5 Unconventional Chord Progressions Every Songwriter Should Try

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In this video, I show you 5 more unconventional chord progressions - in these examples, we explore inversions, rootless chords, voice leading, and modal borrowing to spice up chords, and catalyze your songwriting.
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[@lheggestad]

You're a great teacher, and I love that you offer and explain all these "outside the diatonic box" ideas and methods.

[@benharrison7244]

Nice! That first progression is one I recently found and wrote a song about a pigeon that I took into my art studio when he was injured in the street. I helped him but I suddenly was flooded with lyrics.. written from his perspective! So cool, thanks Ernie! And it had that uplifting sound and feel that you talk about with the bass notes, tho mine is just in G… thanks! Cool video

[@camf8372]

I LOVE your lessons!!!! That 4th chord progression, I love that descending sound from that open Emajor to the E augmented

[@Jeronimo365]

Great stuff. Loving the on-screen chord shapes, so immediately helpful. More of those please. 🙏🙏🙏❤️

[@michaelknight8534]

Hey Keppie! I really appreciate all of the knowledge that you share with us. You & Ben are the best!

[@losalamos666]

Number #4 is reminiscent of “Even when I’m sleeping” Leonardo’s Bride 😊👍👍. Another great song with an unusual chord progression

[@74kevin1]

Fantastic lesson.

[@EasyTigerII]

Great stuff - I love these unusual progressions vid in particular👋

[@dmishramusic4409]

Just been introduced to your channel - great stuff !

[@freddiethefabs6920]

I love this channel!! Thank you for such inspiration (totally using these progressions- per your insistence 😆)

[@ke123321ek]

about 15 min in, you wrote “right here, right now” again by accident :) haha thanks :)

[@popsarocker]

Fun side note: you can't (at least in the US) be sued for "stealing" chord progressions. Copyright does not protect ideas, methods, systems, or things like chord progressions. They're considered to be too basic, widely accessible, and just part of the basic building blocks of songs. See "Scènes à faire". Though possibly "unconventional" from some frame of reference - it would not in under any circumstance be something you'd need permission to use - and it would absolutely not be stealing.

[@virtualtourmlshawaii1848]

Is it true that your original song automatically becomes copyrighted when you post it publicly like on KZbin or FB, etc..

[@popsarocker]

@@virtualtourmlshawaii1848 I'm definitely not a legal expert, just a musician trying to understand their own rights. I will add a caveat to my comment above: while what I said was technically true as far as copyright law is concerned, it won't prevent anyone from *trying* to sue you if they think your stole a song from them - or if they see opportunity in doing so. As far as songs becoming "automatically copyrighted" - the short answer is yes. In copyright law when you put your song on some medium this is called "fixation". The act having the work "fixed" in some sufficiently permanent way is all you need. Not to dive down the rabbit hole too much, but you would typically need to do this as a matter of course before it ever gets to KZbin anyway... Like writing it down as sheet music, or mastering it to a PCM wave file for example. That said the advantage to KZbin is that you're fixing it to a medium that is essentially timestamped. Meaning, if there's a dispute you would have proof that things happened in a certain sequence. This is also the point of registering works directly with the copyright office. You're establishing a creation date.

[@virtualtourmlshawaii1848]

@@popsarocker Thank you for a detailed explanation. I know you’re not a legal expert but what you said about fixation jives with what my other musician friends say.

[@tutubeos]

@@virtualtourmlshawaii1848It depends where you live. In many countries in Europe posting a song doesn’t legally protect your song, but it’s the deposit date with your PRO that counts. So be careful. Different countries, different rules.

[@popsarocker]

@@tutubeos great point! I was indeed assuming the US in my response

[@tamlouise3405]

Loved this

[@pmicygie]

great :) many thanx

[@ehi3398]

Thank you, Keppie!!!!

[@psilocybe_reptiliensis]

Very cool!

[@MorrisLess]

Thanks for the compilation. Number 5 sounds like Heal Over--KT Tunstall, an amazing songwriter herself. I'm sure it shows up elsewhere too, but that's what I hear when I hear you play it.

[@rorycreates]

I thought that too!

