Subject: An Introduction to Chord Progressions
You are getting this e-mail because you subscribed to it on www.learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com. If you don't want to receive these e-mails any longer, go to the bottom of this message and click on "unsubscribe." Hey there Friend, Happy May Day! If you happen to live somewhere in the world that celebrates this Spring holiday, I hope you're having a fabulous day!Last week I talked to you a little about chord progressions. This week we'll take a deeper look and what chord progressions are and how you can use the chords you know to create your own. You will start to gain some appreciation for knowing a little theory (just a little) and being able to apply it to ensure your chords line up where they're supposed to. Let's get started... What is a Chord Progression? This is the simple part. A progression is a series of 'something' with a particular end in mind. Look at the root of the word. It's 'progress,' which tends to mean you are moving from a starting point to a destination. With progressions, we are going to play a series of chords in a certain order so that they create a harmonic flow through a section of a song. By section, I mean verse, bridge, chorus or any area where it's fairly obvious that the section has changed. While you could use the same progression in every section of a song, each section will usually have a different progression. Each song section is intended to build upon the previous one to create a sense of increasing emotion, like what we read in stories. The Plot I mentioned having a destination. In music, the main focal point of a song tends to be the tonic of the key (the root, or first note of the scale in that key). That root serves as an anchor, sort of a starting place and an ending place. You could think of it as the baseline of a plot in a story - a common thread that moves through the song and holds it together from the musical aspect. As with any project or journey, it's good to know where the end point is. Having a specific destination gives a feeling of resolution when we get there, like the job is complete. This is what that root note and chord does for us. As a side note, ending on the root chord of the key gives a song a feeling of completion. But what if that's not the effect you want to have on your listener? Try ending on the minor form of the chord - listen to what that does to the overall feeling of the song. Plot twist! By establishing the root note/chord, we now have a base template of chords that we can use to create progressions. But What Chords? The way to figure out a baseline of chords we can use in a song is to look at the key and the scale that is built from the key. Let's say our song is in the key of C major. We know from the key that the scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Right off the bat, this scale tells us that the root chord is going to be C major. It also tells us we're going to be able to use some form of the D, E, F, G, A and B chords. Now we need to know which forms work... Just like the chord shapes and scales, we can use the same concept of patterns and apply that know which chord forms to use, and consequently how to create progressions from those chords. When we create 'harmonic progressions,' we don't just use major chords. In order to make it sound like the chords are 'progressing' up or down the particular scale, we'll need some minor chords and a diminished chord. And of course, we need to have an idea of what order these chord forms come in. Guess what? We have a pattern for that (are you starting to get the message that guitar - and music - is all about patterns?). As we've seen with scales, there is a notation method to write progressions out so there is no confusion about which chords will be played. Roman numerals are used to notate the pattern for a progression. Here is the pattern: I ii iii IV V vi vii(dim) (I) Upper case = Major chords Lower case = minor chords (dim) = diminished (we won't worry too much about this chord for now) If it helps, you can remember the pattern like this: Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, diminished For the key of C major, here are the chords that fit this pattern: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, (C) Let's look at another key. D major has two sharps in it, but if you follow the pattern we covered for the intervals between each chord, you'll see that the scale (and the chords) are spaced just like the key of C major. D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm, C#dim, (D) Here's a quick reminder of the spacing between each major scale note so you can figure out the note and chord sequence for a key: Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step A whole step is equal to two frets on your guitar. A half step is equal to one fret. So What About Progressions? A chord progression is usually a pattern that repeats itself through similar sections of a song. Each verse would have the same pattern, each chorus would have the same chord pattern (progression) and so on. For example, consider the song "Eight Days a Week" by The Beatles in the key of D major. This song makes use of two different progressions in the verses, and then during the bridge that we see a third chord progression. In the intro and each verse, we have the progression D, E7, G, D for the intro and lines one, two and four, then Bm, G6, Bm, E for line three. Using the Roman numeral notation, the first progression is notated like this for lines one, two and four: I, ii,IV, I Line three looks like this: vi, IV, vi, iii The bridge of the song uses a different progression, but the chord locations still fit within our pattern. These are the chords for the bridge: A, Bm, E7, G, A7. Its notation would be V, vi, ii, IV, V. Now don't get too worried about the chord forms (the E7 or G6) right now. As musicians we can substitute chord forms as long as they serve the song (sound good). Just understand that the pattern works regardless of the chord form that's used. The bottom line is, we can mix these up in any order we want to make cool progressions. There are some very common progressions we see in rock music all the time. Here are some examples: I IV V - D, G , A - "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles I V IV - D, A, G - "Handle This" by Sum 41 I V vi IV - D, A, Bm, G - "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield I vi IV V - D, Bm, G, A - "Welcome To My Life" by Simple Plan (guitars tuned to E flat) I IV vi V - E, A, C#m, B - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar (key of E major) You may be able to think of other songs that use these patterns - that's great if you can. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of well-known songs that use each of these exact patterns. Success leaves clues, and these formulas have resulted in millions of sold records. I've gone a bit long today, so next week I'll break down the basic major chord and give you the ingredients for minor chords and dominant 7 chords. Keep on rockin'! Peace~ Dave Dave "Eddie" Vance is a rock guitar enthusiast and gear nut. He has been playing guitar for over 30 years and enjoys tormenting the neighbors every chance he gets. When he's not slaving for the man, you can find him rocking out with his B.C. Rich Bich guitar, a cold beer and some sweet tunes. He also runs Learn-To-Play-Rock-Guitar.com, but you knew that already! Follow Learn To Play Rock Guitar:I welcome your feedback! Did you like today's message? What other topics would you like to see covered in my e-mails? Please let me know at: dave@learn-to-play-rock-guitar.com As always, please feel free to forward this email to a friend! I review products before recommending them. 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