Chord Changes...

[Chili]

i'm not sure if i understand this, i was jamming along to the album woah nelly by nelly furtado, now i can usually improvise along to songs on the t.v etc, but i had abit of trouble jamming along to this album, i felt like i was having an off day, but once i found the root note, the root note would then not sound right, and the root note would change etc, like, just say the root note sounded like it was D, it would then not sound like the root and C would sound like the root, is this chord changes? i know all the modes, so what i think i need todo now is learn more about chord changes, i felt like crap after becouse i havnt had trouble jamming along to songs in a while.

i'm taken a abit of a guess here, but if i'm playing in D minor, and then the chord changes to C, i would have to start using the C mixolydian mode right? but i could also use E locrian, but once it changes back to D, i wouldnt be able to use those modes, but i could use something like A phrygian right?

can someone plzzz help me out on chord changes plzzzz?

 

[ryco]

When jamming to songs I find it more useful to think of chords and chord quality (Maj, min, Dom, dim, etc) than I do thinking in terms of modes.

Yes, when playing along to a recording and the root note you're playing doesn't sound right, that's a good indicator the chord has changed = "chord change".

If your playing in D minor and the chord changes to C, it may very well be a Dom 7(C E G Bb) chord - esp in rock, blues and country. In minor keys the bVII (C), bIII (F) and bVI (Eb) tend to be Dom7 or Major -- not always. Jazz = YMMV. The E chord could be an E dim (Locrian), but it may well be Emi7 also. It just depends. Once you go back to D min (Key center) you still will be using modes whether you're thinking of them or not. Modes are just the way harmonic sequences fall in a given harmony. You could use an A phrygian in D min, but it's a pretty wimpy sounding chord for this chord/scale tone. More than likely it will be an A Dom7 chord because it is the V chord and composers like a good strong tension chord to resolve back to tonic = V7 - i.

Don't waste your time feeling bad. Some days are better than others for ear training! Just keep at it!

 

[62bass]

Forget the modes for a while and concentrate on learning your chords and practicing arpeggios of each type. Your ear for hearing the changes will improve and you'll be better at picking out what the chord actually is.

 

[wiro]

And while doing this, keep in mind that the bass doesn't always do the bass note of a chord.

So when you hear a C in the bass, the chord that goes with it can be an F or a G# or an Am (if played as Am7 this chord is almost the same as a C). It can also be a Dm7 with a C in the bass. Or an E+5, B b9 or a Bb 9, Eb 6, Dbmaj7 just to name a few.

The bass note doesn't even need to be part of the arpeggio:
A G chord with a C in the bass is quite common used. And even a B chord with a C in the bass is possible.
etc. etc.

In other words: When you play along, let go all the theory and concentrate on what you hear with an open mind. This is why it's called practicing. Otherwise they would have used the word 'theoretising'.

 

[Chili]

ok, so, ill start learning my chords and arpeggios.
a chord is 3 or more notes played at the same time right, so a C major Chord is, C, E, G. C being the 1st, E being the 2nd and G being the 3rd note of the chord, so a C major arpeggio is just playing the notes in the chord individually, so a C major arpeggio is playing the 1st, 2nd and 3rd notes of the chord right? but you can play them in any order, you dont always have to play the 1st fist, you can start with the 3rd etc.

on chord progressions, can you create your own chord progressions, or are they always set, like the blue's chord progression, also, just using the blues chord progression as an example, could all 3 of the chord changes be using major chords? like, A major, D major, E major, but it would always still be in the key of A, and i would use the A major arpeggio, then D major arppgeio etc, and it would always fit like that, becouse i'm just using the 1st, 2nd, and 5th note of the major scale. but how can you tell, if a chord changes to minor, is it just one of those things your ear will eventually pick up.

but some music uses chord progressions more than other music right, like funk doesnt usually have as much chord progressions as jazz

 

[wiro]

If you start with the third, the notation should be: C/E which is the C major chord with an E in the bass.
If you stick to just the arpeggio's, things can become boring. You need to learn them by heart to be able to recognize them. Once you've done this, you're going to look for notes that will bind the different chords together. As a bass player you actually can add some kind of glue. Then it becomes really interesting and the amount of variations are endless.......

To make it more interesting you can play:
Amaj7, Dmaj7 and E7

But in blues it's quite common to play all 7s dominant: A7 - D7 - E7

If you're doing a walking bass you can add semi-tone intervalls to make it sound more bluesy:
Bessie's Blues from John Coltrane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JYqcjGEvdg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-WLrUNQd9M
( notation: ^a = one octave above a)
g#
||: a - ^a - e - d# | d - f# - g - g# | ^a - c# - d - d# | e - a# - a - d# |
| d - f# - g - g# | ^a - c# - d - d# | e - c# - d - a# | b - g - f# - a# |
| b - c# - d - d# | e - f# - g - g# | ^a- g - e - d# | d - g - f# - g# :||


I don't know any more which tune this is. I played it in 1979 and it's from the real book. So I tried to figure out the chords from this bass-line. I'm not sure but I think it's something like:
| A7 | D7 | A6 | A7 |
| D7 | D7 | A7 | A9 |
| E7 | D7 | A7 | E7 |

To recognise the difference between major and minor chords you try to play the minor third and the major third immediately after the root note. Most of the times you will hear instantly which one fits best.

Start simple. Listen to 'All Of Me' and try to figure out which chords are minor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0w_1fsnqHg&feature=related
Or a bit faster:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx5b4AFVaT8&feature=related

'All of me' is such a nice example because at has a D7 - Dm7 and a F6 - Fm6 progression in it:
||: Cmaj7 | E7 | A7 | Dm7 | E7 | Am7 | D7 | Dm7 - G7 |
| Cmaj7 | E7 | A7 | Dm7 | F6 - Fm6 | Cmaj7 - Em7 | A7 -Dm7 | G7 - C6 :||

You can learn a lot listening to and playing along with different versions of the same song. Finally you'll figure out your own interpretation.

More complex is 'A Foggy Day In London Town' which has a lovely progression.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EveCLhy-S_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmscqoY2d7Y&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVCDZaApwV8

If you wanna practise 'standard' progressions: Get the Real Book and practise lots of standards (you'll find over 500 golden oldies in it):
http://www.amazon.com/Real-Book-Hal-Leonard-Corporation/dp/0634060384

 

[DocBop]

but some music uses chord progressions more than other music right, like funk doesnt usually have as much chord progressions as jazz

Any song with more than one chord has a chord progression. You don't change the progression while playing. People do use chord substitutions to change the chord being played, but there is theory on what chords sub for another. Then as you get more advanced and usually in Jazz or Pop you can add chords to setup a chord. Then as an arranger or advanced Jazz musician will re-harmonize a song. They make change the chords for entire song or just a section, but again they are typically using theory on chord sub's and strong bass movement to change the harmony.

So all songs with more than one chord have chord progressions.
There are many commonly used chord progressions.
In general in Rock and Pop people don't got changing the progressions. If they do they change the progression they agree on the new progression before playing, or they know they are playing with musicians with great ears and can catch the changes.
You will hear people play a different chord, but those are usually chord substitutions.

Probably time to start studying some theory to learn how chords are built, harmonized scales, how most progressions come for harmonized scales, chord substitutions, strong bass movement of chords. and so on.

 

[Chili]

oh right, so if i'm moving from C major to D major, thats a chord progression right there, i'm gunna start going through a book i have, see what i can unserstand about chord progressions and arpeggios etc, thx for everyones input