Music: Practice & Theory

Questions tagged [chord-progressions]

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For questions about sequences of chords, and the relationship of one chord to the next. Typically questions about chord progressions should also be tagged harmony if asking about in depth concepts about them. Questions that are about abstractions of chord progressions use Roman Numeral analysis should also be tagged with Roman-Numeral and analysis if applicable.

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31 views

I chord interpretation and broken chord interpretation blocking broken chords

I'm having trouble interpreting this chord. It is labeled as a I chord, and from seeing that there is no key signature, I'm assuming it's in Cmaj or Amin. But what I'm not getting is, to my knowledge, ...
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4answers
89 views

What would this chord progression derive from? [closed]

What would you primarly use over this chord progression Em7 B7 CM7 Am7 B7
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4answers
92 views

How to write a diatonic progression with the bassline ascending in steps

I would like to write a chord progression going through the C major scale with the bass moving up in diatonic steps and using as few note changes as possible between triadic chords... So, obviously, ...
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2answers
45 views

Complex chord progression (secondary dominants) with simple step-wise melody?

In many musical pieces, complex harmonic relations can be identified in the chord progression even when the melody can intuitively be "felt" to progress in a very simple step-wise manner. ...
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1answer
184 views

How to apply Paul Hindemith's harmonic theory

I have been studying Paul Hindemith's "The Craft of Musical Composition, Book 1: Theory", trying to apply Hindemith's principles to my own harmonies and melodies. As you may know, Hindemith'...
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6answers
128 views

If you add a 9th to a subdominant IV chord does it make it a dominant chord?

For example, if you have a progression in D major that ends on G, would adding an A to the G chord and losing the 3rd make the chord dominant? You would have the notes G A and D. It certainly sounds ...
3
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1answer
96 views

Harmonic Analysis of C. M. von Weber Clarinet Concerto No.1

My question is regarding this passage from C. M. von Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1. The passage is taken from the exposition of the first movement and has so far been established in F minor. Bars 20 ...
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1answer
36 views

Does this song use chromatic mediant in G major? and what other music theory concepts this song's verse utilize

I'm currently learning basic music theory and along the way I review old songs on my playlist then analyze what key, chord progression and somehow discover the composer's way of creating music. The ...
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2answers
89 views

How to identify notes in a key that sound better while improvising?

I learned all the chords and their inversions. I'm pretty slow with inversions yet but I'm trying as hard as I can! Now I started to improvise with my right hand a little bit (omg this is so fun!). So ...
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3answers
851 views

How does Eb connect musically to C major chord progression like in this song?

Im learning basic music theory and chord progression then I stumbled upon this song (You are my song by Martin Nievera) : From my understanding, the first 2 lines are simply C major chord ...
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2answers
77 views

Understanding method of applying modes on chords

I am learning about modes and trying to apply them on guitar over chord progressions, and I wanted to understand how exactly to know, when you hear some song, "ah, this song allows me to play ...
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2answers
47 views

What is the correct V7 family for the harmonic progression?

The key I am in is B flat Major, and the progression I have is A2, G3, E4, C5, which is the vii7 chord progression. Keeping the sharing notes, what would be the correct V chord? Would it be V6/5, V2, ...
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1answer
134 views

What is the function of this chord progression in Schubert's “Winterreise”?

I'm having a hard time figuring out how the chord progression from Schubert's Winterreise (D911), No. 11 "Frühlingstraum", measures 15–26 works (from the section marked "Schnell" ...
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0answers
52 views

Find a chord progression [closed]

I am looking for the chord progression that appears in this audio file. There should be : G/D - Bm/F# - F#m, but I am missing one. Thanks in advance !
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4answers
111 views

How to use a diminished triad in 1st inversion in a pop-music chord progression

I have not seen a lot of 1st inversion diminished chords (e.g.: D F B) in popular music and was wondering how this chord might be used in some standard pop chord progressions. Examples would be most ...
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2answers
185 views

Is the I - IV - vi - IV music progression common in pop music?

So I just started studying music theory, so for fun I thought I would practice by analyzing a song I remember enjoying. Marianas Trench's satirical song "Pop 101": ...
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2answers
105 views

A: PS 4: S 1: Q 2: Why does my answer continue to be “Partially Correct”?

