JDMEK5's Banana Hoard

[DonValentino]

...it's because Nimbasa City is my piano homework for tomorrow, so I have to know what to do on the improvisation part, hence I crammed them Besides, I have arranged this song like at least 3 times.. We're even playing my arrangement in my big band :3 ...

Again... Lucky, lucky, lucky, luckyyyyyy!! 

[FireArrow]

Epic stuff.

How do you do that?!

[JDMEK5]

I can't open this on my terrible terrible phone, so I don't know wether or not you got the chords right, but since BDS says you didn't get everything right, I'll tell you the chords as I know them all by heart, and really have nothing to do on this two hour long bus ride:

For the verse ( the "I"'s indicate where the measures are):
//: G#m  I  B  I  C#7  I  Emaj7 - F#7  I  G#m  I  B  I  C#7  I  D#7sus - D#7 :// (this whole thing is done twice)

Then the second part:
C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  D#7  I  G#m  I  G#7 (yes, this is actually major! if you're wondering why, I know the theory behind it, so just ask if you want a lesson)  I  C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  A#7 (major - no theory behind this one tho, this is just how the composer wants it to be)  I  D#7sus  I  E7sus - E7  [key change]  I  Am  I  C  I  D7  I  Fmaj7 - G7  I  Am (this part basically lies in Am, but the bass goes cromatically down)  I  E7 - D#7 (and in the same measure the leading chord to the next key change is played to signalize that we're going back to G#m)  [key change]  I G#m (now we're back to the beginning)

So yeah that's the chords. If you're wondering why I know them - it's because Nimbasa City is my piano homework for tomorrow, so I have to know what to do on the improvisation part, hence I crammed them Besides, I have arranged this song like at least 3 times.. We're even playing my arrangement in my big band :3 Besides, it's the same chords as in Autumn Leaves, and Fly Me to the Moon..

Wow. Thanks a lot!

[Jompa]

I still don't have my pc, so I can't see it yet, but I will look at it. No problem JDMEK5.

Again... Lucky, lucky, lucky, luckyyyyyy!! 

Well, it is very hard if that is any consolation.
If you want, I can send you the big band arrangement, when I have access to my computer.

How do you do that?!

Well, to me it all makes sense, so it's easy to remember the relation between the chords n' all that stuff - I basically just know them from playing them to much ^^

[DonValentino]

I still don't have my pc, so I can't see it yet, but I will look at it. No problem JDMEK5.
Well, it is very hard if that is any consolation.
If you want, I can send you the big band arrangement, when I have access to my computer.

It isn't.
And of course I want the big band arrangement! And don't worry, take your time. 

[Jompa]

Here:
Nimbasa City ~ Big Band
MUS https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75726060/Nimbasa%20City%20-%20big%20band/MUSNimbasa%20City.mus ~ finale file
PDF https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75726060/Nimbasa%20City%20-%20big%20band/Nimbasa%20City.pdf ~ score
MP3 https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75726060/Nimbasa%20City%20-%20big%20band/Nimbasa%20City.mp3 ~ mp3 is a little more accurate than the MUS.
Parts https://dl.dropbox.com/u/75726060/Nimbasa%20City%20-%20big%20band/Parts.pdf ~ induvidual instrument parts

Sorry for spamming your thread JDMEK5

[DonValentino]

That's just plain awesome! You should upload the MP3 to Youtube or something. People need to know how great you are!

Oh, and JDMEK5, nice arrangement too!

[Jompa]

That's just plain awesome! You should upload the MP3 to Youtube or something. People need to know how great you are!

Nah, sounds like too much work ^^

[JDMEK5]

Sorry for spamming your thread JDMEK5

No. (Jk)

Oh, and JDMEK5, nice arrangement too!

Yes.

if you're wondering why, I know the theory behind it, so just ask if you want a lesson

I vould liek a lesson.

EDIT: I've implemented everything you said, Jompa.  Except for some spots where it was either impossible to form the chord you listed, or didn't sound close to right.
So how's this?

