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General Chord Progressions Thread

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PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#1: Jun 11th 2014 at 7:20:53 PM

A place to talk about chord progressions. Ones you thought of, ones you heard in songs, ones you aren't sure about, anything related to chord progressions.

So, I'll start: is Get Lucky's progression i-III-v-IV or iv-VI-i-VII?

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#2: Jun 11th 2014 at 7:44:06 PM

Depends on which chord you assume is that of the home key. Since E (the last chord) apparently shows up the most, I'd say it's strictly speaking in E Mixolydian, and thus F# minor, so the second makes more sense if you're reading it that way.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
Twentington Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Desperate
#3: Jun 12th 2014 at 6:44:20 AM

[up]??? E mixolydian and F# minor are not the same thing.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#4: Jun 12th 2014 at 7:20:04 PM

E Mixolydian is the seventh mode of F# minor and the fifth of A major, unless you're using the original Greek modes (which are entirely different). Yes, the emphasis is different, but the way the question was phrased, I thought that was the best answer.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
KlarkKentThe3rd Since: May, 2010
#5: Jun 12th 2014 at 10:27:11 PM

Refusing to have a musical education, I never learned the "official" names for notes (the Roman numeral thing). So I react to notes and chords based on their relation to each other, by ear.

I personally am a sucker for the Two Chords, when they are used creatively (and when there is a good melody to them). Here's an example (the song's verses).

PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#6: Jun 12th 2014 at 10:36:22 PM

[up]That I think is called a Plagal Cadence, and it's my favorite chord progression ever.

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#7: Jun 13th 2014 at 12:45:40 PM

Meanwhile, I'm sick of pop songs that keep thinking that it's a great idea for ii or IV to go to I and call it a day.

What happened to V-to-I motion?

IV-to-I and ii-to-I rarely inspire a sense of harmonic direction/momentum. It's like, here's the song and it's just kinda running in place.

edited 13th Jun '14 12:46:44 PM by GlennMagusHarvey

PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#8: Jun 13th 2014 at 12:57:15 PM

[up]Disagree completely. I've heard way too many great songs that just use IV and I.

edited 13th Jun '14 12:58:46 PM by PhysicalStamina

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#9: Jun 13th 2014 at 1:17:27 PM

I reply with a number of more interesting songs that feature V chords (or bVII in minor) (or sometimes v in minor too) (or all of the above).

To be honest, though, we're probably talking different styles, which themselves have emphases on different aspects of the music.

edited 13th Jun '14 1:26:39 PM by GlennMagusHarvey

PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#10: Jun 13th 2014 at 1:37:12 PM

Yeah, I'm speaking mainly in terms of Electronic Music. You seem to be thinking in the pop/rock area.

"Moonlight Shadow" reminded me, though: the "Humoresque" Progression; what determines whether it's the minor i-VI-VII-III or the major vi-IV-V-I?

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#11: Jun 13th 2014 at 1:39:24 PM

Context, basically. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell, which is sort of inherent to the progression as it sorta forms a bridge between the relative minor and major.

edited 13th Jun '14 1:40:00 PM by GlennMagusHarvey

GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#12: Jun 13th 2014 at 2:41:19 PM

The beginning of the OP of Coppelion shows off a curious feature:

  • Amin F G C (humoresque progression)
  • Amin F C G (pop-punk progression, minor permutation)

They're surprisingly close.

GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#13: Jun 13th 2014 at 2:53:46 PM

Between the corresponding major versions, the gulf is much wider:

  • C Amin F G (Humoresque progression, permutation starting on I)
  • C G Amin F (pop-punk progression, major permutation)

PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#14: Jun 13th 2014 at 3:04:44 PM

[up]Interesting. I think I've heard the C Amin F G progression somewhere, too.

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#15: Jun 13th 2014 at 3:18:59 PM

Like every little kid's rendition of "Heart and Soul" in an endless loop on the piano.

Twentington Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Desperate
#16: Jun 13th 2014 at 3:30:30 PM

[up]Am I the only piano player in the world who never learned to play "Heart and Soul"? Or "Spinning Wheel"? Or "Für Elise"? Or freaking "Chopsticks"?!?

Seriously, chord progressions can be context. "Find Out Who Your Friends Are" by Tracy Lawrence uses five chords, but feels like the melody uses only four notes of the scale, so the song sounds rather monotonous. Many other Casey Beathard songs have the same problem — the melody is practically all D, E, F#, and A.

"Boys 'Round Here" by Blake Shelton is an endless I-IV chord progression, but a semi-interesting melody is built around it, as well as some unusual production for a country song.

"Lover, Lover" by Jerrod Niemann doesn't even use chords, just a two-measure guitar riff. The closest it gets to a chord is that some parts of the riff have an open fifth (C-G) in them. Similarly, the entire first verse of "Keep Me in Mind" by the Zac Brown Band is just an F# chord played twice, then a two-beat riff. But the rest of the song is made more interesting by varying the melody, chord progressions, tempo a few times.

PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#17: Jun 13th 2014 at 4:04:29 PM

[up]If you're saying something along the line sof "It's not just the chords, but what you do with them," then I agree.

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
Twentington Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Desperate
KlarkKentThe3rd Since: May, 2010
#19: Jun 13th 2014 at 8:35:26 PM

Speaking of Two Chords backwards, listen to the end of this track.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#20: Jun 16th 2014 at 8:59:21 PM

Similarly, Swans' "The Sound" goes on for thirteen minutes with only one real change in progression—the first progression is root-fourth-root-fourth in I think D minor; the second I still need to figure out—but the layering of different melodies, timbres and chord phrasings makes that single big change incredibly dramatic and emotionally intense.

P.S. That's the Swans Are Dead version, which is slightly shorter but honestly drives home the point better.

P.P.S. The fact that some of the melodies—the vocal, the uppermost guitar—wander into parallel but different keys from that implied by the very simple progression really adds to the effect.

edited 16th Jun '14 9:02:45 PM by JHM

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
WaxingName from Everywhere Since: Oct, 2010
#21: Jun 17th 2014 at 8:56:04 AM

What are the (movable) first verse chords of Let it Go? I THINK they are the "Four Chords of Alternative" that I named in another thread "i-III-VII-IV", but I'm not sure.

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PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#22: Jun 17th 2014 at 10:39:22 AM

I think they're more like i-VI-VII-iv.

edited 17th Jun '14 10:39:59 AM by PhysicalStamina

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
WaxingName from Everywhere Since: Oct, 2010
#23: Jun 17th 2014 at 10:45:09 AM

[up]What's VI relative to Fm?

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JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
WaxingName from Everywhere Since: Oct, 2010
#25: Jun 17th 2014 at 11:09:19 AM

Oh, I think the confusion on my part is because the piano's bass note on the second chord is Ab, whose major chord is III relative to Fm.

Also, this mashup may have aided in the confusion.

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