Editing Chord progression (section)

== Common progressions ==

===Simple progressions===
[[Diatonic]] scales such as the [[major and minor]] scales lend themselves particularly well to the construction of common chords because they contain many [[perfect fifth]]s. Such scales predominate in those regions where harmony is an essential part of music, as, for example, in the [[common practice period]] of western classical music. In considering [[Arabic music|Arab]] and [[Music of India|Indian]] music, where diatonic scales are used, there are also available a number of non-diatonic scales, the music has no chord changes, remaining always upon the key-chord, an attribute which has also been observed in [[hard rock]], [[hip hop]],<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=10.1525/mp.2002.19.3.285|title=Black Atlantic Rhythm: Its Computational and Transcultural Foundations|author=Jeff Pressing|journal=Music Perception|volume=19|date=2002|issue=3|pages=285–310|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|doi=10.1525/mp.2002.19.3.285}}</ref> [[funk]], [[disco]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yosemiteuhsd.com/finearts/rock/15_funk_disco.pdf |title=Chapter 15---Funk and Disco |access-date=6 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719204120/http://www.yosemiteuhsd.com/finearts/rock/15_funk_disco.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}</ref> [[jazz]], etc.

Alternation between two chords may be thought of as the most basic chord progression. Many well-known pieces are built harmonically upon the mere repetition of two chords of the same scale.<ref name="Schoenberg" /> For example, many of the more straightforward melodies in classical music consist entirely or mostly of alternation between the tonic (I) and the dominant (V, sometimes with an [[Dominant seventh chord|added seventh]]), as do popular songs such as "[[Achy Breaky Heart]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0042636|title=Achy Breaky Heart|last1=Von|first1=Tress, Don|last2=Ray|first2=Cyrus, Billy|date=26 August 2002|website=Musicnotes.com|access-date=1 August 2019}}</ref> [[The Isley Brothers]]' "[[Shout (Isley Brothers song)|Shout]]" uses I–vi throughout.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdVPE.asp?ppn=MN0063604 |title=The Isley Brothers "Shout" Sheet Music in F Major (transposable)|website=Musicnotes.com |date=23 August 2010 |access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref>

===Three-chord progressions===
{{See also|Three-chord song}}
Three-chord progressions are more common since a melody may then dwell on any note of the scale. They are often presented as successions of four chords (as shown below), in order to produce a binary [[harmonic rhythm]], but then two of the four chords are the same.

* {{nowrap|I – IV – V – V}}
* {{nowrap|I – I – IV – V}}
* {{nowrap|I – IV – I – V}}
* {{nowrap|I – IV – V – IV}}

Often the chords may be selected to [[Harmonization|fit a pre-conceived melody]], but just as often it is the progression itself that gives rise to the melody.

Similar progressions abound in [[African popular music]]. They may be varied by the addition of [[Seventh chord|sevenths]] (or other [[scale degrees]]) to any chord or by substitution of the [[relative minor]] of the IV chord to give, for example, I–ii–V. This sequence, using the [[Supertonic chord|ii chord]], is also used [[cadence (music)|cadentially]] in a common chord progression of [[jazz harmony]], the so-called [[ii–V–I progression|ii–V–I turnaround]].

Three-chord progressions provide the harmonic foundation of much African and American popular music, and they occur sectionally in many pieces of classical music (such as the opening bars of [[Beethoven]]'s [[Pastoral Symphony|''Pastoral'' Symphony]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://guitaralliance.com/2013/01/chord-progressions/|title=Chord Progressions|website=guitaralliance.com|access-date=1 February 2019}}</ref>).

Where such a simple sequence does not represent the entire harmonic structure of a piece, it may readily be extended for greater variety. Frequently, an opening [[Phrase (music)|phrase]] has the progression I–IV–V–V, which ends on an [[Resolution (music)|unresolved]] [[Dominant (music)|dominant]], may be "[[Period (music)|answered]]" by a similar phrase that resolves back onto the [[tonic chord]], giving a structure of double the length:
:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"

| width="25%" |I
| width="25%" |IV
| width="25%" |V
| width="25%" |V
|-
|I
|IV
|V
|I
|}

Additionally, such a passage may be alternated with a different progression to give a simple [[Binary form|binary]] or [[ternary form]] such as that of the popular [[thirty-two-bar form|32-bar form]] (see [[musical form]]).

===Blues changes===
[[Image:Serenade Blues 1.jpg|thumb|right|210px|Blues progressions influenced a great deal of 20th century American popular music]]
The [[twelve bar blues|12-bar blues]] and its many variants use an elongated, three-line form of the I–IV–V progression that has also generated countless hit records, including the most significant output of [[rock and roll]]ers such as [[Chuck Berry]] and [[Little Richard]]. In its most elementary form (and there are many variants), the chord progression is
:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:110px;"

| width="25%" |I
| width="25%" |I
| width="25%" |I
| width="25%" |I
|-
|IV
|IV
|I
|I
|-
|V
|IV
|I
|I
|}
Blues progressions have also been subjected to densely chromatic elaboration, as in the [[Bird blues]].

