Complicated chord progressions.

Jocko

That segue sounds similar to the problem I am having. I am learning Desperado and The Girl From Yesterday (easy number) at the same time. However, they are both in G, but the easy chord runs are partially in the opposite order. I keep slipping from one pattern into the other!

DaveBass

The aim should be to make a song your own, not try to slavishly copy someone else's version.

Take Amazing Grace for example. (Yes, please take it! As far away as you can.)

You can play it over a single chord, say C, throughout and 90% of people will accept it as correct.

Or you can play it over three chords, say C, F and G, and another 9% will take it as correct.
So that's 99% of listeners happy.

To satisfy the remaining 1%, which would include me I'm afraid, you'd have to include some C7, Am(7?) and G7 chords as well. And possibly a few more to really jazz things up.

The choice is yours. Own the song, don't just borrow it.

Dave

nicholaspaul

Own the song, don’t just borrow it- I like that!

And for the record, I’m with the 1% who would play Amazing Grates with more chords. The more the merrier! Chuck in an Em7 and F/G for good measure.

DaveBass

nicholaspaul said:

The more the merrier!

May I respectfully disagree? There's an optimum for everything, and more isn't necessarily better. Of course everyone's optimum will be in a different place, but as musicians we should think of our listeners, who by and large are musically less sophisticated than us (a polite way of saying they know what they like and they like what they know).

Never forget that many of the world's most popular and lucrative songs use just three chords. And some one-chord songs have made a lot of money too!

Dave