Chord progressions: A Practical Course with Theo Laurent

Start with the purpose

Place Chord progressions inside a small creative brief with a clear audience, mood, or purpose. Name the result a learner is trying to produce and the constraints that make the skill useful.

How Chord progressions actually works

These are the load-bearing ideas. Everything later in the course is an application of one of them, so it is worth reading slowly and returning to when something stops making sense.

• Triads are stacked thirds counted in semitones. A major triad is the root plus four semitones plus seven, so C major is C, E, G. A minor triad lowers only the middle note to three semitones, so C minor is C, E flat, G.
• Sevenths are named by the interval above the root. A dominant seventh adds ten semitones above the root, making G7 into G, B, D, F, while a major seventh adds eleven, making G major seventh into G, B, D, F sharp. That single semitone is the difference between a chord that pulls to C and one that sits still.
• Diatonic chords follow a fixed quality pattern. Every major key produces the same qualities in order: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished. In C that gives C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and B diminished, which is why the I-V-vi-IV progression in C is C, G, Am, F.

Misconceptions worth clearing early

Each of these is common, understandable, and expensive to leave in place. Recognising them now saves rework later.

• Treating C7 and C major seventh as the same chord. The symbols look similar, so the two get used interchangeably as if they were voicings of one chord. Fix: C7 contains B flat while C major seventh contains B; play them back to back and the harmonic function changes, not only the colour.
• Learning shapes without learning the notes. Guitar and keyboard shapes work immediately, so the intervals underneath never get learned. Fix: Name the three notes aloud every time you play a triad, and within a few weeks transposing stops requiring a chart.
• Editing while generating. Judgement feels like quality control. Fix: Separate the sessions: make first without evaluating, then critique in a distinct pass.

Build the mental model

Connect the key terms as a process rather than a word list. Use this sequence: collect references, make a rough draft, develop one choice, and revise with focused critique.

Catch the common miss

Compare a surface-level attempt with one that shows intentional choices, craft control, a coherent result, and thoughtful revision. Explain the single difference that matters most.

Watch the whole process

Trace a model from the initial prompt to a finished draft with process notes. Mark each point where the learner must observe, choose, or verify rather than act automatically.

Worked example: Mapping a standard verse-chorus arrangement

Follow each step and predict the next before you read it. Predicting first is what turns a demonstration into practice.

1. Verse 1 sets the situation over a sparse arrangement, typically eight or sixteen bars.
2. The pre-chorus lifts the melody and thins the instrumentation for four bars to create expectation.
3. The chorus arrives with the title line, the fullest arrangement and the highest melody notes of the song.
4. The bridge follows the second chorus with new harmony or a shifted viewpoint, then the final chorus returns with one element added, such as a doubled vocal.

Arrangement, not only chords, is what tells a listener which section they are currently in.

Where this usually goes wrong

Watch for these while you work through the demonstration rather than afterwards.

• Verse and chorus sitting in the same register. Writers compose in a comfortable range, so the chorus lands where the verse did and stops feeling like an arrival. Fix: Move the chorus melody up by a third or more, or lower the verse, so the contrast registers before the words do.
• A bridge that is just another verse. Bridges are usually written last and tend to reuse the verse chords with fresh lyrics. Fix: Change something structural: begin on a different chord, alter the harmonic rhythm, or move to the relative minor.
• Editing while generating. Judgement feels like quality control. Fix: Separate the sessions: make first without evaluating, then critique in a distinct pass.

Practice with scaffolding

Repeat the model with one detail changed. Keep the prompts visible and say or write the reason for each choice before continuing.

Check before feedback

Use intentional choices, craft control, a coherent result, and thoughtful revision as the quality test. Make one self-correction before asking the tutor to review the result.

Read the situation

Translate the scenario into a clear task. Separate facts, assumptions, constraints, and information that is interesting but not relevant to Lyric revision.

Choosing well under real constraints

Applied work is mostly judgement under limits: less time, less information, and more competing goals than a textbook example allows. These are the decision rules that hold up in practice.

