Succession Theory Deep Dive Tutorial

Hey y'all! 

For anyone in need of help in the theory side of things, there's a new bonus tutorial this week in the form of a masterclass looking at the harmony in Succession. A little bit different from our usual stuff, working with a keyboard, but plenty in there for producers of all levels!

Check the vid in the Bonus Tutorials section HERE.

Here's a guide to the different sections too, in case you want to skip past the first bits (if your already confident with the music theory basics).

0.00-1.06 = Intro

1.06-6.53 = Minor Keys and Scales

6.53-16.47 = Triads (Diatonic Chords)

16.47-23.14 = Seventh Chords (Major/Minor/Dominant)

23.14-31.50 = Succession Chord Sequence (i-VI-iib5-V)

31.50-40.08 = Trying out New Chords

40.08-46.50 = Summary and Wrap up

Enjoy!

OK, I have to ask now ... because I had this figured out as C harmonic minor, with the chord progression as Cm Ab Fm6 G ... (harmonic minor uses B rather than Bb as in natural minor)

The melody includes a couple passing notes not in scale either way as far as I can tell, and all notes kind of fits both Fm6 and Ddim, so not sure if it's important at all, just wondering if I'm thinking wrong here ...? 

It works with F too basically. Officially (and according to the composer) it's a ii diminished, but having the C in the chord (F Ab C in F minor) and omitting the D causes no real problems harmonically! If you play the ii(b5)7 chord I recommend at the end of the video btw that has F Ab C and D in, you'd be covering all bases there!

updated by @ptmembership: 02/20/24 04:45:27PM

Alright. This is probably a bit over my head still, but working on something quite interesting. Have no idea if it's gonna sound good yet ... there's a lot of strange harmonics in it, and I'm not at all certain I get it right