Steedman (1984) proposed that a set of recursive [[rewrite rule]]s generate all [[well-formed scale|well-formed]] [[Transformation (music)|transformation]]s of jazz, both basic blues chord changes and slightly modified sequences (such as the "[[rhythm changes]]"). Important transformations include:

* replacement of (or addition to) a chord with its dominant, subdominant or the [[tritone substitution]].
* use of chromatic passing chords.
* extensively applying the [[ii–V–I progression|ii–V–I turnaround]].
* chord alterations such as minor chords, diminished sevenths, etc.<ref>Steedman, M. J., "A Generative Grammar for Jazz Chord Sequences", ''Music Perception'' '''2''' (1) (1984) 52–77.</ref>

===1950s progression===
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> {
\relative c' {
   \clef treble 
   \time 4/4
   \key c \major
   <c e g>1_\markup { \concat { \translate #'(-3.5 . 0) { "C:   I" \hspace #7 "vi" \hspace #6 "IV" \hspace #6 "V" \hspace #7 "I" } } }
   <a c e a> <f c' f a> <g b d g> <c e g> \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=345|caption=A 50s progression in C}}
Another common way of extending the I–IV–V progression is by adding the chord of the sixth scale degree, giving the sequence I–vi–IV–V or [[I−vi−ii−V|I–vi–ii–V]], sometimes called the [[50s progression]] or doo-wop progression.

This progression had been in use from the earliest days of classical music and then generated popular hits such as [[Rodgers and Hart]]'s "[[Blue Moon (1934 song)|Blue Moon]]" (1934)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/bluemoon.MusicandLyricsAnalysis.htm|title=Jazz Standards Songs and Instrumentals (Blue Moon)|website=www.jazzstandards.com|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=27 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927041932/http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-0/bluemoon.MusicandLyricsAnalysis.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Hoagy Carmichael]]'s "[[Heart and Soul (1938 song)|Heart and Soul]]" (1938).<ref>"[https://archive.today/20130111064707/http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0096746& Heart and Soul (1938)] ", ''MusicNotes.com''. Chords marked. {{subscription required|date=July 2016}}</ref>

Taken up into the pop mainstream, it continued to be used sectionally, as in the last part of The Beatles' "[[Happiness is a warm gun|Happiness Is a Warm Gun]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/happiness-is-a-warm-gun/ |title=Happiness Is A Warm Gun |date=15 March 2008 |publisher=The Beatles Bible |access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref>

{{Clear}}

===Circle progressions===
{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1">
    {
      \new PianoStaff <<
        \new Staff <<
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                \clef treble \time 4/4
                \stemUp e2 f d e c d b c
                }
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                \stemDown c2 c b b a a g g
                }
            >>
        \new Staff <<
            \new Voice \relative c' {
                \clef bass \time 4/4
                \stemUp g2 a f g e f d e 
                }
            \new Voice \relative c {
                \stemDown c_\markup { \concat { \translate #'(-4 . 0) { "C:   I" \hspace #2.8 "IV" \hspace #3 "vii" \raise #1 \small "o" \hspace #1.5 "iii" \hspace #3.2 "vi" \hspace #2.5 "ii" \hspace #3.8 "V" \hspace #3 "I" } } }
                f, b e, a d, g c,
                }
            >>
    >> }
</score>|width=340|caption=A [[circle progression]] in C major}}{{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> {
\relative c' {
   \clef treble 
   \time 4/4
   \key c \major
   <e gis b d>1_\markup { \concat { \translate #'(-3.5 . 0) { "C:  III" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #5 "VI" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #5.5 "II" \raise #1 \small "7" \hspace #5.5 "V" \raise #1 \small "7" } } }
   <a, e' g! cis> <d fis a c!> < g, d' f! b> \bar "||"
} }
</score>|width=310|caption=The [[ragtime progression]] (E<sup>7</sup>–A<sup>7</sup>–D<sup>7</sup>–G<sup>7</sup>) often appears in the [[bridge (music)|bridge]] of [[jazz standard]]s.<ref>Boyd, Bill (1997). ''Jazz Chord Progressions'', p. 56. {{ISBN|0-7935-7038-7}}.</ref> The III<sup>7</sup>–VI<sup>7</sup>–II<sup>7</sup>–V<sup>7</sup> (or V<sup>7</sup>/V/V/V–V<sup>7</sup>/V/V–V<sup>7</sup>/V–V<sup>7</sup>) leads back to C major (I) but is itself indefinite in key.}}Introducing the ii chord into these progressions emphasises their appeal as constituting elementary forms of [[circle progression]]. These, named for the [[circle of fifths]], consist of "adjacent [[Root (chord)|roots]] in ascending fourth or descending fifth relationship"&mdash;for instance, the sequence vi–ii–V–I ascends with each successive chord to one a fourth above the previous. Such a motion, based upon close harmonic relations, offers "undoubtedly the most common and the strongest of all harmonic progressions".<ref name="B&S">{{cite book|last1=Benward|first1=Bruce|last2=Saker|first2=Marilyn|year=2003|title=Music: In Theory and Practice|volume=I|page=178|publisher=McGraw-Hill |edition=7th|isbn=978-0-07-294262-0}}</ref>

Short cyclical progressions may be derived by selecting a sequence of chords from the series completing a circle from the tonic through all seven diatonic chords:<ref name="B&S"/><blockquote>I–IV–vii<sup>o</sup>–iii–vi–ii–V–I</blockquote>This type of progression was much used by classical composers, who introduced increasingly subtle inflections. Particularly, substitution of major for minor chords giving, for example, I–VI–II–V allowed a more sophisticated [[chromaticism]] as well as the possibility of [[modulation (music)|modulation]]. These harmonic conventions were taken up by American popular entertainers, giving rise to many variations on those harmonic staples of early [[jazz]] that have been dubbed the [[ragtime progression]] and the [[stomp progression]]. All such progressions may be found used sectionally, as for example in the much-used "[[rhythm changes]]" of [[George Gershwin]]'s "[[I Got Rhythm]]".