Frank,

Some additional thoughts ...

99.9% (estimated) of the music I've played over the years will end on chord 1 of the key. That is, if it's written in A major, it will end on an A major chord; if it's written in C minor, it will end on a C minor chord. Herb has already said this. The reason for this is because the purpose of an ending is to provide closure and that's what finishing on the tonic chord does - it's home base.

Where things are different is how that last chord is approached and there are many, many different ways to do this. In other words, the final chord is not about musical creativity, it's about providing the listener with a sense of ending for the aural journey they've just been on. The chord progression that leads to the final chord, though, can be very creative.

Working in the key of A major, here are some endings that occur to me as I sit here typing. If you want to try these in BIAB, the "|" character is used to represent a bar line. Nashville notation for these endings is in blue.

  • A | D | E7 | A
  • 1 | 4 | 57 | 1


  • A | Bm/D | E7 | A
  • 1 | 2m/4 | 57 | 1


  • A | D | E7 | F#m | D | E7 | A
  • 1 | 4 | 57 | 6m | 4 | 57 | 1


  • A | D | A/E E7 | A
  • 1 | 4 | 1/5 57 | 1


  • A | D | E7 | D/A A
  • 1 | 4 | 57 | 4/1 1


  • A | D Dm | E7 | A
  • 1 | 4 4m | 57 | 1


  • A A/G | D/F# Dm/F | A/E E7 | A (good for slowish tempos)
  • 1 1/7b | 4/6 4m/6b | 1/5 57 | 1


  • A C#m | D D#dim | A/E E7 | A
  • 1 3m | 4 4#dim | 1/5 57 | 1


  • A A/C# | D B7/D# | A/E E7 | A
  • 1 1/3 | 4 27/4# | 1/5 57 | 1


Hope these ideas give you some more inspiration!
Noel

Last edited by Noel96; 01/07/15 12:51 AM. Reason: added Nashville notation
MY SONGS...
Audiophile BIAB 2025