Using the most common chord progressions in music...
To figure out hundreds of songs. [Beginner Lesson]
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My students want to learn how to play lots of songs, but many of them feel that it is a "one-by-one" type of approach. This is not necessarily the case. So much of learning how to play songs not only comes from unconditional commitment and practice, it also comes from understanding basic music theory, patterns, formulas and application. Let's take a look.
Beginner Lesson
Forget the words. Listen to the music!
You've got to listen to the music, not the lyrics. Listen to the patterns in the chord progressions. Most songs are written with more "common chord progressions and patterns" than not.
How do you do this? Well, you need to know your keys in music. In order to paint a picture, you need to know all of the paint colors you have on your pallet. How many colors is "ROY G BIV"? Seven. How many chords or notes are in a key? Seven. Is this coincidental?
For purposes of learning basic theory for guitar, we will use the twelve keys in Circle of 5ths.
For simplicity, let's just use the first six chords in the key of C major:
I = C, ii = Dm, iii = Em, IV = F, V = G and vi = Am.
Six chords - three major and three minor. If you know what you have available in a key, it will be much easier to figure out the chords in a song, by simply using the process of elimination and knowing the common patterns in music.
So, what are the common patterns?
Let's look at that key of C major again - I = C, ii = Dm, iii = Em, IV = F, V = G and vi = Am. We're going to think in terms of using the corresponding Roman numerals for each chord so we can use the same patterns for any key.
One of the absolute most common chord progressions in almost every genre of music is the "I - vi - IV - V". (Just ask Taylor Swift). The nice thing about this particular pattern is the simple fact that you can literally start on any numeral, mix it up and it will probably sound good. Of course, there are some patterns that sound better than others, but there isn't a wrong way to do it.
If we use the "I - vi - IV - V" in the key of C, our chord progression will be: C - Am - F - G. Let's try moving things around. We'll switch places with the "I" and the "vi", then we'll switch the "IV" and the "V". Now the progression looks like this: Am - C - G - F. Now, we have the makings of a song! You see, there's no wrong way to do it. Try experimenting with a few more combinations:
I - V - vi - IV (C - G - Am - F)
I - IV - vi - V (C - F - Am - G)
vi - IV - I - V (Am - F - C - G)
Here's another common pattern.
This pattern is used often as one option to counter the progression of the previous pattern. "I - vi - ii - V". Now we have one different chord we can use from the key. In the key of C major, the chord progression will look like this: C - Am - Dm - G. Again, you can mix these up as well, to create interesting contrasts to the other partners mentioned before. Here are some ideas:
I - V - vi - ii (C - G - Am - Dm)
I - ii - vi - V (C - Dm - Am - G)
vi - I - ii - V (Am - C - Dm - G)
The next pattern is the "I - iii - ii - V". This pattern is commonly used in jazz music. The chords have changed once again. Now, we are using the "Em" chord. Here are some patterns to try:
I - iii - ii - V (C - Em - Dm - G)
iii - I - V - ii (Em - C - G - Dm)
I - ii - iii - V (C - Dm - Em - G)
Now let's try some of these patterns with other keys.
G major
I - V - vi - IV (G - D - Em - C)
I - IV - vi - V (G - C - Em - D)
vi - IV - I - V (Em - C - G - D)
I - iii - ii - V (G - Bm - Am - D)
iii - I - V - ii (Bm - G - D - Am)
I - ii - iii - V (G - Am - Bm - D)
I - iii - ii - V (G - Bm - Am - D)
I - ii - V - iii (G - Am - D - Bm)
Now let's try another key.
D major
I - V - vi - IV (D - A - Bm - G)
I - IV - vi - V (D - G - Bm - A)
vi - IV - I - V (Bm - G - D - A)
I - iii - ii - V (D - F#m - Em - A)
iii - I - V - ii (F#m - D - A - Em)
I - ii - iii - V (D - Em - F#m - A)
I - iii - ii - V (D - F#m - Em - A)
I - ii - V - iii (D - Em - A - F#m)
Try these patterns, mix them up and apply them to other keys. The more you practice these exercises, the faster you will begin to recognize common patterns in music. Imagine being able to figure out just about any song, just by listening to the patterns and discovering the chords. So many songs have been written with these patterns, because they are far more common than you'd think. Keep in mind, these are only "four chord" patterns. The idea here is to listen more to the chords and their progressions in the song and less about the words in the lyrics.