Hey you’ve probably heard of the term chord progression but what does that mean?
Well if you are confused by this term or don’t fully understand,
Then this is the article for you!
In this article we will cover:
Firstly we may have to do a quick recap on some music theory basics so we are on the same page.
To understand what a chord progression is we need to know a few bits about the major scale
Major Scale Recap
So firstly we need to understand what the major scale is.
The major scale follows the formula of distances from the first note. With Steps being 2 frets and half steps being 1 fret.
The major scale follows the pattern of
Step Step Half Step Step Step Step Half Step.
Which generates the major scale like this
Each of these notes of the major scale have a scale degree or roman numeral assigned to them.
This is to reference each of the notes and the relationship between that note and the first note or root note.
After understanding the numbers on each of the notes of the major scale.
We then try to form chords with the notes we have.
How To Make Chords With The Major Scale
Chords by definition are 3 notes or more.
if we take the first note from the scale and we add the other two notes that come next we will have the chord we need.
To get the next note from the root we go up in the scale by three.
lets take the Key of C we go up three and we get E to gain the next note in the chord we go up three again.
This gets you the G.
Each time including the note you started from.
As you can see this forms the C major chord.
If you keep all the notes selected in the major scale of your choice you can continue this method of adding thirds.
So if we continued to add the the notes to each of the numbered scaled degrees, You gain the chord sequence of Major, Minor, Minor, Major, Major , Minor, half diminished then it repeats at the octave.
If we did this in C major we would get: C which would be the first chord as C Major
D minor the second chord
E minor the third chord.
F Major the fourth chord.
G Major the fifth Chord.
A Minor the 6th chord.
B half dim the 7th chord.
then back to C major the Root Chord. Or first chord.
This is the basis to understanding Chord Progressions.
How To Understand Chord Progressions
Now we have the same understanding when we are talking about chord progressions we can put 2 and 2 together.
we can start creating chord progressions based on the prior knowledge discussed in this article.
If I say to you what is a 1 4 5 is in the key of C? can you answer it?
If we use the prior knowledge we can work out that the 1 is C and the 4 is F and the 5th is G. This is what that chord progression would sound like
The great thing about knowing the chord progression numbers is that the key doesn’t matter if you follow the same process with a different starting note say F.
We can do the same thing!
In F a 1 4 5 means that the first chord is F major.
the 4th Chord is a B flat major.
and finally the 5th chord is a C major.
It sounds like this
We can do this with other common chord progressions.
3 Common Chord Progressions
if we take a look at some common chord progressions we can start finding them in other songs and gain a familiarity to them. Here are 3 common ones.
The first one is 2 5 1 6.
to make things easy we will keep the examples in the key of C.
In C 2 5 1 6 gives you the chords Dm, G, C, Am
Which sounds like this
The second one is 1 6 4 5.
This is a very common pop chord progression see if you can name anything that matches in the comments.
In the key of C these chords would be C, am, F and G.
Lastly we look at the chord progression 6 4 1 5.
In the key of c that would be Am F C G.
This progression is good for a more minor centred sound it sounds like this.
I hope this article is a good introduction to chord progressions as I believe it has the key information to help you on your way to deciphering the wonderful world of chord progressions.
If you liked this article give stay tuned to our blog if you want more educational material on guitar and music theory.
Comments