Chapter 2 discussed why there’s no such thing as “progress” in music. If you aspire to artistry in songwriting, as opposed to hackdom or fashion, then you seek to create classics, songs that transcend time, performer, and genre:

1. Time Independence. People who first hear the song decades after it was written take to the song and want to hear it and play it and sing it repeatedly.

2. Performer Independence. The song works well if someone other than the original performer does a cover.

3. Genre Independence. A performer working in a genre other than the genre associated with the original recording can render the song in a palatable way.

With the exception of a couple of centuries-old public-domain songs, the four groups of songs coming up for chord progression analysis were composed over a roughly 50-year period, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Most people would consider these songs to be classics.

A reminder: a Chase chart only represents the chord progression of a song—not the tune and not the rhythmic elements.

6.10.2

GROUP 1: LIST OF GREAT SONGS WITHOUT MODULATION OR CHROMATIC CHORDS

Here’s the first group of songs, nearly all of which are on the Gold Standard Song List. All of the songs in this group stay in the one key and do not borrow chords from other keys.

• “Heartbreak Hotel”

• “Tracks of My Tears”

• “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)”

• “When a Man Loves a Woman”

• “Walking after Midnight”

• “Five Foot Two”

• “Hey Joe”

• “Return to Sender”

• “Blue Moon”

• “Heart and Soul”

• “Midnight Train to Georgia”

• “Danny Boy”

• “Moondance”

• “All along the Watchtower”

• “I’ve Got You under My Skin”

• “Yesterday”

• “Star Spangled Banner”

Study the Chase charts that follow. You’ll pick up a lot of useful information about what makes the chord progressions work in these tunes. You’ll also learn how easy it is use Chase charts to map the chord progressions of your own tunes or any other song with a chord progression you’re curious about.

6.10.3

“HEARTBREAK HOTEL”: I – IV – V EIGHT-BAR BLUES

“Heartbreak Hotel” was introduced as an example a little earlier. Have a look at Figure 76 as you go over the basic “rules” for doing Chase charts.

FIGURE 76 Chase Chart of “Heartbreak Hotel”

Chase Chart Basics

1. Start with a drawing of the circular harmonic scale with Nashville Numbers (Roman numerals) on the inside of the circle and the chords of the particular key around the outside. Remember: the Nashville Numbers on the inside never change but the chords around the outside do change. You will find the circular harmonic scales for all 12 major/minor pairs of keys in Appendix 1. You can choose any key you like. In “Heartbreak Hotel,” the choice of the key of E major/C♯ minor is purely arbitrary.

2. To map the chord progression, start with the song’s first chord and draw an arrow to the chord it changes to other than a variant of the first chord.

In the example of “Heartbreak Hotel,” the first chord is E major. The next chord is E7, a variant of E major. For this chord change, you don’t need to draw an arrow, since E7 is just a variant of E major. All you need to do is label the chords at Nashville Number I as E and E7 to signify that the chord E and its variant E7 both appear at this position.

Next, the progression goes to A7. So the first arrow you draw goes from Nashville Number I to Nashville Number IV on the inside of the circle. (Nashville Number IV corresponds to the “A7" on the outside of the circle, a variant of what would normally be the chord “A”.)

3. Label the first arrow with the number “1" and draw a little circle at the base of the arrow labelled “1”. This serves as an easy visual marker that shows where the chord progression within the circular harmonic scale begins.

4. Next, the progression goes to the chord B7, so draw an arrow from the A7 position (Nashville Number IV) to the B7 position (Nashville Number V7). Number that arrow “2.”

5. Finally, the progression goes from B7 back to the tonic chord, E. So draw one more arrow from the B7 position (Nashville Number V7) to the tonic chord, and number that arrow “3.”

6. If the same chord change repeats, do not give the arrow another number.

For a simple chord progression such as the one for “Heartbreak Hotel,” you’ll only need to use one circle to map the whole progression. As you’ll see later, if the chord progression gets complicated, a Chase chart can get cluttered with too many arrows. When that happens, all you need to do is start another circle and continue on. Draw as many harmonic scale circles as you need. You may need several harmonic scale circles to do a Chase chart of one song.

Also, wherever the chord progression takes an obvious turn, which often happens when verse changes to chorus or bridge, start a new harmonic scale circle.

