writing songs with diatonics

Are you playing the chords (I)G, (V)D, (iii)Bm, (IV)C or just the notes. By the sounds of it you're playing single notes. I like to class the notes in a diatonic scale by (1) (2) (3)...

(1) is the best sounding note over that chord (the root note, in the key of G this note is G).

(2) is the 3rd & 5th notes to the scale in that chord (in the key of G these notes are B-3rd & D-5th) remember the 1st-3rd-5th notes of any major scale makes up the chord.

(3) is every other note in that scale (in the key of "G" A-2nd, C-4th, E-6th, F#-7th)

As a simple rule, start and finish your riff on the (1) root note, you can't go wrong. The (2) notes are your next best bet. Since these are the other two notes that make up the chord you're playing over, then these two notes in any order will also sound good. All (3) notes I regard as passing notes, they are still in the key but have the most potential to sound bad.

This method is all good and fine over the one chord "G", but if you now change to the next chord in your song e.g. "D" the (1) (2) (3) theory goes out the window because the (1) & (2) are over a "G" chord. What you now have to do is make the (1) over the scale of "D" so it is now a "D-1st" note, the (2) is the 3rd & 5th of the "D" chord (F#-3rd, E-5th). Remember, you're still playing the the key of "G". The 1st-3rd-5th notes of a "D" major chord you'll find are the 5th-7th-2nd notes in the "G" major scale.

If you fully understand key signatures then this will make alot more sense.

You can always learn more at http://www.guitartutoronline.com

It's fine to use Guitartutoronline's method, but you won't be using diatonics if you do.

A diatonic scale has only one note of each letter name - so if your scale has the F note, you won't also have an F# note. If you move the riff to scale tones, you end up leaving the diatonic scale.

Example: riff G-B-D-C-A-B-G over the I chord (1-3-5-4-2-3-1 in scale degree terms) becomes D-F#-A-G-E-F#-A over the V chord, B-D-F#-E-C#-D-B over the iii (1-b3-5-4-2-b3-1), and C-E-G-F-D-E-C over the IV. Line up all those notes and you get:

G-A-B-C-C#-D-E-F#

with two 'C' notes - C natural and C#.

You'll also find it sounds rather boring, since you're only transposing the riff into different keys.

Music is supposed to have tension and release; that's what gives it interest. If you're going to approach it by moving a riff, sticking to the diatonic scale notes would mean playing the last riff C-E-G-F#-D-E-C over the C chord... the raised 4th against the chord will give you tension.

Another way to approach it is to alter your riff so that each riff ends on a chord tone for the next chord. If your G chord is followed by D, end it on D, F#, or A - since these aren't notes in the G chord, your riff will sound unresolved, but that's ok - you'll hold the last note into the next chord, and go on from there (in harmony terms, this is called a suspension - not the same thing as a suspended chord)

Approaching a solo by using a target tone from the next chord will make you more aware of the underlying harmony of a tune. It's more complicated than just thinking about root tones, but it will make your music more interesting.

Yes sorry I was trying to get out of explaining it in to much detail. I didn't mean to simply move the same riff from the 1st position then the 5th then 3rd and so on. To do this would be boring, as it has been done to death in the 50's & 60's with old rock and roll songs. To understand what NoteBoat is saying it helps to understand these first, remember all info below is just a summary and it may even be an idea to buy a book like NoteBoat's to get a full understanding…

The formation of a major scale - It is important to understand how a major scale is made up. Remember a tone (T) is a two fret move and a semitone (S) is a one fret move. A major scale is made up of 8 notes, the 8th note being the octave. Usually books will write the 8 steps of the scale in roman numerals like this I II III IV V VI VII VIII. Putting the correct spaces in between T-T-S-T-T-T-S will construct a major scale I (T) II (T) III (S) IV (T) V (T) VI (T) VII (S) VIII

Key signatures (all keys) – Starting the above pattern from any note, then following it strictly will give you the notes in that major scale e.g.

starting from “C” C-(T)-D-(T)-E-(S)-F-(T)-G-(T)-A-(T)-B-(S)-C
starting from “G” G-(T)-A-(T)-B-(S)-C-(T)-D-(T)-E-(T)-F#-(S)-G.

See how the G Major scale has one sharp in it (F#). So it is now said that C Major scale is all natural (no sharps or flats). The G Major scale has one sharp, and if we go in order D-2#'s, A-3#'s, E-4#'s, B-5#'s.

Chords used in that key – Mostly everything in music has a formula, a major scale T-T-S-T-T-T-S, a minor scale T-S-T-T-S-T-T, a major chord 1st-3rd-5th of the major scale. Now to work out what chords go over any major scale you'll use this formula 1st (Major) 2nd (Minor) 3rd (Minor) 4th (Major) 5th (Major) 6th (Minor) 7th (Diminished). In the key of C you would commonly find these chords together Cmaj Dm Em Fmaj Gmaj Am Bdim. If you worked out all the notes making up these chords you would find that none of them contain a sharp or flat

C Major (C-E-G)
D Minor (D-F-G)
E Minor (E-G-B)
F Major (F-A-C)
G Major (G-B-D)
A Minor (A-C-E)
B Diminished (B-D-F)

That means that if we played any of these chords in any order and played any note from the C Major scale over the top of them then it should all sound good… Wrong! There are once again formulas that sit over the top of this music formula again. And this is what ‘I think' NoteBoat is talking about with tension and release.

Well my typing fingers are getting sore and I think these answers clearly show that the question wasn't all that simple without judging where you're at with your theory SteveoBoutToRock!

NoteBoat, do you have you're book in PDF format where I could buy it then download it or is it just in paper format? If not have you ever thought of making it into a website?

No, it's only available in paper... I doubt I'll go .pdf in the future because of security concerns - if people can e-mail it around free, how do I make a living :)

Too true! You should convert it to a website and encript the entire website so that it can't be downloaded, that's what I've done with mine. The smart ones could probably get around it but they're to busy with bigger fish I think!

I'm in Australia, is it over here anywhere?

We might lead this discussion away from this forum, you can email me at danpoole@guitartutoronline.com

You may want to talk to Kirk too.

He has a two fold encryption policy on his web site, a rotating password to the download location and a specific name and password on your personal copy of the PDF.