Now that you know how different types of chords are based on different scale tones, let’s examine some of the more common chord progressions you are likely to be soloing over.
These are chord progressions that are used in many popular sogs as well as in many jazz standards.
I — IV
This is a soft 2 chord progression as the IV chord is not quite as tension filled as a V chord might be at the end of a phrase.
You can play these 2 chords over and over as they don’t have a natural ending point.
Common tones of I & IV: Root for I; 5th for IV
C & F: C
Leading tones: I — 3rd
IV — Root
Leading tone for C is E
Leading tone for F is F
I – V7
this is a harder edged 2 chord progression, common in rock music, that alternates between the tonic and the dominant.
V7 chord is sometimes played as siple V chords with no 7th.
Common tone: G (5th for I; R for V)
Leading tone: C & E for I
B F for V
I IV V7
There are many different variations for the I IV V7 progression.
You can leave out the IV, insert an extra I between the IV and the V7 and even tack on another I – V7 at the end.
You can’t get any more popular than the I IV V7 progression — sometimes with the V7 played as simple V chord.
this progressioni s used in tens of thousands of songs.
3 chord rock and roll
This progression is not limited to rock;
Many folk, country, jazz, rap and even classical and show tunes are based on these 3 chords.
I IV V IV
This progression is a variation of I IV V that adds a ‘soft’ trnstion back to the I chord (using the IV instead of the V). IT’s a nice rollign progression, not too heavy, without a strong ending feeling.
there are no common tones between IV and V
I ii IV V7 I
This is a constant upward movement resolved with ta standard V7-I cadence.
There are no common tones between the I and the ii chords.
There are no leading tones between the ii and IV chords.
I ii IV I
This is a variation of previous progresion with a soft transition at the end; IV back to I with no V involved.
This progression has a rolling feel and sounds as if it could go and and on in a giant circle
I vi ii V7
This is a popular progression in the 1950s, the basis of a lot of doo wop and jazz songs.
IN jazz circles, this is called I’ve Got Rhythm progression.
I vi IV V7
This is a variation of I’ve Got rhythm with a stronger lead to the V chord.
This progression is popular in the doo-wop era and in the early days of rock and roll.
The defining factor of this progression is the descending bass line.
You probably heard of this progession hundreds of times.
there are no leading tones between the I and the vi chords.
I vi IV V7 ii V7 I
This is another variation on I’ve Got rhythm progression with an extra ii chord squeezed in between the final V and the return to I.
Note there are no common tones between ii and I chords.
No leading tones between I and vi chords, nor between the V7 and the ii chords.
I IV vi IV
This progression is anothe rolling one.
Thanks to the absence of the V chord, it’s good for repeating over and over again.
It features lots of common and leading tones.
I V vi IV
This progression is another rolling one, good for repeating again and again.
IT’s unusual in that the V chord is in the middle of the progression, not at the end.
There are no common tones between the V and the vi chords.
IV I IV V
This set of chord changes demonstrates, you don’t have to start your chord progression on the tonic.
This progression has a bit of a rolling nature to it, and it also sounds somewhat unresolved.
ii7 V7 I
This progression is quite popular in jazz, most often played with 7th chords.
Sometimes jazz tunes cycle this progression in a variety of keys, often using the Circle of 5ths to modulate through the key.
A modulation is a change of key.
Circle of 5ths progresses through a series of keys; each a perfect 5th above the last.
For eg. starting in C modulates from C to G to D to A to E to B to F# to C# to G# to D# to A# to F and then back to C.
I IV bVII V7
C F Bb G7
This progression might seem odd at first, although it’s more common than it appears.
What’s odd is that the VII chord is not based on the true 7th of the scale instead it is based on the flatted 7th.
So in key of C, b7 chord is Bb major.
It’s popular progression in many jazz tines.
The Blues progression
this is not solely to blues music,you also find this in many jazz and popular tunes
Blues progression is a 12 measuer progression. 12 bar blues.
It looks like this: I IV I V7 IV I
Sometimes all the chords are played as dom 7 so that the progression looks like:
I7 IV7 I7 V7 IV7 I7
C F C G7 F C
One chord Jams
This is not really a chord progression as the chord never changes.
This is the type of song based on a single chord.
Tags: chord progression