dubmunkey wrote:Wow they endless how does one learn all of these it,s for sure a complete language to learn ,, major 9Sus 4 ect ect ,,, i have so much to learn ,, the variations are just endless Shocked
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once you learn how one sou8nds you just transpose them- learn all the chords on say c and then all you have to do is imagine the chord transposed- not as much to learn- bit like a mixer strip-learn one channel and you know then all...
greg
i cosign greg .... thats a very good hint imo ... esp. coz we do music on midi gear ... on an mpc for example ya could play all your solos or melodies on a „c“ scale even if the song lies on say a „g“ - coz ya could transpose the enitre ish by 7 semitunes up or 5 down before in order to stay tuned on the „g“ chord ...
overally imo its easier to learn scales first and than the chords (coz chords only contain a few tunes out of its respective scale): so i d startout on say one major scale (i suggest on „c“ too since its the easiest), one minor (i suggest at „a“ here since its the easiest minor and uses exactly the same notes as the „c“ major - and btw helps to understand the difference between major and minor quite easily) and one pantatonic (i suggest an „a“ again to understand the difference between the minor and the pentatonic) ... also those scales – „c“ major, „a“ minor, „a“ pentatonic - if played on a keyboard - they all only use the white keys for both - chords and scales (every other scale s gonna use at least one of the black ones ...)
i m no pro either but since those 16 pads are too crazy to play melodies i ll try to write down some basic scales here .... tryin to keep it as much as possible in mpc language ... (and yo - greatest respect to indian music and those others but i dont know much about it... so - only talkin bout some pop, rock, techno, progressive, folk, country, waltz ish here ... yo - hiphop too ....)
yo - asuming that pad 1 is corresponding to an „a“ („a2“ in this example):
- the „c“ major scale on an mpc layed out chromatically is made up of:
pad 4 (c), pad 6 (d), pad 8(e), pad 9 (f) pad 11 (g), pad 13 (a), pad 15 (b) and pad 16 (again a c).
thats it for one octave! (to go further up just use same intervals)
note that between pad 4 (its „c2“ in this example) and pad 16 (its then „c3“) are exactly 12 semitunes and this is whaz called an octave ... also note that between the single steps on a major scale there s always a full tone except between steps-(tunes) 3-4 (e-f in this example) and 7-8 (b-c in this example).
c major chord: a normal major chord is made up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th tone out of the scale - the c major chord therefore is made up by - pad 4 (c) + pad 8 (e) + pad 11 (g)
- the „a“ minor scale is made up off:
Pad 1 (a), pad 3(b), pad 4 (c), pad 6 (d) pad 8 (e) pad 9 (f), pad 11 (g), pad 13 (a again)
note that between pad 1 (its an „a 2“ in this example) and pad 13 (its then an „a 3“) are exactly 12 semitunes and its again an octave. also note that you just played the same pads as on the „c“ major (only difference: you started 3 halftunes below – thats why the halftonesteps are now between steps (tunes) 2-3 (b-c) and 5-6 (e-f) - thats basically the difference between major and minor scales – the placement of the half tune steps)
c minor chord: same as major chord – it is made up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th tone of the scale - the „a“ minor chord therefore is made up by pad 1 (a), pad 4 (c) and pad 8 (e).
whilst we r at it: also note the difference between a basic major and minor chord here: its in the 3rd tune (in this case the „c“), the 1st and 5th tune are always the same on a basic major and minor chord (in this case pad 1 (a) and pad 8 (e) ). to tell the difference: the „a“ major would look like this: pad 1 (a) pad 5(cis) and pad 8 (e). the „third“ on an „a“ major chord (any major chord) is half a tune higher than on the „a“ minor (any minor chord)
the „a“ pentatonic is made up off:
pad 1 (a), pad 4 (c), pad 6 (d), pad 8 (e), pad 11 (g) and pad 13 is again (a) the octave.
note: the „a“ pentatonic contains the same notes as the „a“ minor – just some less – (since most musicians are lazy). pad 3 (b) and pad 9 (f) are left out from the „a“ minor.
as for your example: major 9 sus 4. well this is quite advanced imo and i m not evem 100% sure here since i m no pro and writing styles are different allover the world. just as an example (c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c in italian translates to: do, re, mi, fa, so, la, si, do ...lol ... yo – forget about that – who cares about italy? ....lol ... just an example) anyways i try (please anyone correct me if i m wrong):
the extensions ie: major 9 sus 4, or any other just give ya information on the chord (in your example the ground tune is missin though). So i set the ground tune to a „c“ for this example. So basically: c major 9 sus 4 (yo - d major 9 sus 4, were exactly the same just everythin one full tone (= 2 pads) up)
c major 9 sus 4. the c tells ya the ground note off the chord which is a „c“. „major“ tells ya that it is basically a major chord – but usually also denotes that its an irregular major one (and thats why i m not 100% sure in this example) – anyways i read it in a way that the octave is played half a tune lower. So basically instead of playin the upper „c“ you were to play a „b“ there (dope ish btw). the „9“ – stands for a full note above the octave (and were a „d“ in this example), the „sus 4“ basically stands for the „quart“ which in the case of a „c“ chord were an „f“ (and usually in this case when playin ya leave out the regular 3rd whcih were the „e“ in the standard c major ... thaz coz of disharmonics .... but yo – imo disharmonics sometimes are too sexy and then have to be played ....). So to play the c major 9 sus 4 on a chromatically layed out mpc you basically were to push: pad 4 (c), pad 9 (f), pad 11 (g) pad 15 (b), and .... next bank pad 2 - it s a „d“) ... alternativelly you could also play thatone an octave below so it were pad 6) .... decide for yourseof whether to play the 3rd of the standard c major chord – the „e“ pad (8) .... thats alot of pads for one chord imo and a niceone btw. .... yo – if ya now assign aftertouch to open up a 4lp just make sure that your mpc doesnt start to fly ...lol ...
overally i second cyrus ... imo those things aint learned in five minutes but in years of practice .... so imo no need to learn this by heart ... imo it is better if ya try to understand the basic concept (ie: remember a few things like positions of halftonesteps on majors and minors, and remember that 1st, 3rd and 5th make out the basic chord .... from there ya can build all the basic chords on your own imo) and then apply that and see and listen how it turns out ... mastering harmonics (scales and chords) is an art per se and an endless process ... which most electronic musicians dont give a fukk about it and thats all good. imo scales and chords are no necessity but once ya know em freestylin gets another dimension ...
... as for the rest of the tones ... d,e,f, and so on ... do as greg advised - ímagine the chord or scale transposed to the other notes ... ya can use the same pad schema for all of em .... or alternatively - if ya lazy – play the same „a“ or „c“ scale and correct it via pad assign or transpose the ish via midi ... know why you got an mpc .... the 16 pads are magic.
yo ... hope it made a bit of sennse and helps a bit too ...
- yo ... the **** stands for pad 8 .... 
