R&b Chord Progressions Piano

Take Your R& b Chord Progressions Further

Once youve mastered the basics of triads, extensions, inversions and other chord shapes, the R& B genre is your playground. Have some fun with production assigning chords to different instruments, weaving bass lines through your progressions, and synth parts that build on chord progressions with interesting top-line melodies. Dont forget that almost all of the chord theories outlined in this feature can be applied to R& B vocal harmonies too but thats a huge topic for another day. If you havent already, start exploring some sampled instruments to use when planning your chord progressions.

Contemporary Gospel And R& b Passing Chords

The next step to play Contemporary Gospel and R& B piano is to add passing chords. Passing chords are a defining characteristic of Contemporary Gospel and R& B piano. Now, when you first hear pianists adding these chords, it can seem very mysterious. How do they know which chords to add and which ones sound good?! Today, Im going to show you one of the most commonly used passing chord techniques called the 2-5 Trick.

How Do I Start Making Music

If youre new to making music, there are a few things you need to know before getting started. Youll need some software or hardware to create your music, and youll need to learn some basic concepts about how music is made.

There are a variety of software and hardware options available for making music. If you want to make music on a computer, you can use a program like GarageBand, Logic Pro, or Ableton Live. You can buy a guitar, keyboard, or drum set if you want to make music using traditional instruments.

Once you have the necessary equipment, youll need to learn the basic music theory concepts. This includes learning about notes, intervals, scales, and chords. There are a variety of online resources available that can help you learn this information. Once you have a basic understanding of music theory, you can start creating your own songs.

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I Vi Iii V In F Major

This chord progression is Etta James At Last in F Major:

This one is squarely in the key of F major and follows the patterns of many progressions that came out in the late 50s and early 60s. This is because using some combination of I, vi, and V was used a lot! Sometimes it would use IV instead of iii.

If you use this formula, youre guaranteed to get the sound of this time and place.

R& b Piano Chords Are Often Times Just Jazz Chords

The chords in this lessons are all minor chords. Most of the time Im playing the root of the chord in my left hand and the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th of the chord in my right hand. These chord voicings can be used in both R and B, neo soul, jazz, and hip hop too. Theyre very versatile.

If you want to learn more about these chords you can check out this lesson on minor jazz piano chords.

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How To Write Smooth R& b Chord Progressions

Knowing the right scales to use is essential for achieving the R& B sound, however, the chord progressions you play these scales over, are equally important. A simple chord progression won’t always make the cut for R& B music, but there are a lot of techniques you can use to make your chords fit the genre.

We’re going to start with a simple chord progression of Fm, Bbm, Gm, and C then, transform it into a more R& B sounding harmony, by applying some of the techniques we’ll share below.

Major Two Five One: Ii V7 I

The major two five one uses the second and fifth chords from its major key.

Miles Davis composition Tune-up is a perfect example of using the two five one to reach different tonal centers.

The harmony throughout the song changes to the keys of D major, C major, and B flat major by using their related two five one progressions.

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I7 Iv7 Vii7 Vi In C# Minor

This chord progression is from Stevie Wonders Isnt She Lovely in C# Minor:

C#m7 F#9 B11 E

This progression has been very popular amongst guitar players over the past several years as it fits well on the fretboard, and is a great framework for using tapping and percussion techniques.

Notice that this one is also using Jazz voicings we mentioned earlier, but only uses 4 bars. So remember its okay to write short chord progressions if thats what you want.

Circle Of Fifths Progression

C:| III7 E dominant 7 | VI7 A dominant 7 | II7 D dominant 7 | V7 G dominant 7

The circle of fifths progression is when each chord will flow through the in ascending fourths, or descending fifths.

In this progression, the chords remain dominant and will cycle through the circle.

The bridge in the Rhythm Changes form uses the circle of fifths progression. You can hear the cyclic harmony in Charlie Parkers bebop lines:

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How To Find The R& b Chord Progressions Piano For A Song Or Arrangement

The first step in choosing the r& b chord progressions piano for a song or arrangement is deciding what music style you want to create. Once you have chosen a style, you can begin to select specific r& b chord progressions piano that will create the sound you are looking for.

Another important consideration when choosing instrumentation is the range of the r& b chord progressions piano. Some instruments may be too low or too high for the range of the song. When selecting instruments, make sure to consider the range of each one so that they will all be able to be heard clearly.

Finally, you will need to choose the right combination of r& b chord progressions piano to create the desired sound. This can be a difficult task, but with some experimentation, you should be able to find the perfect combination.

To make your purchase go smoothly and you wont regret it later, its best to make a list of the questions to ask when buying a r& b chord progressions piano:

What type of r& b chord progressions piano do you want to buy?

