# Building chords from scales

**URL:** <https://uzu.lurk.org/t/building-chords-from-scales/1721>\
**Category:** TidalCycles\
**Tags:** questions\
**Created:** [22 July 2020 12:05 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/building-chords-from-scales/1721 "2020-07-22T12:05:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 10

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**Author:** ![mrreason](https://uzu.lurk.org/user_avatar/uzu.lurk.org/mrreason/32/3203_2.png) [@mrreason](https://uzu.lurk.org/u/mrreason)\
**Post date:** [7 July 2022 16:34 UTC](https://uzu.lurk.org/t/building-chords-from-scales/1721/10 "2022-07-07T16:34:26Z")

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This is one of the topics I've been working on a lot lately.

My motivation was to make some rules accessible via TidalCycles using the system of western music theory that I am familiar with. However, I attach great importance to defining and transforming chord progressions and notes with patterns, in order to be able to use the strengths of TidalCycles flexibly here.

There are now a lot of ideas flowed in here and I have collected everything here once. To give you an idea, the usage in TidalCycles looks like this:

```haskell
do
-- Define chord progressions with roman numerals
s1 = sheet {key = "c", mode "major", numerals = "<1 1 4 5>"}
-- The chord will be created on their elements like 
-- root (1), major/minor third (3) and perfect fifth (5).
-- And the chord progressions is based on the sheet. 
-- This will play <Cmaj Cmaj Fmaj Gmaj>  
d1 $ s "superpiano" <| prog s1 "[1,3,5]" |- note 12
-- Create a melody with the chord changes but use 
-- diatonic notes outside of the chord
d2 $ s "superpiano" <| prog s1 "1 5 7@2 3 6 8@2" 

```

I addressed a lot of western harmony concepts like secondary dominants, tritone substitution, borrowed chords and inversions. And you can play a harmony in one scale (like major) and the melody in another scale (like minPent).

Personally, I'm able to code melodic sets much more specifically live with it. I also use it to write flexible backing tracks/loops for the guitar.

If you are interested in such stuff, here is the complete post:

> **[GitHub - thgrund/mrreason-setup: Design, ideas and motivation for my...](https://github.com/thgrund/mrreason-setup#applying-western-music-theory)**
>
> Design, ideas and motivation for my TidalCycles setup. - GitHub - thgrund/mrreason-setup: Design, ideas and motivation for my TidalCycles setup.

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