[Jompa]

If the chord is "impossible", try focusing on the third, the seventh, the ninth and the thirteenth in the chords - the fifth and the first isn't important at all, and in most cases the eleventh is just plain omitted (unless specified not to)
If you didn't understand that, then here's an example:
Am7 - the notes in the chord are A C E G. But the notes that actually have the necessary tension in them that makes them worth playing are C and G (and to some extent A) - the E and the A can just get lost (but if you don't think it's enough of a chord with just two notes, you could always just keep the A)
Another example:
Cmaj13 - the notes in the chord are C E G B(or H in some countries) D F A. The notes worth keeping are E Bb D and A, because C, G and F are the first, the fifth and the eleventh steps.
Third axample:
G7sus4(b9) - the notes are G C D F Ab. In a sus4 chord the fourth is crucial, but not necessarily the fifth (that's not the source of the tension), so the notes that are worth keeping are C F Ab (and to some extent G).
Last example:
Bb11 - The notes are Bb D F Ab C Eb. Now, in an eleventh chord the rules are sorta different: An eleventh chord isn't an eleventh chord without the eleventh! Therefore omitting the Eb would leave you with a Bb9, and that's not good enough. So in total, the notes worth keeping are D Ab C Eb.
Get it?
I've finally managed to take a look at your arrangement, and it looks very good! The only thing I can come up with to improve it is to focus on the right notes in the chords, so they won't be impossible to play (see what I wrote above)
Also, at measures#2 and #6: The last note in the measure is supposed to be a D#, not a C# (this also applies to measure#27, after the key change)
And the bass is a bit of a mess at some areas, measure#4, but nothing huge really.


Now, you said you wanted to know the theory behind the G#major7 chord:
That's actually a pretty nice tool to use in ("jazzy") music that goes in minor.
The song is in G#m. That's just how it is. It's in minor, and not in major. So by all of this we can say that a G#major chord isn't really welcome in the song. That is sorta true. Unless....
When a song is moving into a different part of the song, the first chord of that new part isn't normally the tonic chord, because that would be very boring. Instead, what sounds very good, is to start this new "verse" or "chorus" or whatever, on the subdominant chord -> in the case of G#m -> C#m! Now, the song doesn't change key or anything like that, not at all -> it just starts of a new part of the song with a different chord - in many songs the subdominant, and in the case of Nimbasa City, also the subdominant - which in the case og G#m -> C#m.
So the new part starts of in C#m. That isn't particularly special. As I said, most songs do that in their "B-part", and I could probably list a million children songs that do just that. But look at how the chords go in Nimbasa City, AFTER THAT.

C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  D#7  I  G#m  I  G#7  II  C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  A#7  I  D#7sus  I  E7sus - E7  II

Notice the double "II". It indicates where eight measures of the "B-part" have passed.
The chord progression is simple 251 (but without thirds leading EVERY time..). If you don't know what 251 is then here's a quote from Bloops compositions where I sparsely explained it all:

Y'know chord progression.
251 is a way to build up the chord progression, and you used plenty of it. It's all about dominants and thirds leading to dominants and so on..

In your case:
The song is in A minor, so you chorse to start of there. The first chord change isn't anything special, it's just the minor third chord, which is C major. But C major leads to F major, because the third in C, E, leads to the first in F, F. Then F leads to Bb major, because the third in F, A, leads to the first in Bb, Bb. Can you see the pattern so far? We have C - F - Bb. If you take Bb as a starting point, in other words the 1, then C is the 2 and F is the 5 --> 251. This continues --> After the C, the F and the Bb comes Eb major. The third in Bb, D, leads to the first in Eb, Eb. F Bb Eb = 251. Then Eb leads to Ab(because of the third, G), then Ab leads to Db(because of the third, C) --> Eb Ab Db = 251. After that it goes to a C, but that isn't a part of the pattern (which you can clearly hear -> it kinda takes a weird turn at this chord -> so that means the pattern was broken). And then you're back to the start A minor.

