To make a chord progression a little more interesting, here is an idea for you.
Say we are going from C to Am. Take the fifth of the chord you are going to next, in this case E, and play the dominant seventh, E7. So the chord progression becomes C,E7,Am.
This adds another chord to the progression that fits well, even if the fifth of the next chord is the root of the first chord. Example, C to F. So that becomes C,C7,F.
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Good tips Billy, To add to those try C, CMaj7(or C, C/B, Am), Am, or C,Em7,Am, or C,Em7,F or C, C9, F. If you are playing a blues pattern try C, C13b9, F9. There are many options for moving from one chord to another. I hope this helps.
Dad, how will I know when I've become an adult.
When your day is ruined because they rearranged the grocery store.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
The only thing different about this is that will work for any chord you are going to using the same exact process.
Happy New Year
Billy
Last edited by Planobilly; 12/31/2409:35 AM.
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Same with the options I listed using your C to Am (Tonic to Submediant) chord examples, except for the blues option which was C to F (Tonic to Subdominant).
Dad, how will I know when I've become an adult.
When your day is ruined because they rearranged the grocery store.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
I did not explain exactly why this works. It is actually the descending bass line, the one-note walk-downs, that connects all this together.
And certainly, the video was able to explain in eleven minutes what I could not in four sentences...lol
Many people struggle with chord progressions. BIAB's main interface is chords, and as this is a beginner forum, I try to keep it simple.
The more I learn, the more I find the "5th" involved in so many things.
I had forgotten that this could be called a pivot chord.
Obviously, this chord structure is only suitable for certain styles of music.
I have figured out most of this sort of thing by playing the piano. Even if you don't play piano, a small keyboard is a very useful tool to see relationships.
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Actually, Mario, I thought I had posted this in the Beginners forum, not the Woodshedding—Learning to Play forum. I guess both could be considered "beginner" forums. My comment was not directed at you. The video also explained this much better than I could.
It was a good thing Moonbeam posted the video. It was certainly more instructive than a short post from either of us could be.
I learned these "pivot" chords from hearing them first. It never occurred to me, learning them by ear, that they were always the fifth of the next chord.
I think many guitar players may take a very long time to recognize every note and every inversion on the frett board and have the guitar become as visual as the piano.
The longer I play the more I understand the value of the work I have been unwilling to do...lol
Knowing why something works can be quite valuable. However, knowing music theory is not a requirement for playing.
Everything is good.
Cheers,
Billy
“Amazing! I’ll be working with Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and Buddy Rich, and you’re telling me it’s not that great of a gig? “Well…” Saint Peter, hesitated, “God’s got this girlfriend who thinks she can sing…”
Knowing why something works can be quite valuable. However, knowing music theory is not a requirement for playing.
The funny thing is that I've always done this in my musical (ahem) career because I liked how it sounded, and because it's a pretty obvious thing to do on the piano. And I discovered the C/E notation in BIAB. But as almost always, I had no idea what I was doing. Thanks to you guys, I now know why it works so beautifully
For anyone else reading, the C/E notation Billy refers to is called ‘slash root’ and it’s a way to control the bass walking, by specifying different inversions for the chord.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
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