What is your budget for the purchase?

Are there any specific features you are looking for in the r& b chord progressions piano?

Which brands are reputable and produce high-quality r& b chord progressions piano?

How often will you be using the r& b chord progressions piano?

Is it better to buy an acoustic or electric r& b chord progressions piano?

Is the r& b chord progressions piano easy to carry around?

What Are Chord Extensions And Alterations

Chord extensions and alterations are notes that we can add to 7th chords. Chord extensions are the 9, 11, and 13, and chord alterations are the b9, #9, #11, and b13. By adding these notes to your chords, youll be able to achieve the rich, beautiful chords that the pros play.

Now, in this lesson, Im not going to go into detail explaining what the chord extensions and alterations are . However, if you already know your extensions and alterations, lets talk about how to use them on your chords.

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I I V7 V7 I I Iv I I In A Major

The next example is a chord progression from Ray Charles Ive Got A Woman in A Major:

A6 A6 E7 E7 A6 A6 D7 A6 A6

This one is very similar to the 12 bar blues format but not quite as strict to the formula. Youll see that it goes to V before going to IV and back to A6. Although Ive been knocking the tendency to stick with these 3 harmonies, there are plenty of ways to add variety to the progression.

Notice also that the progression is using a D7 chord, which contains C natural and is not a part of the A major scale. Here it is again for reference:

A major scale = A B C# D E F# G#

A6 = A C# E G F#

E7 = E G# B D

D7 = D F# A C

There will be many times when, like earlier, chromaticism wont come from a parallel mode but this is not the case. The C natural in D7 does come from A minor, which is the parallel minor key to A major.

This is a common use when creating chord progressions because the harmonies in A major and A minor overlap and dont differ by many sharps. By sharps, I mean that A major has 3 sharps total while A minor has none .

The combination of C# and C in particular is another use of blues/jazz harmony. Any time you see a chord using these intervals together in some way is a sign that the songwriter was going for this type of sound.

Passing Diminished Chord: I #io7 Ii V

Passing diminished chords help transition from one chord to another. They do this by using a chromatic movement in the bass.

Passing diminished chords help transition from one chord to another.

Most diminished chords serve a dominant function. In this example the C# diminished isnt too different from the secondary dominant A7.

If you take an inventory of notes for both chords youll see that theyre very similar.

A7: A C# E GC#dim7: C# E G A#

Youll find this chord progression in the beginning of the popular jazz standard Have you met Miss Jones?

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Top 10 Best R& b Chord Progressions Piano Reviews & Comparison

Wonder about how to choose the top best r& b chord progressions piano 2023? Genuine reviews and comparisons from experienced professionals make shopping easier.

Just as athletes need the right equipment to perform their best, musicians require the r& b chord progressions piano to make beautiful music. Whether youre a beginner or an experienced player, having the right r& b chord progressions piano can make all the difference in your performance. We surveyed more than 65501 opinions from music experts, amateur musicians, and music lovers to choose the best r& b chord progressions piano to recommend to our readers.

In this article, well discuss some of the r& b chord progressions piano that every musician should have. Well also provide tips on how to choose the right gear for your needs. Lets get started!

A Guide To Improvising Deep And Soulful R& b Chord Progressions

So you would like to be able to improvise those deep soulful chords with a lot of emotion and tension?

R& B/soul or even blues chord progressions tend to have a lot more tension than other genres of music. Deeper neo-soul with artists such as Jill Scott, Erkah Badu, D’Angelo, Bilal, etc. tend to have chords with so much tension that they are technically outside the scale similar to Jazz, but the phrase will usually finish with a “coming home” note, usually in the Major key.

I am not too big on music theory myself so I won’t be going into too much depth with explanations. I would rather like to show you some effective R& B chord progressions which can even be applied for the guitar that can be used to build tracks. I tend to discover most R& B chords by trial and error, although recently, I have developed a technique to quickly find nice chord transitions.

See below for some nice R& B chord progressions I have picked up over time.

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Why Learn Jazz Chord Progressions

Even if jazz isnt your main genre, learning these progressions will help you expand your musical vocabulary.

If youre feeling stuck in a creative rut with your , learning new concepts from is one of the quickest ways to break through.

On top of that, modern genres like R& B and neo-soul have deep musical roots in the harmonic and melodic traditions of jazz.

Modern genres like R& B and neo-soul have deep musical roots in the harmonic and melodic traditions of jazz.

Once you learn a few jazz progressions youll start to see how these timeless patterns are essential learning for musicians.

What Are The Most Common R& b Chord Progressions

To end things off, here’s a list of common R& B chord progressions you can use. Have a look through them, try them out in various keys, and apply some of the techniques we’ve covered to spice them up.

