How to compose progressive music

sigod wrote: 'In the Court Of The Crimson King' and flared trousers.

 

Yeah, what an album it is

Man Overboard wrote: Gotta love those flared trousers.

 

Yes they're so cool 

Get a theme going, think of how that would sound (Vikings going off to war, what wind sounds like to an orange, something like that.)

 Once you have this down, I find experimentation to be the best way to coming up with something
(As a  bass player prog is so easy for me to create  because bass isn't "traditionally" supposed to be stray far from the root notes and so forth, and it's easy to come up with something pretty obscure, just listen to Chirs Squier.) (Another thing, try using chords on bass. Some come out crappy sounding, but even power chords can sound so much better on a bass, moreso than a guitar.)

While keeping all this in mind, time changes are always more than abundant in prog. Use time changes.

The last thing I suggest is to not be afraid of your simple blues or jazz scales. Look at what Pink Floyd did with money. It's blues played in 7/8 and it's deemed one of the milestones of prog along with the rest of Dark Side of The Moon.


Willie, out.