How many chord progressions

I, IV and V are the simplest versions of the main chord categories in tonal music—tonic, pre-dominant and dominant. Moving from one to the other and back again is how you create the sense of tension and release that gives chord progressions their forward momentum. Many modern genres have a strong influence from jazz harmony. Speaking of genre progressions, the 12 bar blues is another essential chord sequence that comes from a distinct style.

This common chord progression is associated with the classic love songs and do-wop tunes of the 50s, but it shows up all over music history. It features smooth motion from the tonic to the sixth in the first half that provides a great blank canvas for vocal melodies. This chord progression staple is built on the chords I—V—vi—IV. Depending on the type of music you make, your chord progressions can range from simple, repetitive and predictable to complex and even a bit erratic.

Chords fit together in many different ways. You can make sense of them once you understand how the circle of fifths works. Giving yourself the time and freedom to explore putting chords together is the only way to write something that works.

Use the charts above to play some basic progressions, then start building your own based on what sounds good. Theory is great for explaining why music works the way it does, but nothing can substitute the incredible musical intuition of your own ears. This article shows you how to understand chord progressions that stay within one key, but music would be awfully boring if songwriters and composers used only one key per song.

Once you understand the basics, try experimenting with key changes and chord variations on your own. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content. What are chord progressions? Roman numerals in music Because all the note-to-note relationships in music are permanent, you can use symbols as a time-saving shorthand to understand how chords work in your music. The quick summary is that these four chords are opposites of each other.

The contrast between them is what makes the progression sound so good. It is extremely common in songs from the s to s and traces its roots all the way back to the blues. Playing these three chords in different variations will also give you some other common progressions.

Also known as the s progression because it was very popular in that decade, this chord progression is associated with the mainstream popularity of the doo-wop genre at the time. Beginning with a minor chord, this progression tends to sound darker and sadder than the other four progressions. Our final progression is very similar to progression number 4, the only difference is the I and vi chords have switched places.

You may have noticed by now that all of these chord progressions really only use a different combination of four chords - the I, IV, V, and vi chords. T ake note that the capo can only move the key up and not down. For a more in-depth study of how to use a capo, check out our video lesson and accompanying article. These progressions also show up occasionally in other genres of music, so keep an ear out for them in your journey as an aspiring musician.

For those of you having trouble with playing the chord changes check out the chart below and this accompanying video! Ze first began his journey playing original music and top 40s pop tunes around the country's popular venues. Eventually, through the music of John Mayer, he found a strong attraction to blues music. Ze has years of experience teaching beginners and intermediate guitarists.

Currently with Liberty Park Music he is teaching Introduction to Guitar Playing for Complete Beginners , Rhythm Guitar to learn about strumming, chords and more, Guitar Essentials as a fast-track review course, and lots of Song Lessons on pop and rock hits.