Find your common themes - Musical Creativity 34

Aim
Listen critically to your compositions and spot the similarities. By identifying what you commonly do, you can start to change and improve your range.

My experience
I did this a couple of months ago and I found a lot of my compositions started with same two chord sequence but often using different keys. These were compositions that I'd approached by playing randomly on guitar, not by a more thought-out and planned approach. If I liked the sound, then I'd move to the next chord and so on.

Oddly enough, I don't write the same sequence if I'm planning a composition.

The pattern
What I'd noticed is that the verse started with i-VI (e.g. from D minor to Bb major). I've treated the starting point as the minor chord in a minor key due to the mood of the rest of the music, all moody, rather than thinking of it in F major.

It was only by realising this pattern that I managed to overcome it. It had been hidden from me for a while due to starting in different keys and with different rhythms and styles. After all, it's not immediately obvious that a rock track Dm-Bb is the based on the same foundation as a funky groove in Am-F but just in a different key. Both work well, especially when the VI is lower than the i.

The change

I decided there were three options I could take:

1. Start the verse on a major chord. A big hint here: If you find yourself composing or even playing primarily in a major key, try a minor instead and vice versa. It's usually enough to get you out of a rut and stop you sounding you turn out the same stuff. Works for soloing in a live band as well.
   
2. For the songs starting on a minor chord, I ensured that the following chord wasn't a 6th away from it.
3. Plan the composition in advance.

The first two steps were simple methods for excluding what I'd done before. It doesn't stop me using the trick in sequence in future but at least I'll be more aware of it.

I already do the 3rd option, but I like the combination of mixing planned compositions and compositions I find by just playing where my fingers (and experience) takes me. So I'm not willing to miss out on the random playing.

Other tracks
Since I noticed the sequence in my own compositions, I've noticed the same chord progression in the chorus of RHCP's Bump de Hump and in Christina Aguilera's Can't Hold Us Down (feat. Lil' Kim).

It's not just chords, there are other patterns you can pick up on. I'll cover another one in the next article.


Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.