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01-30-2009 10:57 AM
Well, one of my favorites is
i bII V7 i. So.. in the key of D minor, Dm Eb A7 Dm
Uses a neopolitan chord substitution. Has a very powerful sound.
My favorite chord progression for that kind of genre would probably be the one from Paganini's 24th
Caprice theme. I can't recall it from memory, but you can look it up, or just analyze the piece and find it out
yourself. I might post it when I get home.
major
I V vi iii IV I IV V
minor
i V bVI bIII iv i iv V
or something like that
heres one
bVI bVII I
add some suspension
IV i
add diminished chords based on these degrees of the parent scale of the key : 2 b4
b6 7
The chord can resolve up 1/2 step or to the i chord.
add a i min(maj7) resolving to i for extra points
add i min(#11) for harmoninc minor modal stuff - (diary of a madman style)
phrygian chords :
bII
bVI (with maj7th)
Vm7b5
Pair any of those up with major or minor I chord. (major I chord is phyrgian
dominant...minor i chord is plain phrygian)
Add bIII to the above for more phrygian stuff.
Emphasize 7th and #11 of the bII chord over the bII chord (and the 1/2 steps
between 7th/root #11/5th)
Also, don't forget that a lot of neo-classical is not based on progressions - more like a
riff being played by the rhythm section...and then the soloist just playing over the
top of that.
Sometimes there will be a part like that and then the soloist will play some arps in a
progression-like manner. At that point it kind of crosses the line into a progression.
You can also take any progressions and turn them into arp sequences to mimic this
style.
Diminished scale
These seem to be the most commonly used scales in neo classical music.
Now, because these scales include non-diatonic tones, certain chords within a natural diatonic key would
need to be substituted with chords built around those scales.
Let's first look at a diatonic example in A minor...
Am / Dm / Em / Am / Em / Am
That's a basic i / iv / v / i progression taken straight from the natural minor chord scale (diatonic).
If we were soloing using harmonic minor, we'd need to accommodate this by making that natural minor v
(5) chord (Em) a major V chord (E major or E7) because the 5th degree of harmonic minor corresponds to
its 5th mode, Phrygian Dominant, a MAJOR scale.
Pedal Points - repetition of a note or group, with a scalar, melodic line played
alternately.
Ostinato - strict repetition of a single phrase or idea.
Scale Sequence - a stylized way of ascending or descending through a scale or
mode, where a set pattern is observed.
Fast Arpeggios.
Suspensions - cadences or "chord progression endings" where the true harmony chord is pushed out or
"suspended" by another, non-harmony note and then reasserts itself. Examples: 4th replaces 3rd; 6th
replaces 5th; 9th replace 8th or octave.
The chord progressions, arpeggios, and fast scale runs of neo-classical metal are inspired for the most part
from Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Niccolo Paganini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig
van Beethoven, particularly the first three. So lets get on to some examples.
Ex. 1 Harmonic Minor Scale (Aeolian mode with a raised 7th scale
degree) |----------------------------------1-2-4---5-----| |----------------------------2-3----------------| |---------------------1-2-4---------------------| |----------------3-4-----------------------------|
|--------2-4-5-----------------------------------| |-2-4-5-----------------------------------------| Melodic minor scale (Aeolian mode with
a raised 6th and 7th scale degree) |---------------------------1-2-4-4-2-1----------------------------| |-----------------------2-4-------------2-3------------------------| |-----------------1-2-4---------------------4-2-1------------------| |-----------1-2-4---------------------------------4-3--------------| |-------2-4-------------------------------------------5-4-2--------| |-2-4-5-----------------------------------------------------5-4-2--|
A melodic minor scale is a minor scale where you play the 6th and 7th degree a half
step up, but only when playing the scale ascending. Then when playign the scale
back down you usually lower the 6th and possibly the 7th depending on what sound
you want. For neo-classical metal it's going to convert to a harmonic minor. I read a
greta post the other day where someone was explaining about the raising of
degrees. It really helped me understand it. If you was to take say A natural minor for
example.
A B C D E F G - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Here is a diagram which explains the element to a certain extent. Please note: you
will need to be generally good with music theory to even have a chance of
understanding this straight away.
"If you start on any equal-tempered pitch and repeatedly ascends by the musical interval of a perfect fifth,
you will eventually land on a pitch with the same pitch class as the initial one, passing through all the other
equal-tempered chromatic pitch classes in between." This is out of a book. Sounds confusing I know. It
took me a while to understand. This is how I see it.
The circle is split up into 12 parts or 'segments' - what ever takes your fancy. The key of C is at the top. In a
clockwise sequence, key signatures are added to each segments in intervals of a 5th. If you move clockwise
in 5ths around this circle, you will find that each major scale differs from the preceding scale by only one
note. In each case, the subsequent major scale is formed by raising or sharpening (#) the note on the 7th
degree (the leading note) by a half step/semitone.
In a similar fashion, if you go counter-clockwise (or the other way for you who are not familiar with long
words) the circle in 4ths there is also just one note difference between each pair of scales. In these cases,
the new scale is formed by lowering/flattening (b) the note on the 4th (Sub-dominant) degrees of the
previous scale. My final example is a lick which is derived from Paganini's style of playing.
Paganini Style Violin Lick |----8-7-8-5-8-7-8---10-8-10-7-10-8-10-----------| |-5----------------6------------------------------| |------------------------------------------------| |------------------------------------------------| |------------------------------------------------| |-------------------------------------------------| |----12-10-128-12-10-12-10-7------7------------------| |-10--------------------------------9-------9--------| |--------------------------------------10-----10-7---| |-----------------------------------------------------| |----------------------------------------------------| |----------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------12-15-------| |-9---------------------------------------13-------------| |---10-7-----10-7-----------------------14---------------| |----------9-------9-----------------14-------------------| |-------------------11-12-14-15--------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------|
This will of hopefully giving you some information of neo-classical metal and
hopefully it should of given you some understandin if you didn't have any before on
how to produce maybe your own material. If you want a good example of some
great neo-classical metal. Check out Yngwie Malmsteen's Far Beyond The Sun or
even Jerry C's Canon Rock.