I love your channel, and although I was trained in music theory -- decades ago in college -- I appreciate hearing about how younger bands and artists are still using these chord progressions to create new music and make it their own!
I just found your videos. Excellent descriptions and demos. Can't say I have ever seen a Talk Talk reference in a video before, most underrated band from the 1980s.
The last progression was interesting because if you change the minor chords to major you have the classic rock mixolydian progression used for the start of Sweet Child of Mine and the start of Welcome to Paradise.
Another good example of the "Rising Sun" progression is "Traust" by Heilung. However, the IV chord feels more minor, so it would be i-bIII-iv-bVI. The Aeolian closed loop actually moves in identical motion to the Mixolydian vamp you mentioned in an earlier video. Only difference is the tonic and subdominant chords are minor instead of major.
Huh never really thought about the tonality/progression of the Michael Jackson song "Blood On The Dancefloor", I'm always taken aback by the ridiculously good beat.
Funny enough, the first time I kinda heard House of the Rising Sun was... Not actually the song but a "we're trying to be the song but not really" and that was the ending of Meta-Knight's Revenge from Kirby Superstar. But as I'm humming along, I don't think they share the same chord progression despite the fact that it's based off of House of the Rising Sun... Though they might. I'll have to look into that.
David I have a question for you. I want to start doing educational music content on RU-vid as well, and I'm wondering how you get around using copyrighted music, but not only that, still get monetization from the video. I've looked everywhere online and there doesn't seem to be any real info on it, so I hope you can help, thanks mate!
hey i really enjoy the video but why are the III and VI chords marked as bIII and bVI when they are not bIII or bVI in their key signature? am i getting something wrong? i mean the scale of Am is obvious A B C D E F G but a flat 3 chord would represent a B chord instead of C and a flat 6 chord would represent a E chord instead of F , which in a minor scale even makes even less sense since B and E just would be 2 and 5 and not flat 3 and flat 6, i am confused.
This is a really common issue with minor key chord progressions. I'm using the system where the roman numerals always refer to the major scale, even if the music we happen to be looking at is actually in the minor key. sorry for any confusion 😊😊
I don't understand this use of "bIII" roman numeral notation; in classical harmony notation that would mean that the chord is not built on the normal III scale degree, but a semitone lower, which is not the case. …?
I disagree. All in the key of C, first one is vi, I, II dominant, IV. Second one is vi, ii, I, III dominant. Third one is vi, V, ii, vi. They never resolve to the root chord of the key, they don't have to...
What I'm confused about CONSTANTLY in these video is his use of the sharps and flats... for example, if you look at 2:18, the chord progression in C minor, he calls the III and the VI chord flat... but in C minor they ARE flat already... so do you take them down ANOTHER half step... well you don't... okay, so WHY put the flat in there, it's redundant and confusing... it's just the III and VI chord! He does this allllll the time. In Blonde's "Call ME" the III of D Minor is F major... he says it's a flat III, but then on the screen it's JUST F MAJOR!!!! Then the VI is flat... which it is B flat major the VI chord of D minor. WTF!!!!?????
I enjoy music, but know next to nothing about it. These video are over my head really, but it makes me understand how the mood of the music is created and deepens my appreciation. Thanks so much.
The 1st 2 chord progressions are examples of majoring the IV chord, and then majoring the V chord. You can also minor or even major the II, when the melody and structure permits. Dim6 is like a tritone sub. All kinds of more possibilities, even staying strictly in "minor". The 3 chord loops in the video provide classic foundations for exploration in variations of minor hue.
"Minoring the ii or "Majoring the IV' is Dorian and "majoring the ii" is an example of a few different modes, the Lydian b3 (sometimes called "The Hungarian Minor" or "double harmonic minor") or Aeolian #4 being the most common. But more fundamentally, you can major literally any chord on a modal degree without much destabilization. That's because triads function pretty much identically being major or minor. And you do often see that in blues/rock harmony where every single chord might be a dominant 7th even though it doesn't "fit" into the mode.
