Guitar Chord Progressions
Part 2 - Major key chord progressions

• Chord I (1) in the chord scale was major in direct relation to Ionian (the major scale), the first mode in the sequence, also major.

• Chord ii (2) in the chord scale was minor in direct relation to Dorian, the second mode in the sequence, also minor.

And so on, right up to chord 7 in the scale, directly relating to the diminished Locrian mode, so the natural chord becomes...yes...diminished!

So basically we can tie a relative chord to the modes at their intervals - the root notes of the chords are positioned at the 1st note of each mode. Each mode's root (1st note) is set at the intervals of the first mode, Ionian (just the "major scale"). The chord scale follows these exact intervals! (See the diagram above - W = whole step interval H = half step interval).

When we add new tones to the basic major/minor triads the scale stays exactly the same, but remember that chord V (5) in the scale cannot include a major 7th, it must be a dominant 7th (flat 7th) IF we do add 4 tones or more to the chord. You'll see why in this lesson...

Just a quick recap there, but if you need to go over part 1, just click here (opens in new window for you).

In this part, we'll look at actually creating meaningful chord progressions and how you can create your own using this chord scale "formula".

Major key chord progressions

A major key progression is defined by the tonic chord - the tonic is the I (1st) chord in the chord scale...

We'll get onto writing minor key progressions later.

Let's start by creating a simple I IV V progression, the very foundation of blues. That means we take the 1st, 4th and 5th chords from the chord scale which are all incidentally major chords. You can start in any key, but let's start in the key of E for this...

Click the tab to hear

The important thing is to understand how music works with the tonic (I) - the V chord is like the tension before the return to the tonic. Most western music works this way and it's good to think of the progression away from the tonic like a journey away from home:

tonic > journey > tension > return to tonic.

Jazz music commonly spends a lot of time away from the tonic, so when that final tension comes it's very satisfying to hear the progression resolve. These are the psychological factors that make music "work" as a sequence of chords.

Of course, you don't have to play those chord shapes. If you want to learn more about playing chords in different positions and voicings, go here.

So once we have the basic progression we can think about making the chords a bit more interesting (this is where your judgement comes in - do you like the sound of what you've created?).

A simple way to spice the progression up is to use 7th chords. So for the I IV V progression above here's what we could play (again, this is where your creativity with chords comes in)...

More complex chord progressions

Blues managed to survive decades on just the same I IV V progression, but not everyone wants to play the same 3 chord progression over and over again!!!

The beauty of this chord scale formula is you can pull out any sequence of chords from it, play around with the tones of the chords and you should get a nice sounding progression.

Let's do just that with the key of E major again. Here's the basic scale again for non-scrolling reference...

We can also, like before, add tones to the chords to make them a bit more interesting...

Making more out of tension chords

In the chord scale we've been looking at, the "tension chords" are IV, V and vii. They act as natural points in the progression before that return back to the tonic.

• IV can be a major triad, major 7 or dominant 7 based chord

• V can only be a major triad or dominant 7 based chord (you'll see exactly why if you play I IV then V as a maj7 - it will sound kind of out of place in a bad way)

• vii acts as a diminished "tension" chord

What I mean by "tension" is that these chords are often played just before returning to the tonic chord. So, keeping in the key of E like before, the IV tension chord would be an A major based chord (e.g. A13, Amaj7 etc.).

Listen below to hear the tension of A before resolving to E - IV before resolving to I

Click to hear >

The first tension and return was Amaj7 (IV) - E (I), the second was A7 (IV) - E (I)

See how it has a natural kind of resolution?

Now let's hear an example of the V - I tension, so in the key of E major that would be B back to E

Click to hear >

A good example of how the V chord can be used as tension before a tonic resolution. And remember, you can't have the V chord as a major 7, that's a maj7 based chord in relation to the I tonic because it won't sound right - try it and trust your ears! This is because if you were in the key of E, and played Bmaj7 as the V chord, you would in fact be changing key! More on changing key effectively next lesson.

The other tension chord in the scale is the vii chord. This acts as a diminished chord if you recall the chord scale diagram. Again, let's hear it in action as a tension-resolution clip...

Click to hear >

The first vii chord is a half-diminished (or m7b5 - minor 7th flat 5th), the second was a full diminished 7 chord. The latter one especially sounds very tense and is used a lot in jazz.

You can learn more about constructing interesting chords (not just the same old triads and 7ths) right here.

Building chord progressions in other keys

The examples I've used in this lesson have all been related to the chord scale/key of E major. You need to know where each chord in the scale would lie for any key, not just E obviously.

Here are a few tips on visualizing where the chords in the scale lie...

If the root note of the "I" chord is on the A string...

Root note of V lies directly beneath it on the E string:

• Root note of IV is a whole step (or 2 frets if you're on the same root string for both chords) lower than root note of V

• Root note of iii is a whole step higher than root note of ii

• Root note of V is a whole step lower than root note of vi

And so on... try and learn these interval relationships so you'll know how the chord scale can be mapped out in any major key.

Changing key (covered in the final part) and knowing how to use what I call "gateway chords" to get you back in key for that tonic resolution can create that perfect tension we've been talking about. It also takes your listeners on more of an engaging journey with your music.