As a self taught guitar and bass player, this is the most valuable learning tool I’ve ever used! I’ve bought and given away at least a half dozen chord wheels to my guitar playing friends as gifts!
Used your chore wheel for a few years now.... helped me through a lot of stuff...good and bad but it always helped me reason things out.... now I’m helping others with your wheel thank you
Hey Mike, thanks for the kind words. Truth is that I still use it a lot. Although I can know remember a lot of theory, it gets complicated quickly and this helps me find notes and chords quickly. It's such fun to analyze what composers are up to. I'll have up some Progression Profile analysis videos shortly. Let me know if you have any songs you'd like me to get into!
Hey Ramon, nice to meet you as well! Must admit that I still use it every day too and the bottom line is I developed it because I needed it. (Necessity being the mother of invention, as they say.). Though I have some of these relations memorized after all this time, I'm always discovering something new that becomes clearer when I look at it through the lens of The Chord Wheel.
Hey Iva, glad to be able to help. Let me know if there are any topics or questions that have you puzzled (or that you're curious to learn more about). I'm just getting started (way past due..) and eager to find out what you find helpful and what is lacking.
@@thechordwheel7375 When I bought a ton of books a few years, ago, that I thought would be needed for my guitar and saxophone references, yours was one of them that I bought. It has stayed on my music rack because I did not understand much about the wheel. But, when I saw you video, I pulled it out to follow along with you. I understood a lot more because I have had some theory coaching since I bought the book. Now that I know you are available to answer my questions, you will see or hear from me, again. Thanks for your reply. I was surprised to hear from you.
I agree. I love this tool but I’m so lost when it comes to figuring out songs in a minor key. For instance, if my (I) chord is minor, would we need to use a completely different wheel?
That's amazing tool to have. Thank you so much for sharing your skills and knowledge. I would love to be a good guitarist and be the best that I can be. You woke me up. The flame is starting to show. Thank you 🙏👍😂
3 Years Later, I Say: You're a badass. Searched for exactly this, until I found you. And I Understand it's even crazier than i thought. And now I welcome it. Because of Dudes like you. Cheers.
Very Good for Major Key Chords but What about Minor Key Chord Progression ? It's not included? Well i am happy to meet man behind this excellent Tool👍.. STAY SAFE🙏
Hey Rrjjgg, NIce to meet you, as well. You raise one of the most common questions I get and I'm working on a video that goes into this concept in detail. Some folks have asked for "Minor Key" version of The Chord Wheel. However, working with chord theory over the years has led me to believe that thinking of progressions in one particular Major or Minor 'Key' is sort of limiting. For example, consider the following: There are many popular songs that appear to have verses in what would be considered a Minor Key but when the choruses come, they take on a Major Key tonality. (Oftentimes the verse is the 'Relative Minor' of the chorus's Major Key; a list of examples is below.) What do we do with a song like this? Do we 'analyze' the verse and chorus as being in two different keys with different tonics? A situation where the Verse's 'i Chord' (a "one chord" and/or Minor tonic) becomes a 'vi chord' in the chorus? And then, what about composition that aren't just Major (Ionian) or Minor (Aeolian) but use some of the other diatonic "modes?" I have found that constantly "reorienting" progressions in such a manner that we always denote the perceived tonal center as a "one chord" (whether it's "I" for majors or "i" for minors) can get needlessly complex; especially in more interesting progressions that don't have a static tonal center. Once again, if this is starting to sound complex, well, that's the entire problem. Stay tuned and I hope to be able to continue to make this all easier for all of us. Examples of potential Minor/Major progressions: Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd Rocket Man - Elton John You’ve Got A Friend - Carole King Style - Taylor Swift Girl - The Beatles
It’s a great learning tool that’s for sure, just subscribe because it’s doing three times more than I currently use it for. Going learn more for sure, especially now the darker nights are looming 👍🏻🎸
Great video. Can you perhaps analyse the music / chord progressions used of the band Chicago & Peter Cetera. Their music has a very specific sound which I truely love. The trumpet / saxophone also makes it sound a little bit like circus music at times.
Mind going over, converting to the minor keys? Also, have thought about making a chord wheel for the minor chords? And making pocket sized versions of the wheels? And some some in the form of chords charts for piano and/or guitar... also banjo and ukulele?
Hey Vince. Yes, I'll have several videos coming up that will talk about minor keys. Yes, I'm working with my publisher, (Hal Leonard), on a minor key version. However, as you'll discover in some upcoming videos, you can just consider any song that seems to focus on the "vi" chord to be in a minor key and focus on the minor chords and also try preceding the "i" root with the "III" (or "V of vi") chord which is also highlighted on The Chord Wheel but in a lighter outline. This is called "Tonicization" and will help anchor the "vi" as the key. (Please note: As of now we are discussing "Natural Minor" keys that are typical in Pop/Rock songs. Jazzier tunes might also use a Melodic or Harmonic minor scales as their key and it leads to different analysis.) Adjusting all the Roman Numerals to make the "vi" the "i" chord is very traditional but it starts to add to confusion. When you do change all the numbering, you'll find that the major chords of the minor key have the designations "bIII" (flat three), "bVII" (flat seven), and "bVI" (flat six). Now when I try to explain to students why most times you see a "#" or "b" designation it means your dealing with a note/chord that's outside the key/scale but not with minor keys where these major chords are actually in the key be they are showing the flat symbols because they are being compared the root note if it was in a Major Key, most start to get blurry-eyed. And I can see why. Again, I'll cover it in detail in future videos. In the meantime, just look at minor progressions just being "vi" focused progressions instead of being focused on the "I." And if you do it this way, you can also see that any progression focused on the "ii" chord as being a Dorian mode progression. Focus on "iii" is Phrygian. If "IV seems to be center, it's Lydian like "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac or "Man on the Moon" by REM (verses in Lydian, chorus in Ionian (Major). Songs centered on "V" chord, ("Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd) are Mixolydian. For pocket-sized versions, I have a well-reviewed iPhone App. It also allows you to press on they cells to hear the chords in a guitar or piano instrumentation and you can also choose between triads (three note folk/rock chord) or 7ths (jazzier four note voicing.). It sells pretty well but I have ported it over to Android yet although I may. (There are some rip-offs that I'm trying to get taken down, that always happens...). I've thought about adding some finger suggestions for the chords too. Do you think you'd use that?
I think it's funny that you call yourself the ultimate tool ha ha. But I own and love the Chord Wheel, still have a lot to learn with it which is why I am here. Thanks for the wheel and the videos
For practice purposes it would be beneficial to have the chord tones written out in music notation (not just the alphabetical letters), with optional notes (such as maj7, 7, b9 ...) added in a different color. I would order such a wheel immediately if I could find one. Sadly, I can find something like this only for guitar chord fingerings or piano keys, not the notation itself.
