Even More Tips for Writing Ambient Chord Progressions

Hi, this is Pedro, and this is Part 2 video for even more tips on how to write ambient chord progressions. And with no further ado, let's dive right in. We'll be covering the use of chord inversions as a consequence of voice leading, how to use note coloring to create harmonies, to make use of drones with other repeating elements, and to create ideas that evolve over time. Let's go. For those of you who don't know,

a chord inversion is when you use a different base note on the chord other than the expected tonic. But which chord inversion to choose? In the context of a chord progression? Each chord inversion has a sound to it, but the idea here is to use it in a way that helps us to create a good transition to the next chord. With that said, try to think of the base melodic movement as an almost separate entity that doesn't have to be bound to the regular chord inversion

possibilities. Instead, look for strong melodic movement from the base and the aim at proceeding to the next chord in fourths, fifths, ascending or descending. Or approach it by stepwise movement, whole or half from above or below. Let me show you what I mean in the next examples, where the upper harmonic structure, the chords will remain the same throughout.

As you heard in these 4 examples, creating more melodic lines in the bass also works for the purposes of connecting chords and with the added bonus of creating surprise harmonic colors that otherwise you wouldn't be expecting.

This next technique is another option if you're having difficulty in escaping the use of standard chord progressions or functional harmony relationships. In ambient chord progressions, it is common that the goal is to play with colors or moods. So the idea is that you choose whatever chord that will convey a certain mood or emotion, using a note as a reference to make it easier to understand. Think of a hanging note that you will use to explore the several

moods that it could have. Now your focus is to play with the chord qualities where that note lives. That hanging note can be placed on the top or at the middle of the harmonies that you are going to create. And remember that you don't need to think about chords in key. Instead, think of this note as being the suss 2, the third, the 7th, or the 11th of the chord quality you choose. Here are some examples. This is basically cycling through different colors over that specific note.

And now you could definitely take some of these colors that you now have and rearrange them in any way you like. In my case I like this sequence. And Speaking of hanging notes, let's talk about drones. In a previous video, to which

I'll put the link in the description, I talked about using pedal notes, which is akin to using drones. However, the latter is used for much longer periods of time. A drone can be a pitch or even a cord that supports everything else you throw on top of it, a stable base for you to work with. But how do you avoid getting

bored by that relentless sound? One of the ways is to engage in the creation of different harmonic colors using the previous technique of note coloring, but another is to explore modal harmonies with this drone in fifths. Or using model mixture in more of a melodic approach. And of course, since we are jumping from different modes,

why not borrow some chords? Another idea that I'll introduce so that you can avoid drone boredom is to layer elements that can also be repetitive by nature, and they may come and go as you wish in order to create a buildup, increase or decrease tension. You're in control. And that leads us to it is not uncommon in ambient music to

hear an idea that seems to be evolving throughout the section towards a climax. But when you set out to create this effect, sometimes you may get stuck in the process of getting there. I'm going to show you an approach that you can immediately apply in your music, and it is very simple and effective, I think. So what we want is a climax section with a musical idea, which is now presented in its complete form, completely developed. And this is where you want to

start. Instead of working towards the climax section, compose it first and then deconstruct it by taking away elements. Simplify it, in other words. Here are the examples of how this could happen. First, I'll show you the final form of the melody with the arrangement. And now how I got there.

I'm starting with the stripped down version of the whole thing and then I basically add layers that are used as ostinatos as the music proceeds and also other textures like pads or bases that are present in the final form of the arrangement. It's like slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together and make the music piece grow in that manner. For the sake of the video, this piece evolves a bit faster than I would like, but I think this way I can also get my point

across. And that's it, we reached the

end of Part 2 for tips on how to write ambient chord progressions. I hope you enjoyed this miniseries. I'll put the links in the description for the other two videos in case you missed any. If you have more tips like this, I would love to see them in the comments section. Share with the community and in the description you'll also find links to the blog, the Beyond Music Theory book, online lessons, courses, the whole thing to help you progress in your musicals.

As always, don't forget to like and subscribe for more videos like this. Thanks for watching and until next time.