{"id":15473,"date":"2023-09-29T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=15473"},"modified":"2023-09-28T14:06:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T21:06:59","slug":"beautiful-famous-chord-progressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/beautiful-famous-chord-progressions\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Beautiful and Famous Chord Progressions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Anyone can improvise! In this lesson, we\u2019ll share three famous chord progressions that anyone can improvise beautiful melodies over. This lesson is beginner-friendly and we\u2019ll walk you through everything you need to know, step by step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a common misunderstanding that improvisation is only for musical geniuses. But it\u2019s a skill that anyone can learn, even beginners. You don\u2019t need to know how to read sheet music, and you don\u2019t need perfect pitch. What you <em>do <\/em>need are a few basic ingredients, which we\u2019ll show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><p><strong>Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p><nav><ol><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-cinematic\">The Cinematic<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-lana\">The Lana<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-romantic\">The Romantic<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#improv-techniques\">Improv Techniques<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Get exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"box-snippet\">\n<div class=\"shadow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div><i class=\"fas icon fa-piano\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-container\">\n<p><b>Sheet Music Resources:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Download all the progressions and exercises in standard notation <a href=\"https:\/\/d1923uyy6spedc.cloudfront.net\/beautiful-piano-in-minutes-assignments-1695736550.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-cinematic\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>The Cinematic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first progression we\u2019ll learn, I like to call the Cinematic. It creates a movie-like, emotional atmosphere. The chords in this progression are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\" style=\"color:#f61a30\">Dm &#8211; C\/F &#8211; C &#8211; G<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how I like to play these chords:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/Cinematic%20Progression.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>C\/F is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/slash-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slash chord<\/a>. That means we play the C major triad with our right hand and an F in the bass with our left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might notice that I play the C chord in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chord-inversions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2nd inversion<\/a>. This makes it easier for us to transition between chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you\u2019re comfy with the chords, try breaking up the notes in your right hand to create some melody. If you need some inspiration, here\u2019s a melody you can try:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"222\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-1024x222.png\" alt=\"Piano sheet music with simple melody for chord progression.\" class=\"wp-image-15474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-1024x222.png 1024w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-300x65.png 300w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-768x166.png 768w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-1536x332.png 1536w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/25163658\/famous-piano-chord-progressions-2048x443.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Psst: If you\u2019ve watched <em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em>, <em>Friday Night Lights<\/em>, <em>Suits<\/em>, the Olympics, or various sporting events and commercials\u2026you\u2019ve probably heard the song this progression comes from: \u201cTo Build a Home\u201d by the Cinematic Orchestra. It&#8217;s a beautiful song with Patrick Watson singing. Check it out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Cinematic Orchestra - &#039;To Build A Home&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oUFJJNQGwhk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-lana\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>The Lana<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This one is absolutely beautiful. It\u2019s a melancholic chord progression thanks to two minor chords:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\" style=\"color:#f61a30\">Am &#8211; C &#8211; Em &#8211; F<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s how I play these chords. I\u2019m using all inversions here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/Lana%20Progression.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>These are beautiful voicings, but you can experiment with all sorts of voicings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"box-snippet\">\n<div class=\"shadow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"content\">\n<div><i class=\"fas icon fa-piano\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-container\">\n<b>HOT TIP!<\/b> You can easily transpose a chord progression into another key by assigning a number to each chord. For example, our Lana progression is based on the first, third, fifth, and sixth notes of the A minor scale. So, the same chord progression in E minor would also be based on the first, third, fifth, and sixth notes of that scale. Therefore, in E minor, our chords would be Em, G, Bm, and Cm.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you guess which song this progression comes from? It&#8217;s \u201cVideo Games\u201d by Lana Del Rey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lana Del Rey - Video Games\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cE6wxDqdOV0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-romantic\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>The Romantic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a chord progression you\u2019ll <em>definitely <\/em>recognize. Why? Because it\u2019s used everywhere, from Pachelbel\u2019s Canon in D to Maroon 5\u2019s \u201cMemories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The awesome thing about this progression is that, with the right inversions, you can play it as a simple walk-down in steps. Check it out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/Romantic%20Progression.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>You can make it sound fancier but substituting in a sus chord, like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"279\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-1024x279.png\" alt=\"Sheet music notation of F-Gsus4-G.\" class=\"wp-image-15479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-1024x279.png 1024w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-300x82.png 300w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-768x209.png 768w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-1536x418.png 1536w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081531\/romantic-progression-gsus4-2048x557.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also try breaking up the chords. Here&#8217;s a broken arpeggio pattern I like. All I do here is break up the notes of each chord voicing and play top-bottom-middle-bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"257\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-1024x257.png\" alt=\"Canon in D progression in broken arpeggios.\" class=\"wp-image-15480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-1024x257.png 1024w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-768x193.png 768w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-1536x385.png 1536w, https:\/\/pianote-blog.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/26081815\/romantic-progression-broken-2048x514.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Experiment with mood for this progression. You can play it lightly and romantically. Or, go dark and dramatic. Green Day uses this progression in \u201cBasketcase,\u201d so it even fits punk rock! The possibilities are absolutely endless!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"improv-techniques\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Improv Techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone can improvise beautiful music on the piano. You don&#8217;t need to be a musical genius or even famous chord progressions. But you do need to understand a few things&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To improvise, we first need to know what key we&#8217;re in. I&#8217;ve introduced each progression in this lesson in C major, so that&#8217;s the scale we&#8217;ll stick with for now. Notice that in C major, we have seven scale degrees:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/C%20major%20scale%20degrees.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>We can build a chord on each scale degree. These are called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/diatonic-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">diatonic chords<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we build a chord on the first, fourth, and fifth degrees of the scale, using C major&#8217;s key signature, we end up with the major chords C, F, and G. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/Beautiful%20progressions%20I%20IV%20V.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>And if we build a chord on the second, third, and sixth degrees of the scale, using C major&#8217;s key signature, we end up with minor chords Dm, Em, and Am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<video playsinline=\u201c\u201d autoplay=\u201c\u201d src=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2023\/3%20Famous%20Chord%20Progressions\/Beautiful%20progression%20ii%20iii%20vi.mp4\" loop=\"\" muted=\"\" width=\"100%\"><\/video>\n\n\n\n<p>If you mix and match these chords, you can create beautiful progressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And guess what? You can play a melody using any note from C major on top of this progression. All C major notes are fair game and will sound good. Neat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h3 style=\"font-size:22px;\">\ud83c\udfbc <b>Learn Your Favorites, Step By Step With Full Sheet Music Downloads<\/b><\/h3><p> As a Pianote+ Member, you\u2019ll get access to our 10-step Method, song library, and growing community of piano players just like you. Plus: get coached by world-class pianists who have played with rock stars.<\/p><center><a class=\"join\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TRY PIANOTE FOR 7 DAYS<\/a><\/center><br><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three famous and beautiful chord progressions to improvise over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1104,507],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chord-progressions","category-chord-theory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15473"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15519,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15473\/revisions\/15519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}