I’m using the system where you always refer your Roman numerals back to the major scale, even when talking about a minor key chord progression. Sorry for any confusion. And the keyboard is a Nord Grand 😊
Very good. But in all of these chord progression videos, what I am missing is how important is the inversion of each chord in the progression in order to each the required ascent/descent? If I play along with the root chords in each case, I don't necessarily achieve the same result (or am I mistaken?) Anyway, very happy to see Talk Talk featured. A very creative band under the stewardship of the late under-rated Mark Hollis. Would love to see some more videos on key changes, as I sense that they were particularly good at this.
I'm not sure if I understand the question correctly, but generally speaking you can use whatever sounds, best, or is easier to play. It's better to go with what sounds best, and luckily that means less jumping around. But if you're ever in doubt, just try them all. For triads that's just 2 inversions (beyond root position), and only 3 inversions for a 7th chord.
I don't think it's possible to teach voice leading as a science. There are objective mathematical ways to determine parsimonious voice leading and degrees of 'closeness' in chords, but that all goes out the window once you start writing real music and realize that smoothest possible voice leading is not always desirable. In pop music especially, it's not even the default way to play things. Which is all to say, you can't really explain the "importance of inversions" with much objectivity. As a general guideline: Root chords are the most stable, first inversions are the gentlest and often sound kind of dark (they can sometimes be heard as minor b6 chords without the 5th for major inversions, and major 6th chords for minor inversions), and second inversion are the most forceful and least stable. Smoother voice leading is desirable when you want the chord changes to be less noticeable, and less smooth voice leading when you want it to be more noticeable. You just have to develop a 'feel' for all of this through time, trial, and error
Hi, David. I've enjoyed your vids for a long time. Just one observation. The progression for Toni Braxton's "Un-break My Heart" should actually be Bm, Em7, A (instead of D), F#7.
heyy, i have a doubt. Why do some notes have the flat sign (♭), when they are the same chords without it? (for example, in the last chord progression, ♭VII is G, when VII is G already)
Really surprised that "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wasn't an example for the last chord progression. Great video, as usual! Thanks!
Didn't Tom Petty take RHCP to court over the similarities with Dani California? Edit - ah just checked and he didnt think there was any negative intent. Makes me like him even more.
How about STEPPIN’ STONE for the first chord pattern?! There were lots of great examples in the video including ones I didn’t know, but this Monkee and Paul Revere & the Raiders rocker was an early and famous usage. The progression could almost be named after this song.
Great video as usual. For anyone just learning how to play piano who thinks this esoteric stuff is helping you. It’s not. Instead of writing i bIII IV bVI you could just say it’s a 6-1-2-4 with a major 2. Much easier for people to understand and translates more easily to other songs with similar progressions. Like 6 1 2+ 4 gets you to 6154 way faster than translating it to minor, pretending you’re flattening the 3 on A Major, when you’re actually just playing the “6 as minor” in the major key, pretending you’re flattening a 6 of a different scale when you’re really just playing a 4. 🤷🏻♂️ Or even worse - I’m playing a flattened 1, flattening the 3, flattening the 6, switching temporarily to Dorian. Nah bro, you played a common major chord progression but played a Major 2. Get over yourself Jazz Hands.
David, can you pls do a video/note on the progression of La Folia? I'd appreciate it a lot, and maybe some other "ancient" progressions not heard often any more?
Love the videos, super useful! Also wanted to point out that I love that artists like MCR get a lot of love here, a lot of other music theory channels focus a lot more on the established canon from before the 90s
Those are all nice minor chord progressions. What I would like to learn is, if you are using a minor chord progression like one of these in a song's verse, what are the best chord progressions to modulate from these minor progressions to a major chord progression in the chorus, to go from a darker somber mood to a brighter majestic mood. Is that something you could share? Thanks.
Another example of the closed loop progression from the end is (edit: kinda) the verse from Little Black Submarines. The whole time you were explaining, playing, and showing examples it was burning in the back of my brain and I couldn't figure out where I knew it from - one of my favourite songs! These chord progression videos are amazing.
Love your stuff. You probably won’t see this, but here are a few progressions to that I would love to hear you explain. (I don’t think you’ve covered these yet). While my Guitar Gently Weeps progression (Am, G, F#m, F) Songs: The Weeknd - Wicked Games, Two Feet - I Feel Like I’m Drowning, The Beatles - While my Guitar Gently Weeps, Portishead - Glory Box Sweater Weather progression (C, Am, Em, G) Songs: The Neighbourhood - Sweater Weather, Cigarettes After Sex - Apocalypse, Beach Weather - Sex Drugs Etc.
