Why You Should Be Writing Chord Progressions Backwards

There’s a sure-fire way of writing killer chord progressions: Write them backwards.

Thinking of the end point of your chord progession first, and then working towards it, ensures that you’ve got a progression that makes sense and doesn’t ramble.

In essence, you can come up with a working chord progression if you make sure it sticks to these steps:

• States the tonic chord
• Moves by a series of logical steps to a ‘tense’ chord
• Resolves that tension by returning to the tonic via a cadence

What does a chord progression usually do?

Often they start with the tonic, then move through a set of different chords before finding there way back to the tonic.

So C Am F G C starts on the tonic C, then moves through others before returning to C.

Em C G D Em (used in a lot of pop songs at the mo.) starts with the tonic Em then moves through others to return to Em.

Both of these end in what we call a Cadence.

The Cadence

The cadence is the end of a musical phrase. Think of it as the last two chords of a progression. V to I (Eg. G to C or D to G) is one of the most common cadences, and playing that is a great way to make a progression sound finished.

Lots of very common chord progressions work towards just this cadence.

For example, the classic ii V I used in many jazz songs eg. Dm G C – the G and C at the end form that cadence.

IV to I is another well known example.

C G/B F C for example ends in this cadence.

There are others too – in the minor key you often get the seventh chord moving to the tonic – eg. D to Em or G to Am.

Why am I mentioning cadences?

They’re the perfect device to put at the end of a progression, but how does that help me write a chord progression backwards?

Here’s the idea. Choose a cadence, let’s say G to C. Makw that the end of your chord progression.

Now all you need to do is move logically towards that G and you’ll have a chord progression that makes sense.

As an example, let’s decide we’re going to have a progression of 5 chords. I’ve just decided that the last two are G and C.

I’m also going to choose C as my first chord, because that’s the key I’m in.

C ___ ___ G C

I have two blanks to fill in. As the movement from G to see is a fall of a fifth, I’m going to approach the G in the same manner.

Fall of a fifth?

G is the fifth note of the C scale: C d e f G.

So moving from G to C is a fall of a fifth.

I want two chord that fall in fifths towards G, so I’ll extend the scale:

C d e f G a b c D e f g A

D is a fifth above G. A is a fifth above D.

In C major it just so happens that the D and A chords are both Minor.

So here’s my chord progress:

C Am Dm G C

Sounds okay. What’s the point?

The point is that by using logical principles I came to chord progression that works.

Chords that fall in fifths like this are very common, particularly in Jazz and early 20th century popular song. They can sound a bit dated, but maybe that’s what you want.

The most common of all is the simple cycle of fifths chord progression:

I – IV – viio – iii – vi – ii – V – I

C F Bdim Em Am Dm G C

The chord progression I used in our example is just an extract of this longer common chord progression.

It also follows the ideas I set out at the start. It:

• States the tonic chord (C)
• Moves by a series of logical steps (of a fifth) to a ‘tense’ chord
• Resolves that tension by returning to the tonic via a cadence (C to G)
  

Do I have to use fifths?

Not necessarily. Falls of a fourth for example, are very common.

I mentioned this chord progression above:

Em C G D

The cadence here is unfinished – on a D – which then finishes when the chord progression goes back to the E minor on the repeat.

(This is also a modal cadence slightly different from the ‘main’ four cadences that more classical music might focus on, but still just as effective)

Let’s look at what happens leading up to that D:

G is a fourth above the D. C is a fourth above the G.

So this chord progression also:

• States the tonic chord (Em)
• Moves by a series of logical steps (of a fourth) to a ‘tense’ chord
• Resolves that tension by returning to the tonic via a cadence (D to em)

Alternatives

There are lots of different ways of doing this – different cadences with different sounds to them – more interested chord choices you could make (Try the cycle of fifths, but make every chord a dominant 7. It’ll still work)

The basic point though, is sound. Decide how the chords are going to end first, then work out how you’re going to get there.