I'm interested in borrowed chords. Can I use the chord wheel to systematically expand my diatonic chord material? Oh and could you help me to harmonically understand the chord choices in All By Myself? Thanks :)
Hey Nick. Borrowed chords are a great way to add variety and The Chord Wheel will be a big help. Check out this video that I did regarding a great Rick Beato lesson that highlights how to find borrowed chords: studio.ua-cam.com/users/videowdVeVIHi1g0/edit#:~:text=https%3A//ua-cam.com/video/wdVeVIHi1g0/v-deo.html All By Myself is a great suggestion and I'm already working on it for you. It is a relatively complex progression for a pop song which may not be surprising given its classical influence. The progression not only has multiple borrowed chords but extensively leverages a particular secondary dominant, (the uncommon V/ii), and even has a "tertiary" dominant that creates a Dominant Cycle. If some of that sounds too technical, fear not. We'll make it easy. Thanks again for the suggestion and I hope to get lots more.
@@thechordwheel7375 Thank you so much for your response. I'm looking forward to watch your video and especially your take on All By Myself. I've been literally trying to understand for years, how these non- diatonic chords are connected so smoothly. I think it has to do with common tones and very careful voice-leading of the bass through inversions, but I'm not sure. Understanding how to expand my chord material and creating smooth connections will definitely help me to advance as a musician. Once again thank you so much for taking your time and all the best to you and your family.
I have just bought your booklet and would suggest the video explanation @ 2.46, - the 1,2,3 rule, should be included as it is much easier to understand than the printed version.
I wonder if I can use this with minor keys. Lets say A minor, where the triad starting on A is the i-chord (i in Roman lower case), while there are no sharps. Should I use the chord wheel in a different way or is it unusable with songs that are written in minor keys?
Thanks Jim, learned alot from your creative cord wheel ...i always wondered how three cord songs were written. I'm working on riffs now...i have also downloaded your app version on my cell ph...I hope it was your app and you get full credit for it. This is great because it makes musical sense when designing three cord wonders... kind regards RG
Hey Jim, This is transformational! I want to offer this tool for our guitar students. What's the best way to order this tool in bulk? Do you offer any trade price for the bulk purchase?
Hey Jeet. I'm glad you grasp the value. The distributor is Hal Leonard and you have two options if you want to buy in bulk. First is to contact any of their dealers (which is just about any music literature vendor) or you can call HL's general line (414-774-3630) and ask to be connected with a rep. Thanks!
Hey smkh. I'll have to check it out. There is an iPhone App version of The Chord Wheel that also sounds out the chords as you press the cells in either a piano or guitar voicing (and either using folksy triads or jazzy seventh chords). As ZimbaO4 mentions below, it's also a great app.
@@thechordwheel7375 yes that looks similar if a bit more complex. I think there are cheap ones that do the job, for less than 6.99. Anyhow, I’m not buying another one…Scale Bank and TONALY do the job for me. I appreciate you have put work into your app, and others may have built on it.
Sir i want to use the chord wheel in my app, is it copyrighted? am i allowed to distribute it? i will probably just use it for myself tho, just for hobby not for commercial.
Thanks for the video, I just received The Chord Wheel Book via Hal Leonard, looking for more great content from your videos. #ThanksForHelpingTheMusicTheoryNewbies
I have your book & use it all the time. Thanks so much. It is very useful. Is there any wild chance at all of you coming up with some kind of a book with all the chord fingerings for all the chords listed on the wheel? If not, do you know of any publication that contains this?
Hey Coz. Yes, I am working on a 'chord fingering' related type of book. However, that begs a question: Which instrument are you talking about? Guitar, Piano or ????
You can use any key you like ^^ when you change keys in a song, its called modulation, if that's what you're asking for. Most of the time though, a song stays in one key. Adam Neely has a good video on Celine Dion's 'All By Myself' that goes into the modulation at the end of her performances pretty in depth. Cheers!
Hey Ashok, It'll depend what kind of impact you want the song to have. (I'll do a specific video on Modulations shortly; I'm just getting started.) Most pop/rock songs stay in a single key for all sections but will occasionally have some chords from outside the key sprinkled in to keep it fresh. Sometimes, pop/rock songs will have the chorus at the end of a tune "modulate" to a different key to increase the drama. Examples would be "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John, "Tempted" by Squeeze, etc. Listen to these songs and you'll hear the "lift" at the end. However, the structure of the chorus (for example vi-ii-V-I-IV) would be identical but just in the other key in this case. Some pop songs will have the verse and chorus in different keys, ((like "Something" by The Beatles with its verse in C Major and chorus in A, for example) but it's not extremely common. Jazz songs, on the other hand, have frequent modulations between different keys and often will even do it within a given section song. However, there are some will have different keys for different sections only. Thanks for the question and please stay tuned for more detail on Modulations. The Chord Wheel will help you find them within songs. If a single chord outside the triangle on The Chord Wheel's transparent disk appears up in a progression that otherwise stays within the key, (i.e. within the triangular outline), it's just a chord added for some nice tension to move the progression forward. If a section of the song has a number of consecutive chords in a different key, (with the triangular outline rotated to a different set of cells), then it's probably a modulation; especially if the section in question contains a "V to I" movement in the new key. That's called a "Perfect Cadence" and its presence traditionally defines a modulation to a new key.
Hey Enigmatic, I'm working on the videos as we speak but it's a brand new (and very overdue) site. Hoping to have a dozen or so out very quickly. Please provide me with a progression you'd like to see analyzed. Though I'm trying to draw from a number of different styles, I'd really like to cover songs folk are curious about. Just reply here. (And anyone else too!). Thanks.
@@thechordwheel7375 If you can do NeoSoul! There are some weird, but interesting progressions. One that would be awesome is The Soulquarians - A Song For Assata. Definitely subscribing to your channel.
Hey, Alen. Yes, a lot of people dismiss the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. for exactly this reason. Bach might be the composer that used math the most! However, much of their work is wonderful if you can get past it. The jazz greats (Coltrane, Bird, Miles, etc.) could also get very technical but, again, many of us really dig the resulting sound. While there are some legends that played mostly by ear, (Kurt Cobain & Wes Montgomery come to mind), most accomplished artists know their chords and keys very well indeed. These are actually pretty basic concepts for them.
Hey Overcomer. In Nashville Numbers, you'd see it listed like this: "1 4 5". Notice that they are numbers (sometimes called 'Arabic Numerals') and not Roman Numerals (like I, IV, V, etc.). The Nashville Number system is a method to avoid using the Roman Numerals that are typically used when 'analyzing' a progression. I'm working on a video to explain further. Thanks.
