Chord Progressions

down a 5th

DIATONIC CIRCLE OF FIFTHS

down a 5th

down a diminished 5th

Let’s remember how V goes to I (dominant resolves to tonic).

(Up a 4th)

If we kept going in Perfect Fifths, we’d get the circle of 5ths. This is the DIATONIC circle of 5ths - moving through the diatonic major scale in 5ths, but one interval will be a diminished 5th in order to keep it diatonic.

If we take a bit to acknowledge that Perfect 5ths and Perfect 4ths are each other’s inversions, we can realize that going down a 5th, is the same as going up a 4th.

Root motion by 5ths are very strong to the listeners ear. Many chord progressions take advantage of this. A classic example would be Earth Angel - The Penguins. ( this is the song thats in the first Back to the Future movie, when Marty McFly is playing on stage and starts to disappear.

down a 5th

Of course, chord progressions should be based on what sounds good, but it doesn’t hurt to learn some progressions that already sound good, before trying to find your own.

This is one of the most common chord progressions out there.

See intervals if you don’t know what a Perfect 5th, P4 and Dim 5th is.

The chords of the song are referred to as the harmony, and the vocals would be the melody. The critical difference between the two, is that the melody is a single voicing moving through the harmony (chords), which can be made of many voicings.