Chord progressions or chord sequences - combinations of chords that forms an harmonic interval.
Chord harmonization
Major triad chord harmonization in the major keys -i.e. what chords are diatonic to each of the twelve major keys?
| Key | I | ii | iii | IV | V | vi | viiº |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C major | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim |
| F major | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C | Dm | Edim |
| Bb major | Bb | Cm | Dm | Eb | F | Gm | Adim |
| Eb major | Eb | Fm | Gm | Ab | Bb | Cm | Ddim |
| Ab major | Ab | Bbm | Cm | Db | Eb | Fm | Gdim |
| Db major | Db | Ebm | Fm | Gb | Ab | Bbm | Cdim |
| Gb major | Gb | Abm | Bbm | B | Db | Ebm | Fdim |
| B major | B | C#m | D#m | E | F# | G#m | A#dim |
| E major | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | C#m | D#dim |
| A major | A | Bm | C#m | D | E | F#m | G#dim |
| D major | D | Em | F#m | G | A | Bm | C#dim |
| G major | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F#dim |
| Major | Minors | Majors | Minors | ||||
| Lower case roman numerals signifies minor chord degree. Uppercase roman numerals signifies major | |||||||
In a chord progression the chords share some notes. And the notes they share are usually taken from a single scale.
Take the chord progression C Major - F Major - G Major.
The notes of C Major chord: C,E,G
The notes of F Major chord: F,A,C
The notes of G Major chord: G,B,D
In a chord progression C Major - F Major - G Major, the chords can be built from the
C Major Scale:
C Major C Major
Scale Scale C Major F Major G major
0 EADGBE 000000 0||0|0 |||||| ||000|
1 F|||RF 0|||R0 ||||R| R|||0R ||||||
2 |BEA|| |000|| ||0||| |||0|| |0||||
3 GRF|DG 0R0|00 |R|||| |0R||| R||||R
4 |||B|| |||0|| ECEGCE FCFACF GBDGBG
5 ADGCEA 000R00
6 ||||F| ||||0|
7 BEAD|B 0000|0
8 RF||GR R0||0R
9 ||BE|| ||00||
10 DGRFAD 00R000
11 |||||| ||||||
How to find chords progession.
The circle of fifth (of fourths counter clockwise) is very useful tool to find chord progressions.
Common chords progession
3 Chord Progression
The I-IV-V - a.k.a the 3 Chord Progression - must be the most commonly used chord sequence in rock and blues, country, and soul.
Examples:
G-C-D (G Major - C Major - D Major) or G-C-D7
A-D-E or A-D-E7. The seventh chord increases the tension.
C-F-G or C-F-G7
E-A-B or E-A-B7
D-G-A or D-G-A7
F-Bb-C or F-Bb-C7
“GGG CC DDD CC”
“GGGG GGGG CCCC GGGG DDDD CCCC GGGG”
“DDD CCC GGG GGG”.
I-IV-V7
E-A-B7
ii-V-I
A ii-V-I in the key of G would look like this: / Am7 / D7 / Gmaj7 / Gmaj7 /
With simplified chords (no fifth), this progression could be playd like this:
ii V I ii V I
Am7 D7 Gmaj7 Am7 D7 Gmaj7
|-------------------| |-------------------|
|-------------------| |----5----5----3----|
|----5----5----4----| |----5----5----4----|
|----5----4----4----| |----5----4----4----|
|---------5---------| |---------5---------|
|----5---------3----| |----5---------3----|
With the 5th included.
Another example of a ii-V-I in the key of C: / Dm7 / G7 / Cmaj7 / Cmaj7 /
ii V V I Dm7 G7 G7 Cmaj7 |---------7------------| |----6----6--3----5----| |----5----7--4----4----| |----7----5--3----5----| |----5------------3----| |------------3---------|
With b5 chord substitution of the V chord.
ii V I ii V I
Am7 Ab7 Gmaj7 Dm7 Db7 Cmaj7
|-------------------| |--------------------|
|-------------------| |----6----6-----5----|
|----5----5----4----| |----5----4-----4----|
|----5----4----4----| |----7----6-----5----|
|-------------------| |----5----4-----3----|
|----5----4----3----| |--------------------|
Or even more simplfied, without the bass
ii V I Am7 Ab7 Gmaj7 |--------------------| |--------------------| |---5----5----4------| |---5----4----4------| |--------------------| |--------------------|
You can subtitute the ii chord with other minor chords, the dominant chord with any other dominant, and the major with any other dominant, if its’ a voicing that suits the melody.
ii V I
Am11 Ab7b5 Gmaj6/9
|------------------------|
|----3-----3------4------|
|----5-----5------3------|
|----5-----4------3------|
|------------------------|
|----5-----4------3------|
2-5-1-6
A7-D7-GMaj7-E7
I-iii-IV-V
Adding a minor to the I-IV-V progression.
C-Am-F-G
G-Em-C-D
See also
External links
- Riff TV - Primary Chords Exercise - Primary Chords Exercise. Learn to play the guitar. We offer tabs, chord charts, free video lessons and more.
- Olav Torvund's Chord Progressions for Guitar - Olav Torvund\’s Chord progressions for Guitar website
- The Secrets of Exciting Chords and Chord Progressions! by Duane Shinn, is a series of 39 lessons on Chords and Chord Progressions for piano.http://psrtutorial.com/Resources/R_ChordSecrets/r_chordsecrets.html. That is 2 solid years of free e-mail piano lessons! Also, see Duanes website, the http://www.playpiano.com/.