Hey Jamie, the two additional highlights are the two most common chords outside the actual key that you'll typically find used in a song along with the key's normal 'diatonic' chords that are completely within the dark outline. (Diatonic in this sense means chords that are constructed of notes that are strictly within the designated key.) You'll find them in tons of songs. Maybe you've seen these chords pop up in a composition and wondered where they came from. It can make it difficult sometimes to tell what key a given song is in. With The Chord Wheel, that process is much easier. If you use them in your own songwriting, your progressions will have more variety, movement and tension (in a good way). That's the short and easy way to think of them and you can quit there if you want. However, your question really opens up a can of worms. if you want to get a little music theory nerdy (and you know you do...), here we go: There are a couple of ways to think of these chords. The most common is to analyze them from a 'Functional Harmony' perspective and label them as "Secondary Dominants." I'm working on a video strictly about Secondary Dominants but my Rick Beato reply video (ua-cam.com/video/wdVeVIHi1g0/v-deo.html) covers the concept quite a bit. The second way to consider them is to simply see these chords as 'color chords' that help bring variety to a song but which are not necessarily serving any true 'function.' Let's talk about both in more detail.
1) FUNCTIONAL HARMONY Functional Harmony implies that each chord in a progression has a function and that function is typically to eventually lead back to the "tonic chord" in an orderly fashion. The tonic chord (sometimes called the root chord and is how the Key is named) is the chord that sounds/feels like the core sound or place of rest in a song. It’s the place that sort of feels like home. The most common root chords are the "I" chord (think of it as a Roman Numeral and say it as "the one chord" - this is the 'Major Key') and the "vi" chord (thus "the six chord" - this is the 'Minor Key' or more precisely the ‘Natural Minor Key’). Now sometimes people like to refer to the 'vi chord' as the 'i chord' when it's used as a tonic (because the most important chord should have the most important number) and that means we must renumber all the other chords in turn. This makes things confusing and I'm working on a video for that as well. It's so much easier to just think of a minor key progression as a composition that's based around the 'vi chord' as its center. Traditional Functional Harmony dictates that the best way to establish the root chord in a listener's ear is to not only place it at important positions in a song (like the beginning and/or end of sections) but to also precede with a major (or Dominant 7th) chord whose root/lowest note is a fifth above the ultimate tonic chord destination. Uh oh, does that sound confusing? Don't worry. On The Chord Wheel this V chord (five chord) is always in the cell that is positioned one cell clockwise in the innermost ring of the wheel to the tonic target cell of the chord you're going to end on. So, place the disk of The Chord Wheel over any I chord (one chord) and look one cell clockwise and under the V (five) designation of the disk. Easy. There's the five chord. Play that chord (especially in a Dom 7 voicing) and follow it with the Tonic (the one chord) at the end of your verse or chord section. You've just created a V-I (‘five-one) progression or what is referred to as a "Perfect Cadence" and in doing so have utilized Functional Harmony. You’ll find this V-I cadence is used everywhere and in just about every type of western music you can name. However, that’s not the only way to use dominant chords. You can also take any other chord in a composition and play its own personal 'five chord' just before it in order to emphasize it as a landing target. Our ears know this V-I ("five-one") relationship so well that this target chord's 'personal five chord’ creates a sort of ‘mini-cadence' for that target chord. Thus our ears hear this target chord as a temporary 'tonic' and thus a place of focus or rest. It's a great way to emphasize a chord in a song other than the tonic and this process is called "Tonicization." It’s a fancy word that means "play the Dom 7 or major five chord of any chord just before playing the target chord to add emphasis to the target chord so that it takes on characteristics of a tonic; even if it’s just temporary.” As is implied by the word “Dominant” in Dom 7 chords, the V7 (“five-seven”) chord is called the dominant chord for any given key. When you ‘tonicize’ a given target chord other than the true key tonic by using its own personal ‘dominant chord,’ that personal dominant chord is called a Secondary Dominant. You know, because the typical, ‘Primary' dominant is always the V (“five”) chord of the true tonic (the I chord or “one chord”). In fact, one of the most common methods of establishing a song as being in a key other than the I chord (“one chord”) is to put it in the critical places at the beginning and/or end of a composition’s section and precede it with its dominant (or now called a secondary dominant). This is especially true of Minor Key progressions and it’s a place where these chords really shine. The surest sign that a progression is in a Minor Key is that when you put as many of the chords of a composition into The Chord Wheel’s outline, you find the vi chord (“six chord”) not only at the beginning and/or end of the verses/choruses, you will also find this “vi chord” is often preceded by its Secondary Dominant. However, as you can see, the secondary dominant of the ‘vi chord’ is not (whether played as major triad or dominant 7th chord) in the actual key as designated by the dark outline on The Chord Wheel’s transparent disk. Secondary Dominants thus are not Diatonic (almost without exception but that’s a longer story for a different time). So, we have a special label for secondary dominants. For example, the secondary dominant that tonicizes the ‘vi chord’ is designated as “V/vi” (called “Five of Six”) or sometimes written as “V of vi” so that it's not confused with slash chords that also use the backslash symbol. As indicated earlier, If you create a secondary dominant chord that’s a ‘fifth’ above the vi chord (six chord or Minor Key Tonic), one ends up with a chord that uses notes outside the diatonic key. You can create a Secondary Dominant for any chord and use it to tonicize the target chord. The second most common secondary dominant is the “V/ii” (or “Five of Two”) chord. Along with the V/vi, it’s the other chord highlighted on The Chord Wheel outside of the triangular outline that designates the Key’s diatonic chords. You’ll find it’s used quite often. However, one can take any chord in a progression and precede it with a major (or Dom 7) chord a fifth above it to provide emphasis to the target chord. To discover any given chord’s secondary dominant, simply find the matching root note on the innermost wheel. (Don’t worry for now whether the chord you want to tonicize is a major, minor and/or has any extensions such as 11ths, or m7b5, etc., just focus on the root note of the chord.) Look at the note one cell clockwise on the innermost wheel and play a Dom7 (or major) using this note as the root and follow it up with your target chord. You’ve just Tonicized the target chord using its Secondary Dominant as demonstrated your grasp of a primary tenant of Functional Harmony.
