The main characteristics of chords

Pop music generally only talks about major chords, and rarely redefine the minor chords as a separate key, because the relationship between major and minor chords **** in pop music is very common, if you use the classical harmonic interpretation will be upside down to confuse.

The following is an example in the key of C major. There are 7 basic chords***: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 1, 4, 5 are known as major triads, 2, 3, 6 are known as minor triads, and the 7th chord is very rarely used in popular music. 1 is also known as the dominant chord, 4 is also known as the subdominant chord, 5 is known as the subordinate chord, and 5 is known as the dominant chord. Here are the properties of each chord, which are very important!

C, the 1st chord, is used to specify the key. Songs in major keys usually start and end with it. However, you can minimize the use of major chords in the middle of the song, otherwise it always gives a sense of termination and the progression of the song will be hard.

Dm, the 2nd chord, is a very soft chord, and its most important use is to be placed before the dominant chord, the 5th chord. The 5th chord naturally goes back to the 1st chord, so it's easy to create a 2-5-1 progression. This is an extremely common progression.

Em, the 3rd chord, is also a very soft chord. The progression becomes soft and slightly sad, and the 1-3-4 progression, C-Em-F in the key of C major, is a very common one. Sometimes you can consider changing the chord from 1 to 3 in a piece of music, and the music will immediately become less forceful. This technique is very common in RTHK music.

F, the 4th chord, is another major triad, one of the backbone chords. It is very bright, and makes people feel open-minded, and have a feeling of "flying" at once. We hear American country music and songs about the prairies and the Grand Canyon in the west using 4th chords, and a 1st chord followed by a 4th is definitely different from a 3rd chord.

G, the 5th chord, is the third major triad in the major scale, and is essential to any song. It supports the main chord. The sense of termination of a piece of music is created by a progression like 5-1. Of course, there are many songs in modern pop music, especially in Europe and the United States, that do not use the 5-1 termination, which is a characteristic of pop music, but the 5th chord is still unshakeable as the skeleton chord of music.

Am, the 6th chord, a neutral chord, would be minor if it were used as a dominant chord. The song definitely becomes melancholic and sad. If the 6th chord is found in some part of a major key, it acts as a bridge between the different chords. the 6th chord is like a bridge, it can be used to connect almost all the chords in front of it, and behind it too. It makes the chord progression coherent and not stagnant. 1-6-4-5 is the most common progression, in fact you can write a song with these four chords.

Bdim, the 7th chord, is rarely used in popular music. Because it is a diminished triad, it has an inward contraction of tension, and is generally only used in certain specific progressions, or for the flow of the root note.