Understanding Harmony: A Beginner’s Guide to Creating and Transposing MIDI Chords
Introduction: The Foundation of Harmony
Music harmony can seem intimidating at first, but understanding its basics opens up endless creative possibilities. Whether you’re a budding producer or a musician exploring new genres, knowing how to create and transpose chords is essential. In this guide, we’ll break down the fundamentals of harmony and show you how to apply these principles to your music projects. Above all, the purpose of this information is that it will teach you exactly how to transpose pre-programmed MIDI to fit your track. We'll demonstrate this using our pack "Bajo Tumbado" later on. Let’s get started.
What is Harmony?
Harmony occurs when two or more notes are played together, creating a rich and layered sound. In modern music, harmony is most often expressed through chords, which are built by stacking intervals of a scale (the distance between two notes). So basically, understanding harmony involves grasping these key concepts:
- Scales: The “roadmap” for creating harmonious melodies and chords. Common scales include the major and minor scales.
- Intervals: The building blocks of harmony. Examples include thirds, fifths, and octaves.
- Chords: Groups of three or more notes played simultaneously, such as major and minor chords.
Building Chords: The Basics
Chords are formed by stacking intervals from a scale. There is a formula to forming these scales using whole steps and half steps, but for now, let’s keep it simple. Once you identify the key and scale of the track, you can simply visit this website and look up the notes/intervals.
Once you’ve obtained the intervals/notes, we can start creating a basic chord:
- Choose a Scale: For example, the C major scale includes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
- Pick a Root Note: This is the note your chord will start from (e.g., C).
- Add Intervals: Stack the third and fifth notes above your root. For a C major chord, this would include E (third) and G (fifth).
This process applies to both major and minor chords. Minor chords use a flattened third interval, giving them a darker sound (so C minor would be: C Eb G).
Types of Chords: Major, Minor, and Dominant
- Major Chords: These chords have a bright and happy sound. They are built with a root note, a major third, and a perfect fifth. For example, a C major chord consists of C, E, and G.
- Minor Chords: These have a darker and more somber tone. They include a root note, a minor third, and a perfect fifth. For instance, a C minor chord is composed of C, E♭, and G.
- Dominant Chords: Commonly used in blues and jazz, these chords add tension that resolves to the tonic. A dominant seventh chord includes a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. For example, C7 consists of C, E, G, and B♭.
Transposing Chords: Tailoring Harmony to Your Music
Transposing means shifting the pitch or color of a chord. This knowledge is crucial when we’re adapting pre-programmed midi to fit our own song or production.
Steps to Transpose:
- Identify the Original Key/Chord: Determine the scale of your chord progression.
- Choose the Target Key/Chord: Decide the new key / chord type you want to use.
- Shift Notes: Move the notes in your chords by checking the intervals.
Example: To transpose a C major chord (C, E, G) to a D minor chord:
- First, identify the notes in D minor: D (root), F (minor third), and A (perfect fifth).
- Adjust each note of the C major chord accordingly:
- C becomes D
- E becomes F (a minor third, instead of a major third)
- G becomes A
A practical Example
Our "Bajo Tumbado" bass pack at LUXLOOPS Audio simplifies the harmonic process. Each bass loop comes with a guide, outlining the chords and keycentre:
Let's say we want to transpose these midi notes to the key of Gm.
First we'll have a look at the notes of the Ebm scale, and compare these with the notes of Gm.
Eb Minor:
Eb - F - Gb - Ab - Bb - Cb - Db
G Minor:
G - A - Bb - C - D - Eb - F
The First chord (Ebm) would be comprised out of the notes Eb - Gb - Bb, which are the first, third and fifth interval. So transposing that chord to Gm would give us G - Bb - D.
Ebm: Eb - Gb - Bb
Gm: G - Bb - D
Let's do the same now for Abm. From the Ebm scale we can deduct that Abm is the 4th interval in the scale. In G minor that would give us the C note as a starting point. So the Abm triad (Ab - Cb - Eb) transposed to the key of G minor would give us a Cm triad (C - Eb - G). This is how you would go about transposing and entire midi section.
Abm: Ab - Cb - Eb
Cm: C - Eb - G
Of course each chord progression would also have some passing notes. For these notes you could simply use chromatic thinking, or insert any notes within the new scale.
With the "Bajo Tumbado" pack, you can focus on creativity without worrying about the deep theoretical aspects of harmony.
Conclusion: Master Harmony with Confidence
Understanding and applying harmony doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By learning the basics and practicing this new found knowledge with some midi packs, you can create music that resonates. Whether you’re producing reggaeton, corridos tumbados, or experimenting with new sounds, the foundation of harmony will always be your guide.
Explore our products at www.luxloops.audio and take your music to the next level!