Ask DerpyGrooves Anything

[DerpyGrooves]

I might not be the best muso in MLR, but I think that the best way to learn music is by teaching it, so here I am!

Ask me anything about theory, instruments, technique, etc... And I will do my best to answer you in what I hope is not a flankbackwards derptarded way! Cheers, everybrony!

[Bagpipe Brony]

When one plays a harmonica, do you always hear chords? I could never really tell

[DerpyGrooves]

When one plays a harmonica, do you always hear chords? I could never really tell

I'm not sure this is exactly what your question is about, but it is possible to play just single notes on harmonica.



Here's a great example of blues harp being played w. mostly single notes. The player flares his lips out every now and then to grab chords as an expressive ornament. Let me know if that's what you were asking about, BB!

[Bagpipe Brony]

Kinda yeah, you see I was writing something up for Applejack and I wanted to include a harmonica but I'm not sure what about them makes them so..."Cowboy-ish" ya dig? So I thought I 'd ask how to write music for them.
That's how I found out about fiddle slides and shuffle bowing and leaving open strings in certain licks. c:

[Whitetail]

Well with Harmonicas I think a lot of it is about the scale you get it in
I'm not sure entirely which one is used in that blues track, but I don't think it's your standard major scale

You can probably buy one in the blues scale and that should definitely give you a more "Cow-boy"-ish sound

[Bagpipe Brony]

Well, my song is in A major so far, so That would mean I'd have to get one in F# minor? O_o I don;t think those exist lol... Maybe I'll just change the key so I can make it realistic.

[DerpyGrooves]

Well with Harmonicas I think a lot of it is about the scale you get it in
I'm not sure entirely which one is used in that blues track, but I don't think it's your standard major scale

You can probably buy one in the blues scale and that should definitely give you a more "Cow-boy"-ish sound

Actually, the vast majority of harmonica music is played on diatonic, "major" instruments. There's no such thing as a specifically blues scale harmonica.

Essentially the way it works is let's say you have an instrument in A. That harmonica will be able to happily play in A major ("straight harp"), or else you can play what's called "cross harp" and do a blues in E. Here's a video to this effect:

Well, my song is in A major so far, so That would mean I'd have to get one in F# minor? O_o I don;t think those exist lol... Maybe I'll just change the key so I can make it realistic.

To play in A major, you'd want to get a harp in A. Otherwise, if you want to do a blues in A, you should invest in a harp in D and play cross-style.

[SwissArmyCheese]

I've been wondering for sometime, Is it "frowned upon" to use a pattern/preset that comes with a VST?

[DerpyGrooves]

I've been wondering for sometime, Is it "frowned upon" to use a pattern/preset that comes with a VST?

It sort of has a lot of the same connotations tracing has in the art community. Presets can be okay, but for the most part everypony wants to hear something new and fun.

[SwissArmyCheese]

Ok, thank you!

Sometimes it's hard to find a blank preset though.

[Facade]

Ok, thank you!

Sometimes it's hard to find a blank preset though.

i know how you feel *looks at z3ta+*

[Senator Myth]

sdFGHSFGHJSFGK-sensei: will you ever perhaps release the chords/tabs for your acoustic songs? The lullaby song in particular, that one's definitely a big favorite of mine. :D

[DerpyGrooves]

Nishimoto-sensei: will you ever perhaps release the chords/tabs for your acoustic songs? The lullaby song in particular, that one's definitely a big favorite of mine.

I'm not sure of the exact chords I was using, but the harmonic structure was as follows:

Verse:
vi IV I V

Chorus:
IV V I IV

In C major that would be:
Am F C G
F G C F

Feel free to let me know if there are any other songs you'd like chords to!

[Icky]

So scootaloo walks down the road, what happens?

[DerpyGrooves]

So scootaloo walks down the road, what happens?

She gets home safely and goes to sleep in her snuggly wuggly bed!

[Whitetail]

How pretty is pretty pink saddle?

[Circuitfry]

Posting in an epic thread.

[Aussie]

Posting in an epic thread.

GREAT QUESTION.

[Senator Myth]

GREAT QUESTION.

You're a hypocrite.

You're a hypocrite

I'm a hypocrite.

(And so on, recursively)

[DerpyGrooves]

How pretty is pretty pink saddle?

SO PRETTY

AND MY PRETTY HORN ITS SO PRETTY

[Icky]

If pinkie found a way to clone herself, what would happen?

[DerpyGrooves]

If pinkie found a way to clone herself, what would happen?

Hot cupcakes-filled selfcest.

[bartekko]

Ok, thank you!

Sometimes it's hard to find a blank preset though.

i know how you feel *looks at z3ta+*

Isn't it like you can simply save a blank preset to z3ta+, and then just from the program menu select "initialize"?

[RobotPony]

Why is jazz so awesome? I've been playing it for quite a while now, and I still don't know why.

[DerpyGrooves]

Why is jazz so awesome? I've been playing it for quite a while now, and I still don't know why.

Jazz has deep theoretical roots that foster creativity in a unified, significant way.

Also, sunglasses!