally submitted to Scales forum, but think it's better placed here.


So, if a typical and common chord progression for the Major scale is I IV V, but I wanted to use a mode to write a song so it doesn't sound so obvious - say, the Phrygian mode - I would use the same basic pattern?

For example, were I to write a song in C Major based on that common progression of I IV V, then the chords would go C, F, G. But if I wanted to write a chord progression in the Phrygian mode, but with the same structure as above, I would just play Em, Am and Bdim and it would sound entirely different. But it would still technically be in the key of C.

And if I so wanted, when the verse returns to Em, i could use that point to branch off into a chorus in a different mode, like making the Em stand for the IV chord, and having a chorus made up of, again I, IV, V, but this time in the Locrian mode, where the chords would be Bdim, Em, F? Then I could find my way back to Phrygian via Em.

Is this sound theory?


AndyT
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Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:27 pm

Remember the first rule of music. "If it sounds good, it is good."

After that, anything goes. But I'm not so sure I would want to be changing modes like that. It's going to sound like a key change, and how many of those do you want in one song?


peleus
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Sat Jun 16, 2012 9:09 am

I actually still use this philosophy. I asked two people most of the time to listen to it and if they have both the same answer, then that is it. :)


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