“Heartbreak Hotel” is an excellent example of a chord progression that orbits clockwise around the gravitational centre, the tonic chord. The progression moves from harmonic degree I to IV to V7 to I.

You can think of the chord progression for this song as a variation of the classic 12-bar blues pattern. It’s just compressed into 8 bars.

6.10.4

“TRACKS OF MY TEARS”: SUSPENSE OF HALF-CLOSES

The Chase chart of this song’s chord progression shows the same three-chord orbit pattern as “Heartbreak Hotel.” But “Tracks of My Tears” has a subtle change in the chord progression of the chorus that makes a big difference (Figure 77):

FIGURE 77 Chase Chart of “Tracks of My Tears” (Words and Music by Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marvin Tarplin, 1967)

In the verse, half closes alternate with full closes. A half close or half cadence is an imperfect cadence, a cadence that ends on the dominant chord. It leaves the ear in suspense, waiting for resolution.

In the chorus, unlike the verse, half closes continue until the end of the chorus. This infuses the chorus with a greater urgency to resolve. It keeps your brain in suspense.

It’s better to use a string of half closes like this in the chorus than in the verse. It’s an effective technique used masterfully in this song.

6.10.5

“JAMBALAYA (ON THE BAYOU)”: THE STRONGEST CHORD PROGRESSION IN ALL OF MUSIC

Wanna write a two-chord classic song? You could not pick two better chords than I and V7. Hank Williams, Sr., shows how it’s done (Figure 78).

FIGURE 78 Chase Chart of “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” (Words and Music by Hank Williams, Sr., 1952)

Chord progressions don’t get any simpler. And yet, over the centuries, that I – V7 – I progression has taken on all the other chord progressions in harmony and arm-wrestled them into submission.

In “Jambalaya,” fully half the song has unstable dominant seventh harmony, which keeps the listener on edge, expecting resolution.

In this song, Hank’s doing some interesting things melodically, too, which is why everybody knows the tune. It’s way, way easier to write a boring ol’ country song with a I – V7 – I chord progression than a great classic country song with a I – V7 – I. Chapter 9 discusses in detail what goes into making a memorable tune.

6.10.6

TWELVE-BAR BLUES: DECEPTIVE CADENCE AND “TURNAROUND”

You saw how the chord changes in “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Tracks of My Tears” simply orbit the tonic chord. Same thing with zillions of songs. Usually the orbit goes clockwise.

But sometimes the orbit reverses itself (Figure 79):

FIGURE 79 Chase Chart: 12-bar Blues

The final four-bar phrase of a 12-bar blues tune usually contains a deceptive cadence. That is, the V7 chord (B7 in the above example) does not resolve directly to the tonic.

The progression instead takes a detour through the IV chord (A in this example), comes to rest briefly on the tonic, then immediately “turns around” on the V7 chord to start the cycle over again. This keeps the tune driving on.

A cadential chord formula of this nature, usually in the last bar or two of a section, is called a turnaround. Some players call it a turnback.

6.10.7

“WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN”: ANOTHER KIND OF DECEPTIVE CADENCE

The Chase chart of the verse of this song maps another way of using a deceptive cadence to keep your brain in suspense and the progression moving right along (Figure 80).

FIGURE 80 Chase Chart of “When a Man Loves a Woman” (Words and Music by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, 1966)

This time, the progression moves from the V chord to the VIm chord, then to the I (tonic) chord, which takes the form of its unstable seventh variant (C7).

The tonic seventh in turn demands to move on to the IV chord. This keeps the progression moving, mostly via fifths and seconds, with only a single third progression (Am – C7).

6.10.8

“WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT”: PROGRESSION REVERSAL

In this tune, the Chase chart shows that three variant chords occupy harmonic degree IV: two in the verse and one in the chorus (Figure 81). These three chords are IV7, IVm7, and IV (F7, Fm7, and the default F, respectively).

“Walking After Midnight” is really a three-chord song, with variant chords at Nashville Number IV to provide harmonic variety. (Lyrically, the song is in the best tradition of country music, describing what it's like to stagger out of the saloon at midnight, only to find that your horse got bored and lonesome waiting around in the street and went home without you.)

