subject: Guitar Lesson -- Understanding Keys Part 5 [print this page] There are a lot of commonly used chord progressions in popular music. Many of these come from the chords natural to major and minor keys.
Using the C major scale as an example, recall that for chords natural to a major key are:
C....D....E....F....G....A....B....C
C....Dm..Em..F....G...Am
The relative, or natural minor scale is derived from the 6th tone of a major scale. Taking the harmonic,and melodic minor scales into account, you have choices:
Am..............C..... Dm/D... Em/E........F............. G
Some common chord progressions in a major key (expressed in the key of C) are:
I...IV...V...I
C...F...G...C
I....vi....ii....V....I
C...Am..Dm..G...C
I...iii...IV...V...I
C..Em..F...G...C
Anything and everything has been used, but those 3 are famous.
Here's a couple good ones used in a minor key (using the key of Am as an example):
i......III......IV......VI......i......V.... i
Am...C.......D.......F......Am....E....Am (This is a famous one.)
i.....VI.....VII.....i
Am...F....G......Am (This is also used a lot.)
Keep in mind, that the possibilities are literally endless, but the point is that if you practice these progressions in each key, and play around with other possibilities, what you will find is that you will start recognizing them when you hear a recording. You will literally start "pulling" these progressions from these recordings without ever having to play your instrument - you'll do it "by ear". This is a cool skill to have.
