Shows us Theory Newbies how to implement chords.

[Dayl]

Thanks Chardin,

Yeah, thats the way I guess, I have a couple fake books etc for Latin Jazz, Jazz, Afro Beat etc and I just play around with those progs. Min7th's Dim9ths, etc. Will post some of my faves at some stage.
I just need to refine how i write my prog within key a little more. although its not a major problem.

Hey, at the end of the day, I nod my head and groove to my own sound, which I think is big enough achievment for the time being and ultimately the cornerstone for any musician whether your name is Beethoven or Billy the amazing spoon player.

cheers

[No name]

Thanks, nuffink. I want to post some progressions in minor keys but I'm sure the numbers won't be right, so please correct me.

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29. Im - IVm - Vm                               Am  Dm  Em
30. Im - IVm - V                                Am  Dm  E
31. Im - IV - V                                 Am  D   E

Each of these has a different feeling. The variations (Am - Em - D) are fun too.

These sound nice, 31 is actually something that i've been hunting down (i'm a big film score fan, and if i'm not mistaken number 31 is from "Batman Begins", whose soundtrack I loooove.)

I still admit, i'm not sure how to use chords. Like when I see Im-IV-V I tend to play the chords as they are, but i'll just play the 3 chords, each at about a quarter note. They sound good, but playing it that way sounds boring to me. How is it you take 3 different chords and use them in 4 beats? I seem to be under some assumption that each chord HAS to be played at a quarter note, because I have no clue how else to use them.

[No name]

See, one I used in a song i'm working on for a client is..By the way, just for more info, I used strings...
Cm-Ddim-Bdim-Cm. Now that I see it written out, I realize it conforms to absolutely nothing I've learned

[BosseJo]

See, one I used in a song i'm working on for a client is..By the way, just for more info, I used strings...
Cm-Ddim-Bdim-Cm. Now that I see it written out, I realize it conforms to absolutely nothing I've learned

Of course it does! You have listened to a lot music, yours and others and that's were the real learning is.

[JumpingJackFlash]

Thanks, nuffink. I want to post some progressions in minor keys but I'm sure the numbers won't be right, so please correct me.

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29. Im - IVm - Vm                               Am  Dm  Em
30. Im - IVm - V                                Am  Dm  E
31. Im - IV - V                                 Am  D   E

Each of these has a different feeling. The variations (Am - Em - D) are fun too.

These sound nice, 31 is actually something that i've been hunting down (i'm a big film score fan, and if i'm not mistaken number 31 is from "Batman Begins", whose soundtrack I loooove.)

31 is i-IV-V from the ascending melodic minor.

I still admit, i'm not sure how to use chords. Like when I see Im-IV-V I tend to play the chords as they are, but i'll just play the 3 chords, each at about a quarter note. They sound good, but playing it that way sounds boring to me. How is it you take 3 different chords and use them in 4 beats? I seem to be under some assumption that each chord HAS to be played at a quarter note, because I have no clue how else to use them.

This relates to harmonic rhythm, which is the rhythm of the chord changes. - Ie, how long a chord lasts, and when the next chord comes. - The harmonic rhythm does NOT have to coincide with one-chord per beat, or one-chord every 2 beats, or one chord every bar, or whatever. One way to make tunes interesting is to have a more weird harmonic rhythm. Syncopation is particularly useful.

You can change chord whenever you like. But when you do so tends to create emphasis. For that reason, most simple songs tend to have steady predictable chord changes at a constant rate (which often increases towards cadences). But you could have chord changes on beats 1,2 and 3 (and not 4), or you could do 1,3 and 4, - or you could experiment with more unusual approaches like using triplets or changing chords on the off-beat. - It depends on where you want the emphasis to be (or perhaps where you don't want it to be). Harmonic rhythm could coincide with the rhythm of the melody, or it could deliberately go against it. - Experiment and see what you like.

See, one I used in a song i'm working on for a client is..By the way, just for more info, I used strings...
Cm-Ddim-Bdim-Cm. Now that I see it written out, I realize it conforms to absolutely nothing I've learned

This is simply i-ii-vii-i from the harmonic minor. Not a common sequence due to all the diminished chords, but if you like it, go for it!

[chardin]

Here are some more progressions I like. I hope I haven't repeated myself.

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32. V - VI - III - I            G   F   E   C
33. IIIm - I - IIIm - VIIm      Em  C   Em  Bm
34. Im - bVII - VI              Am  G   F

The roman numerals for 33 can't be right since the Bm should be a Bdim. But again, I like the sound. I use the roman numerals to help me when using a different key. So for 33 I could go (Bm - G - F#m).

34 sounds good going back up too (Am - G - F - G - Am). Or in Dm try (Dm - C - Bb - C - Dm).

JJF is right, try playing the chords for different durations. Sometimes I'll hold the first chord for 2 bars, the rest for 2 beats. Syncopation is good too; try a chord change on an upbeat.

[Km7]

i-ii-vii-i is nice, simply more unusual TSDT.
Here is a progression, a part of the harmony that I use in one of my tracks, somebody might like it...:

I - V - I(1) - ii - vi(1) - IV - vii(1) - I

The number in brackets indicates inversion...
The track moves slowly, it is an ambient/soundtrack electronic instrumental piece.