It is Question 2 under Section 1 on "Connecting Root Position Tonic and Dominant Chords" from Problem Set 4 of Artusi, which my Music Theory II class uses. The only feedback I get from ...
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2answers
63 views

Naming/understanding this dominant chord with quartal upper structure

I'm trying to understand an interesting non-diatonic chord in the chord progression at 0:30-0:45 of this video; my rough transcription of the chords is as follows. As far as I can tell, the non-...
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5answers
693 views

Why is V7->i considered a better resolution than others like vi dim->i in a minor scale?

I've seen multiple sources and videos where V7->I (major) and V7->i (minor) are said to be the strongest resolutions. In the case of the minor scale, I hear vi dim->i (where vi is minor of b6)...
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0answers
50 views

anybody know what song this is? [closed]

I can't seem to find out what song. All's I really have is roughly the chord progression that I can work out. Seems to be a vi-V-vi-I Or Am Am GM - Am Am CM - If it's in c major/ a minor key. It has a ...
4
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2answers
92 views

What are the earliest examples of using the circle of fifths in western music

While reading about Vavilov's "Ave Maria" previously attributed to Caccini, I met an interesting argument, that probably nobody in the USSR and maybe later in the western countries noticed ...
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1answer
137 views

Help identifying cadences and modes in iidim7 - i - vidim - vsus4

I'm a beginner when it comes to modes and cadences, and I want to understand them better to improve my song-writing as a metal guitarist. While fiddling with my guitar today, I "wrote" this ...
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5answers
638 views

Is it bad practice if guitar plays lowest root of a chord different note than the bass? [duplicate]

I recall somewhere from my guitar lessons that if bass is playing a root note, than guitar should not already repeat it on a lowest string. I'm putting some progression, where it ends somewhere ...
4
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2answers
194 views

What is this chord progression/ascension called?

There is this specific sequence of chords that I have always liked, it ascends by fifths at the same time it ascends by whole tones, ending on a melodic minor scale, scale which has always been my ...
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2answers
348 views

How do you define Harmonic Retrogression with regard to intensity?

I was doing some practice problems in the AP Barron's Music Theory book, and one of the practice problems asks: “When harmonies within a phrase move from a strong intensity to a less strong intensity [...
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2answers
67 views

Forbidden/shunned harmonic progressions in 18th cent. counterpoint

I'm going through Kent Kennan's book on 18th century counterpoint, and early on he touches upon some finer points concering agreeable or not-so-agreeable chord progressions. Only a handful of ...
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2answers
59 views

How to approach Iminor - VIImajor progression in a functional harmony way

I am wondering how one would approach a Iminor - VII major progression. In a simple form something like: Am Am G# G# (just triads) The idea rose from practicing melodic minor (in a jazz way, so same ...
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4answers
133 views

Beginner's theory: Emaj7 - Em7 - A what key am I in?

I've only very recently started to learn about music theory so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I was playing around the guitar and was very fond of the following chord progression: Emaj7 - ...
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4answers
1k views

Where can I learn to write chord progressions like Bob Dylan?

Let me start off by saying that I have no folk background, and I am not aware of the rich tradition of folk or folk-rock. That being said, I understand that, similar to the blues tradition, there are ...
2
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0answers
56 views

What is the tonalilty/mode of Sitting on the dock of the bay -Ottis Redding? [closed]

I was wondering what is the tonality of Sitting on the dock of the bay ( ) since no diatonic scales fit the chord progression. Here is the chord progression : G | B7 | ...
2
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1answer
74 views

The bIII chord followed by the ii chord, and the bII followed by the V chord in major key?

I am analyzing the music of [Name of Life arranged by Makiko HIroHashi] (https://musescore.com/user/4622501/scores/5038709). From measure 32 - 35 it goes from : (First half of 32): Gb [IV] (second ...
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1answer
30 views

the II chord followed by the IV chord in a major key?

