Help! Struggling to recognize I-V chord change

[MalcolmAmos]

This made since to me.

Chords harmonize the melody. They do that by sharing like notes. If the tune is in the key of C and is using notes that fall in the beginning of the scale then the C chord would be something to look at. If the tune's notes fell in the middle to upper part of the C scale then F kinda makes since to look at.

How many like notes per measure are needed for harmonization? One per measure, that is why pounding out just roots work. Two like notes would be better and three is probably not necessary. Go look at some lead sheets (treble clef, chord name and lyrics)

C scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, octave, D, E, F, G, A, B, C octave.

The I chord (C) is made from the C, E & G notes.
The IV chord (F) is made from the F, A & C octave notes.

So the song starts out with notes in the first part of the C scale the I or C chord is going to fit. Now the song's tune goes up scale a little, so the F or IV chord being in the middle of the scale is probably going to fit. Let's say it really went up scale, i.e. jumped into another octave. If that happened you can cross off the V7 chord, because the V7 would not be using lower notes of the next octave. Here I'd bet on another C chord or perhaps Dm.

One other thing that helps - the I chord is going to be the most used chord in the song - normally. The IV is next and the V7 only happens a couple of times per verse. When I'm jamming I listen for the tune to go up scale or down scale. Most of the time I guess right, yes sometime I do not. The V7 chord is a unique sound - you just have to listen for that wanting to resolve back to the tonic I chord and rest. That is normally right as the lyrics make a point, i.e. reach climax, get the point across so it's now time to bring up another thought. You can bet that new thought (new verse) is going to start with the I tonic chord.

Run a lot of I-IV-V7-I progressions and listen to how the chords fit with the tune. Again when I'm jamming the above works most of the time.

Is this cast in stone, no it's art and with art there are always exceptions. Good luck.

 

[mambo4]

"Don’t Stop Believing Progression, I – V – vi – IV (G – D – Em – C). " and a boatload of other pop songs...

 

[the harp unstrung]

• The I chord is the tonic tonal center of the progression. The I chord can move anywhere it wants to in the progression, however, when you move to the I chord you lose any tension you have built up and you are now back at rest. If you want to go further you have to start building tension over again.

• The ii chord is a minor sub-dominant (some say pre-dominant) chord which likes to move to a dominant chord.

• The iii chord is a minor mediant chord, i.e. middle chord, it likes to move somewhere. In this move it likes to drag the vi chord along with it.

• The IV is a major sub-dominant chord which likes to move to a dominant chord. Notice the ii and IV both like to move to a dominant chord. Because they both like to move to the same chord they can sub for each other.

• The V is the dominant chord which likes to move to the tonic I chord. Adding the b7 for a V7 chord increases the tension and the V7 chord wants to resolve (move back) to the I chord as soon as possible.

• The vi is a minor (relative minor) chord and it likes to move to a sub-dominant chord.

• The vii is the diminished chord. It is also a dominant chord like the V, however, it is in no hurry to resolve to the I chord and is often used as the beginning of a turn-a-round. For example vii-iii-vi-ii-V7-I. So if you want to resolve to the tonic I chord use the V or V7. If you want to move somewhere else use the vii. The vii is known as the leading tone diminished chord, i.e. it can be used to lead somewhere else.

• This all comes from www.musictheory.net. Lessons/common chord progressions. Go to the site they have a step by step graph of how a common chord progression moves. Worth your time.

With ALL well due respect...Or you could listen to two hours worth of music from Hank Williams...