2) CHORD SEQUENCES One of the major shortcomings of the concept of Functional Harmony is that there are so many incredible songs that simply don’t seem to leverage chords in any ‘functional’ sense at all. That’s not to say that they defy any and all concepts of ‘Music Theory.’ What most of us call music theory can perhaps best be described as a mostly historical categorization of techniques leveraged by highly respected composers of the western world over the last few centuries. Though names like Mozart, Beethoven, etc. immediately come to mind, you can find lots of traditional music theory leveraged in jazz, pop and rock music as well. Because so much music has been composed with traditional functional harmony, our ears have been conditioned to hear the musicality of compositions drenched in what we’d refer to as music theory. However, not only is there an endless amount of wonderful music from other cultures that forgo western harmonic structure (with its twelve tones per octave formulas) altogether, there are a lot of songs written on western instruments (pianos, guitars, etc.) that play well outside the confines of what is consistent with functional harmony in its strictest sense. Notice, for example, that the lighter outlined chord that carries the “V/vi” designation, also is labelled the “III Chord.” This chord is sometimes referred to as the “Major Mediant” and that’s as good a label as any. The ‘major’ designation highlights its difference to the diatonic “iii chord” which is minor and the word ‘mediant’ describes its position as halfway between the tonic (the One) and the all important dominant (the Five). You may well ask, “What differentiates a ‘III Chord’ from a ‘V/vi Chord’ if they are both can be the exact same chord?” In fact, there are some advanced theorists who shun the concept of the ‘Major Mediant’ for this exact reason. However, when a V/vi secondary dominant is used in a composition but the chord following it isn’t the “vi Chord,” what then was that secondary dominant’s “function?” It can really only tonicize the vi chord (or perhaps a major chord based on the root of the ‘vi chord’). So, if it’s not serving as a ‘dominant’ at all, can it really still be called a ‘secondary’ dominant? The more you analyze your favorite compositions and write your own, you’ll find what I like to call “Dysfunctional Harmony.” These are songs that don’t follow any ‘functional’ guidelines yet create compelling harmony on their own terms. I’ve heard some excellent songwriting coaches refer to these compositions as using “Chord Sequences” as opposed to “Chord Progressions” to highlight their intrinsic lack of harmonic function. The word ‘progression’ does indeed have some connotations of ‘movement toward a goal’ while the word ‘sequence’ doesn’t. Whether you call them Chord Sequences or Chord Progressions, so many great songwriters simply put chords where they sound the best without regard to any sort of function or structural guidelines. However, please don’t then construe that there is no purpose or use for traditional music theory. As with a lot of great art, those who most often break new ground are in fact well-grounded with what came before. “You can’t break the rules if you don’t know the rules” is a common saying in this regard.
Is there anything more shameless than calling yourself "the ultimate tool"?? Ha ha.. thanks for the video. I bought a stand-alone melody tool but I wasn't sure where to even start (no instructions).
Hey Chuck, you can actually buy it anywhere that sells Hal Leonard books and that's about every music literature outlet there is. A quick Google search and you'll find it at Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sheet Music Plus, etc., etc. In fact, Sam Ash liked is so much, they have their own branded version. But you're right, I should get affiliate accounts with the other vendors so that I don't help Amazon take over the entire world. But I must admit, though I hate to see 'mom-and-pop' operations disappear, being a best-seller on Amazon for a long time means that they recommend The Chord Wheel lots of times when folks search for music theory or music reference titles.
I find products like this are not that useful Most people are going to be playing pop music of some type, meaning you use about 3 keys. It’s better just to learn the most common keys than have a reference that you won’t use most of the content it has If you play something like jazz then this will be rudimentary to use, you’d already know way more than this, Most tools like this give you a bunch of readily accessible information, but don’t really help you use any of it effectively, it’s better to know a few chords from a key and use them effectively than it is to have all of them and have no idea what to do with them. If you play guitar then you be better of learning the pattern of the major key and transposing it up and down the neck. I can play in any of those keys without knowing the names of the chords because I learned one key really well and learned how to move the patterns up and down the neck I have yet to play with a musician that was worth playing with and see them pull out something like this. I have seen stuff like this on the shelves of many failed musicians that never really followed through with learning
The jazz chord extensions: 9, 11, 13. Must one include all the notes prior, or just the triad below? But then, it would just be a triad add 9, correct? Why do jazz musicians drop notes inside the chords, such as the 3rd is dropped and not played?
I do not know enough about the 3 minor keys and how to use them. How and when do writers use inserted sharps, flats, and accidentals into songs? The Mamas and the Papas song, California Dreaming. Why does the flute solo sound as it does? What modes are going on here?
That's a sincere invitation. I am also looking forward to having fun with you Jim. Let's do this!
As a self taught guitar and bass player, this is the most valuable learning tool I’ve ever used! I’ve bought and given away at least a half dozen chord wheels to my guitar playing friends as gifts!
As a beginner, I find this interesting but think it may be too confusin for me.
This is the most used book in my collection,I find it so helpful.
This tool is a real gift to humanity. Thanks Jim! 🙏
Got this as a Christmas gift… haven’t stopped using it!
Used your chore wheel for a few years now.... helped me through a lot of stuff...good and bad but it always helped me reason things out.... now I’m helping others with your wheel thank you
Hey Mike, thanks for the kind words. Truth is that I still use it a lot. Although I can know remember a lot of theory, it gets complicated quickly and this helps me find notes and chords quickly. It's such fun to analyze what composers are up to. I'll have up some Progression Profile analysis videos shortly. Let me know if you have any songs you'd like me to get into!
"chore wheel" LOL...As in we best be puttin our nose to the grindstone, if'n we want to progress.
Strugling to fins chorus chord
The chord wheel is a very awesome way to learn!
Wonderfull tool. I use it every day in my daily practice. Nice to meet the man behind the product.
Hey Ramon, nice to meet you as well! Must admit that I still use it every day too and the bottom line is I developed it because I needed it. (Necessity being the mother of invention, as they say.). Though I have some of these relations memorized after all this time, I'm always discovering something new that becomes clearer when I look at it through the lens of The Chord Wheel.
I bought this book years ago and now I have the benefit to receive guidance. How amazing!
Hey Iva, glad to be able to help. Let me know if there are any topics or questions that have you puzzled (or that you're curious to learn more about). I'm just getting started (way past due..) and eager to find out what you find helpful and what is lacking.
@@thechordwheel7375 When I bought a ton of books a few years, ago, that I thought would be needed for my guitar and saxophone references, yours was one of them that I bought. It has stayed on my music rack because I did not understand much about the wheel. But, when I saw you video, I pulled it out to follow along with you. I understood a lot more because I have had some theory coaching since I bought the book. Now that I know you are available to answer my questions, you will see or hear from me, again. Thanks for your reply. I was surprised to hear from you.
Just learnt something new today, thanks! ❤
This is very helpful. I have a Chord Wheel and have learned so much from it. Thanks for everything
What a fantastic tool!
Thank you Mr. Jim
I also use it for two years now. Very helpful.
Subscribed and Purchased!!! Incredible tool! Thank you Sir.