FIGURE 81 Chase Chart of “Walking After Midnight” (Words by Don Hecht, Music by Alan Block, 1956)

“Walking After Midnight” uses a chord progression technique you’ll find in many country songs: the progression reverses itself in the chorus.

The verse progresses mostly in the common fifths-down pattern. But in the second part of the chorus, the pattern reverses to fifths up through the tonic. This creates a solid harmonic contrast between verse and chorus, providing more harmonic variety)

6.10.9

“FIVE FOOT TWO, EYES OF BLUE”: CONSECUTIVE SECONDARY DOMINANTS

Consecutive secondary dominants impart substantial forward momentum to a tune. They’re sevenths, and therefore unstable. And they move in fifth-down progressions. Here’s a classic example (Figure 82):

FIGURE 82 Chase Chart of “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” (Words by Sam Lewis and Joe Young, Music by Ray Henderson, 1925)

This chord progression happens to skip the chords F and Bº. What would happen if it didn’t? What happens when the progression goes from the I chord, C major, to the IV chord, F major, in the form of a secondary dominant, F7?

An interesting situation arises.

If you want to continue with a string of secondary dominants, then the chord F7 would normally be the secondary dominant of B♭, not B. Therefore the progression would be on its way out of the key.

How come? Because the progression IV – VIIº is the only progression in the circular harmonic scale where there are six semitones between the root notes of adjacent chords, instead of five semitones (Table 47).

TABLE 47 Semitones Between Chord Roots in the Harmonic Scale

Chord Progression	Example: Key of C / Am	Semitones Between Chord Roots
I – IV	C – F	5
IV – VIIº	F – Bº	6
VIIº – III7	Bº – E7	5
III7 – VIm	E7 – Am	5
VIm – IIm	Am – Dm	5
IIm – V7	Dm – G7	5
V7 – I	G7 – C	5

So, if F7 were to progress to B♭7, then B♭7 would be the secondary dominant of E♭. So B♭7 would function as a pivot chord, taking the progression into the new key (key of E♭).

However, F7 can also proceed pretty smoothly to Bº7, which is harmonically close to B♭7:

Bº7 = B, D, F, A♭

B♭7= B♭, D, F, A♭

And, being highly unstable, Bº7 seeks to move on to the next chord, which is E7. So the progression remains in the prevailing key.

6.10.10

“HEY JOE”: A FIFTHS-UP PROGRESSION THAT WORKS

With so many fifth-up chord changes, why does this song, immortalized by Jimi Hendrix, sound palatable (Figure 83)?

FIGURE 83 Chase Chart of “Hey Joe” (Words and Music by Billy Roberts, 1965)

Three reasons:

1. Movement to any chord from any other chord of the same type sounds palatable—especially if such movement forms a regular pattern of some kind (see the 10 chord progression guidelines near the end of this chapter). In this case:

• All of the chords are the same type (major triads), and

• The progression moves in the same fifth-up steps.

2. Using only consonant chords (major triads) helps offset the sonic weirdness of so many consecutive fifths up.

3. The first fifth-up progression is from the tonic chord, which makes it perfectly palatable, as discussed earlier in this chapter.

6.10.11

“RETURN TO SENDER” (AND LOADS OF OTHER SONGS THAT USE THE SAME PROGRESSION): A MELLIFLUOUS THIRDS-BASED PROGRESSION

This smooth progression owes its lack of forcefulness to the two consecutive third progressions at its heart, clearly mapped in this Chase chart. In this example, the third progressions are C – Am, and Am – F (Figure 84).

FIGURE 84 Chase Chart of “Return to Sender” (Words and Music by Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott, 1962); “Blue Moon” (Words by Lorenz Hart, Music by Richard Rodgers, 1934); “Heart and Soul” (Words by Frank Loesser, Music by Hoagy Carmichael, 1938); and a Zillion Other Songs Using This Progression

The first version of this progression uses consecutive thirds ... C – Am, followed by Am – F ... which makes the progression sound a bit too predictable and dull.

In the second version, making Dm the third chord in the progression (instead of F) creates three consecutive downward fifths of default chords.

Either way ... C – Am – Dm or C – Am – F ... this progression plays it safe.

On the other hand, while not vigorous, this progression has much to offer in some songwriting situations. It rolls right along with a stability and inevitability that’s well suited to lightweight lyrics. Many 1950s ballads and pop tunes have this progression.

