Quote: Moonstone @ February 4 2009, 6:51 PM GMTYou could use new, 'unused' sequences but you'll just get a pile of discordant shit, so what really is the point?
I think Moonstone was referring to the idea of someone using off-beat chord sequences away from the run-of-the-mill popular ones just to be original (for example, the whole field of avant-garde music bollocks) but that those types of progressions are rarely used because they sound bloody awful (we're back to avant-garde music).
Re: Modulation, I went through some of my old compositions and found I was using the technique long before I read about it. I'm not saying that in a "trumpet blowing" sense (believe me, my trumpet isn't worth getting out in public, let alone putting your lips to) but only to demonstrate that musicians can intuite the rules without necessarily learning them beforehand. Knowing dem rules is a big help though. It helps you understand why something works so well as opposed to not working so well.