Wow, thanks a lot guys. I can definitely make some sense out of that. Great responses. Now it's time to start practicing!!!

So I'm starting to write my own melodies/chords in ableton. I've been studying music theory, mainly on YouTube, and what I've gathered so far is:

In the minor scale, your 1 chord (1st note in the scale) should be minor, 2nd should be diminished, 3rd should be major, 4th minor, 5th minor, 6th major, and 7th major.

So let's say I'm writing in E minor. My G chord, since it's the 3rd note in the scale, will always be a major chord in a chord progression with E minor. Wrong, or right? I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.


So far, I'm able to build 3 note chords. I do this because I know in ableton, in a minor chord, I'm going to have my root note and then count up 3 keys on the piano roll, place the note there, then count up 7 from my root note. So there is my 3 note chord.

Same for a major chord. I count up 4 keys on the piano roll from my root note, then count up 7 to build a major chord.

Well what if I want to add 5ths? 7ths? 11ths? 13ths? Really want to figure this out so I can begin playing around with building better chords.

It helps me if you could put things in terms of ableton, because it's easier for me to visualize. So for a minor chord, for 5ths, 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, how many keys do I have to count up from the root key?

And then for the major chord?? Any other explanations welcomed, but it'd be great if somebody could put things in terms of Ableton.

Lastly, I've learned that it's okay to have chords outside of the key you're writing in as long as they are "parallel"
What does this mean and can somebody give me some examples of some parallels that would work? Just so I can understand this better.

Thanks in advance peoples.