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And yeah, UWCC is definitely uplifting and Down isn't really, but I can't help but feel they're really similar in some sense or another. Even past the whole raw acoustic thing

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You are right on UCC, but Down is in E minor. G major is the relative major (same key signature) of E minor tho, so you were close.



You may have just got theory'd.

Album Rating: 4.5

Are you sure? I'm like 98% sure you play a b minor chord in there and I'm 97% sure that the fifth step

in a minor is still major, so you should be playing B Major, not b minor if it's in E minor.



Then again my theory's rusty after almost two years of not doing any, and I'm much better at looking

at sheet music than basing it off of what chords are played in a song.

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If I remember right that is something did back in the classical music era. You don't have to make the 5th chord a major chord, its an accidental and was used to get back to I, the tonic.



The main chord progression in Down is this: Em Bm C G

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"If I remember right that is something did back in the classical music era."

Hm, what do you mean "that"? It's not just a technique---i ii(dim) III(aug) iv V VI vii(dim) is (again this may be incorrect, since I'm getting fuzzy) intrinsic to a minor key, which is what this is.



You're right that they could've used an accidental to make the normally Major V into a minor v. I have no experience in writing songs so at this point it's less grounded in theory and more based on my own speculation, but I haven't heard of anyone using the fifth step as minor---it just goes against my training as a pianist that you always leave the 5th step alone. The easiest way is probably to hear what the last note of the song is since that generally ends up being what key it is (well major or minor is to be determined) so I'm gonna do that



(btw I love that I can have these discussions on Sputnik!)

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never mind it doesn't sound like the song ends in tonic

but the main riff or whatever does end in E so you're probably right

I'm intrigued on their use of b minor though

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If you make the 'v' of E minor (which is a B minor chord) a V, it would add an accidental into the key signature. It would change the v (a B D F# chord) to a V (a B D# F# chord), which would be out of the E minor key signature (which is just an F#).



In the classical era of songwriting, they used the V in a minor key signature to go from V to I for the resolution. In a modern style of composing, you don't have to do this.



It's actually i ii (dim) III iv v VI VII for a minor scale. You are thinking of a Harmonic minor scale with the III (aug) V and vii (dim).



That was fun, lol.

Album Rating: 4.5

thaaaaaaat would explain everything!

natural minors are jokes on pianos. Like no one plays them because they sound like absolute shit. Well they probably do now in contemporary because I'm pretty sure contemporary composers create music just to piss you off. But yeah.



I need to take a modern music theory class and get with the times. Damn, thanks for the daily dose of knowledge!

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I haven't really written anything for piano (just simple stuff). I've written music for guitar and string quartet, but that's about it. I like composing. It's fun, just haven't done it for a while.



To be honest, you might have trouble finding a specific modern theory class. Most music schools seem to be pretty hard up on the classical, romantic, baroque periods, etc. The school I went to pretty much just glossed over anything that happened after the 1900s.

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tl;dr?

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Ah I've seen. I mean the thing with piano is you study the greats of the past and tend to start thinking like them. It didn't even cross my mind that modern artists would use natural minor because literally minor in piano thought = harmonic minor (at least however far deep I went to, it's not like I'm a piano buff or anything. Only about 10 years of formal training)



And yeah I'd think so too but I know my college offers a lot of courses on modern music theory. This quarter there was The Beatles and the next one there's like Bjork and Radiohead I think. It's pretty cool and so I hope they might have some classes on music composition or something in modern rock and jazz or something like that. Not sure, but I'm optimistic it exists. But that's pretty cool that you write music, but how do you write it if you can't play it? (e.g. you obv can't play string quarter). I'm guessing online tools?

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That's awesome. Your school has a leg up on mine, lol. Some schools are just stuck in the past and turn their noses up at anything considered modern or non classical.



Well, you basically have to do some reading on the instrument and find out what the instruments limitations are and write it in something like Finale or another music sampled program (there are a few I used in college but I can't remember the names) and then have your composition teacher tell you all the things you are doing wrong and fix it for the next week. That was my experience anyway.



I had a terrible time writing for stings (violins, violas, cellos, etc.) at first, so I started arranging piano pieces for string quartet to help me figure things out. That way I had a blueprint to start out with and then I could just fill in any blanks and change a few things here and there to my liking. Then I started getting decent at writing my own stuff.

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Damn, I never responded, sorry man.

Yeah, I think it's probably because I go to a pretty big university, so naturally more classes are offered.



And ah, I see. Yeah, I've done a few things on Finale, but that was mainly using it to transcribe stuff for guitar class for extra credit. Haha at the composition teacher bit. That's all really cool though, sounds like something I want to do. Unfortunately there's like 50 things that I want to do so I'll probably never get into it. Maybe senior year in college or something I'll just take a class on composition if it's offered just as a relax class.



-----



On topic of Vital, these B-Sides are really damn good. Maybe Lost Songs Pt 2 will actually be good lol

Album Rating: 4.5

No Love To Speak is just gorgeous, holy shit Vital would be a 5 if it replaced Innocent.

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"Maybe Lost Songs Pt 2 will actually be good lol"

Hey man, I love Lost Songs. The Haunting is one of the best songs ever. I also love the covers on that album. "Baby Please Come Home" is an awesome song to jam around the holidays. Gets me so pumped for Santa.

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

If ANY of the B-sides replaced Innocent, the album would be damn-near perfect. Anberlin's b-sides are always flawless.

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The Haunting is awesome, agreed.

I'm not a huge fan of their covers though.

"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" for example is one of my favorite songs ever.

Mix in Anberlin, my favorite band, and what do you get????

a dud : (



I'm actually not familiar with the one you're referring to though. I'd listen but I'm too busy

listening to No Love to Speak on repeat

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Really? I love their covers. Maybe it's because I am as in love with Stephen Christian as you can love someone without actually knowing them, but their covers of The Promise, Mother, and True Faith (for example) do so much for more me than the originals.



You should certainly check out Baby Please Come Home. It rocks hard for a Holiday tune. Also, for someone so eager to trash on Lost Songs, it doesn't seem as though you've listened to the whole album, eh? ;)

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Hey man, I've listened to Lost Songs, okay!!!

It's just... been a while.

IIRC The Promise was great too but I didn't realize it was a cover. Was Mother the... Danzig(?) cover?

I think I just prefer Anberlin-style music from Stephen, though I admit his voice makes pretty much

anything better.



But fine I'll go RElisten to it and give you an accurate rating. Another time though, still jamming

these B-sides

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That's fine...take your time. Just don't forget!



The Promise is a cover of the song by When In Rome. You've probably heard the original at some point in your life. It likes to play on classic alternative/pop stations quite often (around here, anyway). Mother is indeed a Danzig cover, so pat yourself on the back for that one.



Honestly, if Anberlin had a different vocalist/lyricist, I don't think I'd like them half as much as I do now.