How To Write Orchestral Music - Creating Chord Progressions By Ear & Theory Basics

[@squeebbb]

"Let's make this chord sad." Drags one note down "There." Made me laugh for some reason

[@Neeiv]

Same here!!!! 😂😂😂

[@DnkJMusic]

For people who already know the basics 7:22

[@Syandepp]

thank you, bro...

[@m.t.asteriti9860]

I love Alex's enthusiastic face at 11:16

[@franciscoaragao9672]

M. T. Asteriti he is in a trance

[@xotocnemo9997]

@@franciscoaragao9672 That's why he blinks with his right eye first 11:24. His immense trance is causing time dilation.

[@iloveomarvarela2680]

madaka hahahahahha

[@FlyingPetschman]

i know its a few days old BUT ... today i took your piece of music as an idea ... now iam listening to your / mine music and i am blown away... now i am crying (again) and feelin just happy.. Thank you so much! (if musice moves me - i cry ... simple)

[@arnehanna3092]

Alex you've got it. This approach is a great approach. The chords arise as a secondary effect of the movement of lines so you bypass the usual confusion about what to call the chords. Nice work keep it up.

[@Viktor-ec5rh]

You are a natural talent. And you have trained ears. Thank you for helping us beginners I am a singer. I sing Elvis Presley, Joe Cocker, CCR, Billy Idol, the Animals, Tina Turner, Prince,etc. But now I felt in love with Cinematic and Orchestral music. And that`s why I subscibed to your Channel. I just play the cajón and battery,. So I´m a rhythm guy. Now I want to learn melodics. Thanx for your great tutorial videos by the way

[@AlexMoukala]

Here's this week's tutorial! Let me know if this helped you out or if you felt it was too complicated. Also, if you're expert on this subject and have some constructive additions or correction to make, please do!

[@Orchestructive]

As a studied theory person, you got it right a "chords are a group of notes"... and that's about it! :D Nice video! Let me know if you have any quick theory questions you're curious about that I can help answer for you :) Theory is great to take your ear to the next level and it helps with writer's block, as you always have "mechanics" you can use even if your "ear" isn't cooperating at the time!

[@AlexMoukala]

Hey Ryan, thanks for the availability! I'll let you know if I come up with any questions. :)

[@no1wrongen]

Thats not "about it" he goes on to say that they sound good or bad due to the interval, which is exactly right..

[@jymcaputo]

Reading the replies below was interesting. Was that a bit of subtle condescension I noticed or an inside joke? Alex, I've been a performing gigging musician for 50 years writing and playing chord progressions using all kinds of altered chords and modal melodies. But I say, "Big Fucking Deal". WHY? Because all that matters is that you perform your 'musical imagery' at the highest level you can perform it. I've found your finished compositions to be totally inspiring and was in total awe to hear you say you had literally no musical experience just a few short years ago. You make up with creativity, patience, dedication, and above all, PASSION, for all the fancy musical theory you may not yet have incorporated into your "production arsenal". I'll tell ya Alex.....I'm a 60-year-old guy who's tired of lugging a truckload of heavy equipment to unfulfilling gigs that I'm totally tired of playing. You unselfishly share information that has truly moved me. Therefore, I will continue to watch your videos for the inspiration in my quest to learn how to do what you do. YOU ARE QUITE AN AMAZING YOUNG MUSICIAN AND I HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR YOUR SAVVY DEDICATION TO PERFORMING AT A LEVEL GENERALLY RESERVED FOR MUSIC SCHOOL GRADUATES. God bless you in your career efforts.

[@darudeSandstorm.]

If you have two chord progressions in the same key, how can you make it that they make sense one after another? :-)

[@markvalley]

Thank You! Very nice and didactic tutorial. Just one suggestion: put the time when the "second part" starts at the description. 07:38

[@javadasadi3267]

excellent Now I can create my own chords. Thanks for this tutorial My first chord in E minor and a sentence that deserves instant I am proud of the mother who gave birth to you and the son who made his family proud and helped others. Thank you so much Alex

[@gavinfaulkner9873]

02:15, no no. That is called jazz

[@thanasisfergadis6055]

actually didn't sound that bad

[@EternalEvanesce]

Dm7 b5 add 7 if there is such a thing :P

[@devonwiley6618]

Lmao.

