Diatonic Chord Progressions 2

Goal

Extend our understanding of diatonic chord progressions.

The General Tendency Chart

Diatonic chords have some pretty common patterns. While these patterns are not always the case they are often a good starting point.

For major scales they are:

Chord	Possible Future Chord
I	Any other chord
V	I, IV, vi
IV	I, V, vi, iii
iii	I, IV, vi, ii
vi	I, V, IV, ii
ii	V, IV, iii
vii°	V, I

For minor scales they are:

Chord	Possible Future Chord
i	Any other chord
v	i, VII
iv	i, vi, ii°
III	i, VI, iv, ii°
VI	i, iv, ii°
ii°	v, vii°

These are just suggestions. The minor version also is looking at the natural minor mode, where it is very common to raise the 3rd of the V chord so that we get a nice leading tone. This is the primary function of the harmonic minor scale. This changes some of the ways chord progressions work in minor keys but for now let's just get some practice in.

Practice

Come up with 4 progressions using these charts. Note that repeating the same chord but changing its voicing (how the upper notes are arranged) or inversion can have a massive effect on the sound! Sometimes a V-I-V-I can be very appealing when properly voiced and inverted!

For the major progressions do 2 progression in 1 key and the other 2 in another key. Do the same for the minor progressions. Be sure to provide full harmonic analysis with your progression.

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Diatonic Chord Progressions 2

Goal

The General Tendency Chart

I

Any other chord

V

I, IV, vi

IV

I, V, vi, iii

iii

I, IV, vi, ii

vi

I, V, IV, ii

ii

V, IV, iii

vii°

V, I

i

Any other chord

v

i, VII

iv

i, vi, ii°

III

i, VI, iv, ii°

VI

i, iv, ii°

ii°

v, vii°

Practice