Dark sounding chords

[fruxelot]

Hey guys - Im looking for chords similar to these chords below , they have a sort of "darker" sound to them. Contribute if you like!

-----------------

D
A
F - - - - -5
C 8 - 7 - 0 - - - 5
G 6 - 5 - 6 - 5 - 3
C 5 - 3 - 5 - 1 - 2

-----------------

This band literally describes what kinds of chords im looking for

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvhSKPAmnnY

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

You're in triad land. Here are the chords you wrote (lowest pitch to highest):

F D♭ A♭ - D♭
E♭ C G - Cm
F D♭ C B♭ - B♭m(add9)
D♭ C - Not a chord, per se. A dyad, if you want. The interval is a major seventh. Perhaps connected to the last chord.
D B♭ F - B♭

From the song, I think you like the sound of minor chord progressions and voicings that have more emphasis on thirds than, say, fifths. A lot of times, people get lazy with voicing and voice leading, but perhaps your ear is into that. Really quickly, I wrote a chord progression in the key of D minor. I haven't played it myself, as I don't want to retune my guitar, but I think it should be playable, since it looks like it sits fairly easily in my own hand. Let me know if anything in here sparks your interest, and I'll tell you more about it:

D-
A-----------0-0-0
F-----0-4---4---0
C-9-7-2-3-7-7-7--
G-7-6-4-5-3-7-6-7
C-5-4-2-6-7-8-9-10

 

[fruxelot]

You're in triad land. Here are the chords you wrote (lowest pitch to highest):

F D♭ A♭ - D♭
E♭ C G - Cm
F D♭ C B♭ - B♭m(add9)
D♭ C - Not a chord, per se. A dyad, if you want. The interval is a major seventh. Perhaps connected to the last chord.
D B♭ F - B♭

From the song, I think you like the sound of minor chord progressions and voicings that have more emphasis on thirds than, say, fifths. A lot of times, people get lazy with voicing and voice leading, but perhaps your ear is into that. Really quickly, I wrote a chord progression in the key of D minor. I haven't played it myself, as I don't want to retune my guitar, but I think it should be playable, since it looks like it sits fairly easily in my own hand. Let me know if anything in here sparks your interest, and I'll tell you more about it:

D-
A-----------0-0-0
F-----0-4---4---0
C-9-7-2-3-7-7-7--
G-7-6-4-5-3-7-6-7
C-5-4-2-6-7-8-9-10

Hey man - yeah i know that it's somewhat kind of triad-chords. In my ear i love this kind of chords. I will try them when i get off from work and can sit with my guitar. Please tell me more if you wish too, im willing to listen and learn!

Edit :
But isn't the chords i wrote major chords? They "sound" major to me... haha.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Edit :
But isn't the chords i wrote major chords? They "sound" major to me... haha.

Some of them are, some of them aren't. I'm also going by the tonal language of the music in the song you posted. In tonal harmony, a diatonic system will have a mixture of different triad qualities. In other words, any given key, whether it is major or minor, will contain major, minor, and diminished triads in some arrangement.

Here's the key of C major: C Dm Em F G Am B°

If you look at the chord qualities, it goes "M m m M M m d". This is the same pattern for all major keys. Here's D major: D Em F#m G A Bm C#°

Once again, "M m m M M m d".

We analyze keys and chord progressions by using a numbering system that also takes chord quality into account. So, "M m m M M m d" turns into "I ii iii IV V vi vii°". This way, we can say we want a "iii ii V I" progression in any key, and we can make it knowing that it's the same pattern, no matter which key we're in. Here's that progression in a number of major keys:

E♭: Gm Fm B♭ E♭
C: Em Dm G C
E: G#m F#m B E

All are iii ii V I.

