Making Chords Interesting

MAKING CHORD PROGRESSIONS MORE INTERESTING Some writers mistakenly believe that if their chord progressions are too boring, the way to fix that problem is to come up with more chords. In fact this is not usually the best fix. If you've got a chord progression that works, but just seems a bit boring, the best thing to do is to modify the chords you have rather than adding to the number of chords you're using. There are several ways to do this, and you can read more about it by going to http://essentialchords.com. For now, try these little things that can take a boring progression and make it more interesting: i) Use a pedal bass. If your progression is: D G A7 D, you can make it sound even more interesting by keeping the note D in the bass for all the chords. You'll love the result. Also, try other bass notes as a constant pedal. For a really interesting effect, try putting the notes E in the bass while playing that same progression. ii) Use added tones. Adding a 9th to chords can really soften the edges in a pleasant way: Dadd9 Gadd9 A7 Dadd9. You can also add 6ths and 7ths in this way. Experiment! iii) Use inversions. An inversion means that a note other than the root of the chord is in the bass. So instead of playing a D, try D/F# (a D major chord with an F# in the bass). iv) Use secondary dominant chords. Often, when you take a minor chord and make it major, you are creating a secondary dominant chord. Try this sample progression: D G Em A7 D. Now replace the Em chord with an E (major) chord: D G E A7 D. v) Change mode. If you've written a song in a major key, see what it sounds like to put it in minor. Usually, you can simply change the chords to minor, but try some substitutions. For example, the progression: A E7 A might be interesting if you switch to minor in this way: Am Gm Am. vi) Try some modal mixture chords. A modal mixture occurs when you "borrow" a chord from the opposite mode. For example, this progression: A D E7 A has a completely different feel if you borrow a Dm from the minor side of the tonality: A Dm E7 A.