Music Theory for Song Writers
Music as a Language
Music is like a language just like this paragraph. It's made up of sentences, which are made up of words, which are groups of letters. The letters are taken from the alphabet.
Music has an alphabet too, but we call it a scale. Each note is like a letter. We put notes from the scale together to make chords (words). Then we put the chords (words) together to make phrases (musical sentences.) Once you know how to make phrases sound good, you are well on your way to writing songs.
So chords are your vocabulary. You need to know chords. But knowing chords alone is not enough. That would be like speaking words and not being able to make sentences. You need to know how chords flow from one to another.
The Major Scale
There are many scales, but there is one everyone needs to know. It's called the Major Scale. Everyone usually starts there.
The major scale has a particular sound. You've probably sung it too. Have you ever heard anyone sing "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do?" That's the major scale. That's the alphabet.
Next we simplify. Instead of "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do," we use "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 1." Same sound, just numbers now instead of names.
Roman Numerals
Even though we walked quickly past scales, there is one important concept to remember. The notes in the scale can be numbered 1 through 7. That matters.
Each note in the scale can be considered the starting point, or root, for a chord. In other words, there is a note we will call 1, and there is a chord, made up of several notes, which uses note 1 as a starting point. Don't worry right now where those other notes come from. Just remember, there is a note called 1, and there is chord based on note 1.
This chord based on note 1 is called the "one chord," and we use a roman numeral one (I) when we are referring to this chord. So if we want to talk about just the note, we will use "1," but if we're talking about the chord, we write "I." Get it? "1" means note number one. "I" means the one chord, which is built on note number 1.
The same holds true for the other notes in the scale.
There is a note "2" and there is a chord "ii."
There is a note "3" and there is a chord "iii."
There is a note "4" and there is a chord "IV."
There is a note "5" and there is a chord "V."
There is a note "6" and there is a chord "vi."
There is a note "7" also, but the chord built on note 7 is a little trickier to understand, so we're leaving it out. You may still use note 7 when you sing, and note seven may appear in other chords, but the chord that uses 7 as a starting point is not needed right now.
Some of the roman numerals are capitalized - I, IV, and V, while others are lower case - ii, iii, and vi. This is intentional. The capitalized chords have a certain sound, which some people describe as happy or bright. In music theory we call them"major chords." The lower case chords have a sound some people hear as being darker or sad. We call these "minor chords."
Getting Started
For your first exploration into the world of songwriting, it's helpful to establish some "rules." These are not rules in the sense that they cannot be broken; these are suggestions or good ideas. You'll do better if you follow these "rules" most of the time.
Rule number 1 - Start and end your song with the I chord. This establishes clearly where you are, and helps both you and the listener experience a strong beginning and ending.
Rule number 2 - I, IV, and V are the three chords you will use most often. Many songs have been written with just these 3 chords.
Rule number 3 - Choose a key. We haven't discussed keys yet, so let's take care of that right here. You already know that a major scale can be numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Each of these numbers represents a note. You can sing the scale or play it on an instrument.
When you sing, you don't always think of the note as having a name, because your voice can sing high and low and everywhere in between. It may not matter to you what note it is as long as it sounds good. But when you play an instrument like the piano each note has a name and a location on the instrument.
So when you walk up to the piano to play 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 you have to ask a question first. Where is note 1? The answer is you may choose whichever note you like to be note 1. But after you choose note 1, the major scale determines where 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are located. You can't just jump around and call them whatever you want. You only get to choose note 1.
Whichever note you choose to be note 1 is the name of the "key." So if you choose a D to be note 1, you will be playing in the key of D. If you choose an A, you will be playing in the key of A. Get it?
This could get confusing, but fortunately we can simplify things a lot with the help of a table.
Take a look at the table and answer this question. In the key of D, can you name the I, IV, and V chords? Sure you can. The I chord is D, the IV chord is G, and the V chord is A.
It means you can write a simple song in the key of D if you know how to play just three chords: D, G, and A. You will start the song with a D chord because that's the I chord. You will also end the song with a D chord. Along the way you will use D's, G's, and A's whenever you like.
What do these chords look like? Here they are.
The D chord looks like this.
The G chord looks like this.
The A chord looks like this.