[@NelaInTheSky]

YES! I immediately started to sing along when I recognised the chord progression 😁

[@davebrook5082]

Number 4 was my favorite. I immediately heard a melody and counter-rmelody. It's a duet breakup song for a couple that can never agree on what to eat.

[@tombest6283]

I just discovered your channel and subscribed immediately!

[@skinnygumbo9555]

I really had no idea what you were talking about most of the time, but I really enjoyed soloing over the top while you were playing. Some fun sounds came out in a style that I never really played before. Especially the fifth one. I soloed in C#m pentatonic with some added chord tones. Thanks! This was fun!

[@stevehalper510]

Very interesting chord progressions! I watch a lot of KZbin guitar teachers but I gotta say I love this gal! She also has the best adjectives for chords…yummy being my personal fave! Cheers

[@frannyp46]

Sounds great thanks. The 2, 5 , 1 turn around on example 2 also sounds great with a augmented as well as a7.

[@guy_incognito]

Thank you! An excellent tutorial. A good example of Example 3 can be found in the guitar part for "How Insensitive" -- descending slash chords with lots of voice leading. Also, I believe the variation on the B7 chord in example 4 is actually a Bsus13.😀 And yes, it is a great chord.

[@TomMarvan]

Great lesson. As you go from D to F#7/C#, in my head I hear the melody, “Once, a jolly swagman…” I might have to experiment with this as a chord substitute for that song when I have a guitar in my hands. Does anyone else hear the melody? Or, maybe it’s your accent. :)

[@tombenizrilevi4803]

So about the whole voice leading thing, it's actually quite interesting and surprising. I think that not many people know this, but harmony and chords actually came from an older predecessor of voice leading, the Counterpoint. Back when western music was mainly religious, around the first millennium, the church used a musical form of prayers called Cantus, Which was a very simple monophonic melody. As times passed the music evolved and there were arguments about how complex the music in these prayers should get, and a whole argument about polyphony arose. Long story short, one of the streams of polyphony that grew from that was counterpoint, which took the cantus melody and gave it another melody on top or bottom that would counter it. The intervals between those melodies were supposed to be consonances. Then, at some point you could add another melody that is a consonanse to the other melodies, and that for the first time created three note chords. But the melodic nature of each voice gave it the voice leading character. Funny to think that the voice leading itself existed before the chords as a concept

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Some nice combinations. Progression #4 is used in a favourite song of mine, "English Rose" by The Jam, as part of a longer progression. And the B+11 in the last progression is a favourite, much-used chord of another favourite musician, Robyn Hitchcock (songs like "One long pair of eyes" and "Birdshead").

[@alessandrosummer]

Is it an augmented chord? I got it right!

[@johnmackinnon9192]

Keppie,voice leading is beautiful.The art of counterpoint,using those linear independent melodies are what we strive for as musicians

[@michaeldematteis3409]

Secondary dominants,are always lovely 😊

[@miguelgonzal]

You’re cool. Love your presentation. And as a drummer/lyricist who uses guitar for songwriting, I appreciate your references to just enough music theory to ground familiar concepts.

[@tonysienzant6717]

Thanks for telling the whole world all of my songwriting tricks. Now, whatever was unique in my music will be used by everyone.

[@stratogabo]

I've been loving progression #4 for so long and never did I stop to analyze it. I was surprised to hear it here. I think I first heard it on The Bureau by Gerard Way, or at least a variation of it where the third chord also sounds a little dissonant.

[@edwinbrown9951]

Thank you

[@coldminded21]

very refreshing sounds, thank you very much! also what is that beautiful martin?

[@jz5005]

Great way to illustrate use of III-7th & VI-7th. (Dominant rather than / in addition to the Minor).

[@redstorm1655]

As a teacher for Guitars for Vets, I think this is good stuff. Thanks for what you do

[@ulfsvensson9710]

Realy good help to think outside position 1.

[@paulwelding]

I love your passion for harmony, please keep these videos coming.

[@shadowminister4090]

The 1st progression was my favourite. I wasn't so sure about the others....they might need to grow on me.

