How Simple Chord Progressions Work

It's fun to talk about s p i c y voicings and perplexing harmonies, but most music out there stays pretty simple in the chord department. Even simple chord progressions need to follow some underlying logic for what works and what doesn't, and in this video I present a way of analyzing harmony that's simple, but that I find helpful. Each example was taken from a game requested by one of my highest tier Patrons, whom I can't thank enough for their generosity and support!

0:00 - Intro
1:18 - 3 Types of Chord Movement
3:06 - Rain World Main Theme
5:56 - Kentucky Route Zero's 'Too Late to Love You'
9:37 - Ys VIII's 'Sunshine Coastline'
11:25 - For The King's 'The Burning Forest'
12:42 - Hades' 'Good Riddance'
15:15 - Evil Genius Main Theme
16:57 - Frogatto & Friends' 'Map Theme'
18:27 - Outro

#VideoGames #Chords #MusicTheory

[BubblingBrooke]

I maybe only understand 20% at best when I watch one of these videos, but I feel like I'm always learning something!

[hungryporpoise]

as a beginner, I watched the whole thing and then did a double take when I read that the title said "simple" chord progressions

[victorribera]

Just now I learned that the strength of a chord is not totally related to its position in the scale, but its interval with respect to neighbour chords. Why no one told me this before in music class

[lovef]

Seeing mine and everybody elses requests woven together here was great stuff. Getting these disparate games together all while presenting them under this umbrella of analysis is really impressive and it felt really gratifying to watch. Cheers!

[janugur]

Darren Corb is such a good composer especially with Hades's OST. In the first section of the track "God Of The Dead" he only swtiches between a basic ass phrgyian metal riff and a simple VI - VII - i progression in the chorus and manage to tell the story of the game with the music all by itself. The verses which contain the phrgyian riff give the feeling of oppression and rage which reflects Zagreus's situation which then turns into the chorus that contain the VI - VII - i progression which gives it a feeling of rising and hope.
Edit: Because in the choruses the guitar plays the VI and the VII chords back to back but instead of going forward stepwise he plays the i note an octave lower it gives the feeling of rise and hope but also being in a loop, like Sysphus, constantly rising and falling at the end just to try again. Reflects very well on Zagreus’ journey.

[themightymcb]

Dude yes. It amazes me what musicians are capable of doing with so little. Deftones manage to make entire albums full of songs with like 1 riff and 2 chords. Listen to Beauty School off of Diamond Eyes, for example. There's the intro/verse riff that repeats throughout the song and then there's the chorus and bridge sections that only have the exact same 2 chords. The biggest difference is where the changes happen and yet somehow the chorus and bridge feel ENTIRELY different from each other.

[BSengen]

Clicked for Hades in the thumbnail. Already know it’s gonna be great

[VexVex]

Like with every other type of art, the intention is what matters, not the technique and the complexity of it. It's always good to remind yourself of stuff like that. It's so fascinating how much you can achieve with just simple chord movement.

[annieoddo]

I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but you would make an awesome teacher. It’s not just the ability to break things down and explain them, but the insight you bring to each topic and the way you approach music by inciting curiosity and exploration. Those are powerful qualities! Great content, as always!

[fxshadow]

This may seem like a silly thing to cover, but bringing light to 'simple' chord progressions is SO important. Composition analysis vids tend to focus on advanced stuff, giving the impression that advanced stuff is the standard and that's how you should write your music. Giving time and effort to present the beauty of 'simple' chord progs allows beginners to explore them without feeling like a lesser writer, AND is a reminder to the experienced composer that they don't need a tritone sub every 4 bars to make something interesting. This vid is more critical than one might think :)
Thanks for putting it together!

[terdragontra]

Thank you for mentioning Rain World! It's admittedly a bit obtuse but super unique and beautiful, it deserves more attention.

[PlayMadness]

It's always a good day when a new 8-bit Music Theory video comes out.

[jimmyhirr]

The progression in "Sunshine Coastline" is a variant of the "four famous chords" or "axis progression" that starts on the minor chord. This is really popular and it's used in songs from Adele's Hello to Boston's Peace of Mind.

[NathanElling]

I really liked this one. I've been learning a lot about classical/jazz harmony over the last few years, but I always get frustrated trying to analyze contemporary pieces that seem simple but don't seem to fall into any typical harmonic patterns. Thinking about harmonic progressions in more elemental terms like 2nd/3rd/4th intervals feels a lot more intuitive. Thanks.

[gamingdragon]

Please do more on Rain World!!!
I must say I absolutely lost it when I saw the first clip of gameplay in the video. It's a phenomenal game with way more depth in the music than when I first heard the ost playing the game, and the ending... oh boy the ending...
Would love to see how much I missed stuff myself
Great video!

[mandellei]

Darren Korb has been one of my favorite composers since the first time I played a Supergiant game! I really hope you talk about more of his music in the future

[weewoo]

oh my god im so happy you talked about 'too late to love you', ive been working on a cover of it and i have been so stunned by the progression and nuances in it

[potentialPizza]

I am very much a hobbyist when it comes to music theory. I know that if I really wanted to excel, I could take a course and study it, but I don't want to do that because I think I'm in a good place with not spending too much brain power on it compared to other pursuits. But I do love your videos as a way to slowly internalize more little things here and there that I can incorporate into my amateurish piano improv. But I'll admit, some things are just too complicated for me to really know how to use. This video is exactly what I needed; it feels like a look into how some of the basics work, that I can start applying right now, as a stepping stone into the more complex stuff. Thank you.

[ADruid]

With the mention of it I would really love an indepth exploration of Hades' Good Riddence, especially looking at each version of it

[mikelowden]

Gotta say that I love this approach! I'm a private music teacher whose main emphasis/goal with students is to help them start to create their own music as soon as possible. This is LEAGUES better than teaching functional harmony, both because it's more simple, and also because it lines up way better with the sounds that a 13 year old is going to be searching for. Excited to work through this with some students of mine! Thanks a ton!

(and I'll definitely be telling them to check you out, of course)