Want to learn more about Chord progressions

[Sendy]

sure they can be copyrighted

So I can copyright the I-V-iv-IV progression and start cashing in on all these songs?

no but think about famous company jingles and stuff, basically also just chord progressions..and you would not be allowed to cpy this and sell it as your own..thats what i mean.

Not true, the actual chord content of any jingle or pop song is yours to copy as you like. What's copyrighted is the melody, the actual sound recording, and perhaps to some extent the holistic "impression" of the clip - i.e. I couldn't make something that sounded similar but with a few notes or patches changed.

[Cyoon]

Ok, i see..thought it would be possible.

[dscoyne]

Chord progressions, per se, cannot be copyrighted. When they are combined with a melody, it is the totality that can be copyrighted. A jingle would presumably have a melody or drum track and that totality could be copyrighted, but the chord progression used could be copied by itself in a new song., whether instrumental or vocal, with no legal problem. The Beatles song book, for example, represents a very valuable copyright, but many have freely copied great chord progressions that they used.

[coyote]

thank you for all the replays, and the discussion has been an interesting read. I do plan to study some tunes all ready made and learn from them as well.

And I also plan to move beyond the rules of thumb in time, but i just want to start simple and work up. I've been bashing away at music production for years now without really taking the time to understand anything and not really get very far so i have decided to take myself back to square one and start over. hoping to build from a good foundation of knowledge and understanding.