10 Emotional and Sad Chord Progressions You Should Know - LANDR Blog

7/25/2020 10 Emotional and Sad Chord Progressions You Should Know | LANDR Blog
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By Patrick McGuire PRODUCTION TIPS 09 . 08 . 19
https://blog.landr.com/emotional-chord-progressions/ 1/17
LANDR is the creative

Music plays a lot of different roles in
our lives.
platform for musicians: audio
But at the end of the day music is
Patrick McGuire is a musician, writer,
about emotion. The best way to
and educator. He creates music under
connect with your listeners on a
the name Straight White Teeth and
collaboration, promotion
has a great affinity for dogs and
human level is through honest,
putting his hands in his pockets.
emotionally rich work.
and
sample packs.
Conveying the right emotions when
you write songs isn’t easy. But some
chord progressions can evoke
Try it free
powerful feelings right away.
Today we’re sharing five distinct

moods you can create in your songs
using emotional chord progressions.
To get the most out of this article,

you’ll need to have some basic music
theory knowledge like how to build
chords and Roman Numeral Analysis.
Take a second to brush up if you need
a refresher.
Another progression that can sound

unexpectedly happy is the 12-bar
blues.
I know what you’re thinking. Why is a

blues progression doing here in the
happy chord progression session?
This progression was born from the

blues and is now featured in countless
songs from many genres.
Instead of “happy” or “sad,” this

progression is a blank musical slate
that’s easy to create with.
The verse sections of The Beatles’

Can’t Buy Me Love are great examples
of the 12 Bar Blues progression in
action:
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Epic chord More about LANDR
progressions
10 Powerful Chord Progressions E

sample packs.
From the hero’s journey to music that
reflects the power of nature, epic
chord progressions turn your songs’
Try it free emotional intensity up to eleven.
Our first progression is the active

ingredient in a huge number of hit
tracks—for a good reason. Each chord
adds a new layer to its satisfying
emotional arc:
This progression can be heard across

many musical genres, from John
Denver’s Take Me Home Country
Roads to The Cure’s A Letter To Elise:

The Cure - A Letter To Elise (O ci

sample packs.
Try it free
But epicness can occur wherever
there’s heightened emotion. One
progression that never fails to tug at
the heartstrings is the unique cycle of
chords found in Pachelbel’s canon:
Pop artists from Vitamin C to Oasis

and Belle & Sebastien have brought
this stately yet epic emotional chord
progression into modern music:
Oasis - Don’t Look Back In Anger (
Sad chord
progressions
Sadness is an unavoidable part of life.
But it’s also the basis for lots of great
music.
What sounds sad changes from

person to person, but there’s a few
emotional chord progressions that
signal sadness right away.
e chord Some chord progressions have strong

associations with a specific era. This
ressions have
one is sometimes called the “50s
progression:”
ng associations
a speciﬁc era.
It’s especially common in doo-wop

music and classic love songs from the
era of pop crooners:
Righteous Brothers - Unchained M
Try the 50s progression if you want to

evoke some classy sadness and
nostalgia.
Here’s another one that’s sure to give

you the blues:
Don’t let the inverted chords in this

progression fool you—it’s based on a
simple descending bass line.
Minor chords and downward motion

combine with a slow tempo to create
an atmosphere of loss and despair:
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Re
A variation of this descending minor

progression can be heard on Led
Zeppelin’s rendition of Babe, I’m
Gonna Leave You
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Cool chord More about LANDR
progressions
Coolness is impossible to define. If
you could it wouldn’t be cool anymore!
What Are Chords? How To Write B
Luckily, there are some chord

progressions that can bring a sense of
coolness to your tracks.
From slowed down jams to meditative

tracks, many “cool” chord progressions
are inspired by complex jazz
harmonies.
m slowed down Here’s an example:
to meditative
ks, many “cool”
d progressions
nspired by
plex jazz
monies.
This chord progression appears in

