chord progressions
Musical harmony patterns
Chord progressions are sequences of chords played in succession, forming the harmonic backbone of a piece of music.
Most popular songs follow recognizable patterns—the I-IV-V-I progression underlies countless rock and folk songs, while jazz favors more complex sequences.
A progression creates movement and tension, guiding the listener's ear toward resolution: The song uses a simple four-chord progression.
- turnaroundShift in opposite direction
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- subdominantFourth scale degree
- harmonyAgreement or musical blend
arpeggios · modulation · intervals · tonality · circle of fifths · Roman numerals · music theory · resolution · key change · tonic · sequence · suspenseful · cadence · songwriter · bittersweet · scales · voicing · tension
- music termsmelody, tempo, rhythm, harmony, beat
- harmonyharmony, triad, triads, consonance, tonality
- guitar basicsstrumming, downstroke, upstroke, palm muting, fingerpicking
- music practicewarm-up, warm-up exercises, music theory, warm-ups, practice routines
- music theorynote, notes, harmony, melody, rhythm
- guitar teaching piecesetudes, scales, exercises, drills, tabs
chord progressionsmelody
Pleasing sequence of notes
melodic line · monophony · melodic lines · unison · lead line