This is great Jim, I have purhased your book and waiting on it's arrival🙂
This is so thorough and clear. Thank you!
This is helpful. I would love to see more videos. Especially ones on how minor keys work in the chord wheel.
I agree. I love this tool but I’m so lost when it comes to figuring out songs in a minor key. For instance, if my (I) chord is minor, would we need to use a completely different wheel?
@@tljmusic @The Chord Wheel Exactly, there is no way to figure out minor scales chord progression from this wheel. Right?
This book right here! Thank you!!!
That's amazing tool to have. Thank you so much for sharing your skills and knowledge. I would love to be a good guitarist and be the best that I can be. You woke me up. The flame is starting to show. Thank you 🙏👍😂
Thank you Jim, this book tool is a great help for me for my composition..
Excellent. Thanks Jim.
This looks extremely useful. I’m going to buy this very soon.
Bought it!
Thanks, Clovencrow. Let me know if you have any questions and stay tuned for more videos that will help you get the most out of it.
Bought one. Great product Jim!
3 Years Later, I Say: You're a badass. Searched for exactly this, until I found you. And I Understand it's even crazier than i thought. And now I welcome it. Because of Dudes like you. Cheers.
Awesome resource!
Put this in the amazon cart immediately. Excellent tool, thanks.
I use an app called chord wheel
It's on amazon. The link is in the video
I missed the "I" it was supposed to say I put it in my Amazon cart at the time of the comment I had purchased it lol
I got this Chord Wheel and it is AWESOME!!! Finally feels like I'm unlocking music (piano player classically trained here, but defficient in chords)
Now the wheels for the melodic minor scala and the harmonic minor scale
Very Good for Major Key Chords but What about Minor Key Chord Progression ? It's not included?
Well i am happy to meet man behind this excellent Tool👍..
STAY SAFE🙏
Hey Rrjjgg, NIce to meet you, as well. You raise one of the most common questions I get and I'm working on a video that goes into this concept in detail. Some folks have asked for "Minor Key" version of The Chord Wheel. However, working with chord theory over the years has led me to believe that thinking of progressions in one particular Major or Minor 'Key' is sort of limiting. For example, consider the following:
There are many popular songs that appear to have verses in what would be considered a Minor Key but when the choruses come, they take on a Major Key tonality. (Oftentimes the verse is the 'Relative Minor' of the chorus's Major Key; a list of examples is below.) What do we do with a song like this? Do we 'analyze' the verse and chorus as being in two different keys with different tonics? A situation where the Verse's 'i Chord' (a "one chord" and/or Minor tonic) becomes a 'vi chord' in the chorus? And then, what about composition that aren't just Major (Ionian) or Minor (Aeolian) but use some of the other diatonic "modes?"
I have found that constantly "reorienting" progressions in such a manner that we always denote the perceived tonal center as a "one chord" (whether it's "I" for majors or "i" for minors) can get needlessly complex; especially in more interesting progressions that don't have a static tonal center. Once again, if this is starting to sound complex, well, that's the entire problem. Stay tuned and I hope to be able to continue to make this all easier for all of us.
Examples of potential Minor/Major progressions:
Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Rocket Man - Elton John
You’ve Got A Friend - Carole King
Style - Taylor Swift
Girl - The Beatles
@@thechordwheel7375 Wonderful detail Explanation of my question..
I really appreciate..Thank you so much for your reply..STAY SAFE🙏
It’s a great learning tool that’s for sure, just subscribe because it’s doing three times more than I currently use it for. Going learn more for sure, especially now the darker nights are looming 👍🏻🎸
Great video. Can you perhaps analyse the music / chord progressions used of the band Chicago & Peter Cetera. Their music has a very specific sound which I truely love. The trumpet / saxophone also makes it sound a little bit like circus music at times.
Merci beaucoup.
Awesome
very well explained👍
Your awesome! Thank you sir!
I bought the book and the phone app years ago. That thing is genial.
I bought this and use it - it is a good tool
So good I bought it twice.
Mind going over, converting to the minor keys?
Also, have thought about making a chord wheel for the minor chords? And making pocket sized versions of the wheels? And some some in the form of chords charts for piano and/or guitar... also banjo and ukulele?
Hey Vince. Yes, I'll have several videos coming up that will talk about minor keys. Yes, I'm working with my publisher, (Hal Leonard), on a minor key version. However, as you'll discover in some upcoming videos, you can just consider any song that seems to focus on the "vi" chord to be in a minor key and focus on the minor chords and also try preceding the "i" root with the "III" (or "V of vi") chord which is also highlighted on The Chord Wheel but in a lighter outline. This is called "Tonicization" and will help anchor the "vi" as the key. (Please note: As of now we are discussing "Natural Minor" keys that are typical in Pop/Rock songs. Jazzier tunes might also use a Melodic or Harmonic minor scales as their key and it leads to different analysis.)
Adjusting all the Roman Numerals to make the "vi" the "i" chord is very traditional but it starts to add to confusion. When you do change all the numbering, you'll find that the major chords of the minor key have the designations "bIII" (flat three), "bVII" (flat seven), and "bVI" (flat six). Now when I try to explain to students why most times you see a "#" or "b" designation it means your dealing with a note/chord that's outside the key/scale but not with minor keys where these major chords are actually in the key be they are showing the flat symbols because they are being compared the root note if it was in a Major Key, most start to get blurry-eyed. And I can see why. Again, I'll cover it in detail in future videos. In the meantime, just look at minor progressions just being "vi" focused progressions instead of being focused on the "I." And if you do it this way, you can also see that any progression focused on the "ii" chord as being a Dorian mode progression. Focus on "iii" is Phrygian. If "IV seems to be center, it's Lydian like "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac or "Man on the Moon" by REM (verses in Lydian, chorus in Ionian (Major). Songs centered on "V" chord, ("Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd) are Mixolydian.
For pocket-sized versions, I have a well-reviewed iPhone App. It also allows you to press on they cells to hear the chords in a guitar or piano instrumentation and you can also choose between triads (three note folk/rock chord) or 7ths (jazzier four note voicing.). It sells pretty well but I have ported it over to Android yet although I may. (There are some rip-offs that I'm trying to get taken down, that always happens...). I've thought about adding some finger suggestions for the chords too. Do you think you'd use that?
Loved the self deprecating jokes. Gonna buy it right now.
I think it's funny that you call yourself the ultimate tool ha ha. But I own and love the Chord Wheel, still have a lot to learn with it which is why I am here. Thanks for the wheel and the videos
For practice purposes it would be beneficial to have the chord tones written out in music notation (not just the alphabetical letters), with optional notes (such as maj7, 7, b9 ...) added in a different color. I would order such a wheel immediately if I could find one. Sadly, I can find something like this only for guitar chord fingerings or piano keys, not the notation itself.
