Chord Families
Knowing how to play a lot of chords is one thing, but knowing where to use them is the trick. That’s why we’re going to… Read More »Chord Families
chord progressions
Chord Wheel Guide
I’d like to introduce you to your new best friend. You may have seen it before, but this time – we’ve changed it up a little to make it MUCH more user-friendly and easier to read.
Here it is…
The Chord Bracket
You may be saying, ‘well wait a minute. I’ve seen something like this before. You’re right. It’s actually segments of the famous chord wheel. But as I mentioned before, we’ve made it easier to read.
What It Is…
The chord wheel allows the practical application of chord theory. You can determine which chords belong to a given key and analyze any progression instantly.Read More »Chord Wheel Guide
Submediant chord (vi)
This chord is the relative minor for the key that your are composing in. Also called the submediant, it acts as a weak predominant. vi progresses well to IV or ii but… Read More »Submediant chord (vi)
Learning The Guitar
I remember when I first started learning the guitar. I had a cheap little blue electric guitar with a matching amp that my parents bought me when I was 12. Every since that day, I’ve been expanding my knowledge of the instrument.
At first, though, it was hard playing that little blue guitar. I couldn’t remember the names of the notes, so I wrote the names on masking tape and tapped it them directly on the fretboard. What a mess it made! Read More »Learning The Guitar
Songwriting Tips
Being prepared when inspiration hits.
Scenario # 1. You are strumming your acoustic guitar, freshly polished, new strings and perfectly tuned. The sound is bright and crisp. You are playing a few chords that you have learnt from Guitar Alliance when bam! A brilliant chord progression hits you like a bolt of lightning.
You rush to find a pen and paper and grab a pen that hasn’t been used since your primary school days. You etch down your chord progression on an old scrap of newspaper dated January 7th 1994 that you found under a pile of magazines, yellowing from age. By the time you finally get the pen working you have forgotten the chord progression and have managed to get blue ink all over your hands and freshly polished guitar.
Common Variations of 12 Bar Blues Chord Progressions
The 12-bar blues is one of the most popular chord progressions in popular music, including the blues. The blues progression has a distinctive form in chord structure and duration. It is, at its most basic, based on the I-IV-V chords of a key.
The 12 bar blues progression is the foundation of the blues. The whole blues genre is very minimalistic. Basically all you need to get started is to learn the 12 bar blues progression and The Most Commonly Used Lead Pattern.Read More »Common Variations of 12 Bar Blues Chord Progressions
Chord Progressions
A chord progression (or harmonic progression) is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that “aims for a definite goal” of establishing (or contradicting) a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. Chords and chord theory are generally known as harmony.Read More »Chord Progressions