Today as part of my IDS project, I used a simple technique to make good chord progressions that formed the base of a new draft song.

The method is very simple, and can create a four-chord progression in any major key:

• Start with a I chord
• Add any other chord within the key you’re in, excluding diminished chords (this means ii, iii, IV, V, vi)
• Repeat step 2 with a different chord
• End with a IV or V chord (I generally like to use a IV chord for tension and then a V chord at the end of a song)

I learned this method from the guitarist Youtube channel Signals Music Studio, and I decided to use it to write my own more contemporary, pop-style song.

I started with a I chord as usual, then for my next chords, decided to do a iii chord, and to make it interesting, a V chord, that seemed to contrast with the I and iii in a good way. I then ended with a IV chord for the first 3 repetitions, and a V chord for the last. I also decided it would be cool to split the V chord into a V and a iii in the same bar. After giving each chord a dotted eighth-dotted eighth-eighth rhythm and repeating it a few times, I had a rhythm section!

(This post is part of a series of entries into my Learning Journey for my IDS project in Music Composition.)

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