Music Theory is not dead

The Decline of music theory in Edm.

I know a lot of you saying to yourself what in the world am I talking about let me expand on my thoughts below.

Listen to any song on the radio its either a track made entirely  in protools ,(showing my age - I know no one uses pro  anymore) Or its made in Ableton or Fl Studio or any pick your choice digital audio work station.

The problem with these workstations from a music theory stand point is they do all of the work for you ! Lets say you are a beginner or a novice,trying to learn theory as you produce. Using some of these tools will not help you learn theory at all. Instead you will be hurting your efforts to actually learn theory altogether.

 

Just because you play an instrument does not mean you  are a music theory guru!

You may have heard a lot of people say I know how to produce edm why do I need theory? Or I been playing the guitar for years I know theory I can just relate the theory to guitar to edm theory. You cant its not the same. Also just because you know an instrument does not mean you can apply the theory you have learned with that theory with edm music. (think for a minute all your life you were an Opera Singer)

You might be asking  how important is it then

It is important just read  this article about music theory

Believe me when I say that a lot of other kids and families are going and getting into the same thing with everyone else.

 

Do not change yourself just be you

So ten years later you decide you want to retire and be a producer of edm at a big record label. When you go to the job interview will you say ive been singing opera for 30 years im experienced about edm ?Or will you brush up on your theory and then apply for the job?

So back to my original statement before I kind of went off on a tangent here. If you just listen to your top songs on the radio or in the clubs ,you will notice a decline in music theory,the song may be catchy have a memorable hook (two important factors in music  theory) but,the song may be lacking theory.

What do I mean by lacking theory? The melody does not resolve the tension and return to the I chord before the end of the melody. The use of keys in a scale that do not conform or belong in the key you are supposed to be in! Not creating or using chord progressions,instead just playing random notes or just making beats with a arpeggiator or a step sequencer.Failing to stack your elements instead just looping one musical idea over and over for 4 bars or 1 bar and just looping that same idea for 32 bars. After 3 seconds of hearing that you will get bored real fast.

Let me repeat do not get me wrong all of these things may still give you a great sounding track but, you can take things to the next level when you apply music theory into your edm productions.

Always inject theory

How do you inject theory into your tracks? Make sure you always use chord progressions and make sure you are using the correct voice leading in your progressions. If you need help with this have a look at a diagram here. Once you master the voice  leading all of your melodies will sound great in any key you choose.

Also make sure you stack multiple elements or musical ideas. A lot of beginners just have one 17 bar idea and they loop it for 64 bars thinking its the next best thing since sliced bread but,the fact is they could not be so wrong.

Go to any concert or any club and you will hear people perform there concerts and no two shows sound the same,you know they only have 2 arms and 2 legs to use on the drums. When they are playing string instruments or hitting the drum sticks they get tired and you hear it in the music. When they are blowing into a sax or trombone again you hear a difference in there manners to how hard or soft they blow.

They basically have a character they have developed over time when they get tired they sound like this when they blow too hard they sound like this when they play the piano soft they sound like this and so forth.

So back to edm when you are creating your beats and melodies and basslines and everything else in between make sure you create one element after the next and stack them.

Stack the elements in your song

Lets start with a 64 bar trance anthem for our example.

The first 8 bars you hear a arp that is rising in pitch using a uplifting chord progression. It has a mixture of happy and sad chords. Then the next 8 bars you have only a sad chord progression only in minor and going in a downward movement. The next 16 bars you just have some strings and harmony playing some string pads that is playing the main hook ,during the 8^th bar of that 16 bar loop all of the sudden you have arp playing a 303 but,the arp is countering the string pads you have and is in contrast to create tension.

At the end of that bar you gradually bring in your main riff slowly bringing down the volume of the other track then another 32 bars of this new anthem-you would continue to be creative and think of new ways to stack elements and think of new emotions you'd like to get a feel for until you got to 64 bars then once you would play it back you'd be so amazed.

The first thing you will say is why did I wait that long to learn theory.So I hope I was able to help you out on how to use theory to your advantage and always take things to the next level. In the comments section below leave a clip of a response of what if anything you were inspired about as we would love to hear it .