[@billybobboy012]

Thank you. I have a brain injury, and I can't remember or 'know' why all of these chords sound so good, but they just 'do' thanks to you:)

[@StratsRUs]

The voice leading reminded me of a mood similar to Nick Drake's 'River Man'.

[@haraldblauzahn9188]

Thanks for showing these chord progressions. It seems I'm not the only one who liked number 4. It sounds familiar to me: I heard it in "Sturmflut" (storm tide or storm flood), a 1991 song of German singer / song writer Achim Reichel. ;-) I like the descending melody part with B Bb A Ab (well, you put Ab one octave higher) while constantly playing E.

[@annette9325]

In the hand out, in progression 3, there is a typo. the second chord should be Gb/Bb as in the video, but it states Gb/Db. I was startled because B to Db would not have been voice leading the bass. But it is very clear in the video.

[@alessandrosummer]

Great video with great chord progression. Just one thing: I know I'm being extremely picky here, but if you play a dominant 7 chord without the tonic, the right way to call it would be a diminished chord on the third of the dominant chord (e.g: that D7/A(omit D) should be called F#°/A). I know it's nuanced, many just won't care about it!

[@wakinginfinity]

These are fantastic, thank you! Quick question: For progression #3, the PDF shows the second chord as a Gb/Db (not Gb/Bb). Am I missing something there? Anyway, love these. Thanks for sharing!

[@kroadster3249]

Great stuff as always. Thank you for that. The only thing that is hard for me to watch is, that due to the shape of furniture in the back and the mic angle the whole video composition seems to tilt to the left and is about to fall over. Sorry for beeing picky but my mind distracts that from listening properly :)

[@kzeich]

So I took George Harrison's advice and just started writing songs, bad songs but songs all the same. It's like practicing anything else it takes a long time but one of those little ditties may end up being gold. And when I say bad I mean bad the lyrics are just ridiculous and in my opinion the hardest part of writing a song but slowly so slowly so so slowly I got a little bit better. I still can't write good songs but I have a process now, a template. The cool thing about music is that nobody can ever Master it. Even the best songwriters in the world are working on getting better. beautiful subjective craft. I'm not bold enough to call it art. Art must be in the eye of the beholder, not the Creator. I apologize for the bad grammar I don't feel like fixing it

[@thomasbosson94]

It’s not a dominant 7th chord unless you’re talking about a chord that is on the 5th scale degree. That is what it means for a chord to be dominant. All other chords that have a major third and minor 7th are technically called major minor 7th chords.

[@burkecarroll3927]

#4 is big star

[@LoraxChannel]

I suppose modern music is just the same four chords over and over. It would be good to reference where you are getting ideas. 1 -3 are in Beatles tunes, 4 is STP. 5 is a 70s tune I can't recall by name.

[@brettmarlar4154]

The reason why voice leading sounds so good, is because the chords share common tones which makes the changes nearly unpercievable as the remnants of the previous chord are still lingering and keeping familiarity in the new chord. This makes it less jarring when the change occurs. But, I don't see how a "rootless chord" can be a thing. In your F#7/C#, since there is no root, the remaining notes make up a C# ○7 no 5. Because, without the F# there is no context to say the the C# is the 5 of the chord. Doesn't make it sound any less cool, though.

[@avvvqvvv99]

it's rootless because some other instrument (the bass) would play the root

[@jsw0278]

Some music theorists say rootless chords are a thing, others disagree. It’s debatable

[@sedacelen2899]

So nice and super helpful.. Thank You so much again 🤍

[@PATRIOTICGENTLEMAN3232]

You've got a pretty singing voice.

[@wouterdesmedt1736]

Would love to see relative notation included in these videos.

[@brookweber7678]

#5 is Heal Over by KT Tunstall

[@drewstephenson]

On the second sequence I had an accidental discovery that adding a passing chord between the EM7 and A7 by dropping the second finger worked nicely. Is that an Emsus2? Theory not my strong point.

[@jz5005]

I think voice leading is pleasing for the same reason that 90% of melody note changes are to an adjacent scale tone. We just prefer to take it one step at a time..

