Chapter 10:Chord Progressions 131
If you’re playing in a minor key, you want to end up on the home of that key—
which is the vi chord of the relative major scale.
As you’ll learn in the next section, certain chords naturally lead to the I key. In
addition, you can employ multiple-chord progressions to get you back to I—
these are called cadences and are also discussed later in this chapter.
One Good Chord Leads to Another
Although you can write a song using any combination of chords that sounds
good to your ears—even chords from other keys—in most cases chord progres-
sions are based on a few simple rules. These rules come from a concept called
chord leading, which says that certain chords naturally lead to other chords.
You can hear chord leading for yourself by playing some chords on the piano.
To keep it simple, we’ll stay in the key of C—so you don’t have to play any of
the black keys.
Start by playing a C Major chord (C-E-G). This is the I chord, which doesn’t
necessarily lead anywhere because, based on chord leading rules, the I chord can
be followed by any chord in the scale.
Now play a G Major chord (G-B-D). This is the V chord in the scale, and it defi-
nitely wants to go somewhere. But where? You could follow it with an F Major
chord (F-A-C), but that isn’t fully satisfying. Neither is D minor (D-F-A) or E
minor (E-G-B) or even A minor (A-C-E). The only chord that sounds fully
satisfying—the chord that V naturally leads to—is the I chord, C Major.
The rule here is that the V chord naturally leads back to the I chord. Although you
canwrite another chord after a V, the best resolution is to follow the V with the I.
Other chords also have related chords that they naturally lead to. Some chords
can even lead to more than one chord. To learn which chords lead where, take a
look at the following table.
Chord Leading Reference
These Chords ... Lead to These Chords ...
I Any chord
ii IV, V, vii°
iii ii, IV, vi
IV I, iii, V, vii°
VI
vi ii, IV, V, I
vii° I, iiiAlthough there are exceptions to these rules, you can create a pleasing chord
progression by following the order suggested by this chart. This means if you
have a iii chord, you follow it with either a ii, IV, or a vi chord. Or if you have a
vi chord, you follow it with either a ii, IV, V, or I chord ... and so on.
Technically, the vi chord of
the major scale is actually
the i chord of the relative
natural minor scale—if you
recall the relationship
between major and minor
keys, presented back in
Chapter 4.Note