Help with creating chord progressions

[SixStringSuicide]

Im really frustrated now with trying to develop more interesting progressions, resembling bands like Opeth and dream theater (although theyre not too similiar, just the general idea) This has always been something to stump me. Lately ive been trying to work on creating solos more, but ive come to realize that the rythm guitar is the foundation of the song. And please dont say "pick up a chord book and go nuts" [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Ive attempted that before, and its a bit discouraging. Does anyone have any more direct tips i can use right away? Thanks guys. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[fuel0707]

Re: Help with creating chord progressions

Do some web searches, I've seen some sites that contain hints or lessons on chord progressions. Also, about 6 months ago or so, "Guitar One" magazine had a pretty good article or two on chord progressions. It might be worth it to check G1's website and perhaps order a back issue. (Sorry, but I don't remember which month it was).

Another possible suggestion is try to take chord progressions that you know and see if you can play or voice them differently. For instance, say you've got a progression that goes: A E F#m D. Try playing it as A E/G# F#m D. Sometimes just having a little walk down in a bass line or an inversion on one or two chords can add a spark to a progression.

Another thought is to simply change up what your pick hand is doing rhythmically. For example, there's a song we used to play at church that had a verse section that goes: A E/A D/A A. Obviously, there's a lot of "A's" in there. So for grins, I've been messing around with muted sixteenth notes on the open A string between hitting the chords. It makes for a very different feel, sort of reminiscent (sp?) of "Bark at the Moon" or something like that.

Hope that helps.

[SixStringSuicide]

Re: Help with creating chord progressions

Cool. thanks for the help. Also, what does it mean when you say "E/A" and chords like that?

[Lev]

Re: Help with creating chord progressions

E/A means an E chord with A as the root.

I'll try to help you out this weekend with some ideas... what really helped me with chord progressions was learning chord scales. In other words take the scale C Major, the notes are:

C D E F G A B

Now that you know what notes are in the scale, you can work with the chord scale, in C Major it would be:

C major - D minor - E minor - Fmajor - G major - A minor - B diminished

Those are the chords you can use in a song that's in C major.

Now imagine what you can do once you know chord scales for minor keys, harmonic minor/major keys, altered scale, etc. Then add tensions, or special function chords etc. It's a long learning process but it eventually pays off. If you don't get what I'm talking about let me know and I'll try to explain it better. Hope that helps a bit.

[SixStringSuicide]

Re: Help with creating chord progressions

I was just familiar with major and minor keys. Could you explain more the harmonic maj/min keys and how to construct progressions off them, if its any different?

[fuel0707]

Re: Help with creating chord progressions

To construct chords from any scale, you need to know the notes that comprise that scale and also how to construct triads (three-note chords). Let's start with the triads. A triad consists of a root, third and fifth. The relationship of the third to the root and the fifth to the root determine whether a chord is a major, minor, augmented or diminished chord. Here's a rundown of the basic triads, built from an A root note:

A major = A C# E (root, major third, perfect fifth)
A minor = A C E (root, minor third, perfect fifth)
A augmented = A C# E# (root, major third, augmented or raised fifth)
A diminished = A C Eb (root, minor third, diminished or flatted fifth)

So those are the "recipes" for the four basic triads.

To harmonize a scale, I think it helps to lay out the scale tones and then below them write out the relative third and fifth degrees for each scale tone. It's not as complex as it sounds. Here's the harmonization for D minor:

Tone: D E F G A Bb C
3rd: F G A Bb C D E
5th: A Bb C D E F G

Triad: Dm Edim F Gm Am Bb C

To use a similar idea with harmonic minor, let's do the same thing with A harmonic minor. For background, A harmonic minor is just like "regular" A minor but with the seventh degree of the scale, G, raised up a half step to G#. Thus the harmonization becomes:

Tone: A B C D E F G#
3rd: C D E F G# A B
5th: E F G# A B C D

Triad: Am Bdim Caug Dm E F G#dim

I hope this helps. It may seem complex, but it's really just applying a few simple guidelines and whipping up some chords based upon the scale.

If you got more questions, please feel free to PM me. But as I am leaving home for a few days for work, I won't be able to reply until early next week.