Originally Posted by: BluegrasslimeyI would really like to know how you all construct your progressions to see if there are any progressions i haven't thought of or are these all there are.
A good place to start is to ask
WHY do we use these three chords - I, IV, V - as the "standard" chord progression. Once you understand the answer to that it can help a great deal in making different chord progressions.
Why do we bother to change chords at all in a song? Why not simply use one chord all the way through? It's possible to do, after all - and some songs even actually do this. The main reason to change chords and use more than one in a song is
to provide variety and thereby make the music sounds as if it going somewhere - hopeful somewhere purposeful.
In order to understand how changing chords can suggest motion in music we need an overview of Functional Harmony.
Building a chord on each note of the major scale results in the standard series of major and minor chords that are identified by Roman numerals:
I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii dim - I
Each of these chords has a specific function as follows:
Tonic - I
Intermediate - iii, VI (can also serve as substitute for I in deceptive cadence)
Sub-dominant - ii, IV
Dominant - V, vii diminished
Baroque, Classical, Romantic & Modern music - all follow this basic outline of Functional Harmony regarding chord progressions:
Tonic, then Intermediate, then Sub-dominant, then Dominant, return to Tonic.
This can be reduced to:
Tonic, Dominant, Tonic
Dominant, Tonic
Tonic, Intermediate, Dominant, Tonic
Tonic, Sub-dominant, Dominant, Tonic
Notice the primary goal is always the proper cadence: Dominant, Tonic
It is also possible to prolong the progression, for example:
Tonic, Intermediate, Tonic, Sub-dominant, Intermediate, Dominant, Tonic.
Notice the goal remains the same. It is of course possible to not use the Dominant - Tonic resolution in a song (or part of a song). This is a useful effect in it's own right. It can make the music sound more open-ended, or ongoing. Or even restless or wandering, due to not having a proper resolution as a "resting point" or end goal.
From there you need to understand the concept of applied dominant. If you are in C major, you can construct a chord progression such as:
I, iii, ii, V, I
(being: C maj, E min, D min, G7, C maj)
In order to "fill out" the piece, make it more beautiful, richly complex & "prepare for the arrival" of the E min from the C maj you can do this:
I, ii of iii, V of iii, iii...& so forth
(being: C maj, F# min, B7, E min...)
So you have deviated from pure C major, and are temporarily in the key of E minor but only long enough to prepare for its arrival, then you return to key of C major.
Notice the concept remains the same, though. The reason we use different chords is to
provide variety & interest. And the reason we play certain chords in certain orders is to
provide (or avoid) a sense of goal directed motion in the music.
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks InstructorChristopher Schlegel Lesson Directory