Whoops! Thanks, Brad, I should have caught that typo. Hopefully that didn't have a chance to confuse too many people yet...

Glad to hear it helped! You might be interested in our Bass Tone series too.

Hi Henry,

That sounds like a great project!

Restricting the notes to a major pentatonic scale would be one way to avoid dissonance, yes. Any combination of notes from that scale should sound quite consonant together.

Let us know how you get on!

You're very welcome, Mike!

You're absolutely right that you have the ability to develop your ear. Whatever your age, ability, or background in music, there's lots you can do to enjoy music more and become more musically creative by developing your ear. Let us know how you get on!

If you have any questions feel free to come ask in the Forums.

In the midst of this fantastic TED talk by Julian Treasure, he argues strongly for protecting your hearing - whether with fancy earplugs, simple foam earplugs, or even just having the confidence to stick your fingers in your ears when something loud happens:

Shh! Sound health in 8 steps - TED Talk by Julian Treasure

"If you're in bad sound, it's fine to put your fingers in your ears, or just move away from it. Protect your ears in that way."

It's very interesting that you're coming to triads from a choral perspective. Could you explain a bit more about using 'soprano, alto, tenor' to recognise triads?

I think a lot of people wish that music theory just came to them as common sense! For me personally, I've found that ear training and learning theory are hugely complementary. Learning theory seems to give my brain the structures it needs to make sense of the sounds. I find I can actively unravel what I'm hearing much more easily when I know e.g. what to call it and how it relates to the other sounds I've heard.

I suppose the total flexibility which gives music its variety and power is also its curse! Hopefully it does at least get easier with practice...?

That's a great tip! A lot of people jump straight to trying to figure out the chords to a song, but determining the bass notes almost always gives you a big short-cut to working out the harmony.

This is tremendous! Admittedly I'm a (guilty) fan of the original, but you're right - everything sounds better as a chiptune remix!