[@evelic]

Great tutorial. Please keep them coming, your perspective on music theory is quite simple to understand. Thanks a lot for your effort.

[@Shoefae]

This video is a godsend. I've never seen chord building be explained so clearly. As someone that has been a novice for years, not really knowing what I'm doing, this helped a lot.

[@asamiyashin444]

I think you should explain why you use those notes, what they are in relation to the chord used (fifth, minor third... etc...) and so on.

[@berserker2551]

True,but this guy expkain very good :)

[@jeranx1]

Hi Alex. Only the 6th minutes of this video and I've already learned more than a long time before. Thanx

[@nightmare4eVerr1]

Interesting approach. I can see your more focused on the shapes and intervals visually on the pianoroll and how they change the sound rather than worrying too much about the theory behind it. I think the final piece could still use more changes but thankyou so much for sharing a personal insight on how you approach music

[@robiniqbal9954]

Hi Alex, Can you do a tutorial for creating an epic choir, Thanks.

[@AlexMoukala]

I made one months before publishing this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4HYnYisgN59isU

[@Adrian-ly7by]

Dude i just wanna say you are actually SO GOOD well done and thank you

[@NyuNuubu]

Hi Alex! I really like the content in your channel and it's very educational. I appreciate your effort for explaining everything you do for your tracks. One thing I really would like to see is your workflow from start to finish. Like a short playlist series where you make a short piece from chords to arranging stuff all the way to mixing and mastering. I know it's alot of work to record but I know many people would just love that. Keep up with the amazing stuff you do!

[@newdivide6770]

ocean of knowledge...subbed

[@AlexMoukala]

Thanks for the sub!

[@anthonypullara831]

I had to rewatch this video MORE THAN ONE TIME.

[@EK-ro6pz]

Nice chat Alex! Comfy atmosphere you have at your place. Good and straight forward advices :) continue ahead!

[@AlexMoukala]

Thanks!

[@DNP24]

I'm German but have my theory in English because it's a lot easier to understand😂 you just made something I had trouble understanding for a long time understandable in a matter of minutes🙃 thanks!

[@improvementTime10.3.17]

7:22 after chord knowledge 8:33 highlight scales, very subtle LIGHTER line on the darker window, not on piano keys 10:40 writes chod progression one voice at a time, starting w bass line voice, then builds other higher voices on top 10:50 and thye dont neeed to be uniform, to the voice line of below basss voice, for those other voices on top he chooses them but just staying in the key and listening to what sounds good 12:44 voice of 3rd highest from bass is even more indepdnt 16;20 dont add much variation and rhyhtms to bass or elese will get muddy now he wants to star playing around with variation within each voice, starting w 2nd from bottom 19:35 slower but more fun and experimentl method of writing chord progressions

[@wokecults]

Years later, but thanks. I learned a lot from this video.

[@ChrisCross8]

Great tutorial! I also like to use this method and write each voice separately. I think it results in much more interesting chord progressions. Also you don't need to worry too much about what all of the names of the chords are that way because the most important thing is how all of the voices sound together. It can just be a bit difficult at first to get the right balance. If all of the voices sound too similar it's pretty boring, but if they are too different it can become a big mess, but I think that is just something you need to get better at with practice.

[@B5687367]

I have been looking for film music tutorials for years. I just discovered your tutorials 2 days ago. I have learn't more in those two days than years in other tutorials... :-) big up

[@ProBangers]

For those interested in the technicalities of this chord progression, here they are. My explanations aren't perfect because I only understand scales and basic chords. (Correction made on #4 and #6 thanks to Palladium Wings) 1. C# Minor 2. B Major 3. A Major 4. B Major (minus the B key) 5. C# Minor 6. B Major 7. Just the keys of A and E in different octaves 8. Just the keys of B and F# in different octaves 9. Back home with C# Minor And most of the chords have some type of inversion going on, meaning one key is moved to a different octave than the other keys in the chord.

[@palladiumwings]

I think you're nearly there, but would disagree with 4 & 6. Unless I'm misunderstanding you, the chords 4 & 6 (that is, the chords starting on beats 4 & 6) are both B major, not D# major. You see, those chords have the notes B D# F#, which are the notes that belong to B major. They've just been inverted. By the way, D# minor doesn't actually belong in the key of C#. The appropriate chord for C# minor would be D# diminished.