Can't believe how much my chord knowledge has increased using the Chord Wheel. Thanks, Jim!
Your doing the lords work and more vids god damn it lol
I'm interested in borrowed chords. Can I use the chord wheel to systematically expand my diatonic chord material?
Oh and could you help me to harmonically understand the chord choices in All By Myself?
Thanks :)
Hey Nick. Borrowed chords are a great way to add variety and The Chord Wheel will be a big help. Check out this video that I did regarding a great Rick Beato lesson that highlights how to find borrowed chords: studio.ua-cam.com/users/videowdVeVIHi1g0/edit#:~:text=https%3A//ua-cam.com/video/wdVeVIHi1g0/v-deo.html
All By Myself is a great suggestion and I'm already working on it for you. It is a relatively complex progression for a pop song which may not be surprising given its classical influence. The progression not only has multiple borrowed chords but extensively leverages a particular secondary dominant, (the uncommon V/ii), and even has a "tertiary" dominant that creates a Dominant Cycle. If some of that sounds too technical, fear not. We'll make it easy.
Thanks again for the suggestion and I hope to get lots more.
@@thechordwheel7375 Thank you so much for your response. I'm looking forward to watch your video and especially your take on All By Myself.
I've been literally trying to understand for years, how these non- diatonic chords are connected so smoothly. I think it has to do with common tones and very careful voice-leading of the bass through inversions, but I'm not sure. Understanding how to expand my chord material and creating smooth connections will definitely help me to advance as a musician.
Once again thank you so much for taking your time and all the best to you and your family.
I have just bought your booklet and would suggest the video explanation @ 2.46, - the 1,2,3 rule, should be included as it is much easier to understand than the printed version.
just bought the app :) works fine
I got this Chord Wheel I learned from the video 📹
This man could have passed for Kevin Spacey in House Of Cards 🤞. Thanks for sharing this info Jim really made sense!
Just purchased the APP. Thank you Jim.
Do you all think I should do an Android version?
Yes. Definitely!
believe in development.
I wonder if I can use this with minor keys. Lets say A minor, where the triad starting on A is the i-chord (i in Roman lower case), while there are no sharps. Should I use the chord wheel in a different way or is it unusable with songs that are written in minor keys?
Many of the reviews on Amazon state that the "wheel" was missing. Why is that? Has the publisher cheapened the book?
"I am the ultimate tool." lol
How do you handle secondary dominants and tritone substitutes with the chord wheel?
Sold. Thank you.
Thanks Jim, learned alot from your creative cord wheel ...i always wondered how three cord songs were written. I'm working on riffs now...i have also downloaded your app version on my cell ph...I hope it was your app and you get full credit for it. This is great because it makes musical sense when designing three cord wonders... kind regards RG
Chord, a cord is something entirely different
I'm getting one now thanks
yoo ty. i couldnt figure this out
i love this ordering now
Hi,could you tell us who,when and what for
invent harmonic Major/ionian b6,if noone use it?
How to use it in tonal and modal music?
Is the Chord Wheel a stand alone piece or is it the front cover of the paperback book?
It’s the front cover a thin but very informative paperback book.
Hey Jim, This is transformational! I want to offer this tool for our guitar students. What's the best way to order this tool in bulk? Do you offer any trade price for the bulk purchase?
Hey Jeet. I'm glad you grasp the value. The distributor is Hal Leonard and you have two options if you want to buy in bulk. First is to contact any of their dealers (which is just about any music literature vendor) or you can call HL's general line (414-774-3630) and ask to be connected with a rep. Thanks!
The tone wheel I use is Tonaly. It is fully interactive so it sounds out the chords. A great compositional tool.
Hey smkh. I'll have to check it out. There is an iPhone App version of The Chord Wheel that also sounds out the chords as you press the cells in either a piano or guitar voicing (and either using folksy triads or jazzy seventh chords). As ZimbaO4 mentions below, it's also a great app.
@@thechordwheel7375 yes that looks similar if a bit more complex. I think there are cheap ones that do the job, for less than 6.99. Anyhow, I’m not buying another one…Scale Bank and TONALY do the job for me. I appreciate you have put work into your app, and others may have built on it.
Sir i want to use the chord wheel in my app, is it copyrighted? am i allowed to distribute it? i will probably just use it for myself tho, just for hobby not for commercial.
I hope my comment will be read
Thanks for the video, I just received The Chord Wheel Book via Hal Leonard, looking for more great content from your videos. #ThanksForHelpingTheMusicTheoryNewbies
I have your book & use it all the time. Thanks so much. It is very useful.
Is there any wild chance at all of you coming up with some kind of a book with all the chord fingerings for all the chords listed on the wheel?
If not, do you know of any publication that contains this?
Hey Coz. Yes, I am working on a 'chord fingering' related type of book. However, that begs a question: Which instrument are you talking about? Guitar, Piano or ????
@@thechordwheel7375 The guitar
"Maj11" on the tonic (Roman numeral "I") chord is wrong.
This needs to be upgraded. I saw another guy with something he calls the chord map it also includes modes.
I bought that cord wheel musicans friend.
Please explain what key we use in intro. verse , chorus, bridge
whatever key u like
You can use any key you like ^^ when you change keys in a song, its called modulation, if that's what you're asking for. Most of the time though, a song stays in one key. Adam Neely has a good video on Celine Dion's 'All By Myself' that goes into the modulation at the end of her performances pretty in depth. Cheers!
Hey Ashok, It'll depend what kind of impact you want the song to have. (I'll do a specific video on Modulations shortly; I'm just getting started.) Most pop/rock songs stay in a single key for all sections but will occasionally have some chords from outside the key sprinkled in to keep it fresh. Sometimes, pop/rock songs will have the chorus at the end of a tune "modulate" to a different key to increase the drama. Examples would be "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John, "Tempted" by Squeeze, etc. Listen to these songs and you'll hear the "lift" at the end. However, the structure of the chorus (for example vi-ii-V-I-IV) would be identical but just in the other key in this case. Some pop songs will have the verse and chorus in different keys, ((like "Something" by The Beatles with its verse in C Major and chorus in A, for example) but it's not extremely common. Jazz songs, on the other hand, have frequent modulations between different keys and often will even do it within a given section song. However, there are some will have different keys for different sections only.
Thanks for the question and please stay tuned for more detail on Modulations. The Chord Wheel will help you find them within songs. If a single chord outside the triangle on The Chord Wheel's transparent disk appears up in a progression that otherwise stays within the key, (i.e. within the triangular outline), it's just a chord added for some nice tension to move the progression forward. If a section of the song has a number of consecutive chords in a different key, (with the triangular outline rotated to a different set of cells), then it's probably a modulation; especially if the section in question contains a "V to I" movement in the new key. That's called a "Perfect Cadence" and its presence traditionally defines a modulation to a new key.
