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The "VI - II - V7 - I" Chord Progression
Last week we
were introduced to "cousin II" -- the next most likely chord
to occur in any given key after the primary chords I, IV,
and V.
We
said that cousin II might occur as a major chord or as a
minor chord or as a 7th chord, but however she appeared,
she then almost always followed the chord progression of
II, V, I. So once you meet cousin II, you pretty much
know where she is going, don't you? She's almost always
going to V, and V is almost always going to I.
If
cousin II is in her 7th form, such as II7 or IIm7, that
even strengthens her predicability more -- those 7th chords
REALLY want to move up a perfect 4th, for reasons we'll
discuss later.
So
if you're playing in the key of C, and you find yourself
on a Dm7 chord, you've got an 85% chance of predicting that
the following chords will be G followed by C. You don't
know when, of course, but just knowing the likely path gives
you an enormous advantage over the musician who doesn't
have a clue.
Today I would like to introduce
you to another cousin. This time, "cousin VI." Cousin VI
doesn't show up as often as cousin II, but she is terribly
predictable. When she shows up, it is almost a slam dunk
that she is going to move up a 4th to visit cousin II.
She LOVES cousin II, and is pulled irresistably toward her.
Which means, of course, that
when cousin VI shows up, you can predict with DEADLY ACCURACY
what the next chord will be -- II. Close to 90% of
the time VI moves to II. And you already know that
II likes to move to V, and V likes to move to I, so......
The
VI to II to V to I chord progression in each key is:
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Key
of C: A D G C
Key
of G: E A D G
Key
of D: B E A D
Key
of A: F# B E A
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Key
of E: C# F# B E
Key
of B: G# C# F# B
Key
of Gb: Eb Ab Db Gb
Key
of Db: Bb Eb Ab Db
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Key
of Ab: F Bb Eb Ab
Key
of Eb: C F Bb Eb
Key
of Bb: G C F Bb
Key
of F: D G C F
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And
here's what it looks like in printed notation:
You'll notice immediately that each
progression is up a perfect 4th (or down a perfect 5th --
same thing). You may be smelling something called the "Circle
of 4ths" coming up. You're right.
I
hope that you might want to check out some of the videos
on the subject, so you can SEE how all this works. Click
on http://www.playpiano.com/catalog/catalog01.htm.
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