Here Is a Standard Chord Progression Ending You Can Use On Lots Of Songs
Chord Progression Ending: The bVI to bVII Ending
Good morning again. This is Duane, and we’re doing a series on music theory called “Good Stuff You Really Ought to Know About Music!” We’re taking up several chord progressions lately. Right now we’re taking up the flat 6, flat 7, and then home to I progression. It’s a standard chord progression ending. It’s an ending that you can use. There are several standard endings you can use on songs and it really doesn’t matter what the style is. They still work. I’ll try to illustrate that today.
Let’s first of all find out what a flat 6 is. If we’re in the key of C, and we are, the 6th degree of the scale is what? It’s A, isn’t it? The flat 6th is A flat. In the key of C we’re dealing with an A flat chord, which is the flat 6. Then what’s a flat 7th? B flat. We’re dealing with A flat, B flat, C. Let me just end a song and then I’ll show you what I mean. Let’s say I’m playing “Moon River.” You expect me to go to I, don’t you, to the C chord. Now instead of I I’m going to go to the flat 6 chord, flat 7 chord, and then home to I, so it’s that. Like I say, the style doesn’t really matter. If I was playing something uptempo, the same principle applies. You simply play the flat 6th chord and then the flat 7th chord, and then you go home to 1.
Let’s do it in a different key. Let’s say we’re in the key of F and we’re ending the song. Where’s the flat 6th chord of the key of F? Where’s the flat 7 chord? Let’s do it in the key of G. We’re ending a song. What’s the flat 6 in the key of G? Flat 6th in the key of G is what? E flat. Flat 7th is F. Why? Because in the G scale the 7th note of the scale if F sharp, so you’re dealing with F instead of F sharp. Hope you understand that. I’m ending a song on G, say … That makes a nice standard ending for lots of songs. If you’re not using that, you might think about plugging it into your musical toolbox.
By the way, on those endings, I almost always put in a major 7th or a 6th, or both. Sometimes you use a passing tone. The more you voice a chord in interesting ways, the better it sounds. That’s it for today. Thanks for being with me. If you enjoy these little tips, come on over to PlayPiano and sign up for our series of tips. Hope to see you there. Bye bye for now.
***For lots more good stuff on piano playing come on over to my website at https://www.playpiano.com and sign up for our free piano tips – “Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions!”
Here’s a great little book on chords and chord progressions on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chords-Chord-Progressions-Exciting-ebook/dp/B0076OUGDE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404158669&sr=1-1&keywords=piano+chords+duane+shinn
Here is the video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coIWXgf_hlA&feature=youtu.be
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