40 Songs that use Descending Stepwise chord progressions
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2024
- Thanks to Hooktheory for sponsoring this video. www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett 🎼
A descending stepwise chord progression is any chord progression that works its way down the scale, one step at a time. The chords will be voiced in such a way to allow the bass line to simply walk down the scale.
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0:00 Introduction
0:37 Examples
2:14 How the progression is built
3:32 6 steps progressions
3:53 5 steps progressions
7:31 Hook Theory
8:15 4 steps progressions
9:13 Why does it work?
Thanks to Hooktheory for sponsoring this video. Use this link to get 20% off your first year of Chord Crush. www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett 🎼
Hey David can you do a video about songs that use Relative Multipolar Tonality? I found it nostalgic and depressing at the same time might be a perfect video to do on. One example i found is "Creep" by Radiohead.
Check out the piano piece Odeon (1909) by Brazilian tango/choro pianist Ernesto Nazareth. It does this stepwise downwards motion but in Aeolian/Harmonic minor. Sounds cool as hell and is one of the most known and revered tango/choro pieces in Brazilian history. Feature 2 modulations (classic choro ABAC format) and a lot of interesting techniques as well.
why capitalise?
@@detectordegados5292 i agree with this
@@guff9567 huh
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt that Paul McCartney will appear in a David Bennett Piano video.
It just goes to show how integral & influential Paul McCartney was in helping to create the harmonic & melodic vocabulary of popular music in the last 60 years. BTW, had no idea Shakespeare was a McCartney fan!
@@lynnturman8157 I think Shakespeare and McCartney were best buds.
@@lynnturman8157
2 great Bards!
Very nice Piano playing at the end
You can expect Radiohead and anyone from The Beatles to appear.
“I Want You Back” doesn’t stop at stepping down the major scale, it careens downhill at a clip that feels almost out of control. When Michael hits that first glissade, it’s a perfect pop song moment.
"All ah NEEEED!!!!"
"OH! OH! I want ya BACK!! I WANT YA BACK!!!
What a record!
yup. Noticed the Beatles were doing that too.
I've always noticed the descending motion in Somewhere Over the Rainbow 🌈 The melody features these "descending diatonic tones," one per measure, through the chorus.
I laughed out loud when '21 Guns' came after 'Telephone Line'. I was like "Is he gonna do it? He did it."
😂
Me too but at that point, he could also have added All The Young Dudes ;)
Were there accusations that it was copied?
@@Lotschi Too many times ua-cam.com/video/397bjx_FPRE/v-deo.html
@@Lotschi ua-cam.com/video/cgfPcDDSiFg/v-deo.html and to add injury to insult, Tales Of Another Broken Home is Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. And Holiday’s guitar solo sounds a lot like Weezer’s Surf Wax America, where they sing “You take your car to work”
This is SO creepy...I literally decided to write my first song today (I have SOME music theory knowledge like basic cadences and diatonic chords) and I came up with the I-iii-vi-V-chord progression. I thought it was cool and was wondering if it was common since I hadn't come across it yet, and then I see this video lol
A lot of the comments whenever David uploads a new video lead me to believe David has psychic powers.
Hardly creepy since the major scale is a thing.
@Damon Lopez Yes, but did it have a descending bass line?
Off the top of my head I believe Santeria by Sublime uses that chord progression, but it doesn't make use of a descending bassline or chord inversions.
@@johnmac8084 yes actually haha. I remembered watching some random vid on how stepwise descending baselines are common/good and i was happy to see that this chord progression allowed for that pretty naturally
It's been evident that the Beatles loved descending chord progressions so it stands to reason that Oasis and ELO would love them too.
David, the “songs using chord progressions” series has had dozens of songs in each video, now up to an impressive 40. It leaves me wondering how you go about compiling them all. Is there some kind of search engine for chord progressions, where you can see what comes up? Or do you, Professor Piano, have so much encyclopedic knowledge that you just know about them all?
