How to create exciting chord progressions for a Christian musician on the guitar

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to share with you all my method of creating new and exciting chord progressions.

Before we get into it,  let’s have our moment of silence.

At this time, I would like all of us to take a moment of silence and pray to God to help us to achieve our dreams. Take a minimum of 5 minutes and pray for these things. 

Now back to the show

How to create exciting chord progressions

So when it comes down to it, all chord progressions have already been made. Every chord pattern that you can possibly think of has probably already been done. 

So the point isn’t to make some odd chord and hope that it sticks with the crowd, because then you would do nothing but jazz. But rather, it’s finding new ways to use the same chords that you’ve always used. 

I know sometimes we play songs that looks like they have different chords, but in reality it’s just another chord shaped differently to sound just slightly better. 

Personally, I stick close to open chords and using the capo because that fits my voice the best. 

But the arts come out when you can be resourceful in the resources that you have in order to make a great song. 

However, obviously barre chords and power chords have their place in the music world.

So I’m not saying to ignore them, but what I am saying is to pick carefully whether it’s a barre chord or an open chord, or even a power chord. 

There are perfect times to use Jazz voicings, but also perfect times to use open chords. 

So there’s that. 

But I get it, you want some general rules to follow when making chord progressions for your pop, rock, hip-hop, or country songs right? 

Well sit down and take a notepad and pen because I just started this blog post and I have loads of wisdom to share. 

Let’s start. 

Write chords that are completely different from the surrounding chords

Now I’m about to sound “on the contrary” to what I’m going to say later on in this post, but trust me when I say that both methods work just fine. 

So write chord progressions where the next chord is completely different from the previous or surrounding chords. 

It’s actually a real reason why the I-V-vi-IV chord progression is so popular. You literally see that chord progression in a lot of hot pop songs because it just sounds so good. 

And it’s not just pop that uses it, every other genre uses it too. 

Another chord progression and it’s varieties that sound good but are different are the I-IV-V Chord progressions. 

You can flip that chord progression quite a few ways and it would sound good. 

The reason why these chord progressions sound good is because the contrast between each chord plays with the emotions that we have. And that contrast is the thing that gives those emotions. 

Write chord progressions that sound SIMILAR to each other

So in music theory, if you hold on to the same note for a long time, it too gives off emotion. 

Because if you are constantly changing the notes, it’s more difficult to digest as a listener the notes that are being played. 

That’s why there are some chord progressions that sound really good, even though they use a lot of the same notes. 

And you can use those chords too, a lot of suspended chords in G or C can sound really similar to chords that are diatonic within those keys. 

So look around for suspended chords in C or G and you might find a sound that you like. 

A good chord progression where the chords are identical would have to be a I-vi-V-IV chord progression. 

The first two chords in that chord progression are C and Am in the key of C. and those notes are C-E-G and A-C-E for C and Am respectively. Notice that in both chords the notes C and E are used at the same time and the only note that changes is the root note. 

Maybe you’ve heard that song Baby by Justin Bieber. It uses this chord progression. 

Write patterns

I know that we want to write songs that have a million different chords in them. But honestly it’s unnecessary. 

We need to write songs that have patterns. 

We need to write songs that repeat so that way our listener can be evoked with emotion. 

Don’t try and reinvent the wheel

Don’t try and reinvent the wheel because if you do, you might end up selling to a jazz concerto rather than a stadium. But hey if that’s your thing, then go for it.

Use transitions

A transition can be a rhythmic element or a melodic element. Either way, use them to your advantage to keep your audience on their toes. 

A transition is the part in the song that TRANSITIONS (big shocker right) from one part of a song to another. 

Say for example if you’re singing the first verse, it could take the form of a drum fill, or just a different way that you strum the guitar. 

It could be a little pause to give the chorus an epic intro, but whichever way you decide to make the transition, just make sure it fits with the song. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time. 

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!