When writing songs, understanding chord progression is vitally important. Doing this allows your lyrical ideas and melodies to be supported by the chords chosen to play them.
Chords are usually represented using Roman numerals; for instance, when hearing a guitarist refer to a progression as being composed of one, four, five notes this signifies the formation of three-part chords between them.
Verse
The verse is the initial part of a song that introduces its melody and lyrics to listeners. Because verses share similar chord progression as choruses, it is crucial that your vocal melody and chord progression work well together to ensure its success.
Create a powerful musical contrast between your verse and chorus by employing different chord progressions. For instance, verses could employ chord progressions which seem vague and hard to pin down with regard to key, while choruses might feature shorter and clearer C major passages.
Remind yourself that an outstanding song only becomes memorable by engaging and captivating its listener. This can be achieved in various ways; lyrics and melodies often do this successfully; chord progression can also help. So if you want to craft an attractive tune, experiment with different ways you construct verse and chorus lines! You may be amazed at what results you get! Good luck and enjoy writing your tune.
Chorus
The chorus is often the stand-out part of any song, featuring catchy melodies or words that elicit emotional responses such as lust, sadness or longing. The verse contrasts nicely, often being louder or faster than other parts of the song while its chord progression may also vary greatly from verse to chorus.
Choruses may feature power chords, open chords and altered chords; additionally, the key of a song may change during its chorus section – for example if its verse was in C major but its chorus moves to C minor (bVII) or even another key entirely.
Commonly, both verse and chorus of a song share the same chord progression to ensure its consistent sound. At the same time, however, creating a unique sound for chorus by including harmonic changes and playing chords in various inversions can create an unforgettable chorus sound.
Bridge
A song’s bridge should provide a distinct change from previous sections, perhaps through shifting chord progression or melodic or tonal shift.
Sus4 chords can be an excellent tool to use during bridge sections to build suspense, as they essentially combine a regular major chord with one that features a flat 5th (similar to adding minor seventh chord to regular C major chord). Sus chords also work effectively just before or after parallel major or minor chords as they take away some expectation and hold their listeners’ interest a little longer than expected.
Another popular chord used effectively for bridges is a dominant 7th chord (sometimes referred to as an F## chord due to its composition of 1st note, 4th note and flat 7th of E major scale). Many songs that utilize dominant seventh chords include an energetic drop down to I chord at the end of their bridges to build energy and anticipation.
Outro
An outro is an optional part of a song that can serve either to reduce intensity or ramp it up until a satisfying song conclusion. It may be instrumental or feature chord progression with topline melody sung either with lyrics or without.
When viewing chord charts, seeing X’s and O’s do not indicate an unruly game of Tic-Tac-Toe as in guitar tabs; rather, numbers indicate where fret to play notes at. For instance, 2 would indicate you should place both hands on either string before picking with either hand to produce sound on each string (so playing second string with left hand and third string with right).
Power chords are a staple in classic rock, so beginning guitarists often start off learning this style of music by starting with power chords. A power chord consists of three notes – its root note (or first note) plus third and fifth notes from your major scale of choice – creating three separate chords at once.