PS: respect for the video editing effort. Splicing all those songs together, with the beat transitioning relatively smoothly between them, and in sync with the graphics that show which specific chords are playing when, must take up many hours of work.
It always starts with my only knowledge of examples. But then I supplement this with other songs that I find through a range of sources. Hook Theory actually have a chord progression search feature which always throws up some examples I didn’t know!
@@DavidBennettPiano Oh wow. Good point about Hook Theory then.
I don't want to know how he is sorting it's CD collection 😄
@@GuillaumeBetous I suspect that Professor P‘s system is actually quite simple. It has sections B, R, and Miscellaneous.
@@slimhazard 🤣
love the multiple mcr examples in this! they're slowly being added to the David répéteur haha
*repertoire
Another good example of the four chord version of this is S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W by MCR, they really like that progression lol
the way we just got not one but TWO mcr examples here!!! my emo heart is going to die omg
One of my favorite close example of this is the song “father and son” by cat Stevens.
It’s not time to make a change
@@NBrixH Just relax, take it easy
My favourite has always been McCartney's 'For No One". The b7 major chord is so good.
@ghost mall Ikr. It is insanely underappreciated.
One of my favorites as well!
same chord sequence used by McCartney on chorus of 'Hello-Goodbye' except he alters it every other time. C, C/b, Am, Am/g, F, Aflat.... C, C/b, Am, Am/g, F, Bflat
My personal favorite example of this is “She’s Got a Way” by Billy Joel. That secondary dominant also adds a lot to an otherwise simple progression
love that song 🥰🤩
Pure bliss. Spot on!
Great example!
Also love that he and Charles Cornell are showcasing him lately.
@@ExNihiloComesNothing Right? He deserves more attention 😅
I just have to say, as a music teacher, I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!! You have no idea how much these videos have helped me explain chord progressions to my students. Thank you so much.
"Care of Cell 44" by The Zombies is another example. I think you could make a video for halfstep-wise chord progressions too! "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies is one, along with this obscure song, "All" by Skycycle.
Great example!
@@DavidBennettPiano the musical Les Miserables uses this chord progression a ton. It’s like a motif in songs like I Dreamed a Dream and One Day more
Kokomo by the Beach Boys also has a halfstep down chord progression!
@@sebastiano728 "Hotel California", the Verse, also uses a chromatic (half-step) descending progression.
@@TenorCantusFirmus Never noticed! Fantastic example.
It took everything thing I had to not scream out "WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY, MY FATHER TOOK ME INTO THE CITY" the moment I heard the progression.
Dude! I’ve learned more about music/music theory in the past month from watching your videos than I have since I first picked up a guitar in 1988.
Thank you so much for these videos!
That’s great! Thank you 😃😃
You are an artist, David.
That outro was absolutely perfect.
Thank you!
Alternatively titled the Billy Joel expose video
…and Billy Joe Armstrong!
More like the Beatles 😂
You explain things so well.
Thank you!
I love these chord progression videos. I'm learning so much about applying the theory classes I took years ago. I really appreciate your playing out of the progression at the end of the video, too. Thank you!
I only started playing the piano 3 months and our Conservatory hasn't knocked at my door yet. But I've been watching David's videos for years even though I really didn't understant what he was saying more than half the time. But he must have done something even for an old dog like me since I have passively learned what he had been saying and now it's really become a passion. Merci, David. Your videos are well appreciated.
Great stuff! Keep it up 😃😃
I can easily hear the descending bass but how you've decided what exact chord to label each one is beyond me. The upper voices are often barely heard, sometimes muted, and sometimes it just feels like a top pedal point!
Thank you for these mini lesson videos! I’ve been tinkering in some music software and you have helped me improve my songwriting in a big way. Thumbs way up!
It's interesting that the tonic chord can be used at any step in a progression that eventually resolves back to the tonic chord. It does not have to be avoided because it's not yet the end of the progression.
If it's inverted, it doesn't sound as much like an anticipation as it would if it had the root in the bass.
OMG the closing jam is like the platonic ideal of background music for otherwise silent demo videos. Sort of "arpeggiate the step down chords with a flourish". Every time I hear that, I expect a painting video.
