How To Write Great Chord Progressions

[Hilary]

I've been looking at doing some more interesting stuff on the piano (don't hold your breath) and ii IV I is a common jazz chord progression apparently.

[StephenM]

i haven't a clue what i'm doing and probably need guidance, but am far too lazy to take any, my fave chord progression is adhd.

"my fave chord progression is adhd." 
that is so dang funny....

[StephenM]

A couple generalities:

The more you know the better able you are to realize that sound in your head.

Learning the name of whatever it is you are already doing allows you to communicate better with other musicians.

All perspectives are valid. Just don't hold to a perspective out of fear or misconception. That being said, I learned a bit of theory some 20+ years ago and have let it go to waste without following up. I'm severely limited because of laziness. Ah well, heeding my own advice sounds like too much work.

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er mate.... I have heard your music and it is anything but limited.... I have listened to thousands of songs and hundreds of musicians and bands..... and honestly some of your work is as good as any....period....no bull....

[StephenM]

 I remember years ago Sting saying that he figured out the general public prefers simple music....as in da goo goo ga or what ever that stuff was....over say classical.... I am kind of believer that any music that you can get people to listen to multiple times, they will eventually like it.....  that is why radio plays the same songs over and over again...we like what we know.... and new music not so much unless you have a reason to like someone...  I would say this though....if you want to know who the really great musicians are....go watch the ones the musicans watch....
but I tend to love all kinds of music.... and I listen to the stuff on SC that I never would otherwise because of my sense of belonging to the community.... and I think that is how a lot of bands or musicians get heard.... is because of affiliation with community....
I see both sides of this.... learning more can't hurt.... being able to communicate with other musicians is important if you are going to be in bands and stuff... but I know folks who are absolutely brilliant technical musicians...that know in depth theory and play their instruments very well but won't ever write anything....  the level of discipline that it takes to practice scales, and pieces of music, and growing in ability is also the level of discipline that it takes to write good music.... and lyrics...and not everyone can use the energy it takes for both....but I believe imagination and creativity can be developed just like playing skills can...

[Mike_S]

It's a great topic. Both sides of the argument have some sense behind them. If pushed to side with one or the other I would say acquiring more theory/knowledge would be more beneficial to a musician than just winging it, but there is some logic to the argument that if you are armed with a decent ear and a curiosity to make sounds from your instrument, you may not fall into patterns burned into your subconscious by structured theory lessons.

I have no clue what I am doing theory wise. I learned basic chord shapes from a book years ago like most others I guess. I used to practice basic pentatonic shapes many years ago from books and that's about it. Now I just fart around, put a few chords down and then if I want something to sound a little different somehow, a lot of times I try to imagine or hear a new chord in my head I want to go to and then try and locate it string by string (painful I suppose). Hard to disagree that with a bit more theory I would get to where I want a lot faster, but then again maybe I choose sounds I wouldn't if I had lots of theory drummed into me. And hey, I enjoy it like this... it's fun.

I am not very good with things that seem like a foreign language... eh which explains why I am not very good at learning languages! And music written on a page in any form is not something that seems natural to me, my brain does anything in it's power to repel it. I am a fairly anxious person anyway and this type of thing seems to overload me.

There would be so many examples of musical geniuses on both sides. Hard to argue Jimi Hendrix wasn't a genius, but then again hard to argue against Steve Vai who studied music. End of the day we are all making music and pretty great music too. How we get there is not all that important.

[WarpCanada]

To throw another angle at this, how about Autism and ADHD and all that. If your brain is wired different, perhaps learning formally won't even fit your head.

Not everybody CAN do the classical/formal methods.

But ANYBODY can make a cool noise on an instrument.

[Greeny]

To throw another angle at this, how about Autism and ADHD and all that. If your brain is wired different, perhaps learning formally won't even fit your head.

I started writing a comment to that effect that last week but thought it was too personal / revealing.

It definitely is a real issue.

I have a weird kind of autism called PDA (pathological demand avoidance). It means I will not follow any instructions, rules or authority. I have to figure everything out myself and be in total control of it. It's like an anxiety caused by the (perceived) expectation of others and not being in control. It makes me a nightmare to deal with in certain situations.

So I'm pretty incapable of being 'taught' and even accepting things like scales and theory.

I always want my chords to be different to what's expected. Some extra, jarring little addition that spices things up. Which means I'm deliberately NOT trying to follow conventional chord theory or wisdom.

[Ferryman]

Interesting topic. I've been playing around with guitars, basses and other stuff since I was 11 (53 years ago!!!). But I could never be bothered to learn any music theory. I was put off it at age 11 because I had some classical guitar lessons, which I hated. In 1968 in the UK there was no-one to teach you electric guitar, just some very simple and basic chord and scale books. I learned some chord shapes and picked up some basic ideas from listening to records and off I went. Like Mike I guess......

Also, although I started off in my first band aged 14 playing covers, I was never much interested in learning other people's songs, I always wanted to do my own stuff. I was inspired by other people's music but I did not want to spend the time learning how to play songs note for note. So I never bothered with any theory. It wasn't an issue in the 1970s and 1980s because the type of bands I played in (punk/post-punk/goth-y stuff) sneered at long solos and I got shouted at if I tried to do anything too clever (it's true!).

When I retired I though I would sit down and learn some theory and scales, because now I have the time and there are so many fantastic resources available for free online. But I find I still can't be arsed, it just bores me. Which is odd, because I have a very obsessive personality. However, I have found some theory resources very helpful. Jake Lizzio of Signals Music Studio in particular I find helpful and inspirational. He has some great ideas for improving song structure and I've started to explore some modes thanks to his videos. But I just dip in and out of them, I don't obsess over them. Seems to work for me.

I really admire people who are technically accomplished musicians but I realise that's not for me. We are all different and as long as we are enjoying what we are doing, who cares. I do realise that sometimes my lack of technique and ability can be a constraint, but that does encourage me to find ways to get round those constraints. I tend to use effects and production techniques to do this. Maybe that makes me lazy, or maybe a sonic innovator. Or maybe both....? 

To finish, I will say that being on this site has really opened my mind to different types of music and different ways of approaching music. I was quite narrow-minded before coming on here but SC has helped me enjoy and appreciate different styles of music more than I ever have in the past.
   

[StephenM]

and to pile onto Nigels idea I would go so far to say that if everyone followed convention we never would have even had rock and roll...here is something I was thinking about today..l.. I have small hands and fingers... .... I have had to learn to get around that.... many of your really best lead guitarist are tall and thin, have long fingers and reach...  I gave up trying to copy others because I can't... I have had to learn to get around some things that would be simple for others.... like for example when you play a bar chord and use the pinky two frets up for rhythem....that is almost impossible for me... I can get to it a few places on the board... but there are some ways around it..
having said all that I do know where I am at on the fret board and an idea of what key I am in..... this can be somewhat important when playing with others...
and I would add that if I had known how to read music, as a bass player I could work alot more...because I had friends who are very connected in the local music scenes and there are lots of black tie jobs and lounges that like more jazzy, softer stuff and sometimes their bassist can't be there and they need a fill in.l... so I think the absolute best scenario is to work at both...

[Hilary]

I don't much like being told what to do either but I used to love playing scales and arpeggios on the piano as a teenager. Try doing a chromatic scale starting on middle C using both hands in the opposite directions - it's a total mind-f*ck.

I think you should just do what you are interested in and enjoy doing - life's a box of chocolates as they say.