The “Walk On Up Blues/Gospel Chord Progression” is an obvious but useful technique in the toolbox of the pianist. After all, the I to IV progression is used all the time in music, so there are multiple times in most songs where this technique — or some variety of it — can be used.

For more good stuff like this, come on over to Praise & Gospel Piano!

This piano lesson video is the second in a series of videos on how to create unique chord substitutions - making surprising chord changes that are individual for each song and each musical situation.

For a complete course in Chord Substitutions, please go to “Chord Substitutions: 3 Secrets of Creating Fresh Harmonies”

Here’s a bluesy little chord progression you can use in quite a few musical situations. It involves playing the IV chord of the key and then playing the IV chord of that IV chord to create a chord progression that gives a blues oriented sound. It sounds confusing but I think you’ll understand it when you see it on the video below:

For more instruction on the blues check out Blues, Boogie & R&B

The chord progressions in songs often follow the circle of keys, usually to the right. (By the way, the circle of keys is often called the Circle of 5ths or the Circle of 4ths, but it’s the same thing — just depends on whether you move to the right or to the left on the circle). Notice that the flat keys are on the right hand side of the circle, while the sharp keys are on the left hand side of the circle. Watch this short piano video and you’ll understand:

One of the most familiar of all chord progressions is the I, vi, ii, V progression. I played it when I was a kid, and you probably did too. It is used in literally hundreds of different songs in a variety of ways. Watch this short video about it:

Learn one chord progression — learn an entire song

Chord progressions are simply the way chords want to move. Every musician uses them whether they know it or not. The trick is to recognize them and then use them in other situations and modify them slightly for an original sound.

For example, the Happy Birthday song played in the key of F progresses like this: F, C7, F, Bb, F, Cb, F

In the key of G it would progress G, D7, G, C, G, D7, G.

In other words, the song starts on the I chord (the tonic or root chord of whatever key you are playing it in), progresses to the V7 chord, back to the I chord, then to the IV chord, back to I, then V7, ending with I.

In Silent Night the chord progression would be I, V7, I, IV, I, IV, I, V7 I, V7, I.

We could go through song after song like that, and what you would find is that the most used chord is the I chord, followed by the V7 chord, and followed by the IV chord. Plus most songs start and end on the I chord. That in itself is valuable information, because you immediately know what the most likely chords are in any song, in any key. Most musicians don’t know that, unfortunately – and it’s not rocket science.

So start analyzing what chords occur in the songs you play. If you read music, notice the chords carefully – generally you can figure out the chord even if the chord name is not given simply by adding up all the notes vertically at any given point. For example, if you have a song with D and A in the bass clef, and C and F# in the treble clef, by adding those notes up you can determine you are playing a D7 chord.

Same idea when you are playing by ear. Look at your hands and figure out what chord you are playing by adding up the notes at any given point.

Soon you will learn that chord progression patterns emerge – time after time the same chords are used, and follow in the same order. Make a list of the songs with similar chord progressions – a great teacher in Hollywood I had years ago taught me that – and it has been worth a great deal to me. If I know the chords in “Blue Mood”, for example, follow the same pattern as in “Heart and Soul”, then I have just learned two song instead of one – and there are literally hundreds and hundreds of songs that follow almost exactly the same pattern.

The 12-Bar Blues chord progression forms the basis for THOUSANDS of songs in the blues, jazz, R&B, gospel, rock and other styles as well. Here is the pattern:
• 4 bars of the I chord
• 2 bars of the IV chord
• 2 bars of the I chord
• 1 bar of the V7 chord
• 1 bar of the IV chord
• 2 bars of the I chord
• Rinse and repeat as many times as desired.

Chord Progressions And How They Work from chordman on Vimeo.

If you need some help in this area, come on over to Chord Progressions & The Riffs & Runs That Flow Out Of Them.

Just what is it about the tritone chord progression that makes it so mysterious? Perhaps it has to do with its dissonant, clashing sound. It may have something to do with its dubious history. Whatever it is, the tritone chord progression in music made a comeback in music after several centuries of bad publicity.

‘Tritone” is defined as a musical interval that spans three whole tones. A tritone chord may also be called an augmented fourth or diminished fifth chord. The tritone sounds like a clash, or as a dissonant chord. For this reason, the tritone chord was often avoided during Medieval times through to the end of the Romantic era.

For hundreds of years musical styles were, in large part, dictated by the church. During Medieval times, the tritone was viewed as too dissonant for use in common liturgical services. In fact, the tritone chord progression came to represent the devil. Perhaps as early as the 18th century it was commonly known as “diabolus in musica” (the devil in music). A great deal of superstition came to be associated with the tritone. Some church fathers in the Catholic church adhered to the belief that it may even serve to invoke the power of the devil. Because of this belief, the use of the tritone was banned by the church for liturgical use. Because of this negative association, even secular music produced during these centuries avoided it.

There is speculation that this chord may have been associated with the Devil for another reason. The tritone, as already mentioned, consists of three whole tones. Three whole tones equal six semitones. This may have led Christians to associate the tritone with the Biblical “mark of the beast,” or number of the devil: 666.

As with any widely held superstition, the tritone had a bad public image to overcome. Eventually some musicians cautiously experimented with the tritone, particularly during the Baroque and Classical music era. Finally, it seemed as though its stigma had been somewhat overcome during the Romantic period. Notable classical musicians like Vivaldi, Beethoven and Debussy inserted the tritone into various works.

When the equal temperament system of tuning came into general practice in Western music, the tritone began to make a comeback in contemporary songs. Still, it had remnants of its former reputation. The tritone began to appear in modern rock and roll, jazz and blues songs. Those with prudish natures denounced it, probably still subscribing to the old-fashioned church-propagated superstition. Despite some opposition, the tritone took hold. Today it’s used regularly and without inhibition.

Many musicians are still aware of its diabolical history. In fact, the tritone is sometimes still used in contemporary media to signify, represent or “invoke” the devil. One example of this is the 1986 movie Crossroads. In it, the main character, in a showdown of guitar prowess, ends a guitar solo with a tritone chord because of its association with the devil. However, its relation to ancient superstitions has been largely forgotten by the general public. Today, the tritone is used artistically, just another color in the musical palette.