| • Follow Gary on Twitter | |||||||
LESSON 8: MIXING STRONG AND FRAGILE PROGRESSIONS
OVERVIEW In this lesson, you'll discover not only that there are two different kinds of progressions - strong and fragile - but that they work best in different parts of a song. Getting this right plays a huge role in how successful your song chords are.
| |||||||
Get the whole picture! “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting,” updated for 2017, is part of a 10- eBook Bundle that will clear up the mystery behind chords, melodies, lyrics, hooks, motifs... everything to take your songwriting to a new level of excellence! 10 songwriting ebooks, and right now at a discount price.
Plus, get a FREE COPY of "Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process" (See below)
NOTE: For a limited time, Gary's newest eBook, "Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process", is being offered FREE OF CHARGE with your purchase of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 10-eBook Bundle.
"Use Your Words" helps you get a handle on lyrics. It's a partner text to “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting", showing you how to start songs by working out the lyric first. Songwriters that aspire to establishing a legacy need to place lyrics front and centre. "Use Your Words" suggests three easy ways to start with lyrics, and once you've practiced those methods, the possibilities are endless!
Click on "Buy Now" above to take advantage of this limited-time offer.
WHAT DO "STRONG" AND "FRAGILE" MEAN WHEN IT COMES TO CHORD PROGRESSIONS? In general, chord progressions are strongest when the root of the chord (i.e., the letter name that defines the chord) moves up a 4th (or down a 5th) to get to the next chord. So in A major, going from an A major chord to D major is considered strong. So is going from E major to A major. Other chord progressions are needed, of course. They won't all be strong progressions - you'll want to mix in some so-called "fragile" progressions. And you want to make sure that verses use, in general, more "fragile" progressions, to go hand in hand with the less conclusive lyric and melody. A chorus should use more strong progressions, to help the stronger lyric and melody. A verse should use more fragile progressions, to help describe the more inconclusive nature of the lyric. DON'T OVERCOMPLICATE YOUR SONG If you've ever gone on a day-tour of a city, you know that your brain can get overworked very easily by having too many things on the agenda. In a similar way, a listener can feel lost and a bit overwhelmed if there are too many chords in your song. Three or four chords can be just fine. As the various rooms of a house will all relate to one another, the chords you choose, and in particular how they progress from one to another, will determine the overall "flavour" of your song. SAMPLE PROGRESSIONS Here are some chord progressions that are mixtures of strong and fragile progressions. Overall, a strong progression is predominantly one in which the roots of the chords are a 4th or 5 away from each other. Primarily strong: Primarily fragile: As you can tell by playing through the progressions, the fragile progression is one in which the home key (in this case, A major) is not strongly outlined, and so it leaves the key feeling a little bit vague. Therefore, using too many fragile progressions can leave your music sounding a bit vague and meandering. So don't dwell on them too much in your songs. The activities for this lesson will get you thinking about how the chords you choose will work together. Looking for some chord progressions? "Essential Chord Progressions" gives you hundreds of them! ACTIVITIES for MIXING STRONG AND FRAGILE PROGRESSIONS i) __________________________________ ii) __________________________________ iii) __________________________________ iv) __________________________________ v) __________________________________ 2. Write five samples of chord progressions, using at least five chords each, that end on, but do not start on, a I-chord, that might be classified as mainly strong. i) __________________________________ ii) __________________________________ iii) __________________________________ iv) __________________________________ v) __________________________________ Proceed to Lesson 9: CONSIDERING FORM ©2017 Pantomime Music Publications
1) A D E7 A
2) A F#m C#m D E7 A
3) A Bm A/C# D E C#m F#m B7 E7 A
1) A F A F
2) A C#m E F#m
3) Bm A/C# B/D# E
1. Write five samples of chord progressions, using at least four chords each, that do not start or end on the tonic (I) chord, and might be classified as primarily fragile:
Contact: info@pantomimemusic.com | Contact Gary Ewer: gary@pantomimemusic.com