Basics

Melodies

Notes

• Grace notes: rhythmic, short notes, that occur immediately before the main notes of the melody.
• Passing notes: harmonic, short notes a step outside the main note of the melody.
• Leaps: big gaps in pitches in the melodies. They signify congratulatory, excitement, euphoria, happiness. Love themes.

Contour

The shape the notes make in the piano roll.

• Smooth: Calm and floaty.
• Jagged: Hectic and out of control.
• Stepping: Secure and safe.

Articulation

• Staccato: Tense or playful. Slow minor keys will be tense, fast major key happy and playful.
• Pizzicato: Curious and mischief in minor. Fast and energetic in major.
• Tremolo: Fear and danger.
• Vibrato: Strong emotions. Use for sad or love.

Continuation of the line

Repeat the melody in a different octave. Usually sounds adventurous, like the notes themselves exploring the space.

Basslines

They can make or break a melody. And not in the bad sense. Strong basslines are going to communicate stability and security, while weak basslines are going to reflect vulnerability, nervousness and insecurity.

• Strong: Playing the root note of the chord.
• Weak: Playing other note than the root. But you can argue that you are changing the chord here.

Drones

A sustained note played throughout the piece. They create a strong bassline, but are going to emphasize the loneliness, so work better with sad tones.

Pedal notes

Long sustained notes that vary slowly. Use them wisely as they will make the sound static.

Rhythm

• Steady: Strong.
• Syncopated: Weak.

Harmonies

They are accompaning the melodies. And can introduce and vary the chords.

• Strong notes: 3rd, 4th and 5th.
• Weak notes: 2nd, 6th and 7th.

Chords

Chords are represented as roman numerals, to represent the position of the chord on the scale. The numerals are uppercase for the major chords and lower case for the minor. I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and viiº.

Chords can be inverted – they are then named a, b, and c. For example, the IV chord will have inversions IVa, IVb, IVc. The first inversion is the root note in the bass, second with the second, and third with the highest pitch as the bass of the chord. The first inversion is strong, but sounds basic for it being the chord's default position. The second is the weakest of the inversion and help bridging the song in pieces, it wants to resolve somewhere. The third inversion is the brightest of them and might be strong.

The chords also can be augmented (aug) or diminished (dim). They can be also be noted with + and º.

There are chords with additional notes 7th, 6th, flat 5th, and... add9 with add11. First thought might be – where are the 2nds and 4ths? – and the answer is that they sound pretty bad. If you want to make something similar, you instead add the same notes an octave above and it will be more sounding.

You can also add the 2nd and 4th notes, but you need to remove the second note of the chord and it will result in an suspended chord.

Chords emotions

• Major: Happy.
• Minor: Sad.
• Augmented: Magical, nervous, curious.
• Diminshed: "Devil's chord", dark and creepy.
• 7th:
• 6th:
• flat5th: Dark, but can be playful.
• add9:
• add11: Magic and enchanted.
• sus2: Suspenseful, wants to be resolved.
• sus4: Suspenseful, wants to be resolved.

Chords progressions

A solid way to think about chord progressions is the movements between the chords. You have their positions in the scale I to viiº, which determine their strength. But also there's the arriving at these chords that will provide the message of what chords we arrive at.

You can move from a chord using 4ths, 3rds and 2nds.

Move by a 4th is the strongest movement. It means you are targetting the destination chord – you really move there.

The movement by a 2nd will not be as strong, but there is a sense of equal power between the chords and it keeps some of the momentum.

Finally, with a 3rd we are going for the weakest movement, almost feeling like we never left the initial chord.

Movements to chords outside the key will also be included into this characterization.

Rhythms

• Triplets/Tribrach: Adventure, heightened sense of energy.
• Marching: Battle feel.
• Sword fight: Random, sporadic chaotic.
• Trochee:
• Iamb:
• Dactyl:
• Anapest:
• Spondee:

Moods in music

Human emotions

Musical keys

These are broad strokes of what you can get out of a key. To keep in mind these are more akin to color guides as to the sky is blue (not always) and the earth is green (almost never).

