Most Top 40 songs re-use the most popular chord progressions over and over again, especially in the modern era.
Truthfully, there is a way to use every single one of those chords in a progression and making them sound good, however, some combinations will sound a lot better than others.įor instance, perhaps the most common progression is the I-IV-V progression, which is the first, fourth, and fifth chord. These are the chords of the C Major scale. Let’s construct triad chords using the notes of the C Major scale.Ī triad is a chord that’s made up of three notes, the root, the third, as well as the fifth.Īnd what you do to create one, is you simply take every other note of the scale and build a chord out of those three notes.įor instance, you have the C Major scale listed above, so here are the chords outlined above, in addition to the actual notes that make up each one. There is also the 3 chord in the minor scale, III+, which means that it’s augmented, in addition to other chords that have the little ‘7’ over top of it, which signifies that it’s a dominant 7th chord. The large roman numerals (I) mean that the scale degree is major, the lower-case (i) roman numerals mean that the scale degree is minor and then the lower-case roman numeral with the little ‘ ø’ beside it means that it’s a diminished triad. The chords of the major scale are the following: Those are the notes of the C Major scale. Right away, we should start off by outlining the notes and chords of the C Major Scale which are the following: It has the added benefit of helping your improvisation skills as well. Moreover, understanding the notes of the major scale as well as the chords will help you become a better player and a more informed musician in general. The purpose of this section is to give you a guideline for understanding why some chords seem to go better together than others.
F, Em, Am, G and Am The Notes And Chords Of The Major Scale Dm, G, C – Common Jazz Progression (ii, V, I)ģ7. Guitar chords that sound good together include the following:ġ4.
It’s the learning platform I use and you can sign up here for free. The great thing about each one is that you can add or subtract whatever notes/chords you want to them and create something entirely new.īy the way, if you’re trying to get a better grasp of guitar chords, scales, tunings, and techniques in the most efficient, practical, and convenient way possible, I couldn’t recommend Guitar Tricks enough. Some of these are very old progressions, and some of them are more modern. Before we dive into the creation of the major and minor scale chords, I’m going to offer up a fairly big list of common chord progressions that should keep you busy for a while. So what we’re going to do today, is we’re going to explain some of the theory behind scales and key signatures, notably, the construction of the major and minor scale and the relevant chords. I think one of the most important things to learn right away – as I mentioned in my article on chord naming – is intervallic relationships such as minor, perfect, major, augmented, diminished, as well as octaves, in addition to the structure of the Major scale and other diatonic scales, as well as what a triad and a 7th chord is. There are a ton of chord progressions that will work and sound great, many of which are theoretically “incorrect” as well. This is a simple question with a ton of answers, however, I’m going to do my best today to answer what chords go together, as well as some of the music theory behind the most important scales: the major and minor scale.