jonsguitarlessons

Some Music Theory

Most songs use I, IV and V chords. For example, a song is in the key of C, as we are guessing from the fact it starts and ends on a C chord, though that is not always the case.  Here are all the chords in C:

C  Dm  Em  F  G  Am  Bm7b5  C

From this sequence, the "DNA" of C if you like, Chord I is C, Chord IV is F, Chord V is G.

To make the song more interesting we could then find Am or Dm added somewhere, and maybe G is changed to G7 and F is changed to F maj 7. Any changes are likely to be predictable.

Another thing we could find is inversions of the chords, where C/E or C/G is used. Both these chords still use the three notes of a C chord C,E,G - but in a different order. Because they sound unstable, they can drive a chord progression to a resolution on another chord. These slash chords describe Chord/Bass note

For more info, check out jonsmusictheory.com