Chords Are Your Friend
So is it really possible to create a musical masterpiece out of just a few chords, even three? Or are all such songs mind-numbingly simple: catchy perhaps, but not truly “good” music?
Well, while very few three-chord songs have likely been labled “masterpieces of technicality” over the history of music, that by no means indicates that such songs are not “good.” In fact, the simpler the song, the easier it can be to play, and thus the more enjoyable it becomes. That being said…
There is a bit of theory behind the stock “three-chord” song that is very helpful to understand before moving into writing such a song.
Remember, the musical alphabet is composed of seven letters, A through G. Any musicians out there are probably already familiar with the circle of fifths…
Circle of Fifths
This diagram no doubt looks a little daunting though, especially for those who have never seen it before, so I’ll deconstruct it a bit. The outer labels (clockwise: C major, G major, D major, and so on) represent the various keys in which music may be written.
The letters under these keys (in the case of C major, C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) indicate the notes in that key. Moving clockwise around the circle adds one sharp note each time. (A sharp note is a half-tone higher than the root note, which on a guitar is commonly one fret higher up the neck.) So, the key of G contains an F# (# is the symbol for sharp, and b is the symbol for flat). The key of D contains 2 sharps, F# and C#, and so forth.
The inner ring (starting from the top, clockwise: A minor, E minor, B minor, etc.) represents the “relative minor” of the major key it corresponds with. The relative minor is always the 6th note in the scale. For instance, in the key of C, the 6th tone is A (C, D, E, F, G, A…), so Am is the relative minor in the key of C. The relative minor contains the exact same notes as the corresponding major scale, just starting on a different note.
Feeling overwhelmed? Hopefully not. If so, breathe.
Breathe again.
Now let everything sink in.
OK, time to apply all this dense information. It seems like a lot, but the circle of fifths is integral to understanding the rest of music theory, including what is about to be presented. Let’s take those notes in each scale (for this entire example, we will use the key of C: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) and call them chords. In each key, that same set of 8 notes also represents the chords in that particular key. However, there is a little more to it than that. Each key follows a general guideline for the structure of each chord:
I = major
II = minor7
III = minor7
IV = major
V = dominant7
VI = minor (also the relative minor)
VII = diminished
The “I” chord is always the root. So in this case, the C chord is the I, and it is a major chord. Much more of this will be discussed later, but for now, armed with this information, let’s get back to song-writing and some common chord progressions.
By far one of the most commonly used chord progressions is the I-IV-V progression. Here, that would translate to C (the root), F (the 4th), and G (the 5th). As a general guideline, based on the chart above, the I and IV chords are major chords (made up of the 1st, 3rd, and 5th tones), while the V is a dominant 7 chord (made up of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and b7 tones). So… a I-IV-V progression in the key of C would become: C, F, and G7. The C chord contains the notes C, E, and G; the F contains F, A, and C; and the G7 contains G, B, D, and F (which would normally be F#, but is flatted to an F to become the 7th chord).
Let’s look at another common key, the key of E. A I-IV-V progression in the key of E would become: E, A, B7.
Now take the key of B minor. It contains the same notes as the key of D major, but it starts on a B. So a I-IV-V progression in B minor is: B, E, F#7.
Time for an example! It may be a massively over-played, over-used track, but there aren’t too many people who aren’t familiar with “Good Riddance” by Green Day. The chorus and bridge have some different chord progressions, but the verses are a simple I-IV-V, namely: G, C, and D. Listen to the song, see if you can pick out the chord changes, and then start listening to other songs with this in mind as well. Most popular songs have at least some element that is written in I-IV-V.
This is a lot to process, but based on this knowledge, we can now move into some more advanced chord theory and progressions. This is coming up soon, keep an eye out.
