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GMC Forum _ Andrew Cockburn _ Constructing Music

Posted by: Chris88 Dec 29 2007, 06:50 PM

Hi there Andrew,

I'm new at writing music with the guitar and just had some questions. I was wondering, firstly, where would be a good place to start? Ive already got a rhythm in my head and on paper (somewhat) but im not sure for instances what other Power Chords I should be using to make it sound good. So far the song is in F#m and Im using the F# Power Chord (PC) and the E PC. Im not sure exactly as to which other ones would sound good. Im not asking for you to tell me exactly which to use but a way that I can learn to ID these combos myself. Secondly, Im curious about Scales and Modes. Im not exactly sure yet as to how I can see which Scales or Modes would be good for Melody or Lead guitar in my piece. I've know quite a few of them when Im playing them but im not sure how to integrate it in my music. If you can tell me again, not which to use only, but also how I can ID which of these scales/modes go with what key/chord progression/etc.

Thank you and take care.

-Chris

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Dec 29 2007, 08:24 PM

Hi Chris,

Well, the scales and chords you use in a song are very interrelated. You build the chords from notes in the scale and the scale is taken from notes in the chord (you can figure it either way).

I suggest you have a look at my lesson on http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=3630, which explains this in some depth.

The quick answer at the back of the book is that when you are using power chords you short circuit this to some extent because power chords only have 2 notes in them so they are ambiguous. For the key of F#minor, you could use the following power chords:

F#,A,B,C#,D,E

These are the root notes of the scale of F# minor, with the exception of G# - this is the only note in the key for which a power chord won't work, because of the flattened 5th interval.

If this is a little obscure you may need to go back and look at some simpler theory to put this in perspective, I have other lessons listed http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=3351in a suggested reading order.

I hope you enjoy digging into this - if you have any problems or specific questions feel free to ask