Music Theory Lesson by Ellis Wright- Chords and Progressions

A CHORD PROGRESSION is REPEATED SEQUENCE of chords

Example: C G D C G D C G D , is the progression C G D played three times.

This section covers HOW chords are built.

If (you can already play chords OR you can't play chords) why would you want to learn this?

It turns out that all of our music: Rap, R&B, Rock, Metal, Classical, Funk, Country, etc. developed from the SAME building blocks. Yes, Rap comes from the same place as classical and can be broken down into sections with chord progessions. Rap places such an emphasis on rhythm and vocals/lyrics that it APPEARS to be very diffferent from country or blues.

If you learn chord theory it will enable you to convert a song to another genre, learn new songs more rapidly, and write your own songs more easily. Also, if you learn chord theory it makes learning NEW INSTRUMENTS much easier.

Beginner VS. Intermediate: Someone playing for a month has a problem with playing F, someone playing for a year or two has a problem playing G7b5(#13). But they both have the SAME problem of remembering the new chords and being able to use them effortlessly and effectively. Chord theory will help EVERY musician, so give it a try!!

In the key of C, there are no sharps or flats.

If we write out the notes in order and assign a number to each note we get:

The C Major Chord is composed of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the C Major Scale; C E G.

|--0---| E
|--1---| C
|--0---| G
|--2---| E
|--3---| C
|------|

Notice that there are 2 E's and 2 C's, that doesn't matter. What IS important is that C,E, and G are all present and that C is the lowest note (its played on the 5th string). The lowest note is refered to as the BASS, BASS Voice, or Bass Line.

Voices? What?!

Imagine that there were five singers. Now, imagine that they wanted to SING the C chord we mentioned above, exactly as it sounded on the guitar. When they started to sing the C chord we would hear 5 voices, one for each note.

|--0---| Voice 5
|--1---| Voice 4
|--0---| Voice 3
|--2---| Voice 2
|--3---| Voice 1
|------|

Why did I bring this up? Because it doesn't matter what WHICH instrument, all notes can be referred to as voices! If you were talking to a trumpet player, you wouldn't say I'm playing E on the high E string. You would say I'm playing the E in the upper voice.

The sentence:
Are there other ways we can play a C chord?

Is the same as:
Are there other ways we can Voice a C chord?

When we change the SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION of a chord, but play all the required notes, then we are playing different VOICINGS of a chord. Just the way a composer uses voicing can be remarkable. Many of Dave Matthew's songs are common chord progressions, but his voicings are very unorthodox.