It’s possible to do entire songs with the same progression from beginning to end. That used to be rare — I can think of America’s “A Horse With No Name” from 1972 – Em and D6add9 for verse, chorus and solo. And doubtless there must have been a disco hit or two that got built on one progression.
Imogen Heap’s “First Train Home” shows that it’s possible to write good songs that use practically the same progression throughout. Most of the time, when one progression is used for an entire song, it’s a short one, one that you’d typically use for a chorus.
Which leads to this question: What do chord progressions work for a verse usually look like, and how do they differ from other sections in a song?
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If you’re the kind of songwriter who finds that coming up with a good chord progression is a necessary first step to writing a song, here’s a little guide you can use to help you create progressions that are the best type for each section of your song.
You should note that most sections are optional; you can write a song that’s all verses, or just a repeating chorus, for that matter. (“Take Me Out To The Ball Game” is an example of a chorus-only song.)
VERSE PROGRESSIONS
- They often end on either a tonic (I) chord or a dominant (V) chord. (C G Dm G, for example, or C Am Dm F Am Dm Gsus4 G)
- They’re often longer (i.e., uses more chords) than a chorus progression. (C F Dm G C F Dm G |Am Em F G Am Em F G)
- In songs with major key choruses, the verse sometimes starts on a minor chord, and makes that minor chord sound like a tonic for at least a while. (Am G F G Am G F G Am Dm F G Am G F G)
- In songs with minor key choruses, the verse is often also in a minor key.
- They often include variations on standard chords, so expect to find inversions (C C/E F …), altered chords (C Am F Fm C…), chords from other keys (C Eb F Am…), etc.
PRE-CHORUS PROGRESSIONS
- They typically move toward the dominant chord. This sets things up nicely for the chorus. (Dm Em F G, for example, or Am Dm F D/F# G)
- They commonly sit solidly in a key. So if the verse has a meandering quality, making the key a bit ambiguous, you’ll hear things tightening up and becoming more solidly in the key of the chorus as the pre-chorus progresses. To sit solidly in a key simply means that all the chords work together to make one chord sound clearly like the tonic. In the two examples given in #1 above, the tonic chord is C… you can hear that each progression “wants” to move to C.
CHORUS PROGRESSIONS
- They’re often short and repetitive. A common example might be: C Am Dm G, repeated several times.
- They sit solidly in a key, with few altered chords or chords from other keys.
- Chorus progressions often sound great when repeated over and over.
- They have a “pleasantly predictable” characteristic. (C G Am G, or C Dm F G would be typical examples.)
BRIDGE PROGRESSIONS
- They often move into the “opposite mode”, which means that a song with a major key chorus will use a bridge that starts on a minor chord. For example, if the chorus is in C major, it’s common to see the bridge start on Am. (Example: Chorus: C F Dm G… Bridge: Am Em F Em…)
- They might wander into several different key areas. So a bridge might start on the Am chord, but then sound as though it’s moving into Bb major, before finally pointing back toward C major for a return to the chorus. (Ex: Am Em F Am Bb F G F Dm Em Dm Em F Am G)
- The final chord of a bridge should connect well to whatever section follows it. So if your bridge is followed by the chorus — a common circumstance — that final bridge chord should connect well to the first chord of the chorus (ex: End of bridge: Dm C/E F G || CHORUS: C F Dm G…)
As with all things musical, these are just guidelines. There are many possible ways that music gets glued together, and surprises are what keeps music interesting. But this guide can help you, especially if you’ve created a chord progression and you wonder what section it might best be used in.
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“They often end on either a tonic” – I would say this goes for the chorus.
“It’s possible to do entire songs with the same progression from beginning to end. That used to be rare” – a lot of songs these days, probably because it’s easy to do, Bruno Mars – Just the way you are, Taylor Swift – We’re never ever, The Script – Never Seen Anything Quite Like You
That’s true, and it probably speaks to the way songs are written today.. often by committee. So it’s easier to just take a single progression and then put together different sections that all use that same progression (and possibly even the same melody throughout.)
-Gary
I don’t think it is quite as rare as we might think regarding great songwriters in history using a single chord progression throughout a song.
All along the watchtower. Louie Louie. Twist and Shout. Whole Lotta love. Free Fallin. Creep (radiohead). Sweet Home Alabama. Smells like teen spirit. Wild Thing. Hey joe. Wicked Game. Born in the USA. The Needle and the damage done. Dreams (Fleetwood Mac). With or Without you.
I think the use of a single chord progression can actually be the more effective approach because listeners become well acquainted with the “groove” of the song while changes in melody and instrumentation provide enough variety to hold the interest. It takes a gift for melody that’s for sure, because clearly at least some of the song’s melody must be written around the progression rather than chords being written to support a melody. Respectfully, Charlie
Thanks, Charlie. You make a good point, that we’ve always had songs that use the same chord progression, though it seems to me that we’re hearing them more now. I wonder if it’s just something about the way music sounds today that makes the one-progression song more obvious? The songs you mention all have something in common with today’s one-progression songs, which is that the progressions they use are short, tight, and the kind you’d find in a chorus. The fact that they might be more effective is, of course, a judgement call, as all music is. 🙂
Thanks for the great comment, Charlie!
-Gary
I very much agree with your observation that the types of progressions that these one progression songs have in common is that they are short, tight, and chorus type progressions. I might even take it a step further. some of these songs, most notably “smells like teen spirit,” make use of “power chords.” U2’s the edge has stated in interviews that he very adamantly avoids using the major 3rd or flattened 3rd interval in his guitar parts. and of course, a power chord, like the ones you find in countless nirvana songs, is simply a diad of the root note and the fifth interval. It leaves the “chord” (i know it’s technically a note short of actually being a chord) ambiguous regarding its major or minor status. I think this opens the door for more potential melodies that can fit with the progression.
Sorry, forgot to mention Sam Smith- Stay with me, very simple only 3 chords.
Notice most of these songs were huuuuuuuuuuuge hits 🙂