I promised to do a video illustration of Chord Association. Here is one with a very common progression. This is a song by J.J. Lim called Love & Hope.
The intro, verse, and chorus all use the same chord progression in this song. The progression is as follow:
I –> V/7 –> VIm –> IIIm –> IV –> V –> IIIm –> VIm –> IIm –> V
The accompanying bass note pattern goes like this
1 –> 7 –> 6 –> 3 –> 4 –> 5 –> 3 –> 6 –> 2 –> 5 –> 1.
That may look complicated, but if you break it down into parts. They are:
Part 1: 1 –> 7 –> 6 –> 3 (Just going down the scale, in other words, except that it goes to “3” instead of “5” after the “6” (la) note)
Part 2: 4 –> 5 –> 3 –> 6 (Now, this is a very common progression. Just remember it)
Part 3: 2 –> 5 –> 1 (This is another very common progression for ending)
In fact, part 2 & 3 combined makes a very common progression itself, which is:
4 –> 5 –> 3 –> 6 –> 2 –> 5 –> 1
Notice the “Chord Association” we learned before? Note the transition from IIIm to VIm in the progression? And then there is also the transition from VIm to IIm, and also from IIm to V, and lastly from V to I.
This song is done in the key of A, so the above full progression is translated to:
A –> E/G# –> F#m –> C#m –> D –> E –> C#m –> F#m –> Bm –> E
To create more interesting sounds, however, the actual progression played in this song becomes:
A2 –> E4/G# –> A2/F# –> C#m –> DM7 –> E/D –> C#m7 –> F#m –> Bm7 –> D/E –> E
Refer my previous posts (Suspension – part 1 & part 2) for Sus2 and Sus4 chords.
As for the minor-7 (C#m7, Bm7) chords, refer to “The 3 Minor Chords” post to see the improvisation using major chords. Find out from there how you can actually play simple major chords without having to learn those monstrous looking minor-7 chords.
The “E/D” and “D/E” in the progression above are simply “decorative”. If you are not comfortable with them, just play “E” for both.
As for DM7 (read “D Major 7”), I will cover it one day. For now, just play these notes for the chord: D-F#-A-C#. Again, if you aren’t comfortable with this chord, just play “D” instead.
Here is the video illustration…
