How to Create Unique and Catchy Guitar Chord Progressions

How to Create Unique and Catchy Guitar Chord Progressions Sign up successful The blues progression is typically I, IV and V (one, four and five). Almost all of the blues songs that youve ever heard consist of those chords, and many pop and rock songs too. So how do you create a progression thats exciting and fresh? One answer is something called chord leading. Chord Leading Certain chords sound best when theyre followed by certain other chords. Here are some examples of chords that go well together: I  Any chord ii, IV, V, vii0 iii, ii, vi IV, I, V, vii0 V, I vi, ii vii0, I, iii Mix and Match Now, having shown you a list that seems pretty restrictive, let me balance that by telling you that terrific chord progressions have been easily written without the used of this chart and without the use of chord leading at all. I have a much more informal way of create unique and catchy guitar chord progressions. Take the chords I, IV, V and vi. This is sometimes called the Nashville chord progression, while Ive also heard it called the pop chord progression, but its not a progression, its just a set of four chords that are often used to create appealing progressions. Play each one four times; lets say, for right now, that thats four beats in each of our future measures. Go from one chord to another, in no particular order at all. If youre inclined to sing or hum a random melody, even if you wouldnt consider yourself a singer, then I would highly recommend it. It helps the creative process in that it keeps your imagination running. This can help to prevent writers block. Plus, the nature of how the human voice phrases music on its own can help to facilitate the motion or fluidity of this new song. Keep Everything Keep everything that you write. One of my college songwriting professors told me that writing about what you write, not about what you think, sounds best. What you think sounds best may change from day to day. Moreover, sometimes we write bits and pieces of songs and progressions on different days that may only come together on some future day. Unique and catchy guitar chords dont always, or most often, come overnight. They are built like little houses. Just as in building houses, once you start over-analyzing and rearranging too much, the whole thing could start to crumble. A big part of songwriting is being happy about whats been written today and leaving it alone. Theres so much technology out there to record your musical ideas. But for practical purposes, all that you really need is a simple sound recorder on your laptop or tablet. Remember, this is only in order to remember what youve come up with. To quote the film Napoleon Dynamite, Listen to your heart. Thats what I do. Creating anything unique and catchy means looking at what you could contribute artistically and being open and willing to sharing that with the world. Learn more about playing the guitar and making music by taking private lessons with a guitar instructor. Search for a guitar teacher today!   Heather L. teaches singing, piano, acting, and more in St. Augustine, FL, as well as through online lessons. She is  a graduate of the prestigious Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and has performed with the New York and Royal Philharmonics, the New Jersey and Virginia Symphonies, the American Boy Choir, and the internationally renowned opera star Andrea Bocelli.  Learn more about Heather here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by  Janne Poikolainen