Thanks you for all your feedback on the previous posts. If you missed them be sure to check them out before moving on.
Part One
Part Two
Chord Progression:
Two things to understand
-
We can think of chord progressions as movement, Harmonic Movement.
- A simple analogy I like to use is traveling across town. You have a specific destination but many different ways to get there. You can take the short and straightforward route. You can take the scenic route. And you can also take the weird road that almost no one talks about.
-
The "rules" I'm presenting today are called music theory, but they are by no means the end all be all. They're based on classical music, also commonly called tonal harmony. It's a good place to start experimenting. Once we know the rules we can begin to break them.
There are also three words we need to become familiar with.
- Tonic
- Subdominant
- Dominant
These are three categories for chords. In the tonic category we have the most stable chords. In the subdominant category we have chords that move away from the home key, they are the bridge between stability and tension. And in the dominant category are the most unstable and tense chords.
Let's work in the key of D major>>> D E F# G A B C#
The tonic category contains these chords>>> D (I) - F#m (iii) - Bm (vi)
- These chords all contain scale degree one (D). Having this note in common is something that makes these chords stable.
The subdominant category contains these chords>>> G (IV) - Em (ii)
The dominant category contains these chords>>> A (V) - C#dim(vii)
- In this category both of these chords share the leading tone (scale degree seven | C#) This is only a half step away from the tonic and is pulling towards the D note. You could say that these chords really sound like they want to resolve back to the I chord.
Why do we need to bother with this?
Because fundamental harmonic movement basically comes down to this type of chord progressions. Tonic > Subdominant > Dominant > Tonic
If you follow this as your template you'd be creating perfectly cohesive progressions that build tension and resolution.
For example = Dmaj - Gmaj - A maj-
- This is such a common chord progression. In roman numerals it would be >>> I - IV - V
- As you can see it follows those guide lines of tonic > subdominant > Dominant
Example 2- Em - Amaj - Dmaj
- This is the most common progression found in jazz. And it follows the same rules> ii - V - I
- In this case we didn't start on the tonic but it follows the same cycle, it's just a different starting point.
I also want to mention that it is quite common for songs to skip the subdominant category and just have this movement >>> Tonic > Dominant > Tonic
- Remember the traveling analogy? Tonic is the place you're definitely going, but there are few ways to get there.
- Another thing you can do to get creative is to group various chords, as long as they're in the "right" order. For example you could have this >>> I > vi > V > I
- It's just another way of writing Tonic > Dominant > Tonic
Exercises -
- Experiment with this formula. Build tension and release. Remember that this is just a starting point, these are not rules that cannot be broken. Especially when it comes to modern music.
- Really try to listen to the movement of the progressions you write. This is all about learning to hear what you like or don't like.
- Analyze some of your favorite songs. You'll find patterns in there. It might even be that the reason you really like an artist or genre is because there is a common chord progression that pops up all the time. You can take that and put your own spin on it.
Example of songs using this formula:
Every Breath You Take >>> The verse is I - vi - IV - V >>> Remember the three categories and the order in which they go.
Good Riddance - Green Day >>> The Intro and Verse are I - IV - V
Tune Up - Miles Davis >>> This song cycles through ii - V - I in three different keys. D major then C major, and Bb major.
If I had - Eminem >>> It's a two chord loop cycling through i - v >>> This is in a minor key but similar rules apply. It's Dm to Am.
Hope you guys find this helpful. And if you have requests or questions please let me know
Thank You!
Submitted February 20, 2021 at 01:38PM by theissachernandez https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/loauet/writing_chord_progressions_a_short_guide_part/?utm_source=ifttt