What are those two dark boxes outside the 7 main chords?
Doesn't work out of the box for minor keys, which are far more frequent 😢
Jim, do you offer the wheel in a credit card size yet?
These days it would be expected to be a phone app, and it is.
Lololol the ultimate tool lol great stuff all around
Can anyone tell me why Em is not available as a key note?
Hi. Where is the Progression Profiles playlist?
This video is the only video here.
Hey Enigmatic, I'm working on the videos as we speak but it's a brand new (and very overdue) site. Hoping to have a dozen or so out very quickly. Please provide me with a progression you'd like to see analyzed. Though I'm trying to draw from a number of different styles, I'd really like to cover songs folk are curious about. Just reply here. (And anyone else too!). Thanks.
@@thechordwheel7375 If you can do NeoSoul! There are some weird, but interesting progressions. One that would be awesome is The Soulquarians - A Song For Assata. Definitely subscribing to your channel.
What about minor keys?
Do you sell the giant poster version?
I only see 2 videos on your site - is that all the content that you have?
You might want to rephrase the ending "I am the ultimate tool" lmao
When humans from music make a mathematical teories.
Hey, Alen. Yes, a lot of people dismiss the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, etc. for exactly this reason. Bach might be the composer that used math the most! However, much of their work is wonderful if you can get past it. The jazz greats (Coltrane, Bird, Miles, etc.) could also get very technical but, again, many of us really dig the resulting sound. While there are some legends that played mostly by ear, (Kurt Cobain & Wes Montgomery come to mind), most accomplished artists know their chords and keys very well indeed. These are actually pretty basic concepts for them.
1,4,5 is the nashville number system ❓
Hey Overcomer. In Nashville Numbers, you'd see it listed like this: "1 4 5". Notice that they are numbers (sometimes called 'Arabic Numerals') and not Roman Numerals (like I, IV, V, etc.). The Nashville Number system is a method to avoid using the Roman Numerals that are typically used when 'analyzing' a progression. I'm working on a video to explain further. Thanks.
What are the two additional highlighted notes for?
Hey Jamie, the two additional highlights are the two most common chords outside the actual key that you'll typically find used in a song along with the key's normal 'diatonic' chords that are completely within the dark outline. (Diatonic in this sense means chords that are constructed of notes that are strictly within the designated key.) You'll find them in tons of songs.
Maybe you've seen these chords pop up in a composition and wondered where they came from. It can make it difficult sometimes to tell what key a given song is in. With The Chord Wheel, that process is much easier. If you use them in your own songwriting, your progressions will have more variety, movement and tension (in a good way).
That's the short and easy way to think of them and you can quit there if you want.
However, your question really opens up a can of worms. if you want to get a little music theory nerdy (and you know you do...), here we go:
There are a couple of ways to think of these chords. The most common is to analyze them from a 'Functional Harmony' perspective and label them as "Secondary Dominants." I'm working on a video strictly about Secondary Dominants but my Rick Beato reply video (ua-cam.com/video/wdVeVIHi1g0/v-deo.html) covers the concept quite a bit. The second way to consider them is to simply see these chords as 'color chords' that help bring variety to a song but which are not necessarily serving any true 'function.' Let's talk about both in more detail.
1) FUNCTIONAL HARMONY
Functional Harmony implies that each chord in a progression has a function and that function is typically to eventually lead back to the "tonic chord" in an orderly fashion. The tonic chord (sometimes called the root chord and is how the Key is named) is the chord that sounds/feels like the core sound or place of rest in a song. It’s the place that sort of feels like home.
The most common root chords are the "I" chord (think of it as a Roman Numeral and say it as "the one chord" - this is the 'Major Key') and the "vi" chord (thus "the six chord" - this is the 'Minor Key' or more precisely the ‘Natural Minor Key’). Now sometimes people like to refer to the 'vi chord' as the 'i chord' when it's used as a tonic (because the most important chord should have the most important number) and that means we must renumber all the other chords in turn. This makes things confusing and I'm working on a video for that as well. It's so much easier to just think of a minor key progression as a composition that's based around the 'vi chord' as its center.
Traditional Functional Harmony dictates that the best way to establish the root chord in a listener's ear is to not only place it at important positions in a song (like the beginning and/or end of sections) but to also precede with a major (or Dominant 7th) chord whose root/lowest note is a fifth above the ultimate tonic chord destination. Uh oh, does that sound confusing? Don't worry. On The Chord Wheel this V chord (five chord) is always in the cell that is positioned one cell clockwise in the innermost ring of the wheel to the tonic target cell of the chord you're going to end on.
So, place the disk of The Chord Wheel over any I chord (one chord) and look one cell clockwise and under the V (five) designation of the disk. Easy. There's the five chord. Play that chord (especially in a Dom 7 voicing) and follow it with the Tonic (the one chord) at the end of your verse or chord section. You've just created a V-I (‘five-one) progression or what is referred to as a "Perfect Cadence" and in doing so have utilized Functional Harmony. You’ll find this V-I cadence is used everywhere and in just about every type of western music you can name.
However, that’s not the only way to use dominant chords. You can also take any other chord in a composition and play its own personal 'five chord' just before it in order to emphasize it as a landing target. Our ears know this V-I ("five-one") relationship so well that this target chord's 'personal five chord’ creates a sort of ‘mini-cadence' for that target chord. Thus our ears hear this target chord as a temporary 'tonic' and thus a place of focus or rest. It's a great way to emphasize a chord in a song other than the tonic and this process is called "Tonicization." It’s a fancy word that means "play the Dom 7 or major five chord of any chord just before playing the target chord to add emphasis to the target chord so that it takes on characteristics of a tonic; even if it’s just temporary.”
As is implied by the word “Dominant” in Dom 7 chords, the V7 (“five-seven”) chord is called the dominant chord for any given key. When you ‘tonicize’ a given target chord other than the true key tonic by using its own personal ‘dominant chord,’ that personal dominant chord is called a Secondary Dominant. You know, because the typical, ‘Primary' dominant is always the V (“five”) chord of the true tonic (the I chord or “one chord”).
In fact, one of the most common methods of establishing a song as being in a key other than the I chord (“one chord”) is to put it in the critical places at the beginning and/or end of a composition’s section and precede it with its dominant (or now called a secondary dominant). This is especially true of Minor Key progressions and it’s a place where these chords really shine.