[@ProBangers]

Hahah, you're right. I don't know how I missed that. Actually, I do... The notes in B Major exist in 2 different octaves unless the chord is inverted and that lead me to my error because when I was drawing the notes, I was keeping them in one octave so that I could easily see what chord they made. So, I had B, D# and F# all in the 5th octave which didn't strike me visually as being an actual chord... didn't think to move the B down to the 4th octave.

[@ProBangers]

What's also funny is somehow I got it right on #2 but missed it on #4 and #6

[@prod.by.essenns]

The simple melodies he gives for example sound very great by itself!!

[@NewHeathen78]

I can also see where this is extremely advantageous for people like me who are nowhere new the best piano players. Put the creativity down by mouse and computer keyboard and save the MIDI keyboard for orchestrating. I love this idea and will start implementing on my next (third ever) track.

[@versa.muusika]

Great tutorial.

[@nanogon7767]

2:22 that chord actually sounded really cool and dramatic to me lol

[@TheZombinator1]

completely usable in the right context

[@dirkcoutuer2509]

Hello Alex! This method is so clever and easy! I presume there is solid theory to back up this approach, but I like the fact that the energy is put into creating and listening instead of following theoretical rules like the circle of fifth which brings you often back to the same results. The other tutorials look also very promising, but now I'm do my own take on your approach. Great stuff man!

[@AlexMoukala]

Thanks Dirk!

[@firasturak2563]

Congrats on 5001 subs!

[@AlexMoukala]

Thanks! It's crazy how many people are finding this channel :)

[@Muzicboy3]

Good stuff... never seen it done like this... it's crazy that once you see somethin it's just like wow!! That's not hard! After all... it's little tips and tricks like this that set musicians apart from one another

[@AlexMoukala]

Indeed, nicely said. Glad these things help!

[@kyrus3271]

Best tutorial i ever seen about music theory man really appreciated!

[@gonggonglive]

wow you really have something for: people who literally know nothing yet people who know a bit and people who know too much and don't know what to do with the knowledge

[@midodon4294]

You also place a bass note then skip a note place that one then skip another note then place that one. Keep on doing that to add extensions like 7ths and 9ths. You can also change the voicings like placing a the 3rd or the second note of the chord in the base. Its called an inversion. Look up signals studio diatonic and to find more of an explanation about diatonic chords, chords that belong to a key. Then you can get into things like sus chords.

[@peacevalleyaudio5496]

I recently discovered your channel Alex. This is a great tutorial. I am lacking in the theory dept. I know some, but not enough to just play it. This made putting chords together very easy. I will be using this a lot to get my chords to work. Thank you

[@dormaettu302]

Love this Channel, can you try to compose just once with vst synths but still with your orchestral flavor it would be amazing.

[@peshtiwarbotani744]

This is a really interesting approach that leads to really cool results!

[@coalescence3835]

Thanks so much. Helped a lot. Dunno if I picked up on...nervousness? But if so, no worries, it was a great tutorial.

[@kontoktoregoniema]

Very inspiring and helpful channel! Many thanks for doing this!

Damn you're fast with the keyboard shortcuts on the piano roll :D

[@AlexMoukala]

Am I?? Haha. :D

[@Dragens2]

you are here too lion's ?

Dragens2 I'm everywhere.

[@akma3828]

I cant believe that made sense , thank you mna!

[@rfml]

There are no major or minor 5ths/4ths, there are Perfect 4th, Tritone and Perfect 5th.

[@deanwhitlock3312]

4ths and 5ths can be augmented or diminished

[@barbarianandy]

@@deanwhitlock3312 Correct. But 'tritone' encompasses those since augmented 4th, diminished 5ths, augmented 5th, and diminished 4ths are all tritones.

[@leoopokat8235]

Music police

[@nikitapisek2901]

​@@leoopokat8235haha

[@wolfrayet25officialfilms]

​@@barbarianandy Isn't an Aug 5th enharmonic to a minor 6th and dim 4 is enharmonic to a major 3rd?

[@CrCr-cl4rk]

oh man that was really helpful. thank u bro!!

[@herono-4292]

16:00 Yes it was really cool Alex !

[@bhargavpadaliya]

thank you alex, this really very helpful. ❤️

[@VortexMusicProduction]

Thank you, that helped me a lot!

[@AlexMoukala]

Glad to hear it!

