This is the “MIDI Vault Official Edition” first batch—and what you just grabbed is just one little sample off the shelf.

I mean that literally. This free pack is less than 1% of my Tier 1 “MIDI Vault Official Edition” — and less than 0.1% of my “Patreon Exclusive Edition MIDI Vault”.

The Patreon Exclusive Edition is where it stops being a pack and becomes an education. I take the most intricate chord progressions — the ones you've heard a thousand times but could never quite figure out — and transcribe them in excruciating detail. Every voicing. Every voice-leading move. The exact way each chord lands the way it does.

Grab the free pack now to explore what MIDI Vault offers. Then, visit Patreon to see the full vault with 1000x more progressions.

It all lives in Patreon Exclusive Edition MIDI Vault 15 — our home base :

https://www.patreon.com/musicianparadise/posts/midi-vault-15-136841775

and keeps going: Vaults 16, 17, 18, 19, up to 25 and counting. At least 40 new MIDI files featuring precise chord progression transcriptions are added on the 20th of every month.

Please note that these MIDI files only include each song's most important chord progressions. They do not feature melodies, bass lines, drum parts, or full song structures, though some exceptions apply. Sometimes, actual keyboard parts are transcribed; other times, it's just the underlying chord progressions with accurate chord voicings. The focus here is on chord progressions. These files are useful for studying songs, analyzing chords, and remixing or remaking timeless classics.

Remember: Chord progressions aren't copyrighted, but songs are. If you remix, remake, or cover, credit the original creators. Monetizing copyrighted material without permission is not allowed.

Keep making music,

MP

What’s the one-note shortcut from the major scale to Neo Soul?

Everybody’s first Herbie is the same Herbie. “Cantaloupe Island.” “Watermelon Man.” "Chameleon." These were the tunes we could play all day long back in the day—funky, friendly grooves that made me feel like a jazz musician before I’d earned it. I loved them. I also completely underestimated the giant hiding behind them.

It took me years to understand this. Behind these joyful tunes stands one of the deepest minds in modern music — and the deeper I dug, the more impossible the task of creating such a collection started to feel. How do you bottle a giant?

You don’t. The man did everything. Lightning-fast bebop lines. The floating modal beauty of Maiden Voyage. The harmonic engine of Miles Davis’s second great quintet, right next to Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. Then he plugged in and out-funked half the planet with Head Hunters and Thrust. He won an Oscar for scoring 'Round Midnight. He still appears to be acting in…sci-fi blockbusters (Luc Besson's Valerian, 2017).

So I’m not going to pretend this pack sums him up. What it does is hand you the part of Herbie’s world that resonated with me — daring chord voicings, quartal harmony (chords built on fourths), gospel-inspired movement, diminished-scale colors (1T - 1/2 T scale - check the beginning of “MP ActualTruth-BinaryScale_Ab” preset to hear how such harmony sounds), rich extensions (like 9ths, 11ths, 13ths), unexpected resolutions , and the constant feeling that harmony can always go somewhere new. The stuff that genuinely rewired how I hear music.

🎶 Why this matters

And that’s where the name comes from. The actual truth is, the music we listen to every day—hip-hop, R&B, neo-soul, even house—is built on a jazz foundation. You might not notice it, but it’s there. Jazz is often labeled “music for musicians,” yet many of its ideas eventually return as the source for the next wave of pop culture. Herbie’s whole career is proof. Don’t be surprised when some of these chords sound strange the first time. That’s not a mistake—it might just be what the future sounds like.

🧠 Theory in under a minute

A lot of Herbie's harmonic language — and much of the neo-soul, deep house, and R&B that followed — comes from a deceptively simple scale. You might know it, but probably don't use it as Herbie Hancock does. Let me show you a shortcut that punches above its weight: the melodic minor scale.

The wild part? It’s just the major scale with one note moved. Take C major (C–D–E–F–G–A–B) and drop the third: E becomes E♭. Done. C melodic minor = C–D–E♭–F–G–A–B.

A classical pianist probably told you to play it one way going up and another way coming down (natural minor). Forget that — jazz plays it the same in both directions, and that single E♭ unlocks colors the major scale or natural minor simply can’t give you:

• Cm(maj7) — C–E♭–G–B — instant noir. Pure James Bond tension.

• E♭maj7♯5 — E♭–G–B–D — lush and unstable, in the best possible way.

• And the big one: the altered dominant. Play that same C-melodic-minor scale starting from B and you've got the B altered scale (a.k.a. Superlocrian). Voice it like this — left hand B–A, right hand E♭–G–D — and you've got a B7alt that's begging to resolve. (Pro tip: wiggle the top note between D and C for that classic ♯9–♭9 move).

Best part: this works in any key. The altered dominant is often found on the 5th degree. Want to land on CMaj7 or Cm7? Build it on G: left hand G–F; right hand B–E♭–B♭. That G7alt dropping into C sounds like instant magic. You won’t find these moves in a classical textbook. But you’ll find plenty in jazz, 90s R&B (basically built on this sound), neo-soul, funk, hip-hop, and in this pack. This sound is a big part of what makes jazz sound like jazz.

💾 What you get

6 MIDI files & chord presets inspired by Herbie’s catalog, including his landmarks and collaborations with Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. These presets are big - MPC users don’t forget to check bank B!

Formats: Standard MIDI · Expressive Chords (M4L) · Scaler · MPC Pad Perform · RipChord VST · Xfer Cthulhu

Explore More Jazz-Inspired Chords

https://www.patreon.com/collection/662319

🔮 Coming next

I think this might be the start of something bigger—a Jazz Giants series. If modern harmony came out of one laboratory, this is it. There are plenty more giants worth exploring. If you want me to break down more advanced theory, say the word. I’ll keep it as simple as it actually is.

Until next time — go put an E♭ where an E used to be, and see what happens.

Thank you for all the support,

MP

Recommended listening

Thrust — Herbie Hancock (1974)

https://youtu.be/ffzjh7nl3Lg?si=aNp4vAzNlwlsIheP

Head Hunters — Herbie Hancock (1973)

https://youtu.be/3m3qOD-hhrQ?si=HqOwQjqgTfLh4L5b

Maiden Voyage — Herbie Hancock (1965)

https://youtu.be/EWC5x9G45yo?si=v2fwT6FWopZEJK8G

Empyrean Isles — Herbie Hancock (1964)

https://youtu.be/J2Uf5FkeD3s?si=8ZITRImtxTIPlJf4

Speak No Evil — Wayne Shorter (1964)

https://youtu.be/fvRkGglLe-U?si=NHxQtdJYVEDNogek