| If you're a musician you might be asking | | | | from one key, or world, to another without it |
| yourself: "What does he mean by traveling | | | | sounding weird. |
| from 'world-to-world?'" Well that's a good | | | | |
| question and I have a simple answer for that. | | | | Now I'm not the most savvy when it comes to |
| Let me share with you a recent discovery I | | | | explaining music theory (even if it's my own |
| happened upon while banging on the keys | | | | music), but play out the bass notes and |
| (that's "playing the piano" in music-speak) | | | | you'll hear what I mean. Add some chords to |
| and trying to come up with a song. | | | | those bass notes and you'll amplify your |
| | | | scope of understanding by listening to the |
| I've gone through 6 years of formalized | | | | full spectrum of the music. |
| Western Classical music training and 4 years | | | | |
| of Ethnomusicology studies and for whatever | | | | This is a very basic example of what I mean |
| reasons, I never picked up a thing about the | | | | by traveling from "world-to-world" but if you |
| musical elements of structure, motifs, and | | | | try this, you'll soon gain a whole new |
| dynamics in any piece or composition. If it | | | | experience into music composition as well as |
| came to my own songwriting, I hardly ventured | | | | simple music appreciation. In essence, you're |
| out into a different key and mostly stayed in | | | | moving outside of your original key, or |
| one, differentiating sections by production | | | | outside of your world, by moving into that E |
| or instrumental arrangements instead. I mean, | | | | flat, which changes the sound seamlessly into |
| in theory I knew about those elements but I | | | | a new E flat Major while giving you the |
| hadn't grown into them until very recently. | | | | flexibility to come back to your original F |
| | | | Major. |
| So as I dabbled on the keys some ideas here | | | | |
| and there to try and transition from section | | | | Needless to say, this was an ear-opening |
| to section (perhaps with an intention to | | | | experience for me and provided me a renewed |
| escape my boredom of creating songs in a | | | | appreciation for past musical greats that |
| mono-key structure), I accidentally hit a | | | | didn't have technologies like sampling and |
| bass note that was a relative 4th that did | | | | sound engineering to alter the timbre of |
| not belong to any of the notes in the key but | | | | their instruments. They worked with what they |
| was based on one of the octave notes in that | | | | had. And in a sense I worked backwards by |
| key. For instance if I'm playing in the key | | | | relying on technologies to structure my |
| of F Major (which only has a B flat in that | | | | sound. Now I've got the greats to stand on |
| key), but I move to an E flat (that does not | | | | their shoulders to integrate my future sound |
| exist in the key of F) from a B flat I had | | | | fusing my present technological recordings |
| just played, I've successfully transitioned | | | | with their past arrangement innovation. |