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The
"Creep" Chord Progression
Last
time we learned the most obvious chord progression of all:
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The
"Oh Duh" Chord Progression
- If
there are 3 primary chords in a key -- I, IV,
and V -- and there are:
- And
since most songs start and end on the I chord
-- and they do;
- Then
the obvious conclusion is that there are only
two possibilities for the next chord -- the V
chord or the IV chord;
- So,
if the melody note is part of the V chord, then
the chord is probably the V chord. (Duh!) If the
melody not is part of the IV chord, then the chord
is probably the IV chord. (Duh!)
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Just
to briefly review, here they are again -- the 3
most used chords -- the
primary
chords -- in each major key:
You may find it easier
to see this information in a tabluar format (note all
chords are major chords):
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Key
(I)
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C
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G
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D
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A
|
E
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B
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F#/Gb
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C#/Db
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Ab
|
Eb
|
Bb
|
F
|
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IV
|
F
|
C
|
G
|
D
|
A
|
E
|
B
|
F#/Gb
|
Db
|
Ab
|
Eb
|
Bb
|
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V
|
G
|
D
|
A
|
E
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B
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F#
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C#/Db
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G#/Ab
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Eb
|
Bb
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F
|
C
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This
time we're going to learn the "creep"chord
progression, using those diminished 7th chords we learned back
a few lessons ago. I call it the "creep" because the chords
creep up gradually until you arrive at a stable chord, then
the song goes elsewhere.
You see, chord progressions
come in sections, like one room in a house. You can
put several different rooms together to make a big house,
or you can live in a one room house. Just like people.
In most 3rd world countries people live in one-room houses
-- which means, of course, that much of the world lives
in one-room houses (we won't count bathrooms and closets,
etc. -- just the main living area.) Those of us who
live in the West generally live in multi-room houses.
Chord progressions are like that. You can build an entire
song out of one progression, such as the "Oh Duh" progression
that we learned last time. And thousands of songs
are built that way. Here's just a few:
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Amazing
Grace
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Cum
Ba Ya
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On
Top of Old Smoky
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America
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Dixie
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Yankee
Doodle
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Battle
Hymn of the Republic
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Home
Sweet Home
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And
about 17 gazillion more...
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Clementine
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Long
Long Ago
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But there are also musical houses
-- we call them songs -- that are built out of several different
rooms -- several different chord progressions. Some
of them, like mansions and castles, go on and on and get
quite involved.
But most songs are like many modest houses -- they have
2 or 3 rooms, sometimes 4 -- built using 2 or 3 or 4 different
chord progressions.
Here's
an example of the creep chord progression:
Once the progression reaches a stable
chord -- usually a primary chord -- then it can be combined
with one or more other progressions to create an entire
song.
So here we have the "creep" combined
with the "Oh Duh!" chord progression to form an entire phrase.
If it is the first phrase of the song, it would be called
the "theme" of the song, or "Section A" of a song. Typically
in a song, a phrase like this is repeated several times
in one of these musical forms:
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Theme
Theme
Contrast
Theme
This
form is known as A
A B A musical form.
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If
the song went like this:
Theme
Contrast
Theme
...it would be known at A
B A musical form.
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Every
song has a form of some kind, so you can do yourself a HUGE
favor and begin to look at songs with an eye to figuring
out their musical form!
Why?
 Because
if you can recognize a song as an A A B A form song, all
you have to do is determine the chord progression of the
"A" section, and you've automatically learned 3/4 of the
song! All that remains is learning the "B" section,
and you've got it!
If this excites you as it does me, you would be very wise
to take a music theory course
at your local college, or take the one that I teach.
You'll work through 24 entire lessons (which I explain and
demonstrate while you do the printed lessons) learning all
kinds of exciting stuff like this!
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