Chord Progression

[msaygilar]

Hey all you there, what kind of chord progression do you use? (Except Blues and Jazz progression)

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The Only Mask I Wear is the One I was Born With..

[MM]

I use the chord progression written on the chart. Which one do you use?

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Ciao
Mike

[msaygilar]

I mean that if you're just given the key. I play I - IV - V or I - III - IV.

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The Only Mask I Wear is the One I was Born With..

[MM]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by msaygilar:
I mean that if you're just given the key. I play I - IV - V or I - III - IV.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Are you talking about for composing songs or jamming or what? Maybe you're confusing chord prgressions with chord tones? I'm not sure what you're asking ?

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Ciao
Mike



[This message has been edited by MM (edited July 22, 2000).]

[msaygilar]

Ed? You wanna kill me?
I am not talking about jamming. I am not that stupid I just asked it for composing...
pkr2: Which post was that?
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The Only Mask I Wear is the One I was Born With..


[This message has been edited by msaygilar (edited July 22, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by msaygilar (edited July 22, 2000).]

[pkr2]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ed Fuqua:
MSTXYPLYX - I gotta ask- what the hell are you talking about? What key are you in if you both a major III chord and a major IV chord? Why would you be playing these progressions? Why aren't you listening to what everyone else is playing? If you are just "jamming" (god, whatever that means)doesn't using the same progression all the time make everything sound alike? Do you play that no matter what else is going on? Are you listening?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm glad you asked that question, Ed. I wanted to ask the same question but the last time I responded to a post by Msaygilar I ended up in hot water up to my neck. I hope you don't end up in the same predicament. I believe "someone" needs to tell us exactly what you mean (tongue in cheek).

I, for one, don't consider you to be a sexist.

Frog





[This message has been edited by pkr2 (edited July 22, 2000).]

[Blackbird]

Well, for composing, I use, major, minor, dominant, diminished and half-diminished chords, as well as the upper extensions (9,#9,b9, sus, 11, 13,b13, etc. I'm still trying to get into polychords), as well as whatever inversions may apply to make it more interesting. Isn't that what everybody uses?

Will C.

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I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard working guy.
-BW

[msaygilar]

Thanks Will.. I was just looking for something interesting. And Ed still wants to kill me...

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The Only Mask I Wear is the One I was Born With..

[Prashant]

Msaygilar -

There's also the option of writing a melody, or at least having a melodic concept (doesn't have to be in vocals, even if vocals are part of the arrangement), and then writing chords to that melody. Personally, I try to keep the chords simple at first (major, minor, augmented, diminished), and try to decide which ones are going to be seventh chords, based on the melody. After that, all the upper extensions, suspensions, and other colourings I put in are easier, because I don't have to keep as much in my head at once.

I've never really been able to write in terms of stock chord progressions. Voice-leading/harmony assignments from a theory text? Yes. My own music? Rarely.

Even if what I come up with first is a chord progression, my next (and immediate step) is to try to hear where those chords are leading, and what melodic ideas they are implying.

Call me a simpleton...

BTW, by "melody" I mean a BROAD range of tonal possibilities...but they are all tied together by a similar basic function in the music.

Best of luck to you,

Prashant

[JLeeFJ]

I'm so confused...
I don't pay attention to the chords I use. Even if I did, I'm not that good with chords yet.

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Band free and lovin' it!

[Boplicity]

To JLeeFJ, how do you know what notes to fret if you don't know what chord the song specifies at each particulary part of the song? Do you just choose notes at random from the key? Or do you know the key?

Or are you referring to composing music? Maybe you mean when you compose you just play notes that please you, without consideration to chords, which, in themselves come from the key of the song.

Jason Oldsted

[Scottzo]

I use a super slinky patch cord from my bass to my amp.

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Thump

[Bruce Lindfield]

Yes - as a bass player, everything you play is part of a chord - unless it's free jazz! All we do is play chords or ostinatos based on chords.

When I have tried to compose original stuff, I have either based it on an interesting chord change or a bass line that I liked. But these are usually non-standard and that's why they interest me. Quite often I can't explain the chords in any way and that's why they're original. But it doesn't tend to make for good songwriting and it probably would have been better to start with a melody as they don't always seem that interesting to anyone else!

[gmstudio99]

This thread has a very "Dali-esque" feel to it.

GM here, chiming in with yet another, "What are you saying?" post. Why limit yourself to two progressions? Won't all your songs sound alike? And in what key are I, III and V all major?

Now, to be honest, since I've gotten into writing ambient/new age music, I've really started to dig progressions of just I, and nothing else...("A Love Supreme", anyone? ), or i, bii (So What?)...

-GM, exploring space...

[Dingus_Mingus]

What chords to use is definately a lifelong study. The method already suggested of starting with a melody is definately a good one. One thng I like to do is find a nice melody, then a nice, melodic bass line, and then see what kinds of chords will work with that to make a strong, interesting, musically logical pattern. If you keep in mind that the two notes you're working with can each be the root, the third, the fifth, the seventh or even a more distant extention, you really have more possibilities than you can use. (Of course not all choices work equally well. Often a third, seventh, ninth etc. can sound fairly dissonant in the bass. By contrast, these may be the most beautiful choices you have in the melody.) Just using major and minor chords gives you a huge range of possibilities, and adding dimin., half-dimin., augmented, sus, etc gives you even more choices. I often try to keep root motion (as opposed to the actual bass line) to moving mostly in fourths, fifths, and major and minor seconds. This is by no means a rule, but it does help to lend some structure and help out the listener to make sense of the song.
Breaking down songs you like--like standards, Beatles songs,or Dave Matthew's or whatever--can really help you to understand what you like and why it sounds the way it does. See what kind of progressions you like and try to write some songs based on them. Harmony is a really fun and endless part of musical learning. I read about Paul Simon taking some harmony theory classes in the mid-seventies. This would be years after already writing all those Simon and Garfunkel songs. If P. S. can use lessons and still has much to learn, think about how much cool stuff there is out there! Have Fun.
Peace,
Matthew
PS Another great thing to do is just sit down with your intrument and sing. Then you know it will be real, and not just head music.