I absolutely love the breakdowns of progressions. Thank you for these.
Some more examples that spring to my mind are -
Mott the Hoople - All the young dudes.
Weezer - Falling for you.
Daryl Hall - Dreamtime.
Vampire Weekend - Step.
The Wonder Stuff - Welcome to the cheap seats.
Heart & Soul - Multiple versions.
Nina Simone - My baby just cares for me.
My baby just cares for me! How did I forget that! Nice one 😃
I am loving all of these new chord progression videos! Keep up the great work David!
Thanks Sean 😊
I immediately thought of Friend of the Devil. Slight variation because there’s not quite a turnaround, it just keeps walking all the way down to the I chord.
You should do a video on the Viva la Vida progression, it's used in:
Viva la Vida by Coldplay
Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano
Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina
Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Only You by Yaz(oo)
Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House (just the chorus, the verses use a modified doo wop progression)
Santeria by Sublime
Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton
I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles
Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan
Rude by Magic
Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn
The Man by Taylor Swift
My Love by Petula Clark
Foreigner Suite by Cat Stevens
Love Again by Carly Rae Jepsen
Have You Ever Seen the Rain by CCR
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett
As Tears Go By by Marianne Faithfull
Night Changes by One Direction
Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire
Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest
YESS
VI-VII-III-i chord progression in minor key.
Good suggestion! I’ll include it in an upcoming video! 😊
Where is it in good riddance? And it’s in Taylor swift “the man”
@@toddpacker4683 I'm not a music theory genius, I just did some searching online and I think it popped up
you bring so much joy and knowledge to the world. thank you david
Oh my I always wondered why Vienna and Telephone Line sounded similar….I guess I know why now! Thanks a whole bunch David 🥰
Just found out that this is my Favorit chordprogression so many songs that I absolut adore are using it. Now I know what they have in common.
"Ear Candy"...lovely phrase that sums it up. Thank you David!
Man I love how your videos are tying into each other like a series. The last time we'd looked at inversions and the one before was about Canon in D. All leading into each other sort of like a series. Great job my dude.
Thanks 😃😃😃
Great video, another great example of this chord progression is "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Great example!
Beautiful piece at the end there David!
Thank you!
Your teaching is very inspiring, you know your stuff and it shows. Simple and to the point, great video editing. Listening to you want me to know everything about music. Thanks for the pleasure.
i always love seeing billy joel and elo on your channel
Would love if you did another video where you discuss the minor versions of these stepwise progressions, i.e. lament bass progressions. I think these may be even more popular than their major counterparts, or at least more distinctive.
Apparently, I'm a huge fan of these types of progressions, because for every song I was like, "Yeah, I love that song." Now I better understand why. Thanks for your great content. You have a nice easy manner - yet there are no wasted words.
Explorers by muse has a really cool descending line in the verses with:
C Cmaj7/B C7/Bb Fmaj7/A Fmmaj7/Ab Cadd9/G D7/F# Fo7 Cmaj7/E Ebo7 Do7. The use of the diminished chords really makes this progression stand out and its also noteworthy to mention the bassline doesn't really follow this but does its own thing melodically and the arpeggiation of the piano chords allows the descending line to occur.
By ‘the bass line…does it’s own thing melodically’ you mean it does a very straightforward chromatic descent? Probably a subject for a future DBP vid.
@@Telorchid idk it just has its own line with run ups and run downs
@@jyotektosgaimur the bass line, as you have it there, is exactly one semitone down each step. C-B-Bb-A-Ab-G-F#-F-E-Eb-D. Maybe the voicings move up and down but the baseline just goes in one direction :).
@@Telorchid the slashes I wrote were the root notes of the piano arpeggios, when I was talking about bass line melody I was referring to what the bass (instrument) was doing.
@@jyotektosgaimur gotcha.
Another cord progression I really really love. Thank you for putting this together. Many people describe as tone deaf but I am glad to say I really can hear this progression. Maybe it is because it is so simple but either way, thank you for helping me recognize this.
