Many guitarists just starting out find the idea of music theory to be boring, and hence don’t invest much time in studying it. While words like “pentatonic scales” and “transposed keys” may not conjure up exciting imagery, the truth is undeniable: even the basics of music theory can prove to be endlessly useful, and can help guitarists improve their compositional and performance capabilities. In this article, we’ll take a look at how music theory can be used to transform any rap song into a country song. Now that, my friends, is pretty exciting stuff.
How it Works
Once you have a basic understanding of music theory, learning how to transform a rap song into a country song is a fairly straightforward process. In case you need to learn or review music theory, the links in the steps below point to articles that can help explain the concepts intuitively.
1. Identify your target rap song. As you might expect, if you want to transform a rap song into a country song, you first need to identify what rap song you want to transform. Try to pick one that you genuinely enjoy; your country song will end up much better that way.
2. Pick a seventh chord to serve as your root chord. The root chord is the starting point of your chord progression; it’s sort of the anchor that that the other chords in your song can be based around. Seventh chords have a country twang to them, so they are perfect for this exercise.
3. Once you’ve got your root chord, identify your fourth (IV) and fifth (V) chords. All the chords should be seventh chords; for instance, if I chose A7 as my root, D7 and E7 would be the fourth and fifth, respectively. If you’re not sure what all this root/fourth/fifth chord business is, check out this article on intervals as well and this introductory lesson on music theory.
4. The root-fourth-fifth (I-IV-V) chord progression will be the foundation of your song. You can play it for both the chorus and the verse. The trick is to switch up the rhythm and picking style so that the song sounds unique.
5. Add vocals. This is the fun part! Rap the lyrics or sing along to the seventh chords — experiment with what you think will work.
And that’s it! Congratulations — you’ve transformed a rap song into a country song.
The Big Secret to Making This Work
Remember, the key to making this sound original and fun is to have a unique vocal delivery layered over a unique rhythm structure and a simple I-IV-V chord change.
Kid Mercury is a VIP member of the New York Singer/Songwriter Sessions. He is the founder and director of ActoGuitar, an online learning community for learning to play guitar.
Have a question on this article? Want some audio samples that PROVE that this formula works? Check out the complete article, where you can ask a question as well.
I have the treasured secret for all aspiring beginner guitar players out there who want to learn to play guitar in 30 days or less…FREE OF CHARGE!!
And the answer is…
(drumroll, please…)
You can’t. At least not to the extent that you may think.
Playing guitar (or any musical instrument for that matter) can be the same as learning a different language. It is not the type of thing that can be learned and developed in a 30 day time frame and be totally understood.
I remember when I started to play. I had to spend a LOT of time just trying to figure out and get comfortable holding the darn thing! In addition, learning all of the basic mechanics needed to properly play (such as putting your fingers in the right place for a given note or chord, getting comfortable holding and using a pick, hitting only the strings you are supposed to hit) are not physical skills that can be developed overnight.
PRACTICE TIME IS THE KEY!!
Let me clarify this, however…
Yes - you can get books and lessons and guitar tablature and sound files and video shots and so on. You will even be able to learn simple songs at first…
I risk sounding extremely negative here, but that is not the intention. The point is that learning to play is a process that takes TIME. You have to develop the physical skills first.
For a beginning guitarist, topics such as basic music theory can be pretty much looked over at the start. Heck, most people wanting to learn how to play don’t even know that such a thing as music theory even EXISTS. The elemental mechanics of learning HOW to play chords, scales, and such is much more important at this early stage.
Learning to play guitar successfully CAN be done on your own. However, as with anything (in all honesty), being willing to part with some hard-earned money will make the process much easier. One-on-one lessons with a qualified guitar instructor is an excellent resource you can use to “jump-start” yourself into guitar playing. Be prepared, though, to spend as much as $15-20 dollars for a half-hour lesson!
With the advent of the beloved PC (ok…and Mac) learning how to play can most definitely be done in the confines of your home. Excellent software packages exist, and there are many online lessons that are available that can help you in your “quest”.
The intent here is not to scare you off. Learning to play guitar is a wonderful thing that you can share with others and have great enjoyment for yourself. There is a personal frustration I have with the fact that there are many offerings out there that may make a beginning guitarist think that they can be a Van Halen, Hendrix, Danny Gatton, John McLaughin, Al DiMeola, Andres Segovia, (insert your favorite guitarist here) within a very short time frame.
As with many articles located at 1StopGuitar.com it boils down to where you want to go…what is your goal? Do you wish to learn the latest songs that will impress your friends? Do you want to be in a band? Do you want to write your own music? To what extent do your want to go?!? That alone will tell you to what extent you will have to explore this “new world”.
For me, playing guitar has been a wonderful release. It is really easy to get frustrated as first, but the time you spend with it can develop into a wonderful “thing” in your life.
Jerry Mathis has 25 years of guitar experience - playing, teaching, recording and performing live. Visit his website 1StopGuitar.com to get all of your guitar tablatures, articles, reviews, accessories and more all in one place!