6.10.12

“MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA”: TOTALLY AVOIDING FIFTHS UP

The Chase chart of “Midnight Train to Georgia” shows how this unusual progression avoids all fifths up, even fifths up to and from the tonic (Figure 85).

Both the verse and chorus are mapped on a single harmonic scale chart. It’s getting a tad cluttered. If you are doing a chart and find it’s getting too filled up with arrows, break it up into two or three (or more) separate harmonic scale circles, each showing the chord “map” for a different section of the song. In this example, the Chase chart could well have been broken into two parts, one for the verse, the other for the chorus.

FIGURE 85 Chase Chart of “Midnight Train to Georgia” (Words and Music by Jim Weatherly, 1973)

Although the progression has several fifths down, they do not form chains of three or more (as in the previous example). This preserves their strength while preventing predictability.

The song also features a dynamic, repeating upward second progression (Em7 – F – G), which propels the harmony forward with considerable vigour.

There are even a few third progressions, up and down.

Diversity makes this a powerful chord progression. A good mixture of fifths, thirds, and seconds keeps the harmony interesting while never straying from solid tonality.

6.10.13

“DANNY BOY”: A LITTLE MODE MIXING WITHOUT MODULATING

First, the words and chords:

This time, the Chase chart is broken into two parts. The first one maps the verse, the second maps the chorus (Figure 86).

FIGURE 86 Chase Chart of “Danny Boy” (Words by Fred Weatherly, 1913; Music by Rory Dali O’Cahan, ca. 1600)

The Chase chart of “Danny Boy” reveals a good mixture of fifths and thirds, with a brief second progression in the last phrase.

The notable thing about this progression is the smoothness (thanks to the third progressions) with which it integrates chords from the relative minor. The minor chord influence suitably matches the melancholy mood of the lyric.

This song goes back to Shakespearean times. The blind Irish harper Rory Dali O’Cahan wrote the tune that became known as “Londonderry Aire.” Fred Weatherly, an English lawyer and lyricist, arranged his already-written lyric, “Danny Boy,” to fit the tune. The match became one of the world’s greatest songs.

6.10.14

“MOONDANCE” A CLASSIC OF THE MINOR MODE

Second progressions and the minor mode combine to make the harmony for “Moondance” distinctive and evocative. The Chase chart reveals that the variant chord VIIm7 (Bm7) replaces the default chord VIIº (Bº) in the verse.

The progression shuttles between this variant chord and the tonic, itself a variant in the form of a minor seventh (Am7). These two somewhat dissonant minor seventh chords set the mood (Figure 87).

FIGURE 87 Chase Chart of “Moondance” (Words and Music by Van Morrison, 1970)

Then what happens? In the bridge/chorus, the harmony switches over to the other side of the tonic (the fifths down side), leaving the VIIm7 chord out of the picture.

The bridge/chorus provides excellent harmonic contrast to the verse. The song remains solidly in the minor mode. The progressions in the bridge/chorus are fifths down and seconds up. No thirds.

6.10.15

“ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER”: A MASTERPIECE WITH SECOND PROGRESSIONS ONLY

The following discussion refers to the original Dylan recording on the album John Wesley Harding, not the more famous (and equally magnificent) Hendrix cover.

This song spends half its time in minor and half in major harmony. But it doesn’t really modulate because it does not establish a tonal centre outside of the key of A minor.

The Chase chart of this three-chord song reveals no fifth or third progressions at all—only second progressions. The chords simply move back and forth between A minor (the tonic chord) and F major, via the transient G major chord (Figure 88 below).

The G major chord plays a vital role because, although it serves in a transient capacity only, its presence turns what would otherwise be a relatively weak third progression (Am – F) into a pair of strong second progressions (Am – G and G – F).

FIGURE 88 Chase Chart of “All Along the Watchtower” (Words and Music by Bob Dylan, 1968)

As for harmonic contrast, because the G major chord is transient, as noted, the song spends about half of its time in the minor mode, the other half in major.

With no fifths in sight, the song does not use any form of conventional cadence. It goes on and on restlessly, shifting back and forth, back and forth, major to minor to major to minor, until the song ends on the minor chord, the key’s tonic chord.

