10 Chord Progressions Every Beginner Songwriter Should Know

[@markbryant8542]

Great video. Just a little history..."Twist and Shout" was originally made by the Top Keys. It was reworked by the Isley Brothers and THEN the Beatles covered it

[@martoneill]

This is gold (especially with the examples). Such a wonderful lesson- thank you!

[@acousticguitarcanada]

Benny, you are a brilliant teacher! One of the best I’ve seen on the net.

[@LAPhillyBoyVideos]

Great video. After 40 years playing guitar I was shocked (and delighted) to realize the “Sweet Home Alabama” is actually in the key of D (with a flat7 chord) not in G. No wonder I didn’t understand the guitar solo melody. It uses B Minor pentatonic - not G. Lol! Thank you!!

[@hansvanlavieren7027]

Outstanding video. Very useful. Many thanks!!

[@tedwakefield1085]

I've been looking for stuff like this for longer than I care to say. Thanks!

[@Mindermaniac]

I`ve used most of these 10 progressions in my songs, but I try to change up most of them, as they sound too over-used to my ears in many popular music genres. You can play a 1000 songs with the I - V - vii - IV progression on repeat. The 1 - vii - IV - V progression was a staple of 1950`s early rock ballads and do-wop. The ii - V7 - I is the jazz staple for many songs. I would advise folks to look up the circle of 5ths to get even more ideas of how to transition between chords as well as chord substitutions and poly-chords when you get more proficient with your main writing instrument. I enjoy this channel a lot, especially the lyric tips and methods that you have in other videos, thanks!

[@gloryrow100]

You make the world better!😊

[@minna-maaritjaskari7793]

Thanks Benny, I really like this. For me the strumming pattern makes such a difference on how the progression sounds.

[@silverhandle]

It does that for everyone essentially! Lol

[@cevinius]

Thanks, Benny! Awesome video.

[@larrys2065]

Thanks for the examples! It really serves to better illustrate the use of each progression and the possibilities.

[@wisnomjr]

Great lesson, full of excellent tips. Thank you!

[@Photography-Niseko]

Hi Benny, Thanks for the excellent tutorial. You made perfect sense distilling the seemingly complicated down to friendly tunes that we can all have fun playing and experimenting with. Cheers

[@barrycoulter6951]

As always, on point! Thx!

[@toddbarlow5355]

Question for anyone on this excellent video: what is the difference between a ... I - flatVII - IV (let's say in the key of G , so G-F-C) and a ... V - IV - I progression in the key of C (same chords ... G-F-C)? Thank you for this excellent content!

[@Mindermaniac]

The first chord progression starts on the `home`chord G - I call it the tonic or the root note of the scale in the key of G major. The 2nd chord of this progression is not found within the diatonic scale of G, as it uses the dominant 7th note of F, which is not in the scale of G major, and ends on the 4th note of the scale on the chord of C major. The second chord progression starts away from the home-tonic chord of C, with the 5th note of the scale G, then down to F, the 4th note in the scale of C major and ends on the tonic note with chord of C major. I started on piano which makes it much easier to visualize these co-relations between similar sounding chord progressions. Don`t get me started with enharmonics. i.e. The scales of C sharp & D flat major are written in different keys but the tones of the notes are identical in pitch..... phew....

[@chethelesser]

Comes down to melody in this case. What scale is used and what note feels as the "point or rest". In case of G-F-C if it's C major scale and C feels like "home", then it's V IV I in C, if it's G major scale and G feels like home, it's G ( I - flatVII - IV). Check out kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoezopJjpK-Ja7c

[@mocoworm]

Maaaaate. Superb video. More like this please!

[@CandiceAM]

This is awesome, thank you!

[@invisigoth777]

the 4rth progression, reminded me of Caroline Says pt2

[@aim.1]

Great info. Well explained. Thank you!

[@WahrheitMachtFrei.]

Awesome lesson. Great idea. TY.

[@gloryrow100]

Thanks!

