| Last issue
we established the foundation for chord prediction by learning
the primary chords for each key. I hope you internalized that
and committed each "family of chords" to memory.
Now that you
know "the fam", today I would like to introduce you to the
"cousin" chords. These are chords that don't occur near as
often as the primary chords, but much more often than
"neighbor" chords, and way more often than "stranger" chords.
The most
likely cousin-chord to show up in any key is the II chord. In
other words, after the I, IV, and V chords, the II chord is
the next most likely to be used. It might show up in one of
several forms -- it might be a major chord, it might be a
minor chord, it might be a 7th chord -- but however it shows
up, it is far and away the most likely chord to occur after I,
IV, or V.
So in the
key of C, that means that some form of the D chord is the 4th
most likely chord to occur. Maybe D7, maybe Dm7, maybe just D,
but whatever the form, it is like the cousin that likes to
show up at dinner time to eat with the fam.
And when it
does occur, you can then predict with uncanny accuracy which
chord will come after it -- the V chord. And after that, the I
chord. So if you were a betting person, your odds would go sky
high at that point for that succession of chords to occur. In
musical terms, this progression is known as the II - V -- I
chord progression. And it happens over and over and over and
over again in countless songs.
So let's get
it down cold. If it happens so much, it's worth your time to
master it both intellectually and hand-wise (in other words,
understand it and be able to play it).
Here's the II, V, I progression in all keys:
| Key of C: D G C
Key of F: G C F
Key of G: A D G
Key of D: E A D
Key of E: F# B E
Key of A: B E A
Key of Gb: Ab Db Gb
Key of Db: Eb Ab Db
Key of Eb: F Bb Eb
Key of Ab: Bb Eb Ab
Key of B: C# F# B
Key of Bb: C F Bb |
I hope you noticed something about
this progression as you were thinking or playing through it. I
hope you noticed that each chord is a 4th higher than the
previous chord. In other words, in the Key of C, after the D
chord is used, you go up a 4th (4 scale notes -- in terms of
traditional harmony it is a "perfect 4th) to G. Then after the
G chord is used, you go up a 4th to C to complete the cycle.
If you didn't notice that, go back and play through these
again.
Next issue we'll meet another cousin,
and see where she fits it to the scheme of things as far as
chord prediction is concerned. |
