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Topic starter
31/12/2005 1:43 am
Anybody got any sad sounding chords they wanna share? I want to write a song that is sad, like. But i only know a couple what i really would like is to find some new ones. please give me fret numbers of any you post so it will be easier for me to try them out. thanks.
I want to write a song about a baby who never got born. Lost during pregnancy.
31/12/2005 2:02 am
A lot of my chords sound really sad :(
I wanted to learn to play guitar really badly and I think that I have succeeded.
31/12/2005 2:06 am
'sadness' isn't based on the chord but on intervals: an A-minor doesn't sound more or less sad then a B-minor as it has the same intervals. What you'd really want to do is start by picking a key to play in. For example, Am. You'd find these basic chords fit well with it:
Am-Bm/b5-C-Dm-Em-F-G
Now you'd probably want to use the Dm and Em chords as they are the 4th and 5th. Then take it from there to whatever you feel like. Note that this holds for every key, Am-Em-Dm-Em isn't more or less sad then Em-Bm-Am-Bm.
Final note: cooky-cutter approaches like this get lame real fast but they are a nice introduction to some basic 'properties' of music. Good luck!
31/12/2005 2:07 am
D minor is the saddest chord I know
(X00231)
(I pray that you are OK and that the song is not drawn from your own direct experience.)
Respectfully,
Ghost Rider :(
"Colour made the grass less green..." 3000 miles, Tracy Chapman
Topic starter
31/12/2005 2:13 am
what do you mean by cookie-cutter lame?
I'm trying to write a song about a really sad experience. I just want to get some Ideals. some direction, try to find some new chords I may not have heard before. I want some thing different. I don't care how hard they are to play.
But I will try your suggestions. even though, i've already played with my chord vocabular and all those you mentioned are already in there. I'm not really looking for basic, maybe some basic to go whith some I haven't heard before. that's what I'm looking for.
Topic starter
31/12/2005 2:18 am
D minor is the saddest chord I know
(X00231)
(I pray that you are OK and that the song is not drawn from your own direct experience.)
Respectfully,
Ghost Rider :(
Thank you very much for your kind words. Yes that Dm is one i want to use. and Yes it is from a direct experience. Been trying for 10 years and then, the tube exploded and had to have emergency surgery. Lost it all. I'm ok, just want to write about it for healing.
Thank you again!
31/12/2005 2:21 am
I mean that my approach (grab a minor key, take the root, 4th and 5th) is really way overdone and boring and was just used as an idea. You might want to run each type of chord to see how it sounds, each one is based on an A:
A
A7
A7M
Am
Am7
Asus2
Asus4
Aaug
Adim
Once you've found a few you like you can try them with different roots and use them in your song. But since you already have an idea for your song you might want to reverse your writing process: start with the lyrics and main melody and find the chords that fit to it.
Take care...
31/12/2005 2:34 am
You can take a simple G C D progression and write the sadest song anyone ever heard. It's more about timing, spacing, rests, sustain and things like that, than the chords you use.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
Topic starter
31/12/2005 2:34 am
ok, that makes since.
31/12/2005 2:47 am
I'm really sorry to hear that, bonzo! My thoughts are with you and yours. :(
I hope you find what you need and get your project off the ground.
:( :( :(
Mike
31/12/2005 3:04 am
You can take a simple G C D progression and write the sadest song anyone ever heard. It's more about timing, spacing, rests, sustain and things like that, than the chords you use.
An example of timing, spacing, sustain, and telling silences between phrases, think "My Heart Will Go On" as sung by Celine Dion. One of the saddest songs I know.
Ghost :(
"Colour made the grass less green..." 3000 miles, Tracy Chapman
31/12/2005 3:09 am
As Arjen said, sometimes it's not the chords themselves but the intervals, and as Tim said, the spacing, sustain, etc. One of the best examples of this is the little guitar lick that permeates Shine On You Crazy Diamond:
E - - - - - - - - 0 - - -
B - - - 6 - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - 0 - - - - - -
D - 8 - - - - - - - - - -
A - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - -
Now you can call this a chord and give it many names (a variation of Gm7(#13) usually gets the nod), but the sadness of this is the way the ringing notes react to one another. In essence, it's just a Bb5 (Bb and F) played against the ringing G and E strings and it sounds sadder than anything imaginable.
Chords are a great place to start, but also look at playing sounds against each other instead of trying to make them all fit nicely together. Going for more arpeggios and broken chords may give your sadness more of the voice you want than your standard chords.
Another thing is to work chord progressions against each other. Playing a regular Em may sound sad, but it sounds a lot sadder if it comes after an Fmaj7, for instance.
Hope this helps and I'd like to add my wishes to you and your family.
Peace
31/12/2005 7:25 am
Just don't go around telling people that you think Dm is the saddest of all keys or they may take it for a spinal tap reference.
A hoopy frood knows where his towel is....
31/12/2005 6:36 pm
020300
it's an em7 with an augmented 4th. resolves to an em pretty nicely.
Topic starter
31/12/2005 11:15 pm
cool thanks guys. I was having a brain fart, but now, you have all given me some fresh ideals and avenues to pursue.
I was thinking about taking some chords and picking through them as well as using maybe a few full chords on say maybe a chorus section.
Sometimes i have to just wait out inspiration and get it when it shows up.
I will try out all these variations.
Thanks again to you all and for all the kind words.
means alot!
:)
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