Composition Project: Chord Progressions

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman. Today we're going to get started on a composition project. I believe that becoming a well-rounded musician means not just learning how to play music by other composers, but learning how to compose original music for yourself. Let's come to the piano to get started. Every composition needs some starting off point. Way back in unit 1, our starting off point was a rhythm that you composed first, and then we added a melody on top of that. In other composition projects, we started with a mood that we wanted to create and then built out from there. Today, our starting off point is going to be a chord progression, and this is the starting off point I used to compose "Autumn Moon," which we also learned in this unit. For "Autumn Moon," I chose this chord progression: And then I just repeated that chord progression throughout, but that was my starting point. It can be a fun way to build a composition around a really great chord progression, so let's start by choosing a chord progression. I'll walk you through an example. Like let's say I chose the key of F. To do a chord progression, we need to first choose a key, so I'm going to choose F major. Of course you're you're welcome to choose whatever key you want for your composition, but let's go with F for right now. Now, in choosing a chord progression, it's helpful to play through the diatonic chords for the key that you're in to see what options you have. So in F major we have the I chord, the ii chord, iii chord, IV chord, V chord, vi chord, vii chord or I chord. Those chords are our building blocks for a chord progression. Now, the most common chords in music are the I chord, the IV chord, and the V chord. So those are good chords to think about starting with. Other common chords are the ii chord, and the vi chord are also really great chords. And then least common, at least in popular music, are the iii chords and the vii chords, but you know nothing's off limits. But for today, let's try putting together a chord progression. We could go I, V vi, IV. That's a really great chord progression. Or what if we did I, then ii, then vi, then V. Also a really great chord progression. Now what about minor keys? We had F major, but let's use the relative minor of F. So we can keep the same key signature. D minor is the relative of F because it has that B-flat. Here's the i chord, ii chord, III chord, iv chord, v chord, VI chord, VII chord, i chord. In a minor key, some of the most common chords are actually a little different. The III chord is pretty common. The iv chord also, and then the v chord tends to use the harmonic minor scale. So we sharp that C for the V chord. The VI chord is also fairly common as well as the VII chord. Remember, one really common chord progression is in minor is to go with the i, then the VII, then the VI, then the V. That can be a really cool chord progression. Whoops, sorry. It's most common to use that sharp, that C-sharp on the V chord. Okay. So we can go like i, III, VI, V. That would work. So, pause the video and choose a key. Play through the diatonic chords, and then figure out a chord progression of four chords. Let's go with four chords. That's a good number to use, and write down your chord progression, and then press play to go on. Now, let's go back to one of the chord progressions I wrote for F major. We did I, V, vi, IV. And I want to mention that in music you cannot copyright a chord progression. So if you ever hear a chord progression you really like from another piece of music or something that I play, feel free 100% to copy it. It's totally allowed. Musicians have been copying and borrowing chord progressions from each other for centuries, and it's perfectly legal, acceptable and encouraged. So if you like this chord progression that I'm showing you, use it in your own compositions. Once you have a chord progression that you like, next up today I'd like you to choose an accompaniment pattern to use as a kind of ostinato. Like what I used in "Autumn Moon" was this kind of pattern where you go up a fifth and up a fourth. So in the key of F, here's my I chord, then here's the V chord, then here is the vi chord then here's the IV chord. See, that's a very basic and commonly used commonly used pattern in music. A fifth plus a fourth just has a really solid sound. So now I'm just playing that chord progression using that pattern, and then I can just keep repeating that throughout my entire composition. If I want to vary it, maybe I can drop down an octave, but it's the same pattern. Now I'd like you to come up with not just one, but maybe two possible ostinati patterns. So instead of maybe only doing that, you could also do this kind of thing. I'm using eighth notes. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-&. That can sound really cool too. or you can do power chords where I'm using kind of a syncopated rhythm here. 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&, 1-& 2-& 3-& 4-&. So those are three different options, but the possibilities are unlimited. You can use a full three note chord. See, that's an option as well. Pause the video and come up with a ...