• C Major: bright, foundational, direct. For piano, strings, beginners.
• C Minor: dramatic, resolute, intense. For orchestra, piano, strings.
• Db Major: lyrical, warm, expansive. For piano, horns, voice.
• Db Minor: introspective, deep, searching. For piano, strings.
• D Major: brilliant, triumphant, assertive. For trumpets, violins, full orchestra.
• D Minor: noble, serious, stately. For organ, strings, full orchestra.
• Eb Major: heroic, rich, sonorous. For brass, orchestra, piano.
• Eb Minor: complex, shadowed, intense. For piano, strings.
• E Major: radiant, penetrating, bright. For guitar, strings, piano.
• E Minor: eloquent, expressive, fluid. For guitar, violin, voice.
• F Major: pastoral, flowing, natural. For horns, woodwinds, piano.
• F Minor: dramatic, passionate, storm-like. For piano, orchestra.
• F# Major: brilliant, crystalline, sharp. For piano, harp.
• F# Minor: dark, brooding, intense. For piano, strings.
• G Major: pastoral, open, flowing. For strings, woodwinds, voice.
• G Minor: dramatic, reflective, agile. For violin, piano, orchestra.
• Ab Major: warm, ethereal, floating. For piano, voice.
• Ab Minor: complex, mysterious, veiled. For piano, strings.
• A Major: brilliant, clear, direct. For strings, piano, orchestra.
• A Minor: graceful, lyric, delicate. For piano, guitar, strings.
• Bb Major: smooth, mellow, flowing. For woodwinds, brass, orchestra.
• Bb Minor: somber, rich, intricate. For piano, strings.
• B Major: sharp, brilliant, energetic. For piano, violin.
• B Minor: introspective, personal, refined. For violin, piano, voice.

Instrumentation

• Acoustic Guitar: humble, warm, intimate, humility, contentment. folk, country, indie
• Brass Section: energetic, bold, powerful, excitement, triumph, fanfare. orchestral, jazz, marching band
• Clean Electric Guitar: melancholic, atmospheric, anguish, solitude. rock, jazz, ambient
• Distorted Guitar: aggressive, powerful, intense, power, strength, anger. rock, metal, alternative
• Drums: excitement, tension, panic. Slow drums will be safe and unease.
• French Horn: noble, solemn, majestic, accomplishment, loneliness, solitude. orchestral, film scoring
• Glockenspeil: childlike, innocent, playful.
• Horns: inspiration, effort, loneliness, accomplishment.
• Lion's Roar (modified bass drum with rope): raring, bestial, dramatic. Film sound effects, orchestral effects.
• Marimba: playful, bright, cheerful, happiness, lightness. orchestral, world music
• Oboe: pastoral, characterful, expressive, duck calls, character pieces. orchestral, chamber music
• Piano: romantic, mellow, versatile, contentment, romance. classical, jazz, pop
• Piccolo/Flute: light, airy, naturalistic, bird calls, chirping, pastoral scenes. orchestral, chamber music
• Pipe Organ: majestic, overwhelming, spiritual, power, fury, joy. classical, religious, gothic
• Solo Cello: soulful, melancholic, rich, sadness, depth. classical, film scoring
• Synthesizers: mechanical, complex, modern, chaos, speed, sophistication. electronic, experimental
• Trombone: versatile, animalistic, expressive, elephant calls, growls, glissando effects. orchestral, jazz, film scoring
• Trumpet: bright, whimsical, character-driven, horse neighs, special effects. orchestral, comedy, film scoring
• Violin/Strings: emotional, delicate, expressive, cold, sadness, tranquility, joy. orchestral, chamber music, film scoring

Leitmotif

Recurring musical ideas. You can create memories in the listener. They represent something on the game.

The development of a motif should happen with the idea it is trying to connect it to. A motif in major key associated to a happy scene or character, can be changed to a minor key when the character is sad.

There are inumerous ways of changing the motif and still getting back to the same musical idea, and it's not because it's not explicit sounding that it won't be understood by the people.