Thanks for the info, I didn't think it was really strange. I'm just trying to move on to less basic chords.


Do you have any tips on spicing up your chord progressions?

Very simple way is for filler.

You can do this by adding a pattern of each chord like so:

Take a I vi IV V

Now go vii*/ before each one each time you change:

I - [vii*/vi] - vi - [vii*/IV] - IV - [vii*/V] - V
This spices it up with a little dissonance flair here and there.

You can do this to a crazier degree:

Let's add a ii/ vi/ vii*/ before each of the main chords each

I - [ii/vi - vi/vi - vii*/vi] - vi - [ii/IV - vi/IV - vii*/IV] - IV - [ii/V - vi/V - vii*/V] - V - I

This could give you some very interesting (and legal:cool:) sounds.

Supplementing like this is very common and should be regular in your repertoire.

Another way to make your bass line more interesting is to substitute chords.

That flat 6 from the augmented 6th chords is a useful thing to go from a vi chord (or iv6-3 or ii6-4 for that matter) down to a V chord. If you go for example
iv 6-3 - Italian+6 - V - I

Your bass line would go: 6 b6 5 1, which is smooth as silk.

You can then supplement each one with extra pre-chords that would just redefine that basis. You can then start realizing things in a background and foreground.

Speaking of before, the foreground is maybe that craziness with the

I - [ii/vi - vi/vi - vii*/vi] - vi - [ii/IV - vi/IV - vii*/IV] - IV - [ii/V - vi/V - vii*/V] - V - I

While the real background (and overall picture) is simply I - vi - IV - V - I
That beautiful sense of complicated simplicity is magic.

I saw recently where someone took a tritone variation of the chord he was going to. Let's talk actual letters here. Something like I - IV - V - I in C major would be:

C E G - F A C - G B D - C E G

And he put in the tritones between, like this:

C E G - b d# f# - F A C - c# e# g# - G B D - f# a# c# - C E G

You can get interesting sounds this way.

Now, in reality, whatever works to you works to you. You can breathe whatever you want into life because you say so. It's your music. You're the overall sayer of what goes on in your music. If you like the way that the ii13#11b9 moving to a Fr+6 chord sounds, then by all means, go for it. Your imagination is all the 'spice' your chord progression needs.

Can someone identify these chords for me?

High e string: open (hammer on first fret-f note)
B string: first fret (c note)
G string: second fret (a note)

I guess it's just an A minor minus the e note on the d string, but what would that be called?

Next chord-
Now that i think about it, I guess it's just a C major chord without the c note on A string

Next chord-
High e string: open
B string: first fret (c note)
G string: open
D string: open
A string: second fret (b note)

You're at a loss for a few things; as in - what other strings are being played? Just these 3?

Here are the conjectures you can tie in. I'm going to assume all other strings to be open if used.

Your high E is either F or E (hammer on doesn't tell me which you want in the chord)

So your options for that first chord are (from low note to high note):

E A D A C e
X X X . . f

And therefor:

E-A-D-A-C-e = A minor add 4(11) / E
E-A-D-A-C-f = D minor 7 / E

E-A-x-A-C-e = A minor / E
E-A-x-A-C-f = F Major / E (F Major 7, 3rd inversion)

E-x-D-A-C-e = A minor add 4 / E
E-x-D-A-C-f = D minor 7 / E

E-x-x-A-C-e = A minor / E
E-x-x-A-C-f = F Major / E

x-A-D-A-C-e = A minor add 4(11)
x-A-D-A-C-f = D minor 7 / A

x-A-x-A-C-e = A minor
x-A-x-A-C-f = F Major / A

x-x-D-A-C-e = A minor / D
x-x-D-A-C-f = F Major / D

x-x-x-A-C-e = A minor
x-x-x-A-C-f = F Major


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That was easy enough.

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You could argue this is a CMajor9 (CΔ9) / B (or E, if you use your low string open) though it might be easier to call it a Cadd9 over B.

Groovy chord choices man.

On the first one, those are the only strings being played. And yes, the high E is an E note, and the hammer on is to F.

Then yeah. Just a minor. There's not really a way to differ this chord from 'open a minor (x02210)' or 'barred a minor (577555)'; they're all just a minor. The way you could notate this one then is just to write xxx210 or maybe xxx210(h1) for the hammer on.

About the first technique you address here, would those "filler" chords just be used as passing chords?

They can be used as either or. There's no right or wrong. If it sounds good to you, give it wings and let it fly.

Very true. All my best work comes to me on accident, pretty much. I'm never very successful when I try too hard.

If you try to make music that sounds like everyone else's, then you're going to wind up with music that sounds like everyone else's. 'Right' and 'wrong' are really "what we normally do" and "what we normally do NOT do". The more you delve into the unknown and nontraditional, the more you'll find your own unique voice and sound that will give you an identity different from the usual flock.

You can always find a parallel version of whatever you do to recreate it in another sense. Especially if you use numbers (I IV V) for labeling, you can move it to any key in any register and recreate it later. You can make up your own vocabulary in musical concepts - I to #IV (like C E G to F# A# C#[[see Petrushka Chord]]), which you can then move to another scale. This is only one example. You can do it with rhythmic figures, you can do it with chord progressions, you can do it with melodies, dynamics, timbre, combinations of these factors - anything. Then if you reuse it in your other compositions, you'll have your unique reoccurring sound that listeners will be able to identify as yours.

The logic behind your choices should still be there; but it doesn't have to make sense to the world; just to you. If you can find the path through your music where others would need a compass and road map, that's okay.