In the case of Nimbasa City, this chord progression continues as you can see, FOR SEVEN MEASURES. IMPORTANT! VERY IMPORTANT!.
for what's closing up when you've reached seven measures? The ninth measure! Which is the next phrase - the next C#!!! BEFORE YOU CAN GET TO THE C# you need something that can lead to C#!!!!
Now - what is the leading tone to C#? Well, the note below C# is C/B# (let's call it B# from now on!). In what chord that can come out of a G#m chord, that has a B# as the third, the seventh, the ninth or the thirteenth? Well, B# is the third in G#(major), so that is the chord that will be used to lead to the C#!!!!! And in all cases of leading chords it is safe to assume that the seventh is present as well, so we can definitely know it is a G#7 chord (it could have a b13 and/or a b9, but that isn't as safe to assume, considering C# is just the subdominant, and the subdominant is very unpredictable - we're coming back to this...). Therefore the chord in measure#8, after measure#7 containing G#m, the chord playing is a G#7 chord!!
Tonika-minor -> Tonika-major-seventh
This is a common tool in minor-songs to signalize that we're going back to (emphasize on "back to" - we must have been there before!) - back to the subdominant-minor, in a "B-part" kinda.

And then:
You MIGHT be wondering why:
why:
why:
why:
why is there both a C#m chord (which actually is important - y'know, the subdominant and all), but as well; back at the "verse"/"A-part", there is a C#7(major) chord?!!? What the hell!!?"?!"!"**?!

the subdominant is very unpredictable

!!!
It doesn't ALWAYS follow the rules (there is a rule that says: the subdominant must follow the tonika. But that rule is terrible, it basically doesn't apply to half of the songs in the world).
Therefore it has it's own rule:
The subdominant is either minor or major, based on what sounds good!


AAAAAnyways, now I think I'm done with music theory for the day..
Good arrangement!! just fix it up! but it is really good!

^All that above, and have a good day~

[JDMEK5]

Thank you.

[Jompa]

I can't open this on my terrible terrible phone, so I don't know wether or not you got the chords right, but since BDS says you didn't get everything right, I'll tell you the chords as I know them all by heart, and really have nothing to do on this two hour long bus ride:

For the verse ( the "I"'s indicate where the measures are):
//: G#m  I  B  I  C#7  I  Emaj7 - F#7  I  G#m  I  B  I  C#7  I  D#7sus - D#7 :// (this whole thing is done twice)

Then the second part:
C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  D#7  I  G#m  I  G#7 (yes, this is actually major! if you're wondering why, I know the theory behind it, so just ask if you want a lesson)  I  C#m  I  F#7  I  B  I  Fmaj7  I  A#m7  I  A#7 (major - no theory behind this one tho, this is just how the composer wants it to be)  I  D#7sus  I  E7sus - E7  [key change]  I  Am  I  C  I  D7  I  Fmaj7 - G7  I  Am (this part basically lies in Am, but the bass goes cromatically down)  I  E7 - D#7 (and in the same measure the leading chord to the next key change is played to signalize that we're going back to G#m)  [key change]  I G#m (now we're back to the beginning)

So yeah that's the chords. If you're wondering why I know them - it's because Nimbasa City is my piano homework for tomorrow, so I have to know what to do on the improvisation part, hence I crammed them Besides, I have arranged this song like at least 3 times.. We're even playing my arrangement in my big band :3 Besides, it's the same chords as in Autumn Leaves, and Fly Me to the Moon..

I realize now that I wrote Fmaj7 where there was supposed to be Emaj7.. Sorry, I was on my phone so I typed wrong twice when I was supposed to write F..
So, the two first Fmaj7 is supposed to be Emaj7, but NOT the one AFTER the key change (the last one)

[JDMEK5]

Right. Thanks for clearing that up.

[JDMEK5]

Here's four and a half minutes of epicness arranged for piano:

The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Hyrule Field - [MUS] [MIDI] [PDF]

I've actually got the full thing here!
So what do you think?

[Yugi]

You really like arranging already arranged arrangments don't you.