# What scale/mode/progression does this imply?



## Hoopyfrood (Jun 23, 2022)

I'm continuing my adventures with arpeggios. I don't know if this counts as one but I've written this harp thing:
View attachment harp.mp3






It's got the E so it's not in G minor. I'm thinking G dorian. Problem is everything else I've written for it (which isn't much and I'm not married to any of it) is in G minor. There are also a lot more A#/Bbs than Gs, but that could be the third I suppose. Or they could just be non-diatonic Es. As for the progression I don't know, I feel like it changes pretty frequently but I'm not sure when and to what.


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## crossrootsdoc (Jun 23, 2022)

We need a root to be sure


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## Hoopyfrood (Jun 23, 2022)

crossrootsdoc said:


> We need a root to be sure


But I'm not sure of it either, all I know is I was noodling/jamming in G minor but then wrote this which has a note that's not in G minor.


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Jun 23, 2022)

View attachment 2022-06-24_14-24-19.mp4


G Dorian is probably the most apparent vibe


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## Hoopyfrood (Jun 23, 2022)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> View attachment 2022-06-24_14-24-19.mp4
> 
> 
> G Dorian is probably the most apparent vibe


Ooh nice, and OK thanks, it seems to work well.


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## ed buller (Jun 24, 2022)

It's G dorian. The Give away is the descending G,F,E . But it just as well could be Bb Lydian !...It really depends what YOU decide is the tonic. You have all the power over this . It's hard at first to let go over the concern of "What's the right note....What's this scale !!". It can become a little paralysing. Try to think of the music as a continuum constantly changing. Bar to bar note to note. You have total control over what is the right note. Perpetration and Voice leading is always going to work. And remember you have twelve notes NOT eight !

 

Best

e


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## Hoopyfrood (Jun 24, 2022)

ed buller said:


> It's G dorian. The Give away is the descending G,F,E . But it just as well could be Bb Lydian !...It really depends what YOU decide is the tonic. You have all the power over this . It's hard at first to let go over the concern of "What's the right note....What's this scale !!". It can become a little paralysing. Try to think of the music as a continuum constantly changing. Bar to bar note to note. You have total control over what is the right note. Perpetration and Voice leading is always going to work. And remember you have twelve notes NOT eight !
> 
> Best
> 
> e


You're right that it's up to me and thanks for the words of encouragement (genuinely, I feel empowered), but can I ask you, do you think there's an implied chord change with every accented note or just on bar 3 with the C? I wrote this with it, which is basically just hitting those accents, plus the other thing it's doing is hitting the hell out of the E to reiforce the dorian-ness, because my previous experiments with writing with modes have ended in me finishing a song and realising I barely used the note that makes the mode different. I was going to have the piano and cello do different things but they sound so good together I'll probably keep at least that 17 seconds of music the same or similar.
View attachment harp and piano and cello.mp3


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## ed buller (Jun 24, 2022)

So the way your melody ends , D,E,Bb,G...is perfect at reinforcing the DORIAN'ness . Remember you can always do this with chords too! So in G dorian C major is a very important chord. In fact a straight Oscillation between these chords says DORIAN!





This is true of ALL Modes. The chords made from the Modes are just as important. 

Best

e


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## Hoopyfrood (Jun 24, 2022)

ed buller said:


> So the way your melody ends , D,E,Bb,G...is perfect at reinforcing the DORIAN'ness . Remember you can always do this with chords too! So in G dorian C major is a very important chord. In fact a straight Oscillation between these chords says DORIAN!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Awesome, OK thanks.


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## Hoopyfrood (Jun 25, 2022)

ed buller said:


> So the way your melody ends , D,E,Bb,G...is perfect at reinforcing the DORIAN'ness . Remember you can always do this with chords too! So in G dorian C major is a very important chord. In fact a straight Oscillation between these chords says DORIAN!


I thought you might want to hear the completed version of this track. It's probably the best thing I've written yet, thanks in part to your advice, so thanks very much. I decided to mostly vamp from G to C due to what you said above.


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