Or as I have said elsewhere, when the listener (or reader if you are doing writing) experiences YOUR surprises as NATURAL, you have succeeded.

Maybe the same concept of "playing off of yourself" can be applied to composition   - where you're gradually developing the whole song, not just one melody.   Chris Standring's Overture and Blue Bolero come to mind, simply because i've been listening to this album a lot lately.

I'm very fascinated by the idea of having long, non-repetitious songs that keep changing, rather than having a Verse 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Chorus 2, Bridge, Chorus 3 format.  

Another idea i try to force myself into every time I jam to backing tracks is:  Play something you have never done before.   Force yourself to play an uncomfortable sequence of notes.   Skip a string, mix up the direction or contour of the melody, or try to repeat a motif or alternate motifs across the chord changes.  Chic Corea comes to mind here.  This is more of an improvisation idea though.   Perhaps it would be meaningful for composition as well - let's say:  you are only allowed to use chords which you've never used before, and sounds/patches/tones which are new as well.  It's kind of a musical "alchemy". 

Different musics have different elements to draw from, as well as different traditions for doing the combinations. Might work, but might not, to MIX traditions. If you start thinking about altered ninths and major seventh chords, you are very quickly NOT going to be able to say you are in the blues genre.

Many musicians think "notes". Many think "tone". Many think sequences (of notes or chords, perhaps like Ed B above).

Composers, like architects, like storytellers, like screenwriters, like painters, tend to think about the OVERALL structure. Thinking about the impact on the audience of the juxtaposition and movement between major parts is how a composer differs from a player.

1. Find the key by listening to the bass or bass key in the keyboard in the final chord of the song. Usually, the last bass note dictates the key.

2. Before the day of modern notation - the classical composers used a number system in lieu of chord symbols. Many country and pop musicians just rely on this way of learning a song.

If a chart is in the key of C, the number system to harmonize the key is:

I     ii      iii    IV   V    vi      vii     (I)

C   Dm  Em   F    G   Am  Bdim  (C)

So if you play the I, IV, V chords in the key of C, you are playing the C,F,G chords. The I, IV, V is the most basic progression in music. Blues, Rock'n Roll, Country would not exist without it.

We can expand the number system and harmony by using various combinations:

I     vi      ii      V     I

C    Am   Dm   G    C

Doo Wop and Rock n' Roll could not exist without this progression.

You can experiment by mixing up the number system. Some chords work well together, others may be dissonant.

Ex.   I     iii     vi      ii        vii       I

       C    Em   Am   Dm    Bdim   C

In your blog, inthevoid, you are actually talking about musical intervals.

In the C chord, the note C is always referred to as the first interval or Tonic.

The next tone is three notes above the tonic or a Third. The note name is E. The final note in a simple C chord is Five notes above the tonic or a Fifth. The note name is G. Like you said, by changing the distance of the intervals you change the sound of a chord. The sound may be harmonic or dissonant. Only the melody or feel of the chart your playing dictates what type of sound you want in the harmony.

Look at Duke Ellington's "Take The A Train" - He begins on C (very nice pleasant harmonic sound) but goes to a D7(b5)... ouch! The chord is dissonant but resolves to a Dm (pleasant) chord.

He then begins the final harmonization by going to the G7 (Remember the V chord in the number system, above?) and back to the Tonic or C.

A simple progression by a true master!

The bridge in the song uses the IV chord or F and goes to a V/V chord or D. The V/V refers to the fifth interval from G which is D. That's where the D major chord comes from in the key of C major. The maestro goes to the ii chord (D minor) moves to the G chord, which is the dominant chord that usually (but not always) resolves to the C chord.

You have the idea down, inthevoid!

Have fun and don't get too wrapped up in music theory. But it does help to know why things work out the way they do! Hope this works for you!! LOL!

Ed Baran

Spot on, the alternatives are limited, and the rest works too. Right on, the number of series installed in any individual musician, right. Then there's phrasing, and the colour or blend added to a note. Feel is a good label, I think. But besides all this there is a wide scale of other technical stuff adding to that which defines any particular master in any given genre. Just compare two jazz saxophonists like bird and coltrane, perhaps two of the most legendary. Bird to me is the essence of bebop, add a huge chunk of blues. Coltrane, the 'free' master. Played some blues too, but could never match a master like Bird there. Bird on the other hand had the bebop and blues feel, but free jazz didn't even exist at that time, and I don't know if he'd have enjoyed playing it, but that's just speculating. 

Coltranes phrasing and technique was just as flawless and good as Bird's, but he applied other alternatives. Not all of the time, but many times. Both of them used much arpeggiation, if that's the word, and coupled to that is the fact that they used scales fitting their individual styles. Coltrane used very much all the semi steps in his series', while Bird applied more of what we label the 'bebop' scale, and of course the pentatonic, the blues scale. Another player comes to mind, my favourite jazz guitarist, Ulf Wakenius. Even though he can and has displayed coltranesque strings of semi step playing, he uses much of the blues, very much, seems to enjoy it, which I personally dig a lot. That's a personal style in a very frequently travelled terrain. Miles Davis, the Cool master, alerted me to the importance of limited spread. A more narrow lane, accent and color paired with beautiful arpeggios. Linked together so finely, like a chain of finest golden. 

This is becoming awkwardly lengthy, but then, jazz is a major part of civilization, so...

Peace

Skei (the it's a quarter past one at night here now, so, one)

thanks