Good stuff dude, enjoyed your playing at the end too, keep up the good work
bonus points for including an Oasis B-Side! You are always too cool for school :)
Thanks! Masterplan is one of my favourite Oasis tunes!
@@DavidBennettPiano good man, that's how I know you're a proper Oasis fan!
For No One & Hello Goodbye and Our House come to mind right away
No one else Weezer. Don’t look back in anger Oasis
Nice video! I’m enjoying these types of videos from you. A couple of my fav’s using this step down progression not on your list are “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and “These Days” by Jackson Browne
Awesome video as always!! I see you’ve been getting into a few mcr examples too. One of my absolute favorite (but obscure) songs using a descending chord progression is Les Rallizes Denudés’ “But I Was Different” which I would highly recommend.
love rallizes, what are the chords to but i was different?
I heard the progression for All the Young Dudes there as well, if I'm not mistaken. I've been looking for a progression that was above my composition ability that I could build from. This and your Pachelbel video have given me great ideas. I think I'm gonna try to combine them.
Thanks yet again for the vital information! ❤️
I'm a sucker for songs with descending chord progressions lol. I have a Spotify playlist that I call "The Perfect Playlist" and probably 90% of the songs on it have descending chord progressions
I love your channel omg thanks youtube for recommend me your vid, pls make more content about chords progression bro huhu your explain in every vid so detail and amazing 🥹❤️🔥
Please never stop making these videos they're an incredible study resource
Thanks!!
A nice example of a 4-step progression is Heaven by Depeche Mode. I’m not sure if it actually steps down the major scale but it still achieves that similar melancholy, bittersweet descent. You should check it out because it’s a really nice, beautiful song with quite a powerful music video.
Awesome how many examples you find and show every time! I am wondering if there's an interesting video to be made about tuplets, and hearing/seeing examples of songs that use quintuplets, etc.
You are amazing! I have a degree in music theory and composition. You pull musical ideas together and turn them into sublimely simple beautiful musical ideas. Peace & Love
Thank you for another great video!
Great video! I always find these fascinating.
Cheers!!
I'm just in love with you. I can't stop seeing your videos!
Thanks for another great video!!
Absolutely love these videos. Best harmony lessons ever
😃😃😃😃
Amazing stuff David! As a musician you never stop learning...On a side note..when you started playing at the end of the video I thought you were playing 'The watchmaker' by Steven Wilson, it is exactly the same notes..at least for the first seconds.
One of my favourite (and an obvious) examples of this progression is the early Gerry Rafferty/Stealers Wheel song "Found My Way To You" (which goes down five steps to the fourth). Another song which uses it beautifully is Simon & Garfunkel's song "America".
So many thank, your job is awesome !
My favourite example of this concept is "Steve Forbert's Romeos tune." The bassline in the melody descends through every pitch in the key if im not mistaken. A very quirky song you should definitely check out.
this is it!!!! my fav chord progression!!!!
Well ... I feel called out lmao. I love so many of these songs haha. Now I know why. Apparently I love this progression! Thank you!
Weird that you didn't mention A Day In The Life
The Beatles really loved these chords.
Can only fit so many Beatles examples in one video!
A Day in the Life doesn't quite fit with the descending stepwise progression (the third chord in the progression is repeated instead of playing the usual fourth, also an F chord comes in later that isn't in the typical progression)
Also Komm Susser Tod (the End of Evangelion final song) has a marvelous sweet descending stepwise chord progression. Just like in "a whiter shade of pale" the song provides a sense of stability and conclusion at the same time. I also think it's really liked by pianists or mainly played on piano (elthon john, billy joel, the beatles and procol harum) cause it gives them the opportunity to use the huge range with lots of notes outside the classic major/minor chords. As a pianist descending chord progressions are among my favourites indeed : )
I was looking for the first comment to mention this. Alot of the songs in the soundtrack have a deja vu sound to them. Komm Süsser Tod particularly reminds me of Piano Man, but almost every song I feel like I've heard somewhere before.
