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MUSIC THEORY—Chord Progressions
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Chord Progressions in Popular Music
1) The 50’s progression I-vi-IV-V
2) I-V-vi-IV The same chords as the 50’s progression but turned inside out
3) I-I-IV-V—just play it and see what it reminds you of
4) II-IV-V-I the Nirvana progression
5) i-bVI-bIII-bVII—very common today, being used by Green Day, Cold Play, The Offspring, Yellowcard, The Cranberries and others
6) I-II-IV—the most notable example being Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
7) I-bVII-IV—used widely in the 60’s by just about everyone
8) i-bVI-IV—Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana ( the first chord can be major)
9) i-bIII-bVII-IV—Wonderwall by Oasis (again the first chord can be major)
10) I-bIII-IV—The guitar solo from Free Bird
11) I-VI-VII—Sheryl Crow’s “All I Want To Do”
12) i-bIII-IV-bVI—”House of the Rising Sun”
13) i-bVII-bVI-bVII—”Don’t Fear the Reaper” - MORE COWBELL!
You can mix and match these progressions within a song from verse to chorus to bridge to come up with a unique harmony structure for your compositions. If like to start with chord progressions and then come up with a melody to fit, jump right in and have some fun. However, if you are one of those who hears a melody in their head and then has to come up with chords to fit, you’ll need to consider the following. The notes of a melody will limit which chords you can use with it. Playing a C chord against a melody that contains a D note will sound a bit dissonant unless the D note is a passing note that resolves to C or E. In some cases, it will be just fine if you are looking for some tension. The same holds true for non-scale tones. A G# in a song in the key of G is going to sound a bit out of place unless it’s used in the same fashion as the example above. Having said all that, keep in mind that music is an ongoing experiment. There’s always someone out there breaking the with tradition and it might as well be you. No one every came up with a unique sound by following the rules.
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