Online Sequencer Forums

another tutorial by phiot (jonah). its about complex bass lines and chord progressions. in the first post I'm going to talk about what a bass line is, what a chord progression is, and why they're essential to music.

First off, what is a chord proggression? you hear about them frequently, im guessing. Well, a chord is "three or more notes that combine harmoniously". simple as that. a typical chord you'll see is a major/minor triad.  <--- first one is major, second one is minor. Those are basically the simplest chords you can get. you can get more complexed, but lets save that for later. A chord PROGRESSION is just what it sounds like. a progression throughout multiple chords. (hope im not getting that definition wrong). Heres the one you hear infinity times in modern pop (looking at you chainsmokers) . Chord progressions set the mood of the music. Film scorers use them to convey emotions to the viewers. Most of all, music is unbearable without them.

Now, whats a bassline? a bassline is even simpler. its typically just one note at a time, since bass becomes terrible when it isnt just one note (an opinion). It usually follows the chord progression () but it doesn't need to. you REALLY want it to harmonize with the above notes though, especially the lower the bass is. Not all genres use a bass line, but most modern ones do. You might be able to get away with not using one, depending on your genre.

continued... (please dont post until its finished, ill need more posts.)

Now, what are a few good chord progressions, and how can I make an original one?
here's a few chord progressions I see frequently. Each measure is a new chord progression. Typically that'd be four times more spaced out, changing chords usually each measure. Anyway, these chords are not complex, and neither are the chord progressions. Ways you can compexify (not a real word) a chord progression include: make the chords in themselves complex , change the chords not with the measure, but at a different time . Change the delivery of the chords . (Okay we've made Just Like this's chord progression entirely, we're gonna have to use a new example) Make a longer/more unique chord progression  (it's just the bottom note of each chord, too lazy) invert the chords  (second chord D is on bottom rather than top).

Now lets look at a song I really like (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsy1URDYK88) and it's chord progression. . It's not a terribly unique chord progression, but it's good. It uses 6 chords, which is 2 more than what I'd say is average. It uses the same chord 3 times though, in 2 different octaves. That particular chord is a good chord for emotion, for whatever reason. (I'm not a music theory expert btw, so IDK what to call it) I'll call it the 'F' chord though. (It's not F in other keys though). It's used in a LOT of chord progressions. anyway, he starts at F, although, I guess you can't count this as a chord since it's only two notes. I will though. I think the reason why it's missing it's insides is because the further down you go, the less harmonic harmonic things sound. It's the same reason why bass lines usually only have one note. Anyway, he raises an octave, and the second chord is also F, but this time it has it's insides, A and C. But it also has G. Now, I don't know why he put that G in there. To me, it sounds dissonant, but I guess it makes the chord more full to him. I can't tell you what he was thinking though. Anyway, next chord is a, another measure later. a is a minor chord in this key, and the only minor chord in this part of the song. There's not really much to say about this chord, it's really just a minor a with another a on top, probably for fullness. Now, for the last two measures, he changes chords at the third half beat. For this measure, he changes it from a to G. G is another boring major chord, with G on top for fullness. Next chord is C major, except it's missing the 5th, or the 3rd note up is gone. My guess for why this is is because he wanted e to resolve more into F, which it does. If G was there, you might not have heard the e as much. Anyway, the last chord is F major again, with an extra G.