Favorite chord progressions?

[Mike M.]

What are some of your favorite chord progressions to practice over?

I don't have a huge amount of time to practice, but I'm really trying to put what little time I do have to good use.

Thanks for your time.

[Dazzare]

I like a 1-6-5-4 or a 6-1-3-5-2-4 Progression.

[MalcolmAmos]

Classic stanby I-IV-V7-I
or .................I-V-I-IV-V7-I
then...............I-vi-iii-ii-V7-I
then...............ii-V7-I

That pretty well does what I need.

[Mike M.]

Cool!! With a four day weekend coming up these will keep me busy the entire time!

Thanks a bunch!!

[REDLAWMAN]

What's V7, please?

[N.F.A.]

V7 means dominant 7th doesn't it? To build one it would be the root, third, fifth and flatted seventh, I think.

[Jhengsman]

V is the major 5 chord from the original chord of the key, the I or 1. 7 tells you it is a 7th chord which is different from a major 7th chord. So in a 12 bar blues in E, E is I or 1. A is IV or 4. B7 is V7

[REDLAWMAN]

Now I'm lost!

I understand the Nashville Numbering System and diatonic chords like I, IV, V, etc, so is V7 the fifth chord, except instead of playing, say, I, III, V, you play a the root, fifth and the flatted 7?

[N.F.A.]

I meant that to build a dominant 7th chord you would use the root, 3rd, 5th and flat 7th.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by REDLAWMAN

Now I'm lost!

I understand the Nashville Numbering System and diatonic chords like I, IV, V, etc, so is V7 the fifth chord, except instead of playing, say, I, III, V, you play a the root, fifth and the flatted 7?

R-3-5-b7 The dominant seventh is a major chord so it gets a natural 3. If it was a minor seventh chord it would be R-b3-5-b7.

The V is the dominant chord. The V7 is a dominant chord and the addition of the b7 adds tension and makes it the "climax" chord, (my definition) i.e. it wants to resolve to the tonic RIGHT NOW.

Normally Roman numbers signify chords, Arabic numbers signify notes. Some of us take the Roman numbers one more step; lower case numbers (ii) for minor chords and upper case numbers (IV) for major chords. Others do not do that and signify a iii with bIII.

If it was easy everyone would be a musician.

[mambo4]

To avoid confusion, the general convention is:
Roman numerals are chords, Arabic numbers are notes.

roman numerals (I,ii,V, etc) are chords, relative to the key center (I)
UPPER CASE : I,IV,V=major chord
lowercase: ii,iii,vi,vii(dim)=minor chord
chords are considered triads unless otherwise indicated (I maj 7, V7 , vii m7b5)

Arabic numbers (1,2,3...8) are scale tones relative to the tonic
or chord tones (1,3,5,7) relative to the root of the chord.

Others do not do that and signify a iii with bIII.

bIII would indicate (to me) the third chord in a minor scale.

These are general conventions by no means universal.


-----
on topic, been playing with alot I iii vi VI lately. That and findsing ways to 'milk' one and two chord vamps for more variety without changing the basic harmony -usually this requires more musicians

[sammyp]

there's only one progression that matters ...it's the one those guys on youtube use to do those 40 odd tunes ....

I V Vim IV ....... i beleive

[Russell L]

I love: / I / bVII / IV / I /... just like "Can't You See?" (Marshall Tucker Band) and a million other tunes. Sometimes the I, IV, and V can be dominant 7 chords. Each chord is mostly pentatonic major, though. It's just that the blues influence can slip in there, too, which also would include a b3 for each chord---except for the bVII chord, which mostly retains its major sound.

[sammyp]

Originally Posted by Russell L

I love: / I / bVII / IV / I /... just like "Can't You See?" (Marshall Tucker Band) and a million other tunes. Sometimes the I, IV, and V can be dominant 7 chords. Each chord is mostly pentatonic major, though. It's just that the blues influence can slip in there, too, which also would include a b3 for each chord---except for the bVII chord, which mostly retains its major sound.

this progression "can't you see" - "sweet home alabama" is actually V (D), IV (C), I (G) ....the reason it is not called as I off the first chord is cause the D major scale will not sound good or normal in this progression ..the C# will be the odd man out!

[cjmodulus]

Rhythm changes FTW!!!!
I, vi, ii, V!

Actually, I really like deceptive progressions, no matter how they're used. I also love the use of the bVI chord a a pre dominant. Radiohead's 'fog' is a good example.

[Crazyeelboy]

Originally Posted by sammyp

there's only one progression that matters ...it's the one those guys on youtube use to do those 40 odd tunes ....

I V Vim IV ....... i beleive

That would be the Axis of Awesome.

[FretlessMainly]

Jazz blues is good for some extended playing:

| I7 | IV7 | I7 | ... |
| IV7 | ... | I7 |ii v of|
| II | V | I7 | ... |

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by mambo4

UPPER CASE : I,IV,V=major chord
lowercase: ii,iii,vi,vii(dim)=minor chord

These are general conventions by no means universal.

Yes indeed. For example, I was taught to use upper case roman numerals in the Major mode and lower case roman numerals in the minor mode. So in a major key, we have:

IMAJ IImin IIImin IVMAJ V7 VImin VIImin7(b5)

Where my convention becomes useful is when you consider that the VImin chord is the i chord in the relative minor key. If I can overlap the relationship between the two correctly using periods to create the necessary spacing:

Major: I..II III.IV..V..VI.VII
minor: iii.iv..v..vi..vii..i....ii

So, in a jazz tune where you often see:

| Emin7(b5) A7(b9) | Dmin7 | G7 | CMaj7 |

you can notate that as:

| ii v of | II V | I |

Note, of course, the true ii v of the II chord Dmin7 would have the dorian character of the natural 6th (B nat in an Emin7); so it's more of a ii v of Dminor, not Dmin as a II chord.

So, perhaps a better example is a true ii v of II V of I:

| Emin7 A7 | Dmin7 G7 | Cmaj7 |