Creative Chord Progressions
Creative Chord Progressions
Do you want your songs to take off in surprising directions, avoid cliches, and bypass the
tried-and-true? I created this page to help songwriters expand beyond I-IV-V chord
progressions and vanilla major and minor chords.
Don't worry. I won't lead you to atonal hell. For me, the point of writing music is to create
ear-pleasing compositions that sound like nothing you've heard before. If you share this
passion, please read on.
Below I've suggested opening changes taking you to each step of the chromatic scale. The
chord changes are written in Roman numerals (followed by a random example).
To my ears, all of these cadences do a good job of creating harmonic resolution. I doubt
you'll find many alternatives that work quite as well. And sometimes V7 is still the best
solution.
(Note: Many of these turnaround chords will also resolve to the relative or root minor.)
I sus - I (D sus - D)
bII7 - I (F7 - E)
iim7 - I (Dm7 - C)
bIII7 - i (G7 - Em)
III7sus - I (E7sus - C)
ivm6 - I (Dm6 - A)
bV dim - I (F# dim - C)
V7sus - I (E7sus - A); V7#5 - I (E7#5 - A)
bVI dim - I (Ab dim - C)
VI sus - I (A sus - C)
bVII7 - I (C7 - D)
VII aug - I (E+ - F)
Standard Chord Progressions: A Song Your Mother Would Know
There are several tried-and-true chord progressions.
If you know these, you can probably play 99.9% of all songs ever written.
Cliché progressions can sound pretty cheesy if not used carefully and sparingly. They've
definitely been overused. But there's a reason for that. They work.
If you write a song starting with the melody, you will probably wind up using one of these for
the harmonic backdrop. They make singing a whole lot easier. You may write a great song
using a standard progression. Respect cliches for what they are, but try not to fall into the
trap of using them all the time.
Here is a short list of common chord progressions presented in Roman numeral form
followed by an example.
I - IV - I - V (C - F - C - G)
I - V - vi - IV (C - G - Am - F)
I - vi - IV - V (C - Am - F - G)
I - vi - ii - V (C - Am - Dm - G)
ii - V7 - I (Dm - G7 - C)
I - bVII - IV (A - G - D)
i - bVII - bVI - V7 (Am - G - F - E7)
I7- IV7- I7- V7- IV7 (E7- A7 E7- B7- A7)
I - I+ - I6 - I7 (C - C+ - C6 - C7)
Original Chord Progressions: Steal These or Write Something Better
Don't limit yourself to standard chord progressions.
Writing an original chord progression—that sounds good—is tricky. Start off in an intriguing
direction. Use your ear to discover where the music wants to go next. Finally, try out
different ways to resolve the progression. You'll know it when you hear it.
Below are some unusual progressions I've used in creating songs. I may not be the only
person to come up with these chord changes. Music is out there in the air, and we just find
it. (FYI: Chord progressions cannot be copyright protected, so have at 'em.)
Here is a list of "original" chord progressions that sound good. Take what you can use:
Minor seventh progressons have a dreamy sound. They can also be moody. And they have
elitist tendencies. They prefer the company of other fluffy cloud chords. Common three-
note chords just don't fit in.
To maintain the mood, gravitate toward the following chord types:
Minor seventh
Major seventh
Suspended seventh
Minor sixth
Standard Chord Library: The Basic Harmonic Tool Kit
I'll get into some weird stuff in a bit.
First let's start with a list of the basic chords everyone should know. Don't feel stupid if you
don't recognize some of these, and please don't be offended if this is all too obvious.
Here are the chord names, followed by an example from the key of C or thereabouts.
(Some chords don't belong to any key.)
Major (C-E-G)
Minor (A-C-E)
Suspended (C - F- G)
Augmented (Ab - C - E)
Seventh (G - B - D - F)
Minor Seventh (A - C - E - G)
Major Seventh (F - A - C - E)
Sixth (C - E - G - A)
Minor Sixth (D - F - A - B)
Minor Seven Flat Five (B - D - F - A)
Diminished (Ab - B - D - F)
Seventh Suspended (G - C - D - F)
Chords Seldom Heard: Use at Your Own Risk
The following are nameable but rarely used chords.
There are plenty of other possible chords (that sound like crap). The ones here sound
intriguing and are potentially useful for the right song.
I'm trying to find ways to work them into progressions myself.
Added 2nd (C - D - E- G)
Minor add b6 (A - C- E - F)
Sixth suspended 2nd (C - D - G - A)
Seventh suspended 2nd (G - A - D - F)
Major seventh suspended 2nd (F - G - C - E)
Major seventh sharp 5 (C - E - G# - B)
Minor major seventh flat 5 (F - Ab - B - E)
Chord Inversions: The Movable Bass Note
An easy way to give simple chords a fresh sound is to move the bass note.
Instead of always having the bass play the root, try putting the bass on the third, fifth, or
seventh interval of the chord.
To my ears, some chords sound better inverted. The sus2 is a smoother-sounding
inversion of the sus4. The minor sixth is a sublime inversion of the spooky minor seven flat
five.
There's a fancy way that classical composers write inversions. The easier way is to put a
backslash after the chord followed by the bass note you want used.
They're more like harmonic clusters, I guess. My classical music friends call them
"sonorities." But to me, any group of notes played at the same time is a chord.
For me, a seventh chord is good enough. If you absolutely need the "ninth" in the harmony,
a suspended 2nd or add 9 does the trick, without any tritone dissonance.
These are the only ninth chords that really do it for me:
Here's my best advice for wrestling with the damn six string:
Try creating more interesting relationships between melody and harmony. Put the melody
on a note outside the chord once in a while. It's like teetering on a tightrope, but it can be
done. If the melody relies on a third or fifth, spice up the chord around it. Complex
harmonies work best with simple melodies. You will need to depend on stable harmonies
and traditional scales most of the time. But every so often, step out on a ledge.