Chris Isaak’s windswept country torch
song Wicked Game.
The major IV chord is borrowed from

the parallel major, providing an
unexpected yet stable resting place for
the moody harmonic sequence:
Wicked Game
This next one has been a staple chord

progression in pop music over the
past two decades.
By turning the V chord into a minor, it

subtly surprises listeners to create an
interesting mood:
Coldplay uses this progression in

multiple songs, including Clocks:
Coldplay - Clocks (O cial Video)
Weird chord
progressions
Every once in a while, it helps to build a
song on a weird chord progression.
Borrowing chords from other keys is a

great way to play on your listener’s
expectations and put them in a weird
place.
rowing chords
m other keys is a
t way to play on
listener’s
ctations and put
m in a weird place.
This progression uses an unexpected
major chord to add some nice tension.
The Arcade Fire use this progression
for their song The Suburbs:
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (O cia
Happy chord
progressions
Happy means something different to

all of us. But in musical terms,
predictable progressions with major
chords reflect contentment and
happiness.
There’s nothing more straightforward

than a simple progression based on I,
IV and V:
But simple progressions like this feel

amazing when used well:
Twist And Shout (Remastered 200
To make things more exciting you can

try a progression with a little more
tension like this:
In this example II7 acts as a

predominant chord for a gospel style
cadence.
This extra tension produces an

expectant sound that can feel like
giddy excitement that builds as the
progression develops.
Cee Lo Green - Forget You
Create, we'll do the rest The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Loabout

Lo…
More … LANDR
Emotional intelligence
These emotional chord progression
examples are a great start, but you’ll
need to present them in a compelling
way if you want to connect with
listeners.
Instrumentation, music production,

and storytelling go a long way in
music.
There’s no perfect formula for making

emotionally impactful music, so you’ll
need to experiment to see what works
for you!

10 Emotional and Sad Chord Progressions You Should Know - LANDR Blog

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7/25/2020 10 Emotional and Sad Chord Progressions You Should Know | LANDR Blog

Create, we'll do the rest More about LANDR

Inspiration Production Tips

Create, we'll do the rest More about LANDR

LANDR is the creative

Today we’re sharing five distinct

To get the most out of this article,

Another progression that can sound

I know what you’re thinking. Why is a

This progression was born from the

Instead of “happy” or “sad,” this

The verse sections of The Beatles’

Create, we'll do the rest More about LANDR

Sign-up to our newsletter

Enter Your Email Subscribe

You'll like that too.

INSPIRATION INSPIRATION PRODUCTION

Mastering About What is mastering Make your mail more

LANDR© 2020 All rights reserved

Create, we'll do the rest

LANDR is the creative

Our first progression is the active

Create, we'll do the rest More about LANDR

This progression can be heard across

LANDR is the creative

platform for musicians: audio

Pop artists from Vitamin C to Oasis

Oasis - Don’t Look Back In Anger (

What sounds sad changes from

e chord Some chord progressions have strong

It’s especially common in doo-wop

Righteous Brothers - Unchained M

Try the 50s progression if you want to

Here’s another one that’s sure to give

Create, we'll do the rest More about LANDR

Don’t let the inverted chords in this

Minor chords and downward motion

While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Re

A variation of this descending minor

Create, we'll do the rest

What Are Chords? How To Write B

Luckily, there are some chord

From slowed down jams to meditative

m slowed down Here’s an example:

This chord progression appears in

The major IV chord is borrowed from

This next one has been a staple chord

By turning the V chord into a minor, it

Coldplay uses this progression in

Coldplay - Clocks (O cial Video)

Borrowing chords from other keys is a

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (O cia

Happy means something different to

There’s nothing more straightforward

But simple progressions like this feel

Twist And Shout (Remastered 200

To make things more exciting you can

In this example II7 acts as a

This extra tension produces an

Cee Lo Green - Forget You

Create, we'll do the rest The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Loabout

Instrumentation, music production,

There’s no perfect formula for making