Maybe you’ll create your next R& B banger from one of them.

Here’s the complete list of common R& B chord progressions:

• Gm7 A7#5) Dm7 G
• Em9 Cmaj9 Am9 B7#9
• Fmaj7 Em11 Am9 Am/F#
• F#maj11/13 Bm9 C#m7
• Cmaj7 A7 Dm7 G7
• Cm7 Fm7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Dm7 Bdim7

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Blues Scale And Fills

As you can hear in the video I use little melodic fills here and there. These little soulful fills are mostly made of the blues scale.

The blues scale is an easy scale to play. Its just a 5 note scale. First, start with a major scale and build your scale using the formula below:

• Blues Scale Construction: 1, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7, 1

So, in the key of E the major scale notes are E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D# E. You would flat the 3rd note , the 5th note , and the 7th note .

If you want to learn another song that features the blues scale heavily I recommend you also check out this Chariot piano tutorial.

Learn The 3 R& b Piano Chords

Well only need to know the 3 following chords for this lesson: C major 7th, F major 7th, and Bb Major 7th. Check out the sheet music below of the chords:

Heres the specific chord progression well be using with these chords. Well come back to it later:

Sounds cool right? Definitely has that r& b flavor. But how have we constructed these major 7th chords?

You might be familiar with regular 3 note major or minor chords, formed by stacking 3rd intervals . If not, then be sure to check our Beginner Piano Foundations .

When we get to 7th chords, we simply need to stack another 3rd above the triad. This means all 7th chords contain 4 notes. Be careful though because we do have many types of 7th chords. In order to play a major 7th, we need to make sure that we are playing a major 7th above a major triad.

Lets talk about 4 different ways to construct a major 7th chord. Well be using C major 7th to demonstrate the first 3 ways:

As you can see we start with the ordinary C major triad, then to find the major 7th. The first way is by using the interval method. We start from the root, then stack a major 3rd, minor 3rd, and a major 3rd above it.

The second way to go up the C major scale until you reach the 7th note. That is your major 7th.

A short cut for this, also the third way, is to go a half step down from your root. You now can put this note on top as your major 7th.

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Harmonic Minor Chord Progression

The Harmonic Minor scale does require a little additional theory knowledge to tackle. Think of this as an alteration to your standard Natural Minor Scale

Starting with the A Natural Minor Scale, you have:

The C Major chord becomes a C Augmented and the G Major becomes a G# Diminished. This means you now have a B Diminished and a G# Diminished, as well as a C Augmented.

The Diminished and Augmented chords in this grouping wont work too well in conventional pop or rock music due to their slightly dissonant feel, but if youre applying this scale grouping to jazz it works great.

You could use the Harmonic Minor to play a typical jazz 2 5 1 which is a Bdim, Em and A chord:

Or you could carefully use the C Augmented chord to walk between the 1 and 4 chords which gives you an alternating bar of A to D with a Caug at the end of each bar walking between the two main chords:

How To Create Your Own Progressions

When it comes to creating your own piano chord progressions, you have complete freedom and virtually limitless options. However, as a beginner, its wise to follow a few guidelines that will help you develop an effective, ear-pleasing progression.

The first step in developing stellar chord progressions is to have a comprehensive understanding of the chords that youre working with. As aforementioned, major and minor chords have enormously different impacts on musical tone. Major chords generally have a light, breezy sound, while minor chords have a deeper, more troubled sound. Consider coupling major and minor chords for an interesting, uncommon sound.

Theres a myriad of excellent online resources for beginning pianists to learn about chords. I recommend checking out How to Play Piano Chords – A Beginners Guidebefore diving into chord progression development. It will give you the background information that you need to create effective, great-sounding compositions.

Additionally, there are many piano chord progressions pdf resources online today that visually lay out common piano chord progressions and how theyll change depending on what key theyre in. These visual tools may help you get started if youre stuck in the music writing process.

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What Are Ways To Choose A R& b Chord Progressions Piano

There are a variety of ways to choose a r& b chord progressions piano when studying music. Some people may be drawn to a certain type of r& b chord progressions piano, while others may want to try out every type before making a decision. Here are three ways to choose an instrument:

• Choose the r& b chord progressions piano you are most drawn to. This may be the r& b chord progressions piano you have always wanted to play or the one that seems to call out to you. If you are unsure which r& b chord progressions piano to choose, try playing them all! You may find that one feels more natural than the others.
• Ask your friends or family what r& b chord progressions piano they play. This can be a great way to get started because you will already know how the r& b chord progressions piano works and its capabilities.
• Attend a music class or lesson and try out different r& b chord progressions piano until you find the right one for you. This is a great way to learn about different instruments and decide which one is right for your individual playing style.