so simple yet so effective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSXUZEcvgBw
― zappi, Saturday, 17 March 2012 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
Two of my fave chord progressions which I have written about:
The Zombies, A Rose for Emily
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elbJ4hy5C7A
My analysis, part 2
David Bowie, Life On Mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ
― St3ve Go1db3rg, Saturday, 17 March 2012 20:05 (twelve years ago) link
I've always loved "The Stars of Track and Field"--deceptively strange with the major VI chord and the minor v7. Keeps the key ambiguous.
Hey Bulldog does a similar trick in the same key (B), with the minor v7, especially since it resolves into the bVII in the second part of the verse (bVII, v, IV).
Any one have any favorite progressions from the past decade or so? Most of these examples are older.
― poolboy skew (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 20 July 2016 20:46 (seven years ago) link
I learned a lot of my favorite chord progression tricks that I still like to use today from one song, an instrumental from the Superfly soundtrack that I learned to play in high school:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAZ9zBLLuOc
― socka flocka-jones (man alive), Wednesday, 20 July 2016 20:54 (seven years ago) link
I'm a big fan of the quick 2nd inversion c-triad -> g triad -> 1st inversion d triad. Also love the e minor into the g-triad over a. It's basically gospel stuff.
― socka flocka-jones (man alive), Wednesday, 20 July 2016 20:57 (seven years ago) link
the chord progression on the chorus of Vampire Weekend's "Sympathy" has a fun use of tritones: Bm6/G# C#7 Am6/F# B7
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday, 30 May 2019 14:08 (five years ago) link
should say, the melody uses tritone intervals over those chords
Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can answer this one. There's a modulation that shows up in a bunch of deep soul songs that always moves me. It's here at :37 when Mavis hits the lyric "...will to try." What exactly are they doing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmWkKYcFhuo
― While My Guitar Gently Wheedly-Wheedly-Wheedly-Weeps (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 30 May 2019 14:56 (five years ago) link
hope I'm not out of my depth here but it sounds like on that particular chord they're raising the third to make a major chord rather than the minor chord that it's supposed to be within that key
― Josefa, Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:25 (five years ago) link
I think Josefa is right. To me that sounds like a major III chord, which would normally be minor. Typically this would be followed by a vi or IV chord, but in this case it sounds like it is followed by the V chord and then goes back to I after that.
― big gym sw0les (crüt), Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:53 (five years ago) link
a typical example that I always think of of a major III chord being used in a song is the second chord in "Georgia On My Mind"
― big gym sw0les (crüt), Thursday, 30 May 2019 18:55 (five years ago) link
Yep. And Otis Redding uses a major III chord in "I've Been Loving You Too Long" also (he wrote "Good to Me").
― Josefa, Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:26 (five years ago) link
I was looking at a chord chart for that one online. So it's in the key of A, goes between the A and E a bit, and then goes to a C#. So that would be the major III?
It seems like it's providing a preface or buildup to the D (IV) right? (I know just enough about this stuff to be dangerous...)
― While My Guitar Gently Wheedly-Wheedly-Wheedly-Weeps (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:37 (five years ago) link
i think in this case it leads into the V, but i'd need a piano to be certain
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:44 (five years ago) link
I to Major III is a common move in the gospel playbook, lots of hymns start with this basic movement (also seen in georgia on my mind): I - III - vi - IV
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:45 (five years ago) link
Goes to the IV in this version, but lord knows the internet is often wrong:
https://www.e-chords.com/chords/otis-redding/i-ve-been-loving-you-too-long
xp
― While My Guitar Gently Wheedly-Wheedly-Wheedly-Weeps (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:47 (five years ago) link
oh i was still thinking about that mavis staples song
― Jeff the grown man (voodoo chili), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:48 (five years ago) link
I'm pretty much a "cowboy chords" musician, so I,IV, and V, with the occasional II, are about the extent of my playbook. Everything else is kind of an aha! moment.
― While My Guitar Gently Wheedly-Wheedly-Wheedly-Weeps (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 30 May 2019 19:52 (five years ago) link
There's a modulation that shows up in a bunch of deep soul songs that always moves me. It's here at :37 when Mavis hits the lyric "...will to try."
I actually think this IS a modulation and not just a borrowed chord. The song is in E (not A) and the chord is G#. VC says, "it leads into the V," but I don't think it does. The V chord that follows is the start of the next verse. I don't think the G# has a function at all and I believe the song is actually in the key of G# there momentarily.
That's not the case with "Georgia on My Mind," where the chord is clearly a secondary dominant, or "I've Been Loving You Too Long" where it's...a passing chord on the way to III?
― timellison, Friday, 31 May 2019 00:56 (five years ago) link
A passing chord on the way to IV - I meant to say in that last part
― timellison, Friday, 31 May 2019 00:57 (five years ago) link
george's "beware of darkness" is a weird and beautiful one, isn't it?
― ptah el dude (voodoo chili), Friday, 11 September 2020 21:42 (three years ago) link
Yes. I put it on now and followed it along and it's uncanny.
― Eyeball Kicks, Sunday, 13 September 2020 00:38 (three years ago) link
I was thinking about the song Rumble. Obviously it's just a blues, except for the fact that it has that flat VII sus chord that resolves to the I, and then resolves to the IV, and then resolves to the V. Did Link invent that? It's so weird and awesome.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Monday, 2 May 2022 20:49 (two years ago) link
Oh is that what that is, cool. That song rules.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 2 May 2022 20:59 (two years ago) link
"memories fade" by tears for fears, tonal center is e minor. i absolutely love the chorus progression.
b minor to b major(!) to c major to a minor
― la vie wokisme (voodoo chili), Saturday, 18 February 2023 19:11 (one year ago) link
Just a side question: does anyone see chords as particular shapes or colors? Major-major7th chrods (like Cmaj7) always strike as very round and soft, and of a light shade, such as a pastel. Contrarily, major-minor7th chords (like C7) strike me as angular and harder, and a brighter color, such as red.For the record, I generally don't hold too many biases with chords, and use them as I see fit (which basically means, I play what sounds good to me, or in rare cases, use them for particular effects) -- but I will say that I don't generally like major-major 7th chords. To me, they seem *too* passive. Debussy used them, and for that, I must grant them credence, for he somehow made them sound credible, but he also did wonders with flatted 7ths, and using 9ths, and making chords that sounded heavenly (and just a bit erotic).― dleone, Monday, June 10, 2002 8:00 PM (twenty years ago) bookmarkflaglink
For the record, I generally don't hold too many biases with chords, and use them as I see fit (which basically means, I play what sounds good to me, or in rare cases, use them for particular effects) -- but I will say that I don't generally like major-major 7th chords. To me, they seem *too* passive. Debussy used them, and for that, I must grant them credence, for he somehow made them sound credible, but he also did wonders with flatted 7ths, and using 9ths, and making chords that sounded heavenly (and just a bit erotic).
― dleone, Monday, June 10, 2002 8:00 PM (twenty years ago) bookmarkflaglink
I find this really interesting because I also get soft pastel vibes from major 7ths, but rather than passivity I hear wistful beauty; they're my favorite kind of chord
― J. Sam, Saturday, 18 February 2023 22:49 (one year ago) link