[@masemachine]

A ton of useful stuff here 🙏🏼

[@cheribarkman1784]

Thank you

[@Jo3M]

Awesome video, so much info packed into a short time. My only suggestion is to turn up the guitar relative to your speaking voice, it can be hard to balance the volume between soft playing examples and the explanations

[@edcrutchfield3447]

Thank you 😊.🎸

[@alicejohnmusic]

I would like to understand why these chords tend to follow each other. What's the theory behind that? Can other interesting chord progressions be made? I feel like I'm super in the dark when it comes to this, and people only give lists of "common chord progressions" but no explanation

[@User007-eq1qi]

I would take the time to look at the notes and reverse engineer it. This is what I am doing looking into the notes and thinking why they sound the way they do.

[@CoffsRice]

What is the guitar you are playing?

[@phosphorusmusick]

Excellent teaching but these chord progressions are wayyy too happy and bright for me. My home is in the minor, the mysterious and melancholic. I also love experimenting with more exotic tonalities like hungarian minor, harmonic minor and it's different modes, etc. Can you make a video like this with more minor focused progressions? That would be awesome. Love this channel nontheless! I learn a lot. :)

[@racheldahliamusic]

Same

[@shaunbishop1416]

Thank you very much! Ive subbed, and liked too for you. My tracks on my KZbin channel use good progressions. Thank you for your video!

[@beyazzenci1800]

2:55 Him: Straight away we here-- Me: Dammit by-- ohh... yeah, right, beatles.

[@pedromattos4877]

Specially when you talk about the VIIb chord the examples you give use too few chords. For instave the song with G C and D, why would you say it’s in D with a VIIb rather than G major? Is it something in the melody? Thanks!

[@Nik.No.K]

It would definitely help if the guitar was louder. I’ve noticed this in a lot of your videos, I can hear you talking just fine but I can’t hear you playing any of these progressions unless I hold the phone up to my ear. I’m usually doing other things while watching stuff like this but the guitar seems very very quiet to me

[@scottjameswatson]

No issues here. Perhaps the device you are on, headphones might help.

[@Nik.No.K]

@@scottjameswatson I’m guessing you don’t have multiple fans on full blast 24/7 to drown out your annoying neighbors. It wouldn’t be a problem if watching this video was the sole focus of my attention but many people like to do other things while watching YT and sometimes they’re also in a somewhat noisy environment. It’s not necessarily the creators responsibility to make these videos accessible for everyone but it’s something to keep in mind. If I made a song that doesn’t sound good on laptop or phone speakers should I expect everyone listening to it to go get a nice pair of headphones just to listen to my song? You could try that but it’s not gunna go well. No, I’m responsible for making sure that song sounds good whether it’s a laptop, a fancy stereo system or a phone with fans on in the background. I can promise you that my hearing is perfectly good and I can’t hear the guitar in this video. The response to that should be to make it better, not tell me it’s my fault for not watching it with headphones.

[@scottjameswatson]

@@Nik.No.K then respectfully I think the problem is yours. Not the person creating the video. Not his problem your neighbours are too loud, that you laptop doesn’t have good speakers, that you aren’t paying attention while watching or that you are unwilling to listen with headphones. Also worth pointing out that neither myself nor others appear to be having the same issue. Therefore the problem does seem very much yours to resolve. I offered you a solution based on the fact you were listening on a phone. You have responded in an unacceptably aggressive manner. The fact you think I’m implying your hearing is the problem suggests you know nothing about sound. The problem is yours and the device you are listening on, not that of the creator, who I’m sure didn’t ask you for your unsolicited critique, and certainly not mine. Good day to you sir 👋

[@Endless_Skyway_Adventures]

Pearl Jam 2-5-1 is actually 1-4-5 in G

[@stephanofmunich711]

Albrecht

[@stephanofmunich711]

Oh got all erased but my name. I’m looking for a guitar course for singer song writers.

[@gloryrow100]

Thanks!

[@wisnomjr]

Thanks!