Over the past twelve years of me doing this blog I’ve written probably hundreds of articles that focus on chord progressions – how to create them, how to partner them up with a melody, how they impact the mood of music, and so on.
If you’ve had problems with the chord aspect of your songwriting, I’ve listed seven articles below that will help you understand what you need to know about chords and your songwriting. If there’s any part of chords that’s still giving you problems, please post a comment or question at the bottom of this article. I’d love to help if I can.
1. Chord Progressions, and the Strong-Fragile Concept
The concept of strong and fragile with chord progressions is a crucial one for songwriters.
If you find chord progressions hard to create, and you just need some to get your songwriting process started, you need “Essential Chord Progressions, and “More Essential Chord Progressions.” They’re collections of chords that you can use as is, or modify to suit your needs. They’re both part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.
2. How to Identify Chord Progressions in a Song
If you visit chord progression sites – the ones that list chord charts for your favourite hit songs – you may be aware that many (shall we say most) are filled with mistakes. Whether you like it or not, being good with chord progressions requires…
3. 6 Tips for Making Chord Progressions More Creative (and Why It May Not Be Necessary)
Of all the various elements that go together to make a song, you’ll find that a boring chord progression will almost never be a problem. A boring melody can be a problem (not always, though), and a boring lyric might spell a song’s…
4. Using Deceptive Cadences to Make Chord Progressions More Interesting
A cadence is the end of a musical phrase — the end of a line of music or lyric. Sometimes that cadence sounds temporary, when the lyric sounds like the a pause in the middle of a sentence (at a comma), and sometimes much more final, like the end of a verse…
5. Creating Chord Progressions That Work in Practically Any Song
A good chord progression has a sense of direction. It doesn’t just wander about, one nice chord following another nice one. Once a progression starts, it’s usually the case that it targets a particular chord, making that one chord more “important”…
6. Simple Hacks For Better Chord Progressions
If you’re bored with your chord progressions, you’re likely to opt for throwing them out and creating ones that are more creative. The problem with that approach is that you can wind up with chords that just don’t work well together, all for the sake of finding something more interesting. If you’re serious about songwriting…
7. Creating Chord Progressions that Move from Minor to Major
Here’s an interesting and easy way to create chord progressions that move back and forth from minor key to major. Progressions that shift major/minor focus in this way help to create fluctuating moods that work especially well in song verses and…
Written by Gary Ewer. Follow Gary on Twitter.
If you like starting songs by working out a good chord progression, you need to get “Writing a Song From a Chord Progression.” It shows you the strengths and pitfalls of this very common songwriting process.