Write Something with a Secondary Dominant
Write something with a secondary dominant in the chord progression
If you need a refresher (or just a first-time-fresher), check out my Music Theory Monday lesson about Dominant Chords. If you're new around here, that lesson might not make a lot of sense without being familiar with Music Theory for Guitar first, and then getting into Music Theory Monday. You can find the ideal order to watch all my lessons here.
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Sliding
This weeks' Community Challenge is simple: write something that involves sliding.
This could be:
1. A simple chord progression with chords that slide from one place to another
2. A full song with a guitar melody that slides around
3. A simple 8 bar sketch of something where some guitar sliding is involved
It's pretty vague. As long as you write a little something with sliding involved, you're doing the community challenge.
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Natural Minor
This week the challenge is simple: write something in Natural Minor
That "something" could be:
1. A chord progression you've crafted using only chords from Natural Minor
2. A nice melody you've written using the Natural Minor scale
3. A whole song with chords, melody, and bass line using only Natural Minor.
You don't need to write a whole song, you don't need to use recording software like in my GarageBand lessons, but you can if you want. A cell phone recording is completely acceptable. The idea is just to write something!
If this was a drawing exercise, a sketch on the back of a napkin would be just as acceptable as a finished work. Just write something!
Natural minor is the most straightforward of the minor keys, as it contains all the same notes as its relative major. Check out episodes 04, 05, and 06 of Music Theory Monday if you'd like a refresher on the difference between Natural, Harmonic, and Melodic Minor.
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Extreme Dynamics
This weeks challenge is to write something with extreme dynamics.
This goal is fairly simple, but important. Dynamics make music feel human, and thats one of the more important things about making music. Also, lets give a definition:
Dynamics are the musical idea of loud and quiet, but that also means that the music might feel intense when it's loud (like strumming harder, singing louder, etc) and the music might feel relaxed or almost cozy (or creepy) if the guitar is strummed or picked very very softly and the singing voice is at nearly a whisper.
You can take the "extreme" part with a grain of salt. I don't need you to yell or shout, but I would like to see some distinct contrast between a loud or intense section and a soft, gentle, quiet section. You could also have a middle dynamic section if you choose. Just write something with dynamic contrast.
This week, you could:
1. Write a melody with a combination of very soft and very intense parts
2. Write a chord progression or two with soft gentle sections and loud sections
3. Write a whole song with perhaps a very soft, quiet prechorus and an explosive intense chorus. Or something like that.
Whatever you do, keep it fun and focus on intensity. No need to go overboard or reach too far outside your comfort zone. Just write something with a combination of soft parts and intense/loud parts.
Some other things to consider and terms to learn:
Crescendo (/krəˈSHenˌdō/) : increase the volume and intensity of a section over a period of time.
Decrescendo : decrease in volume and intensity over a set period of time.
In proper sheet music, there are markings for dynamics like pp, ff or mp. Read more about it here.
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Write Something in Dorian Mode
This week's Community Challenge is: Write something in Dorian Mode
This means, write a chord progression, a melody, a whole song - whatever you like! Something simple, something complex. As long as it's in Dorian, you're good!
I love Dorian mode and I've noticed that music like funk and soul tends to be in Dorian mode very often.
Compare the chords in Em to the Chords in E dorian:
Minor: Em F#° G Am Bm C D
Dorian: Em F#m G A Bm C#° D
You've got Em, G, Bm, and D in common
Except in Em, D is D7 (dom) and in E Dorian, A is A7 (dom)
The most simple Dorian chord progression (an excellent starting point) is a i IV progression:
Em A7, for example
If you want to get fancier, you can do the "Dorian reveal" progression:
Em G D A7 (Mad World Verse does this progression i III VIII IV but in the key of F#m)
This progression is nice because it lets Em really feel like home, then ends with the A7.
Sometimes people call Dorian Mode "Hopeful" because of that major IV chord. I like to think of it as Hopeful Minor or Cool Minor because to me, Dorian is like Natural Minor but more interesting.
