Plenty of ideas, no theory...

[Dave Collins]

I've been really inspired by the people and environment here in Afghanistan and I've written a few songs. Nothing orchestral. In my head, I'm hearing a quintet. They are all short, but my problem is that I have no idea what the chords of the song would be. I don't play piano yet, so in the mean time I've got a bit of a problem getting the songs together. Does anyone have a suggestion for me? I've got some rough recordings that I made so that I wouldn't forget them, and I'm working on transcribing them now. Since I play mostly by ear, I guess it only makes sense that I compose the same way? Anyone been here? I get ideas all the time. I finally had to pick up a voice recorder and sing the songs as they come to me. It's been fun, and 4 of them are nice enough that I want to record. The pianist here plays by feel and sound as well. It's a fantastic working relationship for church playing, jamming, or playing in general, but when it comes to writing out chords, well you get the idea. Any input would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

Dave
davesensei @ gmail . com

[Pete Thomas]

Some of these pages might help:

http://www.petethomas.co.uk/jazz-theory.html

Although they were not originally designed for use without a teacher - I used them as part of the jazz theory, composition and impro courses at Southampton University when I used to lecture.

They do assume a prior knowledge of some basic theory but I'm gradually adding some beginners' theory pages as well so hopefully they might make some sense.

Meannwhile the best thing you can do is keep using your ears and start messing around on the piano. Start with simple diatonic triads then add 7ths. Don't worry about anythoing more complex initially, you can ahrmonise any tune with basic chords and often it works best.

Good luck.

[gary]

Dave - you could also get a basic notation software program to use with your computer. Work up the song with your piano player by ear, and then have him play with a MIDI connection into the notation program.

[Dave Collins]

Thanks for the ideas, guys.
Pete: I'll have to check the site when I get home. Can't get to it from work.

Gary: Could you suggest a program that would do that? I'd definitely be interested.

Dave

[gary]

Gary: Could you suggest a program that would do that? I'd definitely be interested.
Dave - you'll likely get better answers from others here. I use a high-end program which would be overkill for what you need and haven't used anything more moderate in a decade or more, so I'm not really familiar with the pros and cons of the such programs. There are others on the forum who have moderately-priced notation software who should be able to share their opinions with you.

As a head start, you could google music notation software for some orientation but I hope in the meantime one of you other folks who are not using Sibelius or Finale could advise him.

p.s. I just stumbled over this which you might find helpful: http://music-notation-software-review.toptenreviews.com/music-notation-software-review-definitions.html

[Chris S]

Maybe Finale Notepad would be good for you Dave. It's free, and the learning curve isn't nearly as steep (nor is the price) as it's older brother.

Chris S