6.10.16

“I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN” A 20-CHORD MASTERPIECE

Now for the other extreme. How in blazes does Cole Porter stuff this exquisitely-wrought three-minute masterpiece with 20—count ’em, 20— chords without modulating, and without borrowing chromatic chords?

First, an inventory of the chords he uses in “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Starting with the major tonic chord and moving clockwise around the harmonic scale, here are all the chords (Table 48):

TABLE 48 Inventory of Chords: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

Nashville Number	Default and Variant Chords
I	C	CM7	C7	Cº
IV	F	Fm	Fm6
VIIº	B	Bm7
III7	E7
VIm	Am	Am7	A	A7
IIm	Dm	Dm7
V7	G	G7	G+	G7♭9

Even though the song has a lot of minor chords, it does not modulate because, by definition, modulation means establishing a new tonal centre. This song does not do that.

The progressions takes quite a few twists and turns, so four harmonic scales are enlisted to map the whole thing (Figure 89 below).

The first harmonic scale in the Chase chart shows that the song begins conventionally enough with a repeating sequence of fifths down. A couple of interesting points:

• Porter starts the vocal on the IIm chord instead of the tonic.

• He uses minor seventh variant chords in place of minor default chords for added push.

This four-chord progression repeats fours times, firmly establishing tonality.

Then, as the Chase chart maps, in the second and third harmonic scales, Porter brings in the other three degrees of the harmonic scale, and simultaneously introduces a lot of variant chords at every harmonic degree except III7 (E7). The effect is a rich harmonic experience without the slightest sense of loss of tonality.

Finally, the song returns to the same cycle of chords it began with (more or less).

FIGURE 89 Chase Chart of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (Words and Music by Cole Porter, 1936)

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” makes use of the chords of all seven degrees of the harmonic scale—a comparative rarity. Here’s another one that does the same thing.

6.10.17

“YESTERDAY”: ONE OF THE MOST COVERED SONGS OF ALL TIME

As this Chase chart shows, within the first verse, “Yesterday” goes through all seven harmonic degrees. McCartney uses notable variant chords at two harmonic degrees:

• G major in place of G minor at harmonic degree II;

• Em7 in place of Eº at harmonic degree VII.

The minor seventh serves well as a variant of the diminished chord at harmonic degree VII because the minor seventh contains two out of three of the notes of the diminished chord (Eº = E, G, B♭; Em7 = E, G, B, D). This is the same variant chord Cole Porter uses in “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

It’s notable that the very first chord change is I – VIIm7, an unusual move. As discussed in “10 Chord Progression Guidelines” at the end of this chapter, movement to any chord from the tonic chord sounds palatable, although it usually happens after tonality is firmly established. Not the case here. (Figure 90 below)

FIGURE 90 Chase Chart of “Yesterday” (Words and Music by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965)

The verse ends with a plagal cadence (IV – I), which is somewhat unusual.

The chords used in this song are just ordinary majors, minors, and sevenths. But chord progression diversity—an interesting mixture of fifths, thirds, and seconds (and a couple of well-chosen variant chords)—makes this tune harmonically interesting.

6.10.18

“THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER”: A BRITISH TEEN’S GREATEST HIT

Here’s the chord progression arrangement used in the Chase chart of “The Star Spangled Banner” (melody composed by John Stafford Smith in his late teens):

As discussed in the introduction to modulation in Chapter 5, “The Star Spangled Banner” uses a tonicization or two, but doesn’t really modulate (Figure 91).

FIGURE 91 Chase Chart of “The Star Spangled Banner” (Words by Francis Scott Key, 1814; Music by John Stafford Smith, ca. 1768)

As the above Chase chart shows, the strength of the chord progression—derived from an exceptionally well-constructed melody—resides in its robust seconds and descending fifths.

Third progressions appear only briefly.

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You are reading the FREE SAMPLE Chapters 1 through 6 of the acclaimed 12-Chapter book, How Music REALLY Works!, 2nd Edition. Here's what's in Chapters 7 through 12.

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TABLE OF
CONTENTS

PART I

The Big Picture
Introduction

   1. W-5 of Music
   2. Pop Music
      Industry

PART II
Essential
Building Blocks
of Music
   3. Tones/Overtones
   4. Scales/Intervals
   5. Keys/Modes

PART III
How to Create
Emotionally
Powerful Music
and Lyrics
   6. Chords/
      Progressions