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A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, a series of chords played in order. Chord progressions are central to most modern European-influenced music. Compare to a simultaneity succession. A chord change is a movement from one chord to another and may be thought of as either the most basic chord progression or as a portion of longer chord progressions which involve more than two chords (see shift of level). Generally, successive chords in a chord progression share some notes, which provides harmonic and linear (voice leading) continuity to a passage. In the common-practice period, chord progressions are usually associated with a scale and the notes of each chord are usually taken from that scale (or its modally-mixed universe).
Common progressions The most common chord progressions, in the common practice period and in popular music, are based on the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees (tonic, subdominant and dominant); see three chord song, eight bar blues, and twelve bar blues. The chord based on the second scale degree is used in the most common chord progression in Jazz, II-V-I. The circle of fifths progression is generally regarded as the most common progression of the common practice period, involving a series of descending perfect fifths that often occur as ascending perfect fourths. The circle of fifths makes up many of the most commonly used progressions, such as II6, V, I in major. Rewrite rules Steedman (1984) has proposed a set of recursive "rewrite rules" which generate all well-formed transformations of jazz, basic I-IV-I-V-I twelve bar blues chord sequences, and, slightly modified, non-twelve-bar blues I-IV-V sequences ("I Got Rhythm"). The original progression may be notated as follows (typical 12-bar blues): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 I/I/I/I//IV/IV/I/I//V/V/I/I Where the numbers on the top line indicate each bar, one slash indicating a bar line and two indicating a phrase marking, and the roman numberals indicating the chord function. Important transformations include I/IV/I/I7//IV/VII7/III7/VI7//II7/V7/I/I// ...III7/bIII7/II7... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 bVi, bIII/bVII, IV/I/I//bVI, bIII/bVII, IV/I/I//bVI, bIII/bVII, IV/I/I// These often result in Aeolian harmony and lack perfect cadences (V-I). Middleton (1990, p.198) suggests that both modal and fourth-oriented structures, rather than being "distortions or surface transformations of Schenker's favoured V-I kernel, are more likely branches of a deeper principle, that of tonic/not-tonic differentiation." See also | ||||||||
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