Chord Progressions Can Come Alive – with PLANING

The Essential Secrets of Songwriting Blog

Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
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If you’re like most songwriters, you’re probably looking for ways to liven up your chord progressions. There’s a technique that’s been known to composers of the “Classical” genre (particularly during the “Impressionistic” era) for many years. It’s called planing, and it can take what would ordinarily be a very normal-sounding chord and give it new life. Here’s how it works:

Try playing this progression:

Dm7  Em7  F#m7  Dm7  Cm7  Bm7  Dm7  Am7  Bm7

The structure of each chord is identical. Normally when you see a Dm7 you might expect to see it followed by G7. But in this case, that chord structure is moved around, almost regardless of the key it’s in. This…

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