Chord progressions

Chords have jobs: degree 1 (tonic) is home, degree 5 (dominant) pulls back home, degree 4 (subdominant) is the scenic route between them. Most songs are clever trips away from home and back. Written as scale degrees a progression works in every key (source: s-037-lab).

Stock progressions (degrees)#

Which chord shape each degree gets is decided by the scale — see diatonic-chords.

I, IV and V — the basis of simple harmony#

Greg Heo harmonises "Twinkle Twinkle" in C with only the three major triads, changing chord where the melody demands it: rows 00 I (C E G), 08 IV (F A C), 12 I, 16 IV, 20 I, 24 V (G B D), 28 I (source: s-tw074-intro-to-musical-theory). Leviathan's rule keeps a progression coherent: all its chords from one mode (source: s-tw001-modal-and-chord-theory). And the scene's 1995 verdict on whether any of this is required: chords are "a valid and valuable tool" (Maelcum), "every piece of music has chords" (Trixter), theory "can give you a lot of backing" in any style (Basehead) (source: s-tw039-chord-theory-debate). The argument had older roots: in April 1995 Future Assassin, who played by ear, wrote that theory-trained trackers "dominate from the rest" and compose "in a fraction of the time", after failing to get a multi-instrument progression from his head into Scream Tracker (source: s-tw007-the-importance-of-music-theory); Spyder added "knowledge is power, no matter what you do with it" — learn theory even if you refuse to sound like everyone else (source: s-tw050-aesthetics-of-composition). And the practical bottom line Basehead gave Zinc: "there's really no way to tell what chords will sound good together unless you just play them" — get a keyboard or guitar and try (source: s-tw107-laymans-music-theory). The practitioners TraxWeekly interviewed cover the whole range: within the five-musicians alone Mellow-D had no training and wrote by ear, Big Jim had A-level music, necros five years of informal theory and basehead twelve years of piano (source: s-tw003-interview-five-musicians); pinion: "People preach about theory. It's not all that important … I have perfect pitch" (source: s-tw014-interview-pinion); catspaw called his lack of it his greatest limitation (source: s-tw057-interview-catspaw); and a dozen #trax regulars in December 1996 settled on "it's a tool, just like a 303" (source: s-tw080-trax-mass-interview). Later interviews add the same spread: vegas found that four years of clarinet taught him nothing about chords, learned the basics from leviathan and Inner Vision on IRC and says his music "improved tenfold", while his interviewer kal-zakath would "use chord theory to get what i feel are nice progressions and then track my leads by ear" (source: s-tw062-interview-vegas); u4ia used theory once, in "1993.mod" (a Pachelbel canon variation) — "If you're following a theory, then surely you are only creating what has gone before" (source: s-tw067-interview-u4ia). On borrowing: pariah (January 1996) held that C–F–G "has been round fer the longest time" and may be taken, but the whole song may not (source: s-tw043-interview-pariah; see sample-ripping).

Progressions to avoid, and three ways to a decent song (Necros, 1995)#

necros's harmony lesson: there are three routes — a cheesy progression orchestrated well, an intricate progression with everything else kept simple, or a moderate progression carried by a good groove. Five progressions he asks trackers to retire (his chord names; the degrees are added here):

"Either get a good progression, or get a good groove" (source: s-tw015-advanced-tracking-tips-ii). His voicing column adds the classic lead-in: a sus4 on the dominant resolving to the plain chord — G C D G' then G B D G' — before the return to I (source: s-tw018-advanced-tracking-tips-iii; the voicings are on chord-inversions).

Planning a progression by its roots (The Modsquad, 1997)#

The one usable idea in the Modsquad's otherwise satirical second theory series: write the root line first — their example c – a# – g – g# – f – d# — then let the other chord tones move "in the same way" (d# – c – a# – a# – g – f), so the roots form a "melody" that shapes how the progression feels. In tracker terms that is one chord shape transposed along the root line, which is exactly what a chord-arpeggio table with a fixed 0 3 7 and changing base notes does. Ignore the same series' "circle of fifths", which labels G–B–D "D Majour" and derives a "circle" from inversions — it is a joke (source: s-tw087-music-theory-a-modern-approach).

Guidelines, not laws#

One chord per bar is a fine default; change chords on strong beats; end sections on degree 1, or hang on degree 5 to demand a next part. Repeating one 4-chord loop for a whole track is completely legitimate. For the tracker mechanics of playing them see chord-arpeggio and, for choosing the top notes, chord-inversions.

Related#

diatonic-chords · scales-and-modes · arrangement · melody-writing

Sources#

s-037-lab · s-tw074-intro-to-musical-theory · s-tw001-modal-and-chord-theory · s-tw039-chord-theory-debate · s-tw007-the-importance-of-music-theory · s-tw050-aesthetics-of-composition · s-tw107-laymans-music-theory · s-tw087-music-theory-a-modern-approach · s-tw003-interview-five-musicians · s-tw014-interview-pinion · s-tw057-interview-catspaw · s-tw080-trax-mass-interview · s-tw015-advanced-tracking-tips-ii · s-tw018-advanced-tracking-tips-iii · s-tw062-interview-vegas · s-tw067-interview-u4ia · s-tw043-interview-pariah