Acoustic Guitar Theory: Chord Progressions and Cadences

Guitar Theory: Cadences and Progressions

Okay, now that you know a little bit more about chords and scales and how they fit together, lets look at some progressions. Now as you can see from the charts we looked at before, the possibilities are limitless essentially. We can combine any chord with any others in any order from a scale, and then we can even change keys within a song. So the combinations below can be used with any chord scale in any key. But what you’ll see in many books and such that teach you progressions is a list of common progressions in either upper case (major) or lower case (minor) along with accidentals like sharp or flat or diminished or whatever. Below I’m going to use ordinal numbers (regular ol’ #s and not roman numerals) So you can look at the combination and try it in any of the chord scales or your own. Let’s take a look. This is a bit of that RIGHT BRAINED approach I was talking about on the site.

This may seem like a whole lot to do. But start with the major scale chords. Print it out. Then play the following chord combinations in one key to get the feel, keeping note of your ideas along the way.

3 CHORD PROGRESSIONS FROM THE 1

1-2: ... 1-2-1 ... 1-2-3 ... 1-3-2 ... 1-2-4 ... 1-4-2 ... 1-2-5 ... 1-5-2 ... 1-2-6 ... 1-6-2 ... 1-2-7 ... 1-7-2
1-3: ... 1-3-1 ... 1-3-4 ... 1-4-3 ... 1-3-5 ... 1-5-3 ... 1-3-6 ... 1-6-3 ... 1-3-7 ... 1-7-3
1-4: ... 1-4-1 ... 1-4-5 ... 1-5-4 ... 1-4-6 ... 1-6-4 ... 1-4-7 ... 1-7-4
1-5: ... 1-5-1 ... 1-5-6 ... 1-6-5 ... 1-5-7 ... 1-7-5
1-6: ... 1-6-1 ... 1-6-7 ... 1-7-6
1-7: ... 1-7-1

FROM THE 2

2-1: ... 2-1-2 ... 2-1-3 ... 2-3-1 ... 2-1-4 ... 2-4-1 ... 2-1-5 ... 2-5-1 ... 2-1-6 ... 2-6-1 ... 2-1-7 ... 2-7-1
2-3: ... 2-3-2 ... 2-3-4 ... 2-4-3 ... 2-3-5 ... 2-5-3 ... 2-3-6 ... 2-6-3 ... 2-3-7 ... 2-7-3
2-4: ... 2-4-1 ... 2-4-5 ... 2-5-4 ... 2-4-6 ... 2-6-4 ... 2-4-7 ... 2-7-4
2-5: ... 2-5-1 ... 2-5-6 ... 2-6-5 ... 2-6-7 ... 2-7-6
2-6: ... 2-6-1 ... 2-6-7 ... 2-7-6
2-7: ... 2-7-1

FROM THE 3

3-1: ... 3-1-2 ... 3-2-1 ... 3-1-3 ... 3-1-4 ... 3-4-1 ... 3-1-5 ... 3-5-1 ... 3-1-6 ... 3-6-1 ... 3-1-7 ... 3-7-1
3-2: ... 3-2-3 ... 3-2-4 ... 3-4-2 ... 3-2-5 ... 3-5-2 ... 3-2-6 ... 3-6-2 ... 3-2-7 ... 3-7-2
3-4: ... 3-4-3 ... 3-4-5 ... 3-5-4 ... 3-4-6 ... 3-6-4 ... 3-4-7 ... 3-7-4
3-5: ... 3-5-3 ... 3-5-6 ... 3-6-5 ... 3-5-7 ... 3-7-5
3-6: ... 3-6-3 ... 3-6-7 ... 3-7-6
3-7: ... 3-7-3

