first off, let me say that i do not have the luxury of working with a guitar teacher (although i am currently lining one up) so all of what i have been learning, or trying to learn, has been from this site, watching video instruction, and occasionally practicing with a more accomplished guitarist... at times i hear things that confuse me and i have few outlets in which to pose questions and obtain answers...
i just finished reading tom's article, 'untangling chord progressions' and i have the following question based on a recurring, confusing concept...
when learning the I IV V chord progression, why is it sometimes that i see V7 being incorporated? or in the case of playing in the key of C; i see the C, F, G7 chords?
In the article I showed the scale harmonized in triads (V = major chord) and sevenths (V = V7 dominant). The dominant chord really must move somewhere, because it's got so much tension, and the logical place is down a fifth from V7 to I.
As a result, most songs will use V7 instead of V to exploit the tension and make a stronger cadence.
You'll see the same thing on chords other than V when they go down a fifth, particularly in blues. A 12-bar blues may start off:
I - I - I - I7 - IV - etc.
with the tonic played as a dominant 7th chord in the fourth measure. That adds tension, and makes the chord lean heavily down a fifth... to the IV chord, which is next in the progression.
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so is it more of a cadence thing?
Hey Tom, read you article as well and enjoyed it...still reading the print out!
Right now, however, I'm at the simple, early stages of chord progressions and only really have a handle on the I-IV-V...now, if I'm correct, and let's take the key of C for our example...then the main chords I would be dealing with (theoretically), would be C, F & G major and D, E, A minor and the B would be diminished or something other than a maj or min, right?
I mean at the most basic level...is that the right foot to start on this path?
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Yes on both counts... tonedeaf, it is a cadence thing. When you go I7-IV, it's an authentic cadence in the key of IV (the original I is the V of IV). This is the strongest resolution in music, so it's used most often - as V7-I, as I7-IV... you can even use it for odd things like VI7-ii and get away with it if you do it right!
geetar66, those are the chords you come up with harmonizing the major scale in triads. The I, IV, and V are used in thousands of songs that don't even have any of the others (and the viiº doesn't show up very often).
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Often the 7 chord's used on the I and IV as well as the V in blues.
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ok... thanks, that helps