• You feel stuck mid-piece: Reduce the scope rather than abandoning it; a finished small version teaches more than an abandoned large one.
• Feedback conflicts: Weight it by whether the person is your intended audience, and look for the note repeated by several people.
• A piece is nearly done but not exciting: Ask what single element you would defend, and strengthen that instead of smoothing everything.

Reading the situation before acting

Before choosing an approach, state three things explicitly: what result the situation actually requires, which constraints are fixed rather than preferences, and what evidence would tell you the approach is working. Skipping this step is the most common reason competent work solves the wrong problem.

• Triads are stacked thirds counted in semitones. A major triad is the root plus four semitones plus seven, so C major is C, E, G. A minor triad lowers only the middle note to three semitones, so C minor is C, E flat, G.

Practitioner notes

Small pieces of working knowledge that rarely appear in introductory material.

• Practise the changes rather than the chords. The gap between two shapes is where the time is lost, so drill the transition alone against a metronome.
• Learn the inversions of every triad early. Moving to the nearest inversion instead of the root position is most of what makes accompaniment sound smooth.

Compare real options

Generate two workable approaches and test both against the purpose. Do not hide the tradeoff; name what each option improves and what it gives up.

Make the reasoning visible

Produce a finished draft with process notes and attach a short decision note. The note should make the result auditable, not merely confident.

Use the rubric, not a feeling

Review the work for intentional choices, craft control, a coherent result, and thoughtful revision. Record evidence for each judgment so feedback points to something observable.

Diagnostic checklist

Run this before you revise anything. Diagnosing first prevents the common failure of polishing the parts that were already fine.

• Check: Treating C7 and C major seventh as the same chord — is this present in your work?
• Check: Learning shapes without learning the notes — is this present in your work?
• Check: Editing while generating — is this present in your work?
• Check: Chasing a vague sense that it is not good enough — is this present in your work?

The quality bar

This is what finished work looks like in this field. Use it as the standard for your revision rather than a general sense of improvement.

• The work is finished to a shareable state, not left at draft
• Choices are deliberate enough that you can explain two of them
• A specific improvement has been identified for the next piece

Diagnose before editing

Name the symptom, then ask what decision or missing step produced it. Choose the cause you can address rather than changing everything at once.

Revise and compare

Make one purposeful revision and compare the two versions. Keep the change only if it improves the intended result without creating a larger problem.

Define a finishable brief

Choose a specific audience, result, and boundary for the Creative routines capstone. Reduce scope until the project can be finished and reviewed in one focused cycle.

Bringing the parts together

A capstone is judged on coherence, not on the number of techniques it includes. Return to the core ideas and make sure the work demonstrates them rather than decorating them.

• Triads are stacked thirds counted in semitones. A major triad is the root plus four semitones plus seven, so C major is C, E, G. A minor triad lowers only the middle note to three semitones, so C minor is C, E flat, G.
• Sevenths are named by the interval above the root. A dominant seventh adds ten semitones above the root, making G7 into G, B, D, F, while a major seventh adds eleven, making G major seventh into G, B, D, F sharp. That single semitone is the difference between a chord that pulls to C and one that sits still.
• Diatonic chords follow a fixed quality pattern. Every major key produces the same qualities in order: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished. In C that gives C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and B diminished, which is why the I-V-vi-IV progression in C is C, G, Am, F.

Standards that make the work credible

These are the marks of work that would be taken seriously by someone who does this professionally.

• The work is finished to a shareable state, not left at draft
• Choices are deliberate enough that you can explain two of them
• A specific improvement has been identified for the next piece

Practitioner notes

Small pieces of working knowledge that rarely appear in introductory material.

• Practise the changes rather than the chords. The gap between two shapes is where the time is lost, so drill the transition alone against a metronome.
• Learn the inversions of every triad early. Moving to the nearest inversion instead of the root position is most of what makes accompaniment sound smooth.

Build with checkpoints

Plan foundation, first draft, verification, and revision milestones. At each checkpoint, save evidence instead of relying on memory.

Present and continue

Present a finished draft with process notes with a concise rationale. Use the final rubric to choose one strength to retain and one next practice target.