[JumpingJackFlash]

Here are some more progressions I like. I hope I haven't repeated myself.

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32. V - VI - III - I            G   F   E   C
33. IIIm - I - IIIm - VIIm      Em  C   Em  Bm
34. Im - bVII - VI              Am  G   F

The roman numerals for 33 can't be right since the Bm should be a Bdim. But again, I like the sound. I use the roman numerals to help me when using a different key. So for 33 I could go (Bm - G - F#m).

Em-C-Em-Bm is either vi-IV-vi-iii in G major, or i-VI-i-v in E natural minor.

[Toxikator]

Here are some more progressions I like. I hope I haven't repeated myself.

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32. V - VI - III - I            G   F   E   C
33. IIIm - I - IIIm - VIIm      Em  C   Em  Bm
34. Im - bVII - VI              Am  G   F

The roman numerals for 33 can't be right since the Bm should be a Bdim. But again, I like the sound.

Would be inclined to call it either a IIIm-I-IIIm-VIIm in the Lydian mode, or more realistically a i-VI-i-VII in the natural minor.

EDIT: Damn, JJF beat me to it.

Of course, whether you do it as GMaj, CLydian, or Emin (or any other relative mode of those) is wholly dependant on where it resolves to. does it sound "stable" when you play GMaj? when you play Cmaj? when you play Emin? or Bmin? etc.

This is simply i-ii-vii-i from the harmonic minor. Not a common sequence due to all the diminished chords, but if you like it, go for it!

I think (this is speculative, but oh well) that part of the reason it works so well is the motion from iio to viio (especially when played more quickly or with more release) tends to outline the viio7 chord, which resolves very strongly to i.

A similar "outline" trick can be done with a rapid shift from GM to bdim in C Major. While the motion V-viio isn't a very strong one from a circular stance, it sort of 'generates' (in a sense) a V7 chord, which makes for a good resolution to C.

[Km7]

And the fact that you have two diminished chords in succession, which creates tension and instability. Diminished chords fall in the indeterminate group and are rootless (as Hindemith acoustically proves and explains that), they have a tritone and two 'fighting' minor thirds. The tritone is a rootless and ambigous interval, that's why it gives such a spice of restlessness to all chords; its root is determined according to the context. And of course, we feel good satisfaction after resolution of this restlessness.

[Toxikator]

I had a theory prof. explain it as "a tonic is created by the (expected) collapse of a d5 [tritone]".

[Sascha Franck]

Err... pardon me, but wasn't this about some rather basic explanation of chord useage "for newbies"?
How comes you folks are trying to show off with your (unarguably existing) knowledge of whatever complexed things that are of close to no use for a newbie?

Fwiw, I'm just prearing a bunch of very simple progressions with a few explanations, MP3 and MIDI files. Hope to post the first of them somewhen later on.

[MadBrain]

Here's an analysis of a relatively nice progression from a TV show:

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(I = C maj, 5 = bV, 6 = bVI, 7 = bVII)

I	5
IV	V/IV	III	VI V
IV	III/6	VI  V	IV
III VI	IV  V
I
V
VII
III VI	II  V	I   5
IV	V/IV	III	VI V
IV	III/6	VI  V	IV
III VI	IV  V
I   I/7	I/VI I/6 V   I

I didn't notate the kind of chords used, just the bassline, and I've used the strange shorthand of using 5,6,7 for bV,bVI and bVII. One thing that's cool with that progression is that it doesn't use the tonic very much. Isus (Bb/C) is used in the intro and before the verse, but not in the main parts, where the harmony is the strongest. It also uses lots of sus chords (Bb/C, F/G, Ab/Bb), which as far as I can guess is characteristic from the harmony of the 80s and early 90s (and is quite practical for when a normal 7th chord would be too dissonant btw). Also note the quite strong (and neat) progression using the tritone: I 5 IV. This serves as a cadence to IV, where just I IV wouldn't be strong enough. I guess you could say it plays I and then the tritonic substitution of I. The bass movements are a tritone jump and then a half-tone down, which are very strong harmonic movements (probably just as strong as 4ths up).

[nuffink]

Not hard and fast but something to think about...

The tonic (I) chord is usually used as a point of rest and often as the start of a new progression. When you see a progression notated as, say, vi - ii - V - I the temptation is to play it like that. This typically puts the I on a week, unstable bar.
Playing it as I - vi - ii - V and then back to I puts the inherently unstable V (which should be a V7 to capitalise on the instability) on the last bar in the passage creating a tension which then resolves... ahhhhhhh ... to the tonic on the first bar of the new progression. And repeat.
It gives your music forward propulsion.

[chardin]

i-ii-vii-i is nice, simply more unusual TSDT.
Here is a progression, a part of the harmony that I use in one of my tracks, somebody might like it...:

I - V - I(1) - ii - vi(1) - IV - vii(1) - I

The number in brackets indicates inversion...
The track moves slowly, it is an ambient/soundtrack electronic instrumental piece.

Here is a short song Calm Water using Varadin's progression. The chords I used were

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C  G  C/E  Dm  Am/E  F  Bm/F#  G

I changed the last chord to a V (G) because I liked the bass run. I may not have the inversions correct but I like the sound.