Love this! I would like to have seen the "Still got The Blues" progression, which is a full cycle of 5ths (or 4ths, if you prefer) ending with a harmonic minor substitution. It's an ideal practice sequence.
The i VII VI V progression, the second one shown here, is called Andalusian cadence. It is very popular and used extensively in Flamenco music. As noted it mixes the natural and harmonic minor modes Edit: I have only very recently found your channel and I find it brilliant. :)
In one of your other chord progression video's, you showed a progression I call the Santana Progression, i / IV, or i(7) / IV. Santana uses this a lot, like in Evil Ways, Oye Como mVa, Jingo, Soul Sacrifice etc. In, for example Am, it becomes Am / D and surely enough, when I take a solo, I use f sharp, in stead of g sharp, wich gives the solo a nice soft "dorian" feeling. To spice things up, you can switch to A-Blues (a c d d sharp e g a). I do the same in House Of The Rising Sun.
Would you think about a video of i VI IV V or i VI v V or i VI II V - stuff? Like James Bond-themes, Megadeth's (multiple choice) etc. Greetings from Austria! Big Fan!
See it's funny. Hm. Maybe I have to start at the very start. When I got done writing my first very goofy little song back in like 1987, I thought, "Well, I can never put these chords in the same order ever again." The concept that the same chord progression could be recycled endlessly was not on my radar. It's probably my lack of perfect pitch, but I simply didn't notice it, and I wasn't knowledgeable enough yet. I was 17 after all. I had a very rebel view of music theory when I was writing most of my songs in the early 1990s, at that time I wanted nothing more than to prove that V7-I only sounds final because were culturally attuned to perceive it that way. Centuries of composers copycatting each other hammered it into our brains. As I learned more though I did want to put things in my tool box, I heard the Neapolitan sixth chord I had to write something using it. So, I wanted to know the rules, and use them, but also break them. And just for kicks I did once end a song with the full IV, I (6/4), V7, I. To rebel against my rebellion, I suppose. So. Yes. I've been putting these chord progressions that I learn about through you and 12Tone into the tool box, but I often want to subvert them, know them to avoid them, but then say F it and use them. Recently I was like what if I did the really overdone chord progression but 1. on quarter notes, 2. only did the standard version the first time through, each subsequent time through change at least one chord. I guess I want to just add to what your saying: learn all these chord progressions, learn all the rules, use them as the tools they are, but sometimes smash the tool box a little, something interesting might come out. Here's a question. Why is the focus on four chord loops? Are 6 and 8 chord loops so uncommon? Are there songs with no loops? Sorry, I'm in a deep thoughts, looking back sort of mood. Keep up the good work.
The F minor chorus of "Don't Speak" by No Doubt doesn't QUITE fit in with the other examples of the natural minor-harmonic minor mix, as its third chord is clearly Eb (bVII), not Ab (bIII), like the following song "Isle of Flightless Birds" by twenty one pilots.
if I understood ♭III I wouldn't need to watch videos like this make a video on III vs ♭III please you simply say "C" .. and then you play some weird ♭III chord with 5 notes in it.. that's not a C... a C chord is like "C E G" triad, you are just confusing us who don't know theory... people who know I don't think would need the video
I really don’t understand the rules in music…. So you can just add a random ‘Dorian’ note when you feel like it. But it’s still the minor scale? Is there any point having scales at all if you can just change random notes whenever you want? Isn’t it easier if we just say ‘there’s no such thing as scales, hit whatever notes you like if it sounds good’. So is that Dmajor not actually part of the minor scale then?
The progression ending in E, I really struggle to write with, because I associate it so heavily with "Isle of flightless birds" by Twenty One Pilots, it feels like direct plagiarism every time I try. Beautiful progression though
As I was watching this I was thinking that there are some really cool bands included in this video - Talk Talk, The Cure - and then at that exact moment Olly Murs popped up on screen, shattering that thought into a million pieces! Rage on omnipotent...
It’s interesting how, and this is walking into the Axis of Awesome trap, some of these progressions have more…minor…hits. The progression doesn’t have that thing. If I could write songs I guess the trick would be a few odd progressions for variety and big ones for money makers.
