Hello revolutionary music makers, I’m Kate Harmony, this is Ray Harmony, and it’s time
to open your DAW to hack music theory.
But first… tea!
German producer TheFatRat dropped his new single “Chosen” this month, which definitely
avoids Spotify’s infamous five-second skip rate, as a mere four seconds into the track
there’s an extremely unexpected note in the melody that’s totally thrilling.
At first it sounds like he’s changing the quality of the root chord from major to minor,
cos after establishing E as the root, the melody moves from G♯ (3) to G♮ (♭3),
making it sound like Emaj has become Em.
But, next the melody hits C♮ (instead of C♯), which reveals the chord has actually
become Cmaj (not Em). This is an ingenious illusion, as he emphasizes the melodic movement
from G♯ to G♮ in order to trick our ears into thinking the root chord quality has changed!
Alright, now you’re gonna learn how to use this theory to make your own version, and
what you see on the screen right now is our version that we made earlier.
So, start by setting up four bars of 4/4, with your grid set to 1/32 notes, and your
tempo set to 95 BPM. As you already know, “Chosen” is in the key of E major (with
a couple of non-diatonic notes), so we’ll use E major as well.
And by the way, a non-diatonic note is just a note that is not in the scale.
Also, these dark notes below our melody are the root notes of the chords in our progression
(which are on another track).
These root notes are all muted, they’re just there for reference. And no, this is
not our bass line, that’s a different melody.
Step 1 - The Chords
First things first, you need to write your chord progression. Choosing your chords before
you write your melody will allow you to outline that harmony in your melody, which will make
it more structured and therefore more memorable.
So there’s only a few guidelines here: play Emaj in your first bar (to establish it as
the root chord), and play Cmaj in your third bar.
Also, after you’ve played the Cmaj, keep using those non-diatonic notes C♮ and G♮
until the end of your progression. For example, use Am (as it contains C♮) instead of Amaj
(as it contains C♯).
This will make your listeners get used to those non-diatonic notes, then when you loop
around and hit that Emaj, they’ll be surprised to hear G♯ again, which will keep ‘em
interested!
And by the way, if you’re new to music theory and all of this is a bit confusing, then download
our free book “12 Music Theory Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords”.
It only takes 30 minutes to read, then you’ll have a super solid theory foundation!
Step 2 - The Melody
TheFatRat uses 1/32 notes (with a rest after each note), which makes his melody super perky,
so we’ll do the same.
So, start by outlining the Emaj triad, then to keep it fresh, throw in a note (or two)
that is not in the triad but is in the scale (like D♯).
Then use the same approach over your other chords. And be sure to emphasize the G♯
moving to G♮ when the Cmaj chord hits.
Also, don’t play C♮ in your melody until you get to the Cmaj, otherwise that’ll ruin
the surprise of that totally unexpected chord.
Okay, so now that you’ve got one section down, how do you write the other sections?
How do you transition between them (especially when they’re in different keys)?
And, how do you structure and arrange your song?
These are issues that many songwriters and producers struggle with, and that’s exactly
why we made our online apprenticeship course.
So if you wanna overcome these obstacles once and for all, then sign up now at HackMusicTheory.com
Alright, now let’s have a listen to our unpredictable melody!
But just before the final playthrough, if there’s an artist you’d like us to hack,
let us know in the comments below.
And if you wanna download the multitrack MIDI file from this lesson so you can check out
the other tracks in our final example, which includes the chord progression and bass line,
then download our lesson pack (the link is below).
You’ll also get a PDF guide and a WAV mix of the final music.
In the meantime though, if you wanna keep learning how to make great music that stands
out, then we’ve got a lesson on how to write exotic melodies coming next.
So just click that video when it pops up in a few seconds, and we’ll meet you there!