Tag: chords
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Paul McCartney’s Secret Technique for Beautiful Chords
Paul McCartney’s Secret Technique for Beautiful Chords Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird” is not only one of the most iconic songs of all time, but it’s also a masterclass in how simple chords can create sophisticated sounds on the guitar. In this post, we dive into the secrets behind the song’s beautiful two-note chord voicings, explore the…
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5 Creative Chord Progressions to Reignite Your Creativity
5 Creative Chord Progressions to Reignite Your Creativity In this article, we’ll go through 5 captivating, out-of-the-box chord progressions, each using different chords outside their key, that any songwriter can use immediately to make your chord progressions more interesting, sophisticated, and creative. This article is a summarised transcript of our video “5 Out-of-the-Ordinary Chord Progressions…
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A Guide to Finding the Perfect Chords
A Guide to Finding the Perfect Chords It’s very common for songwriters to come up with great lyrics, but then become lost when they reach the stage of finding the perfect chords for their song. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can find a basic chord progression, and then make it more interesting from…
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10 Essential Chord Progressions for Songwriters
10 Essential Chord Progressions for Songwriters If you’re a songwriter looking for inspiration then look no further! In this article, we take a look at 10 essential chord progressions and some classic songs that use them. This article is a summarised transcript of our video “10 Chord Progressions Every Beginner Songwriter Should Know”. Click here…
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Chord Tips to Learn from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
Chord Tips to Learn from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is one of the Beatles most popular and well-known songs. Buried within this masterpiece are some truly amazing chord sequences! In this article, we’ll break down those chord sequences so that we can learn from them and use…
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Learn to Turn Basic Chords Beautiful
Learn to Turn Basic Chords Beautiful There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using basic chords. After all, they’re safe, reliable and well-known. However, to truly make the most out of your basic chords, you have to learn how to make them interesting. In this article, we’ll take some of the most common chords on guitar and…
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Learning About Secondary Dominant Chords
Learning About Secondary Dominant Chords Although the “secondary dominant chords” may sound intimidating, it’s a simple concept to grasp once you understand the formula behind it. In this blog post, we’ll discover what secondary dominant chords are, have a look at some song examples and learn how to make this technique our own. This blog…
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Exploring Minor Line Clichés
Exploring Minor Line Clichés Since we previously learnt about major line clichés in this article, we will now learn about its darker cousin – the minor line cliché. Among the topics we’ll discuss are what is a minor line cliché, examples of songs with minor line clichés, and how we can incorporate them into our…
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Explaining Major Line Clichés
Explaining Major Line Clichés There are many techniques we can use to spice up our chord progressions, and the one we’ll learn about today is major line clichés. Some of the topics that we’ll cover include what is a major line cliché, and how can we incorporate them into our songwriting. This blog post aims…
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Chord Tricks to Learn from “Something” by The Beatles
Chord Tricks to Learn from “Something” by The Beatles George Harrison’s song ‘Something’ (on The Beatles’ iconic 1969 album Abbey Road) contains 4 exquisite chord moves – once you know what they are and how to use them, you can use them in your own songwriting to create some of the same harmonic sophistication that…
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Song Analysis – ‘You Oughta Know’ by Alanis Morissette
Song Analysis – ‘You Oughta Know’ by Alanis Morissette Alanis Morissette’s 90’s smash hit ‘You Oughta Know’ has three weird and wonderful musical moves that make it totally unique. This blog post, for songwriters and musicians, dives into the musical concepts, and shows you how to use them in your own songwriting. This blog post…
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How to Write a Song—Starting With Chords
How to Write a Song—Starting With Chords Songwriting is a creative process that can sometimes feel challenging, especially when it comes to finding the right balance between music and lyrics. By understanding the importance of chords and how they lay the groundwork for your song, you’ll gain valuable insights and techniques that will help make…
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14-Day Songwriting Challenge: DAY 2
#2. Starting in motion. Write a verse (with lyrics and melody). Instead of I V vi IV (the most used 4-chord progression in pop music of the last 40 years), try IV I V vi. In the key of C, this would be: F C G AmIn the key of A: …
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Music Theory Fundamentals–Major, Minor, and Diminished Chords
Ready to take your songwriting further?
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Major 7 Vs. Dominant 7
In this video, we examine the differences between Major 7 vs Dominant 7 chords – specifically focusing on how they are constructed, how they are labelled, how they differ in sound and how you can utilise both with great effect in your songwriting process. For exclusive content, free workshops, live Q&A sessions and advanced downloadable…
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How to Use Chromatics to Write Killer Chord Progressions
Break out of predictable patterns and inject some colour into your craft with this chromatic approach to writing killer riffs and memorable melodies! In Part 1 of the CHROMATIC MAGIC mini-series – we look at a simple yet effective way of breaking old patterns and introducing new sounds to your repertoire. Starting with some warm-up…
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Picking the Perfect Chords
As songwriters we often start with a chord progression, using it as a framework to add lyrics, melodies, textures and embellishments. But one question that continually pops up is ‘what chord do I choose next?’ In this video, my musical compadre Ben Romalis looks at the functions and relationships of chords in a diatonic system,…