Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
Let's start by remembering that any given group of notes can be named in multiple ways. When you name a chord you can pick any of the notes to be the root & then regard the rest of the notes as relative to that root. Same for chord progressions. There is sometimes more than one way to label it so one of the chords is the I chord & the rest are measured as some distance from that root note.

How do you know which of the many possible options to use? Which ever one makes the chord & the progression easier to understand & the best option that matches how the chords sound.

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Alright this is new so I'll definitely have to keep it in mind.

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
The clip sounds nice! Congrats on a nicely played acoustic part. :)
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Thanks, but you're being nice. It sounds miserable. I used the mic from some gaming headphones. lol :)

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
Also, you've done a good job of labelling the most of chords by using the lowest note of each chord as the root. But that's not always the best option. Let's take it one chord at a time.
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I just used a [U]chord designer website[/U] which speeds things up for me. I've been learning the notes on the fretboard, but memorizing it all is like running across a football field of glass. Hard to make it stick. I can count it out, but that's very time consuming!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel
Possibly. But also consider that you've got an A chord with a C# as the major 3rd. Usually, when you have a D major, G major & A major chord played together in a progression you've got a I-IV-V in D major.

D major (I chord)
G major (IV chord)
A major (V chord)

So, you can consider your progression to be in G major with a II chord (A major) or you can think of it as in D major. We'll review that at the end.
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Thanks, I guess with some progressions I'll have to take a step back from looking at these modified chords and think... "Is this very similar to a common I/IV/V of any applicable chord?" and "What is the simplest and most natural way to label this?"


[QUOTE=ChristopherSchlegel]
Let's also consider this chord from a different perspective. You could regard the note B as the 3rd of a G major chord. That way you've simply got an inversion of a G major chord. The chord doesn't have a G note. But that's okay in this context, because you've already played a G chord, you'll play another one later & that's enough to suggest that this is a G major in 1st inversion: G (no root). :)

That's kinda out there. That will be really difficult to point out or explain on my own.

[QUOTE=ChristopherSchlegel]
[U]Typically, the most important chord tone is the 3rd to figure out if it should be labelled major or minor.[/U] So, in this case, I'd lean toward the A major add4 (no5th), because you do have a C# as the major 3rd. Whereas calling the D the root leaves you with no 3rd to label it major or minor.

Alright! Another new concept learned. Not exactly sure why that is though. And then... by having it labelled as an A root I have my V chord in D major?


[QUOTE=ChristopherSchlegel]
The open D string as a drone string gives this progression a unifying sound making all the chords sound like they belong together. It also provides a Big Clue as to the key. ;)

haha yeah I probably should have taken that into consideration.


[QUOTE=ChristopherSchlegel]
Chord progressions don't have to begin or end on the tonic. Leaving it hanging on the IV chord gives it an interesting "open ended" or "longing" sound.

Or I bet you'll find if you strum a big D major chord at the end of this progression it will put a nice finishing touch on it. :) Or even better an A major, then D major.

Yeah I left it on the A chord in the clip. I thought that sounded cool. I'll play with the D chord too.