CHORD PROGRESSIONS

What are the best chord progressions to use for writing hit songs?

Learning Outcomes

• 1. Know and be able to play the six songwriter chords in C major on your instrument.

• 2. Analyze chord progressions in popular songs

• 3. Construct a 4-5 chord progression for an original song.

Chord basics

• A chord is built from stacked notes.

• Typically we have three notes, each a third apart (like C, E, G)… but some chords have more (e.g. seventh chords - C, E, G, B-flat) and some chords have different arrangements of notes (e.g. Csu4 - C, F, G).

Six main chords• The six songwriter chords in C major are:

• Cmaj - I *

• Dmin - ii

• Emin - iii

• Fmaj - IV *

• Gmaj - V *

• Amin - vi *

3 chord songs

• There are huge numbers of hit songs that only have 3 chords… Usually I, IV and V

• Most blues music.

• “Rock Around the Clock”, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, “Wild Thing”, “Sweet Home Alabama”

4 chord songs

• There are also a huge number of songs that have four chords.

• Usually I, IV, V, vi - in a variety of orders, but most common is I-V-vi-IV

The secret to writing a hit song!

• According the Axis of Awesome - all you need is 4 chords - I - V - VIm - IV

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ

Chords in your genre

• What is typical in your genre?

• Hip-hop often may only have one chord as it is loop-based… Funk often has one chord… jazz has many chords! Knowing what you are writing helps with knowing what the expectations of harmony are.

• How many different chords are used?

• How many of them sit in a single key?

• Is there a key change?

• How frequently is there a chord change?

• How much repetition is there?

Chord progressions can be repetitive - in fact they may be the same throughout the whole song… but the interest comes from

the arrangement, the structure and the melody.

Adding colour to the chords• Adding notes to the triad (7th 9th etc)

• Clustering notes together - adding 2nd or 4th intervals. Use inversions as well (not the “root” or main note of chord in the bass).

• The melody line may also add additions to the harmony.

• Change the bass note while keeping the chord the same.

• “Borrow” a chord from a different key—this could add emphasis (before one chord, add a major chord a fourth below, such as C-F-D-G), or change one of the “normal” chords between major and minor (e.g. C-Dm-G-F-Fm-C)

Don’t overwrite! Depending on what genre you are working in will determine how tricky your chords can be! Make the choices you make purposeful ones

for the benefit of the song.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGyEd0aKWZE

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdkou0CxS8I

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz1bJtV4KkM

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjVGJ3YFDc8

Other ways to approach harmony

• modal

• sample based

• cluster/noise based

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcqUv3mBK3o