Probably is a noob music theory question, but I am wondering how I would enter in sharps or flats into certain notes in the piano roll?

For example lets say I want to do something in A minor. I start by entering all the notes in the A minor scale, then start some chord progression. However sometimes in the minor scale a note will be like say for example (may not be correct but this is the idea) B# or Bb, but then in the piano there is no B# or Bb, so am I suppose to raise (augment) or lower (diminish) that note? Am I suppose to somehow force it into B# or Bb or can I use like C#/Cb or A#/Ab ?

If I want to start a chord progression lets say I go with G minor, and pick i, iv, vii, so I pick the 1 the 4 and the 7 of those notes from the notes of the g minor scale starting at G, so my first chord of my chord progression will be G A# F right? then I can just add sevenths/ninths or whatever or work on the next chord? How do chord progressions need to be in dance music?

Thanks for the help.

EDIT:

I am so confused

I am trying to analyze music theory right now

So there is a song I like, according to mixed in key it is in 3A which is Bb minor. However the chords of the song seem to be different. The chord progression starts off with F#1, F#2, C#3. Isn't the lowest note suppose to be the key? So isn't that song suppose to be in F#? Wtf? I feel like I am missing something here.

 

do you have the piano keyboard displayed on the left hand side of the piano roll? have a quick look at the following tuts http://www.musictech.net/2011/04/logic-tutorial-piano-roll/

and also http://www.rhythmic.ca/music-tutorials/tips-and-tricks/how-to-find-the-key-of-a-song-by-ear.html

 

@ AB69,

As long that your 'Piano Roll' (or even 'real' Piano or Synth Keyboard !) is tuned at '440Hz' (for the 'A' Note), any of the 'Black' Keys is either a 'Flat' ('b'), or a 'Sharp' ('#') Note. (The terminology of 'b' or '#' depends of the Scale used) *yes*

A little 'Tip' (but maybe you already know it ?) :
Always with a Keyboard (or 'Piano Roll') tuned at '440Hz' (for the 'A' Note), you can play any of the 'White' Keys, and you'll be 'in tune' with any Song in 'C Major' or 'A minor' (its relative)... *yes*

Great and more than valuable idea and initiative. Good Luck for you in that marvelous, sometimes tedious, but also grateful long Journey !!! *yes*


About :

Not always !!! *no*

In fact, some Chords used in a Song (or through a particular 'Chord Progression') can be 'Inversion(s)' of an 'original' Chord (by 'original', I mean in its fundamental Form : 'Root - Third (either Major or Minor) - Fifth - (eventually Seventh Major or Seventh Minor, if used !)',...

And here is perhaps what you miss... *yes*

 

A minor natural to be pedantic.
I suggest you look into scale theory, chord theory and harmonization. I don't know any specific dance music online tutorial but I can suggest you a couple of classic books that deal extensively with these topics: Harmony by Walter Pistons and The Jazz Piano Book by Adam Levine.

 

@ Chopin425,

Not pedantic at all... because you're right !!!

But as 'AB69' seems, at a first glance, to be somewhat 'stammered' in the Music Theory Field, I don't wanted to confuse him with 'Minor Natural', 'Minor Harmonic', and 'Minor Melodic', at least during his first 'steps' in that Field... *yes*

 

I'm into Dance\EDM music if you wanna learn study the track you like and try to figure out what kind of chords they are using and why they are using it to give different feelings\emotions and then you'll become good yourself
ps: experiment a lot

 

First of all: in order to understand Chord Progressions in Minor, or to be more precise Harmonic Minor, you need to understand how they are constructed in Major and what their tonal qualities are!

Below you see the basic triads in root position of the C Major scale stacked from bottom to top, which consists of the Keys: C,D,E,F,G,A,B.

Important: Major means that there's a half step between the 3rd (E) and 4th Key (F) as well as between the 7th and 8th Posistion (From B to the next C). That's why there are no black Keys in between the Notes on a Keyboard!

G A B C D E F
E F G A B C D
C D E F G A B

I II III IV V VI (VII)

Explaination of Roman Numericals:

I. This is the C Major chord in root position. It consists of 2 Intervals stacked on top: C to E = major triad (4 halfsteps) and the interval E to G = minor triad (3 halfsteps), also called the tonic, which defines the Scale. Every other Step pretty much just referenced to it

II. This is D Minor: It consists of 2 Intervals stacked on top: D to F = minor triad (3 halfsteps) and the interval F to A = major triad (4 halfsteps)

III = E Minor (minor triad + major triad)
IV. = F Major (major triad + minor triad)
V. = G Major (major triad + minor triad)
VI. = A Minor (minor triad + major triad)
VII = B diminished (minor triad + minor triad) >> Mostly neglected in pop music progressions due to it's "unpleasant" tonal quality.

>> Now, let's sub-summarize what we found out so far:

• In ever Major Scale, there are halftone steps in between Note 3 and 4 as well as in between Note 7 and 8
• The juxtaposition of major intervals vs. minor intervals define their tonal gender: minor interval on top of major interval = Major Chord, whereas major on top of minor interval = Minor chord
• The Triads of every Major Scale are always: MAJOR (I), minor (II), minor (III), MAJOR (IV), MAJOR (V), minor (VI), diminished (VII)!

Now, the halftone step between Key 7 and 8 is called the leading tone because it leades you back to the 1, the defining Key of the Scale. Your hearing just longs for the C after you heard the the leading tone B. So it is of utmost importance not only in terms of music theory but also in terms of expectations of what to hear next in the music.

Now on to Minor Scales

Every Major Scale has a relative Minor Scale. This Scale consists of the same notes but the halftones steps are shifted down to in between the 2nd and 3rd as well as in between the 5th and 6th Note. This results in having NO LEADING TONE (halfstep between 7 and 8) in the scale. This Scale is called NATURAL Minor.

Now, the relative minor scale of every major scale is always located a minor third below the current Major scale. A minor third (3 halfsteps) down from C you will find A minor. It consists of: A,B,C,D,E,F,G (Halfsteps are located in between B-C and E-F).

In order to make the whole construct of triads stacked on each other work, we need a leading tone! Therefor we need to shift G up a semitone. Now we have the leading tone G# that lead back to A. NOW wen can construct Chords. This results in the following Chords:

E F G# A B C D
C D E F G# A B
A B C D E F G#

min dim aug min maj maj dim

i ii III iv V VI VII

As you can see, it is getting more complex once you switch to minor chords. For EDM I would probably don't use ii and VII because they are diminished. But this depends on mood and taste as well.

If this is too complicated, you could use the minor cords of C Major Scale instead and play a melody in A Melodic Minor (A,B,C,D,E,F#,G#) on top. When playing upwards you need to shift f and g up a semitone, when playing downwards you play f and g again.

So in minor you basically have two more notes at your disposal, a sharpened 6th and 7th which makes it musically more interesting but also more complicated.

I hope I could provide some insight…

Oh, btw. I don't know if logic had this feature before, but in 10.1 you can set the scale in the piano roll as well and quantize them to the right note. So you don't really need to know as much anymore to make it work