On the guitar, the D, G and A chords look like this.
ii, iii and vi
The ii, iii, and vi chords are minor chords built on notes 2, 3, and 6 of the scale. They have a different sound than the three major chords we have already discussed. This adds many new possibilities to your music.
First, let's fill in the rest of the table.
In the key of D, name the three major chords and the three minor chords.
The answer: the three major chords (I, IV, and V) are D, G, and A, while the three minor chords (ii, iii, and vi) are E minor, F# minor, and B minor.
What do the new chords look like?
The Em chord looks like this.
The F#m chord looks like this.
The Bm chord looks like this.
On the guitar, the Em, F#m and Bm chords look like this.
The Simple Map
We now have six chords available. How do they flow from one to another?
There are two answers. It doesn't matter which chord comes next as long as it sounds good. In some ways, this answer is correct. All six chords come from the same scale, and they work well enough together to just bounce from one to the other.
Chords are flowing through the song, but they are also flowing into the minds of your listeners. To the listener, chords have an effect. Some chords feel stable and strong while others feel like they're leaning or going somewhere. Some chords create tension, waiting for another chord to come along and relax the tension. Sometimes a chord is meant to surprise the listener; sometimes to soothe. And there is also a kind of guessing game going on. The audience is wondering what chord comes next. Sometimes they guess right. Sometimes you throw them a curve.
You want to throw enough curves to keep your audience guessing, but not so many that they start striking out. The listeners feel better when they "hear" chords coming, and guess right... just not all the time. They want to be surprised some of the time.
The map has one very simple purpose. It shows you chord sequences that your audience will tend to "guess in advance." These chord sequences sound natural with no sudden jumps or unexpected turns. A lot of music is created with simple sequences like these.
Using the Simple Map
To use the map, remember two things. First, you may jump anywhere from I. Second, if a chord appears at more than one place, there is an "imaginary tunnel" connecting both spots, so you can move from one to the other.
With the map you can do exercises like:
1. Write a long "loop," starting with the I chord, Jump from I to wherever you like. Then work your way back to I by following the arrows.
2. Write several three or four chord sequences. Start anywhere on the map. Follow the arrows.
Here are some possible answers.
I - iii - vi - IV - ii - V - I is a "loop."
It starts and ends on I.
IV - V - I is a three chord sequence.
vi - ii - V - I is a four chord sequence.
ii - V - iii - vi is another.
You can find a lot more.
The Map doesn't write your song for you, but it helps you find natural, smooth-sounding chord patterns. If you experiment with these natural-sounding patterns, you will automatically start using them in your music. Your audience will relate well to these sections. This is good for your audience. You want them to "hear" things in advance and guess right, not all the time, but a good percentage of the time.
Chords from other keys
These are chords borrowed from other keys. Let's explain it this way.
Let's take the Simple Map and use our imagination. First, we're going to change the simple map from I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi to C, Dm, Em, F, G, and Am. These are the chords for the key of C.
You may jump anywhere from I, which in this case is C. If a chord appears at more than one place (like Dm or G), there is a "secret tunnel" connecting them, so being at one spot is the same as being at the other.
1. First, let's talk about the blue boxes. Some of the chord variations now appear at the bottom of each box. For instance, C lists the 2 chord, the 6 chord, major 7, major 9, and suspended as possible options.
2. Three blue locations have been added. The octagon with C/G inside indicates that this chord quite often follows Dm or F, and then heads for G before going home to C. The box labeled F/C and G/C shows that the right hand chord can change while the bass note (C) stays right where it is. This technique, holding a bass note while varying the chord above it, yields many surprising and useful sounds. Finally, the little box labeled C/E is often found between F and Dm. It works going either way.
3. The chords with a green background don't belong to the key of C; they come from other keys. They are useful when we want to "step further out." You can put a green chord almost anywhere, but when you do, you'll probably want to follow the arrows back toward the blue ones. Your audience will feel good when the chords that seem "far from home" step back to more familiar ground.
(A word about names - Some of the green chords are written as slash chords, like Am/F#. This chord could also be written F#m7b5. In general, whenever you take a simple minor chord and move the bass from the root down three half steps, you get a m7b5 on the new bass note. Sometimes calling it Am/F# is easier.)