[@Syndrome2012]

Awesome! You make it look easy and very inspiring!

[@Anuqz]

Really nice tutorials! Good explained, easy to understand and to use then. Keep up!

[@ryansibz2532]

You sir are a genius thank you for helping me

[@CapTizzy1122]

Your videos are AMAZING. Thank you!!!!

[@devonk298]

A chord is usually defined as - playing two or more notes simultaneously.

[@improvementTime10.3.17]

8:15 how to make the scales visible so you don’t have to think about it And also if made a mistake it’s obvious

[@scooty727]

Such a useful video, I finally made a good chord progression. Thank you so much :)

[@moeneff]

Alex, Thank you for you tutorials. You are definitely providing unique tutorials KZbin lack specially in composing for film and games. Please continue sharing you knowledge. I have one thing, and this is still an opinion. I think if you would make your videos into sections or make them shorter. I believe you can make this tutorial into 2 videos. And if you would prepare you chords, and melody beforehand to limit the time stretch. I appreciate you Alex, I will be following you always. Also If you would show us some advanced tutorials about changing keys in a piece of music, Elements (instruments) of Film, Games Score. Film and Game Soundtrack breakdown. I think you have a lot of materials to cover. haha

[@nicc9798]

another great tutorial helped a lot

[@lucasn2718]

Thanks for those tutorial ! and particularly this one ! :) For a beginner, this is really perfect ! I can perfectly how you build your ideas and make it real into FL Studio ! I watched few other videos of you, I have to say that the gap between the chord progression and the final music is huge haha I have more difficulty to see how you get there i have to say ... it looks like if this video was the #1 of a series without #2 for beginners haha I would have love to see you developping this exact chord progression, to see how you manipulate other instruments from this chord progression, how you master everything, etc. Maybe it is plan in the future ? Thanks for everything tho ! :)

[@AlexMoukala]

That's not a bad idea for a possible future livestream. :)

[@lucasn2718]

Héhé :) Let us know if you do that ! Wanna be part of it !

[@siggyfpv5625]

Thanks man, great tutorial :-)

[@ClicStudio]

Damn, that helped me a lot thanks and this is amazing !!

[@Cleanchanel1]

Eres grande bro! Saludos desde MÉXICO 🇲🇽

[@alexanderwicked8990]

Awesome stuff. It really helps get out of the box

[@donaldsuitemusic8902]

Very Cool Idea,Never tried this method.

[@animuvitv453]

im big fan of you Alex great job keep movin

[@iamhandsome4291]

I learned today. Thank you

[@deanwhitlock3312]

Perfect intervals P4 and P5 can be augmented or diminished (not minor or major). :-)

[@nicc9798]

the final result almost made me cry ...99% almost

[@haxxic]

Very easily understandable. Thank you

[@maartenstriepe6893]

Could you do a Tutorial on usefull short cut keys? You are using them quit often

[@AlexMoukala]

My best advice here is: do check out FL Studio's manual. Keyboard shortcuts are all written there along with LOTS of interesting stuff you might not be aware about. :)

[@beepboopmachines]

Hi Alex! First of all thank you so much for all the knowledge and experience you share. Your channel is a true gem, like, for real! I have a couple of questions and would be very grateful if you could answer them. In this specific tutorial: 1.When you layer additional voices on top of your Base Notes do you have specific chords in mind or do you do it by ear just adding notes within the scale? 2. Do your Bass Notes define the actual chords (are they the first note of the chords they are in) or are some of them the bass notes of inversions. Hope this makes sense. Cheers!

[@AlexMoukala]

1) I do it by ear, but honestly that's just my way of doing it. 2) Some are inversions, but again it's something I don't actively think about while writing. I just write what feels right, and keep what sticks. I will very rarely ask myself what chord I just wrote, or very rarely write a progression thinking of what chords I want to use before I write them. Once again, this is all unconventional and tied to my personal experience, just like other things that I teach on this channel

[@beepboopmachines]

​@@AlexMoukala Thank you for such a prompt answer! Would love to buy you a drink (or ten) next time I'm in Milan : )

[@xotocnemo9997]

ThankYou! This is real quality

[@eliscazacu450]

11:19 That concentration face tho 😂 Love your work man, you are very inspiring ❤

[@XxsaintsblackxX]

This was soooo helpful. immediate sub.