I am analyzing the music of [Name of Life arranged by Makiko HIroHashi] (https://musescore.com/user/4622501/scores/5038709). From measure 29 - 30 it goes from : (First half Measure 29 ): Eb minor [ii] ...
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3answers
66 views

Ascending and descending chord movement and its effect on harmonic function

Is the cadence I to V the same regardless of its position relative to the tonic? E.g In C major C4 E4 G4 --> G4 B4 D5 vs C4 E4 G4 --> G3 B3 D4 The thing that has made me question this is the ...
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6answers
975 views

Chord progressions in Harmonic Minor

I'm a noob at music theory, so I want to stick to basics and stay inside the lines (for example, stay diatonic for a given scale) until my knowledge is more advanced. I've seen a chart all over the ...
4
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2answers
215 views

Missing I (1st) chord in the progression: an example

Could you indicate an example of a song in a certain key that doesn't express the tonic chord (I chord) in its progression? Are harmonic progressions of this type possible in pop music?
4
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8answers
2k views

Why does G-Major work well within a C-Minor progression?

I have been playing and composing Piano for many years, but never actually learnt any music theory! So, recently, I started reading up and comparing with things I've written to understand the theory ...
1
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1answer
62 views

If chords progressions belong to more than one key, would tonality come from the melody?

In popular music, lets say I have a song that appears to be in C major. The progression could be something like C > Em > Am > G. This progression could also be in G major However. So, let's ...
0
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3answers
109 views

Understanding the Construction of minor7 Chords on Guitar

I was watching a tutorial for Viceroy by Mac DeMarco with the following chord construction for a C#minor7 chord with the capo on the second fret: I was confused by this chord construction considering ...
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4answers
728 views

How does this chord work in the progression?

So, if you're playing in a major key, say C major, and you play a I IV V chord progression but before you go to the V you play a bVI7 chord. So, C Major, F Major, Ab7, G Major. How come the Ab7 has ...
3
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0answers
84 views

How can one analyze the chord progression from “Your Affection (from Persona 4 soundtrack)” by Shoji Meguro?

I've been listening to Persona 4 soundtrack by Shoji Meguro recently, and soon got hooked on a song called "Your Affection". It's a J-pop song whose catchy chorus intrigued me with a ...
2
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3answers
113 views

How do you determine what chord the main progression starts on

For example this song I can't tell if just starts on the A A#dim as a lead in or if Bm G D A A#dim is the actual main progression order I hope this makes sense
3
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4answers
143 views

How to spot scale degrees in all scales fast?

Let's say you want to play a chord progression like 1-5-6-4 in all major and minor keys with inversions. To do this one should be able to spot the scale degrees in every scale quickly. How does one ...
3
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2answers
436 views

Are inversions for making bass-lines nice and prolonging functions?

I'm taking notes on chord inversions in common-practice period music and I noticed that the four categories of inversions (well, 6/4 chords at least) suggest 2 different purposes: a) making bass lines ...
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3answers
270 views

Circle of fifths rules

I'm trying to determine the correct algorithm for using a classical circle of fifths and create chord progressions please. I understand that we can navigate clockwise (5th) or counter clockwise (4th), ...
2
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6answers
133 views

How is D7 functioning here? Applied chord both kind of does and doesn't fit

I am composing this Adagio piece in E Minor and there’s one chord in the starting chord progression that I can’t seem to figure out the function of, that being D7. It seems on listening to be an ...
1
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1answer
108 views

Name of #vio7 in chord progression?

Anybody happen know if the #vio7 chord has a name like the Italian, French, and German augmented sixth chords? I'd like to read up on it and how it is used in chord progressions, but my searches aren'...
12
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6answers
2k views

Why does C9 sound so good resolving to D major 7

So, I have been playing this chord progression in the key of D major with the chords DM7, Bm7, GM7, C9, and I can't seem to figure out why the c9 resolves so nicely to the D major 7 chord. Is it just ...
1
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1answer
87 views

Extended chord types for all major scale degrees

I am trying to chart the types of extended chords for all scale degree of the major scale. I have come up with the chart below. A few questions on this: Have I got the chord types correct? In a chord ...
1
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3answers
93 views

Help with the last chord in progression

I have following progression: G-Em-Bm-C G-Em-Bm-C G-Bm-F#m-A D-Bm-F#m-??? G-Em-Bm-C... I am happy with the progression and it works well, but struggling with the last chord. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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2answers
62 views

What's the most useful way to think about a song that progresses from C to D and back again?

I am thinking of a song that goes back and forth between a C major chord and a D major chord. It resolves to C. Does it make sense to still think of it as movement between tonic and supertonic, or is ...

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