In minor keys, it's a bit different. We still use the numerals, but we have to deal with the extra notes that occur in the minor mode. Here's A natural minor: Am B° C Dm Em F G

i ii° III iv v VI VII, right? Well, we like to raise that G to a G# to get harmonic minor. The new chords, for A harmonic minor: Am B° C+ Dm E F G#°

i ii° III+ iv V VI vii°. Now we have a mixture of major, minor, diminished, AND augmented triads. However, that augmented triad is weird, so we throw away C+ for plain old C. Here's the half-harmonic/half-natural minor now: Am B° C Dm E F G#°

The chords in red are those that are affected by harmonic minor.

The order of major/minor/diminished chords determines things like key, and will have an impact on how a passage is emotionally received.

 

[fruxelot]

Some of them are, some of them aren't. I'm also going by the tonal language of the music in the song you posted. In tonal harmony, a diatonic system will have a mixture of different triad qualities. In other words, any given key, whether it is major or minor, will contain major, minor, and diminished triads in some arrangement.

Here's the key of C major: C Dm Em F G Am B°

If you look at the chord qualities, it goes "M m m M M m d". This is the same pattern for all major keys. Here's D major: D Em F#m G A Bm C#°

Once again, "M m m M M m d".

We analyze keys and chord progressions by using a numbering system that also takes chord quality into account. So, "M m m M M m d" turns into "I ii iii IV V vi vii°". This way, we can say we want a "iii ii V I" progression in any key, and we can make it knowing that it's the same pattern, no matter which key we're in. Here's that progression in a number of major keys:

E♭: Gm Fm B♭ E♭
C: Em Dm G C
E: G#m F#m B E

All are iii ii V I.

In minor keys, it's a bit different. We still use the numerals, but we have to deal with the extra notes that occur in the minor mode. Here's A natural minor: Am B° C Dm Em F G

i ii° III iv v VI VII, right? Well, we like to raise that G to a G# to get harmonic minor. The new chords, for A harmonic minor: Am B° C+ Dm E F G#°

i ii° III+ iv V VI vii°. Now we have a mixture of major, minor, diminished, AND augmented triads. However, that augmented triad is weird, so we throw away C+ for plain old C. Here's the half-harmonic/half-natural minor now: Am B° C Dm E F G#°

The chords in red are those that are affected by harmonic minor.

The order of major/minor/diminished chords determines things like key, and will have an impact on how a passage is emotionally received.

Face was melt.

I have to be completley honest with you , my theory of guitar and music is VERY limited and i didn't understand so much at all for that im afraid haha

Is there any way you could tab it out the changes for me? i think i'll be able to vizualise the concept of it better.

and... i assure you I need to to some theory homework.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Got something in standard tuning lying around? I can figure out something that will work in whatever tuning you are most comfortable in, but I'm working on a funk chart right now that I want to get done before I go to bed tonight, so my procrastination is going to be very minimal here.

C Major:

e-
b-
G-0-2-4-5-7--9--11-12
D-2-3-5-7-9--10-12-14
A-3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15
E-

Those chords are, respectively, C Dm Em F G Am B° C, or I ii iii IV V vi vii° I.

C Natural Minor

e-
b-
G-0-1-3-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-8--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-13-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭ Fm Gm A♭ B♭ Cm, i ii° III iv v VI VII i.

C harmonic minor

e-
b-
G-0-1-4-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-9--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-14-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭+ Fm G A♭ B° Cm, i ii° III+ iv V VI vii° i

And this is the minor we use in chord progressions, which has the major III from natural minor:

e-
b-
G-0-1-3-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-9--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-14-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭ Fm G A♭ B° Cm, i ii° III iv V VI vii° i.

 

[fruxelot]

Got something in standard tuning lying around? I can figure out something that will work in whatever tuning you are most comfortable in, but I'm working on a funk chart right now that I want to get done before I go to bed tonight, so my procrastination is going to be very minimal here.

C Major:

e-
b-
G-0-2-4-5-7--9--11-12
D-2-3-5-7-9--10-12-14
A-3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15
E-

Those chords are, respectively, C Dm Em F G Am B° C, or I ii iii IV V vi vii° I.

