Chord Progression Theory Hacks to Make Your Chorus Stand Out (feat. "Down with the Drama")
Hello, we are Kate Harmony & Ray Harmony (AKA Revolution Harmony), and welcome to the Hack Music Theory show, where you are empowered with notation-free theory for making great music in DAWs.
In this video you’ll learn how to make your chorus chord progressions stand out from all those boring template-style progressions.
Hack 1: Change the Changes If there’s just one thing you do to make your chord progressions better, let it be this hack. It’s arguably the most effective yet easiest way to make your chorus chords stand out from all those overused chord-progression templates. This hack involves syncopating the harmonic rhythm, which is basically a fancy way of saying that you change chords in between the 1/4 notes (i.e. on the off-beat)
Hack 2: Extend By Melody As you probably know, triads (like F♯m) are the simplest type of chord as they only contain three notes, and extended chords (like F♯m7) are more complex chords as they contain four notes, or even more (like F♯m9). Now, most songwriters and producers approach extended chords as block chords, which means they think of each chord as one thing. With this hack, you’ll approach extended chords as two things, the triads below, with a melody above.
Lastly, do you struggle to finish your music? If you do, then check out our online apprenticeship course, where you’ll learn how to effortlessly write new sections for existing sections, how to transition between them, and most importantly, how to finish your songs! For more info, just head on over to our Apprenticeship Course. Alright, enjoy the video/podcast. But first… tea!
Kate & Ray Harmony (AKA Revolution Harmony)
Music Teachers & Producers in Vancouver BC, Canada
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ABOUT
Hack Music Theory is the pioneering notation-free method for making great music. Taught by award-winning music lecturer Ray Harmony, and his protégé (and wife) Kate Harmony, from their studio in Vancouver BC, Canada. Ray is the author of critically-acclaimed book series "Hack Music Theory", and has made music with Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Ihsahn (Emperor), Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs), Madchild (Swollen Members), and many more. Kate has the highest grade distinction in Popular Music Theory from the London College of Music, and is the only person on the planet who's been trained by Ray to teach his Hack Music Theory method! While these Hack Music Theory YouTube lessons teach music theory for producers and DAW users, they are designed to accommodate all music makers (songwriters, guitarists, etc.) and all genres, from Electronic Music to R&B, Pop to Hip-Hop, Reggae to Rock, EDM/Dance to Metal (and yes, we djefinitely Djent!).
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