The surest sign that a progression is in a Minor Key is that when you put as many of the chords of a composition into The Chord Wheel’s outline, you find the vi chord (“six chord”) not only at the beginning and/or end of the verses/choruses, you will also find this “vi chord” is often preceded by its Secondary Dominant. However, as you can see, the secondary dominant of the ‘vi chord’ is not (whether played as major triad or dominant 7th chord) in the actual key as designated by the dark outline on The Chord Wheel’s transparent disk. Secondary Dominants thus are not Diatonic (almost without exception but that’s a longer story for a different time).
So, we have a special label for secondary dominants. For example, the secondary dominant that tonicizes the ‘vi chord’ is designated as “V/vi” (called “Five of Six”) or sometimes written as “V of vi” so that it's not confused with slash chords that also use the backslash symbol. As indicated earlier, If you create a secondary dominant chord that’s a ‘fifth’ above the vi chord (six chord or Minor Key Tonic), one ends up with a chord that uses notes outside the diatonic key.
You can create a Secondary Dominant for any chord and use it to tonicize the target chord. The second most common secondary dominant is the “V/ii” (or “Five of Two”) chord. Along with the V/vi, it’s the other chord highlighted on The Chord Wheel outside of the triangular outline that designates the Key’s diatonic chords. You’ll find it’s used quite often.
However, one can take any chord in a progression and precede it with a major (or Dom 7) chord a fifth above it to provide emphasis to the target chord. To discover any given chord’s secondary dominant, simply find the matching root note on the innermost wheel. (Don’t worry for now whether the chord you want to tonicize is a major, minor and/or has any extensions such as 11ths, or m7b5, etc., just focus on the root note of the chord.) Look at the note one cell clockwise on the innermost wheel and play a Dom7 (or major) using this note as the root and follow it up with your target chord. You’ve just Tonicized the target chord using its Secondary Dominant as demonstrated your grasp of a primary tenant of Functional Harmony.
2) CHORD SEQUENCES
One of the major shortcomings of the concept of Functional Harmony is that there are so many incredible songs that simply don’t seem to leverage chords in any ‘functional’ sense at all. That’s not to say that they defy any and all concepts of ‘Music Theory.’ What most of us call music theory can perhaps best be described as a mostly historical categorization of techniques leveraged by highly respected composers of the western world over the last few centuries. Though names like Mozart, Beethoven, etc. immediately come to mind, you can find lots of traditional music theory leveraged in jazz, pop and rock music as well.
Because so much music has been composed with traditional functional harmony, our ears have been conditioned to hear the musicality of compositions drenched in what we’d refer to as music theory. However, not only is there an endless amount of wonderful music from other cultures that forgo western harmonic structure (with its twelve tones per octave formulas) altogether, there are a lot of songs written on western instruments (pianos, guitars, etc.) that play well outside the confines of what is consistent with functional harmony in its strictest sense.
Notice, for example, that the lighter outlined chord that carries the “V/vi” designation, also is labelled the “III Chord.” This chord is sometimes referred to as the “Major Mediant” and that’s as good a label as any. The ‘major’ designation highlights its difference to the diatonic “iii chord” which is minor and the word ‘mediant’ describes its position as halfway between the tonic (the One) and the all important dominant (the Five).
You may well ask, “What differentiates a ‘III Chord’ from a ‘V/vi Chord’ if they are both can be the exact same chord?” In fact, there are some advanced theorists who shun the concept of the ‘Major Mediant’ for this exact reason. However, when a V/vi secondary dominant is used in a composition but the chord following it isn’t the “vi Chord,” what then was that secondary dominant’s “function?” It can really only tonicize the vi chord (or perhaps a major chord based on the root of the ‘vi chord’). So, if it’s not serving as a ‘dominant’ at all, can it really still be called a ‘secondary’ dominant?
The more you analyze your favorite compositions and write your own, you’ll find what I like to call “Dysfunctional Harmony.” These are songs that don’t follow any ‘functional’ guidelines yet create compelling harmony on their own terms. I’ve heard some excellent songwriting coaches refer to these compositions as using “Chord Sequences” as opposed to “Chord Progressions” to highlight their intrinsic lack of harmonic function. The word ‘progression’ does indeed have some connotations of ‘movement toward a goal’ while the word ‘sequence’ doesn’t.
Whether you call them Chord Sequences or Chord Progressions, so many great songwriters simply put chords where they sound the best without regard to any sort of function or structural guidelines. However, please don’t then construe that there is no purpose or use for traditional music theory. As with a lot of great art, those who most often break new ground are in fact well-grounded with what came before. “You can’t break the rules if you don’t know the rules” is a common saying in this regard.
Is there anything more shameless than calling yourself "the ultimate tool"?? Ha ha.. thanks for the video. I bought a stand-alone melody tool but I wasn't sure where to even start (no instructions).
too hard 😩
It's most unfortunate it's only for sale on amazon.
Hey Chuck, you can actually buy it anywhere that sells Hal Leonard books and that's about every music literature outlet there is. A quick Google search and you'll find it at Guitar Center, Musician's Friend, Sheet Music Plus, etc., etc. In fact, Sam Ash liked is so much, they have their own branded version. But you're right, I should get affiliate accounts with the other vendors so that I don't help Amazon take over the entire world.
But I must admit, though I hate to see 'mom-and-pop' operations disappear, being a best-seller on Amazon for a long time means that they recommend The Chord Wheel lots of times when folks search for music theory or music reference titles.
I find products like this are not that useful
Most people are going to be playing pop music of some type, meaning you use about 3 keys. It’s better just to learn the most common keys than have a reference that you won’t use most of the content it has
If you play something like jazz then this will be rudimentary to use, you’d already know way more than this,
Most tools like this give you a bunch of readily accessible information, but don’t really help you use any of it effectively, it’s better to know a few chords from a key and use them effectively than it is to have all of them and have no idea what to do with them.
If you play guitar then you be better of learning the pattern of the major key and transposing it up and down the neck. I can play in any of those keys without knowing the names of the chords because I learned one key really well and learned how to move the patterns up and down the neck
I have yet to play with a musician that was worth playing with and see them pull out something like this. I have seen stuff like this on the shelves of many failed musicians that never really followed through with learning
The jazz chord extensions: 9, 11, 13. Must one include all the notes prior, or just the triad below? But then, it would just be a triad add 9, correct? Why do jazz musicians drop notes inside the chords, such as the 3rd is dropped and not played?
He's a tool.
I do not know enough about the 3 minor keys and how to use them. How and when do writers use inserted sharps, flats, and accidentals into songs? The Mamas and the Papas song, California Dreaming. Why does the flute solo sound as it does? What modes are going on here?
Is it the best selling?.. it is the circle of fifths with some pizzazz…
Shame huh?…
No thx
What about minor keys??