C Natural Minor

e-
b-
G-0-1-3-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-8--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-13-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭ Fm Gm A♭ B♭ Cm, i ii° III iv v VI VII i.

C harmonic minor

e-
b-
G-0-1-4-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-9--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-14-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭+ Fm G A♭ B° Cm, i ii° III+ iv V VI vii° i

And this is the minor we use in chord progressions, which has the major III from natural minor:

e-
b-
G-0-1-3-5-7--8--10-12
D-1-3-5-6-9--10-12-13
A-3-5-6-8-10-11-14-15
E-

^ Cm D° E♭ Fm G A♭ B° Cm, i ii° III iv V VI vii° i.

Thanks man - i'll think i'll understand it a bit better now... i just got confused by this stuff "i ii° III iv V VI vii° i" haha...

I'll check it out when i get home - i can understand that some people dont fancy these kinds of chords. but i really dig the hardcore band i pasted in the post

If you are intrested they have their 2nd full album recently released

 

[fruxelot]

What i even might be looking for is kind of "different" kind of grips for making triad chords. Not like taking 1 chord and the show it in all its positions in a scale

Hopefully i'll find something new eventually!

 

[celticelk]

What i even might be looking for is kind of "different" kind of grips for making triad chords. Not like taking 1 chord and the show it in all its positions in a scale

Hopefully i'll find something new eventually!

If you have access to it (at a library or are willing to buy it), Jon Damian's book The Chord Factory might be just the thing for you.

 

[fruxelot]

If you have access to it (at a library or are willing to buy it), Jon Damian's book The Chord Factory might be just the thing for you.

Thanks for the tip bro - i'll have a look at it!

Edit:

I checked the local bookstore where i live and they had the book for only 15$~ so im gonna consider to buy it!

 

[bondmorkret]

Try loading up a scale fretboard chart of the diminished scale, and coming up with voicings from that. Some awesome tension in that scale!

 

[meambobbo]

Back to the original post and what SW wrote, there are chord progressions that have their own harmonic effect as well as how each chord is voiced and each voicing is influenced by the previous and next chord in the progression. This is what classical theory is all about.

Suffice it to say there's a lot that could be posted about it, so I'm going to let you pursue that at your own pace. But what you should do to start beyond learning those triad shapes and how they are all diatonic to a particular key is to learn their inversions and bigger voicings where some notes start repeating. In essence, they are the same note names, but in different orders and different chord shapes on the fretboard. Then imagine instead of a single guitar, that each note is being sung by a person. To play the next chord in sequence, each person changes the note they are singing. Depending on the chord currently being sung, each person should move to a particular note in the next chord, not random notes. Let me give you a simple example:

Here is a V - I progression - a very common progression in classical music due to its strong sense of conclusion. The V chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 2nd notes in the scale. So in the key of C, that's G B D. When the 7th is a half step (1 fret) below the tonic note, it is called the major 7th, and both harmonically and melodically, the major seventh tends to resolve into the tonic note. Also, although its a less followed rule for rock music, we avoid moving voices in parallel fifths. So if you have a fifth in the original chord, both notes should not create a fifth in the next chord.

C--11--4-|-11-12-|-11-12--
G--7---0-|-7--12-|-7--9--
C--7---0-|-7--12-|-7--0--

The first example is "bad" for both reasons - the major seventh (11th fret on the high C string) does not resolve up a half step to the tonic note and the other strings move in parallel fifths. The second example is "bad" because even though we are properly voice leading the major seventh, the other notes are moving in parallel fifths. The last example has proper voice leading. If you compare the way all three example sound, you'll notice the progression has more harmonic emphasis in the final example.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

The V chord consists of the 5th, 7th, and 2nd notes in the scale. So in the key of C, that's G B D. When the 7th is a half step (1 fret) below the tonic note, it is called the major 7th, and both harmonically and melodically, the major seventh tends to resolve into the tonic note.

