10 Powerful Chord Progressions Every Songwriter Should Know

In this video you’ll learn 10 powerful chord progressions every songwriter should know.

I’ll be playing all 10 chord progressions on the piano, and in Ableton Live along with some loops I’ve found. I’ll also be providing a downloadable MIDI pack so you can use them in your own productions.

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00:00 - Intro
00:43 - The Most Popular Progression
1:19 - Sad But Uplifting
1:54 - The Storyteller
2:54 - The Bass Players Progression
4:00 - Jazz It Up
4:33 - The Journey
5:10 - Secondary Dominants
6:00 - Epic Progression
6:44 - The Minor Change
7:35 - Trap Chords

I’ll be playing all of these chord progressions on the piano in the key of C major, so it’s easier to follow along with the video. During the video, I’ll show you a function in Ableton Live that will let you use any of these chord progression in any key.

Many of the chord progressions in this video are used in popular songs. After playing the chord progressions, I’ll be reviewing which of my favorite songs contain these chord progressions.

Take these progressions, and use them to build your own song. Grab some samples for a beat. Write some lyrics, and record some vocals. Here’s some helpful way to get started:

Grab some samples:

Record your vocals at home:

Write lyrics:

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#chords
#chordprogressions
#chordtheory
#musicproduction
#musictheory
#songwriting
#landr
#pianolesson
#harmony
#music
#drums
#DAW
#musicmaking
#musiccreation

[LANDRmusic]

Which chord progression was your favourite?

[tungtungfantasy]

0:44 1.The Most Popular : I-V-vi-IV
1:20 2.Sad But Uplifting : vi-V-IV-V
1:55 3.The Storyteller : I-IV-vi-V
2:56 4.The Bass Player : I-ii7-I6-IV
4:01 5.Jazz It Up : I-vi-ii-V
4:34 6.The Journey : IV-I6-V
5:12 7.Secondary Dominants : IV-V-V6/vi-vi
6:02 8.Epic Progression : I-bVI-V
6:44 9.The Minor Change : IV-iv-I
7:36 10.Trap Chords : i-VI-i-v

[eduardorivera-garcia]

No comments acknowledging the host’s delightful sense of humor that makes these videos stand out from the fray of dry, nerdy tutorial videos. Thank you, Peggy.

[haylinicole]

I'm an aspiring music artist who's just getting into music production and this was actually a really helpful video! Finding the right chords for a melody can sometimes be tricky, especially if in your head, you hear a different flavor of chord for a certain note, but you have no idea how to actually replicate it on an instrument. Building off one of these might help.

[harryew]

I think that's the first piano lesson I've had from someone who changes the pitch of their piano halfway through

[midori]

III(major 3) is very dramatic, vi(minor 4) is bittersweet, v(minor 5) tones down the bright major chord, bVI(flat 6) and bVII(flat 7) transports you to a new dimension.

That's really all you need to know

[amondhawes-khalifa]

6:46. *The end of the Drake and Josh intro*

[dnny]

Nothing like learning chord progressions from John Wick.

[sm]

I understand the theory behind calling a first-inversion a "6" chord, but I think a lot of musicians will interpret that phrase as meaning to add a 6 (in this case, A) to the triad.

[drummerdemon]

did anyone else bug out when when she played "CMaj" and forgot to put the pitch back in the DAW? Hearing Eb but seeing C is seriously bugging me out.

[ConceptJunkie]

I'm glad there was a III chord in there somewhere. Peggy, you shouldn't be afraid to introduce the term "inversion" to your audience. I get that this is geared towards beginners, and as such it's a fine video, but introducing the real terminology is a great teaching moment, because the next time a person hears "inversion", he or she realizes that it's a simple concept, and already knows what it is.

[Blondesax]

I have to admit: this video was a lot less generic than I thought it was going to be. Easy stuff to start with.

[Amelia-rioq]

1:20 tears left to cry has entered the chat

[MarkPeotter]

You avoided explaining that what you call a "six" chord is based on Figured Bass Traditional Harmony. Meaning, the Root of the Chord is 6 notes higher than the Bass Note. This goes back to days of Bach. However, I teach my students modern harmony, in which a "six" chord is a triad plus the 6th scale degree added to the triad.

[dankokozar]

Great video. Unfortunately, from 4th progression onwards, the video is ruined because of the +3 pitch change by MIDI transform (so it's not in C but in D#).

[ephjaymusic]

I - VIIb/iiib - VIb7 - V7
C - Bb/Eb - Cm/Ab - G7sus4 - G7
Epic chord progression.

[mintcream]

‘Resolves to the V giving a sense of closure’
...what

[Johnniew]

I love the chord progession I -vi7-iv7-V7-VII as used by The Beach Boys in "Keep an eye on Summer". John Lennon/Beatles also use this in "Free as a bird". Hauntingly beautiful.

[pianomusic]

These chord progressions are a must know for all songwriters, Great video!!

[griiezzi]

Try the 1-6-4-5 progression, that's everyones favourite