What are good/common/important Chord Progressions for me to learn?

[Poor Tom]

I think the topic title says it all. Just looking to expand my playing and the way I have been going about makes chord progressions the next logical step. The only problem is: I don't know any! hehe

So if anyone could enlighten me with some good, common, or important progressions to learn, I am all ears!

[Arizona Jones]

I-IV-V

Example - G-C-D

[Muss]

you mean Cmaj7-Dm7-Gmaj7
no?

[WhiteKnuckles]

I thought 4th and 5ths were both Major....

[Marcury]

I VI II V: Lots of old Rock and Roll Ballads

[Lefty Geek]

Originally Posted by Marcury

I VI II V: Lots of old Rock and Roll Ballads

Don't you mean I VI IV V?

If not, it's another common progression used in old r'n'r.

[Cernael]

II V I

Ex. Dm7 G7 Cmaj7

With only slight hyperbole, you can say that this one occurs EVEREWHERE in EVERY jazz song EVER.

Otherwise, here's a good place to start.

[mutedeity]

You are better of learning about diatonic harmony and using it as the basis of a good general knowledge of theory than just learning some chord progressions. Learning chord progressions won't prepare you for anything to be honest.

[BillyRay]

Why isn't anyone in this thread using the standard minor/Major roman notation ? Makes for a confusing explanation.

It's not II V I, it's ii V I.

Jazzology has a LOT of great info on how to write good progressions, mainly in a jazz setting, but diatonic harmony is diatonic harmony.

[Kobaia]

Minor blues
Dom/Major blues
rhythm changes

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by BillyRay

Why isn't anyone in this thread using the standard minor/Major roman notation ? Makes for a confusing explanation.

It's not II V I, it's ii V I.

Jazzology has a LOT of great info on how to write good progressions, mainly in a jazz setting, but diatonic harmony is diatonic harmony.

It's II V I when you are playing D instead of Dmin though. Diatonic harmony is the basic of understanding how chords are formulated and the context of interval relationships and so on. Good is a matter of opinion too.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by Cernael

II V I

Ex. Dm7 G7 Cmaj7

With only slight hyperbole, you can say that this one occurs EVEREWHERE in EVERY jazz song EVER.

Otherwise, here's a good place to start.

Where I went to school they taught that every piece of music can be analyzed down to a II-V-I if you apply the common chord substitutions.

I subs are III and VI

IV sub is II

V sub is VII

[Warwick911]

Any standard 12 bar blues is always good to start with
very standard progression which you can add variations to later:
I | I | IV | IV
I| I | IV| IV
I| V| IV| I|

one variation:
I| I| IV| IV|
I| I| IV| I|
VI| ii| V|I VI ii V|

In Jazz music, ii-V7-I is a very very very common progression. Important too.

If you want to expand your feel...try the ii-V7-I in a swing feel, and then a bossa feel. I do the same thing, but I arpeggiate the chords too. If you want I can write out tabs for the ii-V7-I arpeggios.

Happy Bassing!

[mambo4]

Originally Posted by mutedeity

You are better of learning about diatonic harmony and using it as the basis of a good general knowledge of theory than just learning some chord progressions. Learning chord progressions won't prepare you for anything to be honest.

I agree one shouldn't learn chord changes in a vacuum, independent of any other theory or harmonic understanding, but I have to disagree pretty strongly with the last statement.

I think learning the sound of I-IV-V or ii-V-I or I-vi-ii-V's etc is an immensely useful skill, I have certainly found it to be. Once your ear can recognize those common chord changes, you ability to pick up new tunes increases significantly. Plus, practicing playing over these common changes prepares you for coping with them more easily and musically. Since the harmonic function of basslines is so crucial, it is extremely important to familiarize ourselves with common changes and how to outline them in various styles. IMHO, that's most of my job as a bassist.

Metaphorically, Scales and harmonies are the alphabet, but those chord progressions are the vocabulary and grammar of music.

PA: to the OP, follow the theory link in my sig. There is a good section on chord changes with many basic and "jazzed out' examples.

[Cernael]

Originally Posted by BillyRay

Why isn't anyone in this thread using the standard minor/Major roman notation ? Makes for a confusing explanation.

It's not II V I, it's ii V I.

Jazzology has a LOT of great info on how to write good progressions, mainly in a jazz setting, but diatonic harmony is diatonic harmony.

In my defence, I've come across explanations to the effect that "If the chord is taken from the major scale, use big letters; if it's from the minor scale, use small ones."

I'd guess "your" way is the standard one in jazz, which is not the context in which I learnt them (an introduction to Schenkerian analysis, if you're curious).

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by BillyRay

Why isn't anyone in this thread using the standard minor/Major roman notation ? Makes for a confusing explanation.

It's not II V I, it's ii V I.
.

Because there is no standard. The standard is to understand different people do it different ways in different regions. If your going to work you need to know all the variations of chord symbols and notation systems. You going to tell the leader who hired you his chart are wrong or say thank for the gig and collect your check.

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by mambo4

I agree one shouldn't learn chord changes in a vacuum, independent of any other theory or harmonic understanding, but I have to disagree pretty strongly with the last statement.

I think learning the sound of I-IV-V or ii-V-I or I-vi-ii-V's etc is an immensely useful skill, I have certainly found it to be. Once your ear can recognize those common chord changes, you ability to pick up new tunes increases significantly. Plus, practicing playing over these common changes prepares you for coping with them more easily and musically. Since the harmonic function of basslines is so crucial, it is extremely important to familiarize ourselves with common changes and how to outline them in various styles. IMHO, that's most of my job as a bassist.

Metaphorically, Scales and harmonies are the alphabet, but those chord progressions are the vocabulary and grammar of music.

PA: to the OP, follow the theory link in my sig. There is a good section on chord changes with many basic and "jazzed out' examples.

Well, what I mean is that once you understand diatonic context and therefore understand how chords are constructed in general and what happens when chords are played outside of diatonic context, chord changes don't need to be learned, you will just understand them for what they are. Much like I believe that learning a whole lot of scales before you understand the intervalic relationships of notes to each other is not the best way to approach things.

Sure if you want to go into analysing substitutions and so on, that is a different story, though understanding the basic concepts will still come first.

[Lorenzini]

To expand on the post right before mine...

First you need to understand that in a major key, diatonically, the chords go:

I-major, II-minor, III-minor, IV-major, V-dominant7, VI-minor, VII-minor7b5. In other words, let's say in the key of C major, each chord will ONLY use the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, no sharps or flats. The chords and their numbers (V, VI, II, etc) listed above apply to that rule.

These progressions below apply to a major key like I showed above. Here they are:

I-IV-V

II-V-I

I-VI-II-V-I

III-VI-II-V-I

[Martin Bormann]

Hope these images help. Everyone should have the information in the tables committed to memory.

[Muss]

Originally Posted by Martin Bormann

Hope these images help. Everyone should have the information in the tables committed to memory.

Martin, I got a little confused, or maybe there are some more pages before these two explaining them...
can you simplify it?

thanks
Muss