[@jessiehopkins3687]

I'm writing song lyrics for the first time and was wondering if anyone who was willing could help finish (or rewrite) my lyrics for inspiration 😅 I see the girl looking back at me How can that be? Her eyes blue like a calm summer ocean almost smiling, never crying I see the girl looking back at me Her hair falls down like summers rays Her friends stay close, they know she cares Am I enough to be like her In every picture on the walls In every raindrop that falls I see her wave, see her smile In every window I pass Every moment, every memory I see her staring back at me

[@GaZonk100]

repeat some lines or parts of - lyrics need reinforcement and intensifying

[@andrewolsen2319]

um, i think you missed the 4th? but thank you, these are helpful. I get stuck in the "diatonic box"

[@christembo5859]

I'd love to see how you voice F#7/C# on Piano.

[@johnmackinnon9192]

Play a C# note or octave with the left hand and an F#,A# and E with the right hand.

[@christembo5859]

@@johnmackinnon9192 Thanks Bro. Sounds good.

[@johnmackinnon9192]

Welcome Chris

[@GaZonk100]

you should play the examples in a more rolling 'Eagles' style

[@alan11121959]

ya know, that 4th progression sounds like "Isn't it a Pity" by George Harrison

[@evansakesat2776]

Couple of things I think worth clarifying…firstly at 10:16 The inverted V chord (of Bm) isn’t Gb/Bb…it’s F#/A# (I know it’s enharmonically equivalent but the function is of central importance in a chord sequence. Secondly, music ‘theory’ is only music knowledge and shouldn’t be seen as any kind of rabbit hole…I appreciate you not wanting to alienate beginners but please don’t brush it off, any serious musician will need it at some point if they’re going to develop. Good content though!

[@Sasha-Sabelnikov]

In what world are secondary dominants, 1-3-5-4 progressions or chord inversions considered unconventional? :( Inversions are literally on the 2nd page of the harmony book by Shoenberg. Why not having discussed mediants or substitutions and let songwriters finnaly try to use something that is different for all the tiktoks we have instead of music?

[@FrancescaBettiMusic]

You should put the name of the chords>_< for piano players ❤

[@jamesanderson9923]

#1 and #2 progressions felt A7and B7 did not work well #4 progression your 4th chord just a little bit of I WROTE A SONG its on tunecore seen the world by james anderson have a listen to the intro think it works better

[@apfivethreeoh7820]

In My Life has the major to minor movement at one point in the progression. You flipped it and did minor to major with the bm7 to b7. U sly kangaroo u

[@Guitar6ty]

Excellent presentation and teaching method but I think it would be better to keep it simple with say just 3 examples rather than 5 which can be to much in one learning session.

[@TrishCausey]

You should stipulate that this is for NEW songwriters or people NEW to listening to real music. These chords are only "unconventional" if you have never heard jazz, Musical Theatre, The American Songbook, or classical music.

[@officialWWM]

You are assuming all songwriters even play an instrument!

[@curiouscatlabincgetsworrie7755]

Music theory isn't hard unless you make it hard by calling it a rabbit hole. It isn't hard unless you start in the middle of nowhere and talk about diatonic chords for no reason without even being close to prepared for a reasonable explanation at this point. It's isn't hard to learn unless you have a teacher who squirt strange names around like changing a minor chord into a dominant seven without explaining the function of a dominant chord, the leading tone and the tritone being dissonant and how to dissolve the tension and have it released. After that little roadblock ALL dominant chords work the same no matter where they are in the scale or outside the scale, or if they're secondary dominants. When you understand you don't have to remember as much. And the rabbit hole is just a pit in the ground. Music theory and actually anything isn't harder than the teacher makes it, so now we know who to blame, and it's not the music theory.

[@ultimateplainmastermind3268]

Well damn, you just want someone to blame? 💀

[@cecilia_mackie]

That’s incredible! Let’s connect?

[@cecilia_mackie]

Super!! Shall we be friends?

[@cecilia_mackie]

Love it:) Let's connect?

[@cecilia_mackie]

Interesting! Let’s be friends?

[@cecilia_mackie]

Marvelous! Let’s be friends?

[@cecilia_mackie]

That’s amazing! Let’s be friends?

[@cecilia_mackie]

Super!! Shall we be friends?