Trying to get this basic stuff down before end of October Banjo camp. Missed a lesson somewhere on chord progression, what it is and stuff. HELP!
Need to Know?
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You’ll be ok Carl! Can you describe what you need a bit more?
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had someone ask me yesterday out of the blue What Goes with “D” cord. Said didn’t really know but depends on the way the song was written. She said I didn’t know &&^%%^&&&. So I’m trying to find out.
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There are some basic music theory videos here, but you may not have time to absorb all of that in 2.5 weeks.
In a nutshell, a chord progression is the pattern of chords in a song. At camp, you’ll probably learn about the Nashville number system. In the NNS, every chord in a song gets a number. The root note is 1, then the other notes in the root’s scale gets a sequential number.
So:
C D E F G A B =
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Or
G A B C D E F# =
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
So if you chart out Boil Dem Cabbage Down using the NNS, it looks like this:
1 4 1 5
1 4 1/5 1
Each number gets 4 beats. The 1/5 is splitting 4 beats, so 1 gets 2 beats and 5 gets 2. The beauty of this system is that you can use this chart to play the song in any key you like. You just have to know what the 1,4,&5 are of the key you choose.
Most bluegrass songs will have at least a 1-4-5 in the progression. A 2 is a common transition chord to a 5. What gets really cool is if you study this using the circle of 5ths. You find out that the 2 works the way it does because it’s actually the 5th of the 5th. That’s why when your ear hears a 2 chord, it’s begs to be resolved to the 5.
This can get deep pretty quick, so I’ll leave it there so you can ask questions.
See you at camp!
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Just learn the Nashville number system and maybe stop playing with her…
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If she is asking clearly she doesn’t know &&^%%^&&&. either. Don’t panic, there is a ton of stuff I still don’t know do I worry? You’ll be fine at Cabin Camp the whole purpose of attending camp is to learn and have fun whilst your learning.
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Fire her (even if you’re not her student). Negativity and criticism doesn’t promote learning. You’ll get it in your time.
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