Chord Progression - How to Layer Notes

Hi,



I am new to chord progression…



very simply…if I want to layer a note, how do I know what notes can be played at the same time…for example, if the chords go D# then G# then D#…what notes can I play along with the first D# to make it sound fuller and bigger (etc. and what can be played along with a G#, and A#…etc)



How do I know what notes can be played!

I am not sure if I completely understand your question but I think you are asking how to make chords out of the notes you have chosen. chords are generally what are called triads. this is three notes that define the chord. the usual patterns are:



major triad: 1, 3, 5

minor triad: 1, b3, 5

diminished triad: 1,b3,b5.



I am trying to figure out how to explain this without making this a long theory post so for your example.(which btw, are rough examples)



the D# scale is

D#-E#-F##-G#-A#-B#-C## (see, this is a tricky scale to work with)



so you have:

1 - D#, 3 - F##, A#



So your chord would be



D#, G (F## is a whole step above F so G) and A#



you can do that same pattern with any note. Take the scale of the note, find the 1, 3, 5 and there you have the chord.



I will say that SA has some excellent tutorials on music theory that do a much better job of explaining this than I did. I would highly recommend watching them.



-r

Thanks!



So how do you know what bass you can play with each triad…?

generally the bass plays the root note. for instance, with the D#, the bass will play D#. however, you can actually move that around. if you play the G in the bass you have a first inversion of the chord. if you play the A#, it’s a second inversion.



-r