The Easy Way to Write Super Solid Chord Progressions
Every once in a while, when I’m writing a new song, the chords and melody arrive at my fingertips without any effort or intervention from my conscious mind.
But most of the time, writing new music feels like crawling on broken glass with bare hands and knees, especially in those moments when I get obsessed with finding that perfect chord or melody note.
Alas, today’s musical truth nugget is not about managing perfectionist tendencies, though that might be worth getting into down the road.
No, today I’d like to keep things practical. I’d like to give you a super simple strategy for coming up with badass chord progressions instead of beating your head against the keys hoping harmony will bleed from your brow!
Here’s the method:
Pick a key center and write out the diatonic chords.
For the key of G Major, that’ll look like this:
GMaj Am Bm CMaj DMaj Em F#dim
Feel free to add sevenths to each of these chords for a jazzier vibe.
And if you want to keep things real simple, you can leave out the vii° chord, which is a little more high maintenance.
That’ll leave you with six, solid chords with which to experiment. You can even play them in a random order and still come up with something that sounds legit.
If you want to add more exotic sounds to your palette, sprinkle in some chords based on the parallel minor scale. The parallel minor of G Major is G minor, which gives you:
Gm A° BbMaj Cm Dm EbMaj FMaj
Again, add sevenths to taste.
Alright, now you have an arsenal of 14 chords, which allows for a plethora of harmonic possibilities. You don’t need to know any additional chord theory to write a great sounding song. Use your ear and the chords at hand to discover something that sounds good to you.
The kernel of this strategy is limiting your options to a select few chords so that you don’t run into decision paralysis.
We can talk about adding more spice to your progression with advanced techniques like secondary dominants and tritone substitution. But trust me – you’re better off baking the cake before whipping up the icing.
And if you’re not happy with how your “cake” sounds, it’s likely that the chord voicings you’re using are a little stale and not the chord progression. The easiest way to remedy this is by lifting voicings from Sick Chords Volume 1 – your secret weapon for learning the kinds of jazz and R&B chords you’ve always wanted to know how to play.
Here’s what you get:
Sheet music for over 100 sick chord voicings (Major 7, Minor 7, and Dominant 7 chords)
Juicy extensions and crunchy alterations
Transposed in all 12 keys
Note names written in the note heads for non-readers
Plus!
High quality audio recordings to preview how each voicing sounds and find your favorites as quickly as possible
MIDI files of the voicings in every key, which producers can easily drag and drop into a DAW like Logic Pro, Ableton, GarageBand, etc.
And this week, you’ll gain access to the Sick Chords Mini-Course for free when you purchase Sick Chords Volume 1 by Friday, February 5.
In this bonus video, you’ll learn my favorite ways of practicing, composing, and reharmonizing with the 100+ voicings included in Sick chords.
I can’t wait to hear the music you’re writing once you start working these chords into your music, so please send some tracks my way!
Ready to take your music to the next level?
Click here to learn more about Sick Chords Vol. 1.
Happy shedding!
Jeff