If you want to mix and match Natural Minor and Dorian mode, that is OK for this challenge! But do not mix it with Harmonic or Melodic Minor. (Thats ok in general, but don't do it for this challenge)
Open E Bassline
For this challenge, you're going to start by playing a consistent beat with your picking-hand's thumb on the low E string. Then, while you're doing that, try playing an E minor or major pentatonic scale, or part of one.
If you've never tried this before, it can be difficult, but once you get a hold of the concept it can be quite fun. If it's really difficult, first plan the scale or scale fragment to play, practice it a bit without the bassline, then try to incorporate the bassline. This one is a little more challenging than usual, but give it a shot!
Those of you who feel like you're getting the hang of it, try writing a little melody instead of playing a scale.
For those of you feeling really adventurous, try making a melody using on and off beats.
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Write Two Different Parts of a Song Using The Same Chord Progression
This week's community challenge is simple:
Write two different parts of a song using the same chord progression
It doesn't need to be a full song! Just two sections of something. This is just practice!
Here are a few ways to approach it:
1. Guitar only
Write a progression with a simple strumming pattern, then try a different strumming pattern for the next section OR use different voicings up the neck like in CAGED Basics
2. Guitar and voice
Write a chord progression to use for both parts of the song, but write a unique melody for each section
3. Recording software
You could do all of the above, but with bass, drums, keys, etc. Have one simple section and one filled-out section.
Write something using 7th chords
This weeks challenge: Write something using 7th chords
This could be:
• A simple chord progression
• A simple chord progression, but played as arpeggios
• A combination of riffs and chords, as long as you use at least one 7th chord
• A whole or partial song using partly or mostly 7th chords! Bonus if you include the 7th of a chord in the melody
• Basically write whatever you want this week as long as it has some 7th chords
I want to keep it simple this week. If you haven't had a chance to participate, this is a great community challenge to start with.
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Write A Riff For Your Song
This week will be fun but still a challenge. Your goal is to write a riff for at least a section of your creation.This could be interpreted as loosely as you like.
Here are a few ways to look at it:
1. Write an intro riff, then play a chord progression during a melody. If you don't feel comfortable singing OR you haven't delved into recording software, you could just write a riff followed by a chord progression in the same key.
2. Write a simple riff as a turn around/ending section of a chord progression. This could be as simple as Am Am Dm riff.
3. If you want to be more adventurous, you could write a chord progression with a melody over the top, then write a riff to replace the chords.
But what is a riff?
A riff is an incredibly vague term, which is great! It means this challenge might be based on your interpretation. Often the word "riff" is accompanied by another word to clarify it. For example, above I talked about an intro riff, a turn-around riff, a verse riff.
For an intro riff, your role is to take over the spotlight. That could be playing the melody the vocalist will be singing later in the song (maybe the chorus melody or part of it, for example)
For a turn around riff, your role is to (usually) turn attention away from the singer for a second or sort of let your audience know "we're going to repeat this section now" or "we're moving on to something new now."
For a verse riff, this could be thought of as a rhythmic figure that you play for each chord, kind of like a bass line. Specifically, you could write a bass line, but for guitar to play instead of chords! For example. You could play R 5 R 3 for each chord instead of actually strumming the chord and you'd be playing a riff instead of a rhythm part. If you're sticking to a set pattern per chord, I tend to think of that as a vamp, which is just a more specific term under the umbrella of "riff." But not everyone uses the word that specifically so watch out.
Mixolydian
This week's Community Challenge is to write something in Mixolydian. That's it! You can either stick to exclusively mixolydian the entire time, or you can write in a Major Key (or even minor if you wanna get fancy) and use Mixolydian substitutions.
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I, ii, V and vi Progression
A few weeks ago I issued the first community challenge where I asked Patrons on the community forum to write a chord progression using only the I, ii, V and vi chords. Those of you who participated wrote some AMAZING, fun, and beautiful music.
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