[@Felix00007]

please make video on fl studio all effect plunging how to use those and when it use please

[@AlexMoukala]

Best thing to do: read the manual for the plugins you want to know more of. :)

[@aaraamasreesreekumar7783]

You're the best, man!!

[@danielhutapea1835]

Thanks for sharing, truly worthed

[@Maquina-X]

I'm using fl mobile but I hope learn something... I love ORQUESTRA music

[@ahom_ahom_ahom]

Helpers is missing! Anyone know how to get to helpers in 20.9? Appreciated... NEVERMIND It's in a new place now in 20.9. Under View menu in the piano roll. FL loves to switch menu options. :}

[@Sahmaan]

Thanks man, it helps a lot

[@abrahamgarza537]

Hey man I hope you are doing well

[@Galathea000]

Good information, thank you !

[@nickwhereyouat]

What’s the point in Making chords different colors? I’m confused? Does it help with organizing or what ?

[@Deansonmaena-zy8kd]

what site has best orchestra,violin,cello many instrument vst plugin?

[@yurianvise1672]

2 spaces between is an minor interval, 3 spaces between is an major interval .

[@manicthecat614]

thank you! thank you! super helpful! I'm trying it out right now =D.

[@kamallochanbaishya3028]

Thank you very much. I got to learn a lot.

[@vaknins33]

Thanks a lot buddy, really helpful

[@EntJ]

What software etc. do you use? I'm looking for a DAW that will track what I play on a keyboard like you're doing.

[@MultiBelz]

You´ve got some pretty handy shortcuts in FL- Studio. How do you splice an merge the notes so quickly? And how did you solo the different voices in the pianoroll? That would help allot to know.

[@kevingeslin9258]

At 18:20 it looks like the theme of final fantasy XV: Somnus

[@radonite90]

you got a new follower !

[@_blind_mice7029]

So grateful you made this🤟 Was there a reason you skipped the G# (A Perfect 5th from C# I think) moving down when writing the first/bass voice?

[@truthfinder4973]

good stuff it all works the same with guitar i play guitar and i use 3 things a lot and they think im like a god or some thing and im not i just use, blues 1,4,5 and The Nashville Number System, that is use to move keys for singers and chord change up on songs. and than the last i use to get leads and Melody's i use pentatonic scales and what sick about pentatonic scale you can move it to any key same shape and works. i just thought pass this on to the younger one,s and you i dont even look at what chords they use in songs i learn what key it starts than i use the blues 1,4,5, and The Nashville Number System and it ends up and match .

[@barbarianandy]

I know this was four years ago, but intervals don't describe 'distance' between notes. They describe the relationship between a note and the root note of a chord. In a Cmaj chord, for instance, E is the major third, but in an Amin chord, it's the perfect fifth. It would be thus incorrect to say that E is a 'major third' away from C in the case of the Amin chord, or that the diminished fifth is a minor third away from Eb in a Cmin chord. Instead, you would say that a diminished fifth is 3 semitones away from the minor third, or 2 semitones away from the major third. Distance between notes is measured in tones or semitones(or steps and half-steps if you prefer.) Not in terms of major or minor thirds. Feel free to correct me if any part of this is incorrect and explain why. This is my understanding of how intervals and such work.

[@FlyingPetschman]

19:40 This! ... Thank you!

[@yusifmhmoud4340]

So you don't have to skip a note you just trust your ears?

[@kabasakalis]

Hi Alex, awesome tutorial! Just a question: In the beginning you mentioned intervals, however, when you started building your chord and stacking the voices, it seemed to me that you did not consciously made the decision "now I am stacking a fifth over that note" etc. How did you pick the interval distance between the notes of the different voices , is it just random( in the limits of the scale of course) / trial and error?

[@AlexMoukala]

I personally go with intuition. Then if I think what I wrote sounds messed up, then I'll try to understand what's going on in terms of intervals etc. That's just my method though. Some people might go with a more analytical approach straight away and that works wonders for them.

[@kabasakalis]

Thank you, I will definitely try your method. Very useful tutorials, I will probably check most of them.

[@moshikof7778]

can you make a tutorials of music theory ?

[@AlexMoukala]

I'm not very grounded in music theory myself, although if you want to learn more about it, I suggest you to check out this site: musictheory.net

[@rafaelbarbaro2]

Hello, What scale do you use? I do not know which one is. Thank you very much for the tutorials.