Be careful here. I rarely hear the seventh tone of a major scale referred to as a "major seventh" unless it is being referenced as the seventh of the tonic chord. In the chord, C∆, B is a major seventh above the root. However, in the key of C, B is incontrovertibly the leading tone, particularly in the context of V and vii°. "Major seventh" implies an interval, "leading tone" implies a function. The seventh tone of the major sclae (as well as the harmonic and melodic minor) is called the leading tone because of its perceived desire to resolve to the tonic (which has to do with that half-step relationship, giving us the sense of "almost there").

C--11--4-|-11-12-|-11-12--
G--7---0-|-7--12-|-7--9--
C--7---0-|-7--12-|-7--0--

The first example is "bad" for both reasons - the leading tone (11th fret on the high C string) does not resolve up a half step to the tonic note and the other strings move in parallel fifths. The second example is "bad" because even though we are properly voice leading the leading tone, the other notes are moving in parallel fifths. The last example has proper voice leading. If you compare the way all three example sound, you'll notice the progression has more harmonic emphasis in the final example.

Ditto, though I changed the terminology to be consistent with my previous cautioning. Also, the second chord doesn't have a third in it.

Also, if you want to hear this with minor, all you need to do is change one note from the above:

C--11--3-|-11-12-|-11-12--
G--7---0-|-7--8--|-7--8--
C--7---0-|-7--12-|-7--0--

Once again, the first example has poor voice leading. I put a third in the second cadence to make it more complete, and the last progression is basically the same thing as #2, but with the dominant resolving in the other direction.

 

[redstone]

Use chord progressions which emphasize the tritone.. so mostly minor, dim and dominant 7. If you handle it properly the dom 7 won't break the mood at all even though it's major.


A--------------------3--
F---------4--5---8-----5--
C--8--7----------7--4-----9--
G--7--4--5--6------3--6--8--
C--5--5--3--5---4-----3--5--

 

[meambobbo]

If you ever see any discrepancy between something I post and SchecterWhore, it would be wise of you to defer to SW.

 

[Francis978]

For dark, I personally like the sound of Minor(major7th) chords

e
b 6
G 6
D 3
A 5
E

or this

e
b 6
G 9
D 7
A 8
E

 

[fruxelot]

Use chord progressions which emphasize the tritone.. so mostly minor, dim and dominant 7. If you handle it properly the dom 7 won't break the mood at all even though it's major.


A--------------------3--
F---------4--5---8-----5--
C--8--7----------7--4-----9--
G--7--4--5--6------3--6--8--
C--5--5--3--5---4-----3--5--

Thanks for the tip man - this maybe not be the taste for everybody to play but in the dark-mood-hardcore im playing it fits like a glove!

 

[redstone]

You're welcome ; alas the dominant 7 is vastly underrated in metal music. People tend to use it only in a tonal context (dorian->mixo, dorian#4->phry#3, ionianb3->mixob6 ...), and rather rely on maj7 when going modal, but there's much more to do with the dom7..

Fm->Edom7
Em->Cdom7
Fdom7->Bdom7
Em->Fdom7
And some more..

Those ones will help you to step out of the neoclassical/minor harmo dom7 stuff and open some modern/impressionist doors.

 

[fruxelot]

You're welcome ; alas the dominant 7 is vastly underrated in metal music. People tend to use it only in a tonal context (dorian->mixo, dorian#4->phry#3, ionianb3->mixob6 ...), and rather rely on maj7 when going modal, but there's much more to do with the dom7..

Fm->Edom7
Em->Cdom7
Fdom7->Bdom7
Em->Fdom7
And some more..

Those ones will help you to step out of the neoclassical/minor harmo dom7 stuff and open some modern/impressionist doors.

Thanks - yeah, i know it's quite not very used in either metal or hardcore. but it's nice to use it sometimes.
Here's a chord progression i use for one song i have that i think sounds "dark"

D------------------------
A------------------------
F------------------------
C------------------------
G-3-6-5-1-8-5-5-5-3-1
C-1-5-3-0-7-3-1-0-0-0