Circle Progressions
An excerpt from Chord Progressions For Songwriters.
Below is the circle of fifths (also referred to as cycle of fifths, chords, or keys) that shows the most logical, natural movement of one chord to another in Western music. Each of the twelve letters is arranged like numbers on a clock representing the root notes of a chord of some quality (major, minor, or dominant seventh). As you move counterclockwise around the circle, each chord root descends in an interval of a perfect fifth (three and a half whole steps). Moving clockwise, each chord root descends in an interval of a perfect fourth (two and a half whole steps). This series of chords demonstrates the strong tendency or pull of the “V” (dominant) to “I” (tonic) chord. This is the strongest chord movement, or cadence in Western music. Moving counterclockwise through the circle of fifths is often referred to as backcycling. Some of the best songs ever written have been created using cycles of descending fifths such as the “Am7-Dm7-G7-Cmaj7” progression that moves through the circle until ultimately arriving at the tonic.
The circle of fifths can be used to create chord progressions by starting with any chord on the circle and moving in either direction using as many or as few consecutive chord roots as you like to produce a new chord sequence. Circle progressions often begin with the “I” (tonic) chord before proceeding through the circle of fifths. The resulting chords can be major, minor or dominant seventh qualities (or any combination) that can be further embellished, altered, or substituted. For example, if you start with “E” and move counterclockwise to “C” you create the “E-A-D-G-C” chord sequence. Then, by designating a major, minor, or dominant seventh chord quality to each root note you can create the “E7-A7-D7-G7-C” and “Em-Am-Dm-G7-C” progressions. You can also start the sequence with the “C” (tonic) before proceeding through the circle of fifths creating the “C-E7-A7-D7-G7-C” progression. Although many of the progressions you will explore in this book including the basic (C-F), classic rock (C-Bb-F-C), folk (C-G), jazz (Dm7-G7-C), ragtime (C-A7-D7-G7), and standard (C-Am7-Dm7-G7) utilize chord sequences based on circle of fifths movement, generally only cycles of four or more chords from the circle of fifths in succession are referred to as circle (circular or circle of fifths) progressions. The possible progression combinations that can be created using the circle of fifths are almost endless and are found in classical music as well as in jazz and popular songs.
In this chapter you will explore some of the many ways the world’s most creative songwriters have used circle progressions to create hit songs. You will learn about the two types of circle progressions, those that descend in fifths and fourths. You will also take a quick look at a couple of ideas from my songwriter’s notebook. Lastly, your assignment will be to work through several exercises to get you started building your own circle progressions.
Descending Fifths
In this section you will look at six chord progressions that move counterclockwise around the circle in descending fifths. Play through each progression example and thoroughly understand how it was created before moving on to the next progression. Although these examples are presented in the key of C or Am, they should be transposed (see “Appendix”), played, and studied in other keys.
B-E-A-D-G-C Cycle
This cycle travels counterclockwise from “B” to “C.” The “B7-E7-A7-D7-G7-C” and “Bm-E7-Am-Dm-G7-C” progressions are two common types of this cycle. The first type is called a cycle of dominant seventh chords. An example of this type of cycle that uses secondary dominant sevenths is the verse progression to the Chordettes’ 1954 hit Mister Sandman shown below. A secondary dominant is a chord that serves as the “V” of another. For example, in the “B7-E7-A7-D7-G7-C” progression the “B7” is the “V” of the “E7” chord and the “E7” is the “V” of the “A7” chord. Similarly, the “A7” is the “V” of the “D7” chord and the “D7” is the “V” of the “G7” chord.
C / / / B7 / / / E7 / / / A7 / / /
D7 / / / G7 / / / C / / / Ab7 / G7 /
An example of the second cycle type that uses both primary and secondary chords is the A section to the 1965 standard The Shadow Of Your Smile shown below.
Bm7 / / / E7b9 / / / Am7 / / / / / / /
Dm7 / / / G7 / / / Cmaj7 / / / / / / /
The box below shows other examples of this type of progression. Most of the progressions begin with the “C” (“I”) chord before proceeding through the circle. Notice the relative major/minor substitution for the “Dm” chord in the Yesterday example. Although the last three examples are not true circle progressions, they are circle-based sequences.
|: C-Δ7 / A-7♭5 | D-7 / G7♭13 :|
*Sources
http://www.musictheory.net/
http://www.ItchyTastyRecords.com
http://www.angelfire.com/fl4/moneychords/circleprogressions.html