FROM THE 4

4-1: ... 4-1-2 ... 4-2-1 ... 4-1-3 ... 4-3-1 ... 4-1-4 ... 4-1-5 ... 4-5-1 ... 4-1-6 ... 4-6-1 ... 4-1-7 ... 4-7-1
4-2: ... 4-2-3 ... 4-3-2 ... 4-2-4 ... 4-2-5 ... 4-5-2 ... 4-2-6 ... 4-6-2 ... 4-2-7 ... 4-7-2
4-3: ... 4-3-4 ... 4-3-5 ... 4-5-3 ... 4-3-6 ... 4-6-3 ... 4-3-7 ... 4-7-3
4-5: ... 4-5-4 ... 4-5-6 ... 4-6-5 ... 4-5-7 ... 4-7-5
4-6: ... 4-6-4 ... 4-6-7 ... 4-7-6
4-7: ... 4-7-4

FROM THE 5

5-1: ... 5-1-2 ... 5-2-1 ... 5-1-3 ... 5-3-1 ... 5-1-4 ... 5-4-1 ... 5-1-5 ... 5-1-6 ... 5-6-1 ... 5-1-7 ... 5-7-1
5-2: ... 5-2-3 ... 5-3-2 ... 5-2-4 ... 5-4-2 ... 5-2-5 ... 5-2-6 ... 5-6-2 ... 5-2-7 ... 5-7-2
5-3: ... 5-3-4 ... 5-4-3 ... 5-3-5 ... 5-3-6 ... 5-6-3 ... 5-3-7 ... 5-7-3
5-4: ... 5-4-5 ... 5-4-6 ... 5-6-4 ... 5-4-7 ... 5-7-4
5-6: ... 5-6-5 ... 5-6-7 ... 5-7-6
5-7: ... 5-7-5

FROM THE 6

6-1: ... 6-1-2 ... 6-2-1 ... 6-1-3 ... 6-3-1 ... 6-1-4 ... 6-4-1 ... 6-1-5 ... 6-5-1 ... 6-1-6 ... 6-1-7 ... 6-7-1
6-2: ... 6-2-3 ... 6-3-2 ... 6-2-4 ... 6-4-2 ... 6-2-5 ... 6-5-2 ... 6-2-6 ... 6-2-7 ... 6-7-2
6-3: ... 6-3-4 ... 6-4-3 ... 6-3-5 ... 6-5-3 ... 6-3-6 ... 6-3-7 ... 6-7-3
6-4: ... 6-4-5 ... 6-5-4 ... 6-4-6 ... 6-4-7 ... 6-7-4
6-5: ... 6-5-6 ... 6-5-7 ... 6-7-5
6-7: ... 6-7-6

FROM THE 7

7-1: ... 7-1-2 ... 7-2-1 ... 7-1-3 ... 7-3-1 ... 7-1-4 ... 7-4-1 ... 7-1-5 ... 7-5-1 ... 7-1-6 ... 7-6-1 ... 7-1-7
7-2: ... 7-2-3 ... 7-3-2 ... 7-2-4 ... 7-4-2 ... 7-2-5 ... 7-5-3 ... 7-2-6 ... 7-6-2 ... 7-2-7
7-3: ... 7-3-4 ... 7-4-3 ... 7-3-5 ... 7-5-3 ... 7-3-6 ... 7-6-3 ... 7-3-7
7-4: ... 7-4-5 ... 7-5-4 ... 7-4-6 ... 7-6-4 ... 7-4-7
7-5: ... 7-5-6 ... 7-6-5 ... 7-5-7
7-6: ... 7-6-7

WHEW!! And that’s just 3 chord progressions, not even 4 chrd chord progressions. The point, here specifically, is NOT to give you prefabricated progressions to which you can write songs or even an explanation as to why they sound the way they do. The point is for you to explore your more creative and reflective side and experiment with these combinations and recognize their relationships to one another.

All you are doing with these chord progression exercises is learning chordal intervals. This is the important thing. If you recognize and learn the relationship between notes and chords, you can compose whatever you want. And you can play whatever you hear..if you have the technical ability.

Now once you go through all of the chords above, feel free to add chords here and there. Then play them fingerstyle. You can add an incredible amount of texture and depth, and movement form there.

This was a short lesson, but if you set yourself to play through and use these exercises, you could use this page for weeks worth of practice.

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