Chord Progressions S&D

Destroy:
-I-V-vi-IV was mentioned in the pop songs borrowing from classical music thread. In the key of C major this would be C-G-Am-F.
-similarly, the related minor-chord progression (and excuse me if this is not written according to music theory conventions) i-bVI-bIII-bVII (which is vi-IV-I-V rewritten with the vi as the tonic). In the key of A minor this would be Am-F-C-G.

both are classic formulas for lazy songwriting from the 90s onward.

Yeah, you don't have to use the flat symbols on that one in A minor. Using an accidental for a chord symbol is only if the chord is built on a tone that's not in the scale. (And, of course, all those pitches are a part of the A minor scale.)

that's what I was thinking.

I love the chord progressions in this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka3l1KKZkmw

I'm a sucker for the minor-major flip that was distinctive in early Lennon. New Order used it nicely just before the chorus in True Faith, where it's like the sun coming out

word, "Long Time" by the Roots is largely just a switch back and forth from the minor to the major of the same chord and it sounds damn nice.

lately i've been quite impressed by the semi-complex progression in the building jam at the end of "Stitches" by the Morning Benders.

Rufus Wainwright's "Going to a Town" also has a pretty great, showtune-y sort of progression.

One of my all-time favorite piano house chord progressions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lewbH3jjLBA

so simple yet so effective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSXUZEcvgBw

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

My analysis, part 2

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.

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

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.

the chord progression on the chorus of Vampire Weekend's "Sympathy" has a fun use of tritones: Bm6/G# C#7 Am6/F# B7

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

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

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.

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"

Yep. And Otis Redding uses a major III chord in "I've Been Loving You Too Long" also (he wrote "Good to Me").

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...)

i think in this case it leads into the V, but i'd need a piano to be certain

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

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

oh i was still thinking about that mavis staples song

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.

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?

A passing chord on the way to IV - I meant to say in that last part

george's "beware of darkness" is a weird and beautiful one, isn't it?

Yes. I put it on now and followed it along and it's uncanny.

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.

Oh is that what that is, cool. That song rules.

"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

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

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