I need help regarding to CHORDS in different SCALES.

[musicioso]

Hallo dear all,

I am doing a lot of improvisations on the 10 basic scales used in eastern classical music.
Can you guys tell me which CHORDS i can use for each scale?

I know this is a lot to ask. But any help is welcome, even if you write down the chords for just one of the scales.


So here are the scales i use.

1 C# D# F G G# A# C C#

2 C# D E F# G# A B C#

3 C# D F F# G# A C C#

4 C# D# F F# G# A# C C# (this is C sharp major scale, isn't it?)

5 C# D# E F# G# A# B C#

6 C#D# E F# G# A B C# (C sharp minor?)

7 C# D# F F# G# A# B C#

8 C# D F G G# A# C C#

9 C# D F G G# A C C#

10 C# D E G G# A C C#


Any help is welcome, hope you guys can help me as i have no further education in music theory

[musicioso]

nobody?

[iansinclair]

What's that line about fools jumping in where angels fear to tread?  A few thoughts anyway...

I know almost exactly nothing, by the way, about eastern music -- nor, frankly, do I have any real desire to learn.  However, there are some very fundamental principles for chords, which are found in most harmonic music (NOT, I would point out, in strictly melodic music -- that is, without harmony -- where there are some definite sequences of notes)(also not in so-called 12 tone, or abstract music).

These are based on physics, and were first really set down by one Pythagoras, in classical Greece.

If we assume you start with a specific note on your scale in mind as the key note...  in the case of the scales you are showing, you seem to be starting with C#.  In that case, G# -- an open fifth -- is the "dominant".  The fourth above that -- C#' -- is the octave.  This combination will always "sound" harmonious (and it is: a string with a fundamental note of C# will have overtones at the octave (C#') and the octave plus a fifth (G#') among others).  You can add to that basic chord C#, G#, C#' either E or E# (F); adding the E (the minor third above the key note) will give the chord a "minor" feel; adding the E# will give it a "major" feel -- in western terms, your scales 1,3,4,7 and 8 will have a "major" feel to them.  You can also build chords on the note called the dominant: G#.  The fifth on G# is D#; the "major" third is B# and the minor third is B.  These, once you have established the basic tonality of your work, will seem to lead back to the tonic chords.  Then a third set of chords can be built on the subdominant, which is the fourth above the tonic; in this case F# -- F#,A#,C# for a "major" feel; F#,A,C# for a "minor" feel.

Obviously you don't have to limit your harmony to the above chords -- there are many others which could be used for various effects.  It is MUCH more important to have the result sound proper to your own ear when you are doing improvisation than it is to follow some rule or other.  If you attempting improvisation in some specific style, it is even more important that you get your ear accustomed to that music before you try to improvise in that style (for example: Celtic music, about which I do know a little, has significantly different chord sequences than the classical ones noted above).

I might add that all the above is only a very very condensed set of comments...