Seeking Cool Chord Progressions

[Fretboard Toolbox]

Hello to all,

I'm working on the latest edition of my Fretboard Toolbox books, and I want to include a section on each key's page that gives some cool chord progressions, in both Major and minor keys, to try once the reader knows the I, ii, iii, IV chords etc. for a given key. I was hoping some folks from Mandolin Cafe can help me by posting some of their favorite chord progressions. I'm not looking for the most obscure progressions, but just a representative sample of fairly commonly heard progressions so people can start hearing chords in relation to each other.

To start:

Major:
I-IV-V (e.g. G Major-C Major-D Major)
I-V-IV (e.g. G Major-D Major-C Major)
I-vi-IV-V (e.g. G Major- E minor- C Major- D Major)
I-III-IV-iv (e.g. G Major- B MAJOR- C Major- Cminor) (my personal favorite lately- I love how heart-wrenching the change from IV to iv sounds.)


Minor:
i-iv-V7 (e.g. E minor- A minor- B7)
i-VII-VI-V (e.g. E minor-D Major-C Major-B MAJOR) (has kind of a Spanish sound)

Thanks for any cool progressions that you'd like to share! I'm especially interested in the kinds of progressions that would be played commonly in jam sessions!

Scott

[Phil Goodson]

One of my favorites:

I-V-I-I7-IV-iv-I-VI-II-V-I

["Umm, fish?"]

On long static passages (with the same chord forever), I like:

I, I maj7, I maj-min, I6

or vice versa.

[Pete Martin]

If you want cool chord progressions, study some Jazz!

[ednew]

How about a blues turnaround?

G G7 C6 C#dim G7 Eb9 D9

One beat per chord except D9.

Ed