Are you sure? Check the second chord's bass.
Nice! But the "five steps" songs leave me wondering "so how does the progression end?".
Different songs end it in different ways. A popular way is to wrap it up with V I and back to V
Killer video. Dude, you're so good. Much love.
Cheers!
Have you done, or would you consider doing a guide to changing key? I write a lot of songs for my band and it's easy to run out of chords (staying in the same key and mode) and I struggle to jump from one key to another (to avoid these sort of chord tropes).
Thanks for all your vids, they're so informative and excellent explained, as well as entertaining.
So many of my favourite songs use this progression.
I kept hearing Pachelbel’s canon in D, but something was different and I couldn’t figure what. So yay, I’m 64 with tinnitus but still learning how to recognise themes in music through David’s vids.
Wonderful wonderful stuff.
Your content is awesome 👌
Thanks David, luv your videos man
Thanks Peter!
Thank you, very clear.
Doing good work, more than I have the energy to do, but very helpful.
thank you for unlocking loads of nostalgia with your examples tonight, haha
Thanks for putting the chords up.
Another excellent video, thank you , David.
Thanks Peter!!
Great Video Dave.
I had to view this again.
Thanks 😊
Nice video David, as always.
Thanks!
"Go Now" by the Moody Blues along with "Whatever It is" by the Zac Brown Band are two of my favorite examples of the 5-step descending progression.
These get better every time David!
Cheers!
Curious about the opposite - stepwise rising chord progressions. Perhaps a future episode topic ?
The chili peppers ‘breaking the girl’ does both in the chorus :)
Boys don't cry by the cure does this.
When I first started writing music I was determined to create a new chord progression using descending stepwise motion. But nothing I tried felt new or satisfying. And yet I don't find it stale when used by other songwriters.
i
III/7
VI
iii/5
iv
I/3
bIII
V/2
@@althealligator1467 Nice. I would have been pretty pleased with myself if I'd written that.
@@beatrixwickson8477 Cool. I literally just came up with it after reading your comment. The trick is to throw every "rule" and even "guideline" you know out of the window any time it gives you something you find boring or uncreative, but to know how to use them when you need the harmonic motion to sound intuitive . Writing harmony like the this is easy, it's writing the actual piece and its arrangement that gets difficult.
I feel like this progression is the go to melancholic/introspective progression.
I love this guy's videos 😌🙌
Nice! Always liked the ELO telephone line song and the downward decending line.
Yeah, it’s a great song
Wait, wait, wait. How did I not know about this? This is like seeing the code of the songs it's so cool
I really appreciate the love being given to Billy Joel lately with you and Charles Cornell.
He often doesn't get the love he deserves and is overlooked and disrespected.
I thought stairway to heaven might be in here, but I think although it descends stepwise it modulates a lot. Crazy the patterns that exist in so many pieces but can go by unnoticed. Thank you for your insight!
So many great songs use this.
Me for most of these chord progressions: 😴 all the same and dull
Me when first notes of any Beatles song: 🥳 what is this breeze of fresh air and excitement
Fantastic video!!!
Love your videos David! The song “Congratulations” by MGMT uses this walk down progression too. I really think you’d enjoy the wild and fun theory they used on that whole Congratulations album. It’s underrated!
How could I miss that one? I love that song!
David, great video as always, you're doing God's work for us aspiring musicians. You are a priceless resource. One question, how do you determine which chords do you choose to harmonize the bassline? Can you just go with tonics? And I thought Europe was all powerchords lol. Keep rocking, you're awesome
A lot of videogame music uses this chord progression. However most of them are modified. Some that I can mention are:
Kirby: Gourmet Race: the final part
Pokemon B2/W2 Iris battle theme: also the final part
Mighty Switch force 2: Got2bastar/Title theme/Credits theme: The chorus/main tune
Literally almost every rhythm game: Freedom Dive: The part that plays after the 1st chorus.
It kind of works in natural minor too, but the temptation is strong to switch to harmonic minor on the 4th chord, thus slipping into the Andalusian cadence.