Use Chord Progressions when Writing Music For Dummies http://www.dummies.com/howto/content/usechordprogressions...

Use Chord Progressions when Writing Music

Chord progressions are the patterns that music composers use to put musical notes
and chords together. When you write music, chord progressions are critical in writing
songs that sound harmonious and have the desired tones.
If you look at Western harmonic music, you can see patterns emerge in the ways chord
progressions are built. It is possible for any one chord to progress to any one of the
other chords in a key; however, certain chord progressions are used more frequently
than others. Why? Because they just sound better.
These natural patterns are pleasing to listeners and composers alike, and therefore
they appear in popular music, classical, rock, jazz, and so on. Music theorists have
taken note of those patterns and come up with a set of "rules" concerning chord
progressions. These "rules" are immensely helpful in songwriting. The following tables
show common chord progressions for major and minor chords, along with the
corresponding chord names for key of C major and C minor.
Uppercase Roman numerals represent major chords; lowercase Roman
numerals represent minor and diminished chords.

Common Major Key Chord Progressions

Chord Chord in C Major Scale Leads to
I C Can appear anywhere and lead anywhere
ii Dm V or vii chords
iii Em IV or vi chords
IV F ii, V, or vii chords
V G vi chords
vi Am ii, iii, IV, or V chords
vii B I chord

Because minor scales offer some flexibility in the sixth and seventh notes of the scale,
you have more chord possibilities to account for. For example, in a C natural minor
scale, the chord built on the seventh note would be Bb major, but if you're writing in the
harmonic minor scale, that seventh chord would be a diminished B chord (B). The
parentheses around some of the chords indicate less commonly used chords, but they
are still acceptable and they would work in the progression.
Common Minor Key Chord Progressions
Chord Chord in C Minor Leads to

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Use Chord Progressions when Writing Music For Dummies http://www.dummies.com/howto/content/usechordprogressions...

Scale
i chords Cm Can appear anywhere and lead
anywhere
ii (ii) chords D (Dm) V(v) or vii (VII) chords
III (III+) chords Eb (Eb aug) iv (IV), VI (#vi), or vii (VI) chords
iv (IV) chords Fm (F) V(v) or vii (VII) chords
V(v) chords G (Gm) VI (#vi) chords
VI (#vi) Ab (A) III (III+), iv (IV), V (v), or vii (VII) chords
chords
vii (VII) B (Bb) i chord
chords

Some of the most common chord progressions in popular music are I-IV-V-I, I-ii-V-I, and
i-iv-V-i.
Like everything in music and art in general, you are the creator of your work, and you
can decide whether you want to follow the rules or try something completely different.
Just for fun, try playing, or just listening to some chord progressions to get a feel of how
easy it can be to build a great songor at least a halfway decent pop song.
Listen to the I-V-I (G Major-D Major-G Major) chord progression in G major.
Listen to the I-ii-V-I-iii-V-vii-I (CM-Dm-GM-CM-Em-GM-Bdim-CM) chord progression in
C major.

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