what are some good depressing chord progressions?

[bball_1523]

Does anyone know of any good depressing chord progressions for keyboards?

 

I usually mess around with a lot of key changes and going from major to minor to get the sad/depressing effect.

 

Do any of you like doing this with your compositions? If so, do you have any favorite progressions?

 

Here's one of mine:

 

A min - Ab maj - Ab min - G maj

 

and adding melody to those chords makes it sound even better.

 

Oh and a sample of your playing would be cool too! I'll post one later.

[Mintbeetle]

It's not really depressing -- I would describe it as "bittersweet" -- but I really really love I - vi (lowered an octave) - IV - V. It's used in tons of 50s doo wop songs and probably best known as the first 4 chords in "every breath you take". It's very beautiful played as an arpeggio.

[scarecrowbob]

To me, the most depressing chord progressions aer ones I thought I wrote but then recognize somewhere else.

 

Frankly, I find the "theme from a summer place" to be most depressing. too much hard sunlight when I think about the song...

 

I play C am Dm G

 

And it is an obvious fact that Dm is the saddest key of all .

[clusterchord]

here's a definetely gloomy one, play slow with dx7 bells layered with some massive, dark stringy pad (a la jx):

 

Dbm Cm/Eb Dbm/E Bm or:

 

I - VII(6/3#) - I(6/3) - VI(natural)

 

rising bass line.

 

intro to a dead can dance track on "within the realm of dying sun". dont remember which track anymore.. (disk got stolen long time ago)

 

 

in general, lotta hollywood style scary progressions are chromatic modulations of minor triads, sus2/4's or minor 9-7's via one common tone. for ex. Dbm - Em - Am - F#m etc

[kooki_sf]

go listen to some debussy.

[XorAxAx]

Go buy a score to Mozart's Requiem and Bernstein's 1989 recording of it.

 

No, really. There's some really amazing stuff in there. It's not the Mozart you think you know. Great depressing stuff in which to find chord progressions. The Lacrimosa movement in particular stands out.

[bball_1523]

here's another cool one:

 

i-VI

 

example: Cmin-Amaj

 

sounds really epic and adventurous to me.

[eminor9]

Portishead's 'Roam'

Verse: Amin-Amin/G-Fmaj7-E7

Chorus FMaj7-G6-Amin Fmaj7-G6-E7

 

Air's 'Sex Born Poison'

Verse: Fmin-E-B/D#-A/C#

Chorus: play notes B-C-C# and then Dmin-F-Bb7/F-G7/F

 

Air's 'How does it make you feel'

Verse: Gmin-G#maj7-F-A-Eb-Cm-C#-Dm-C#-Dm

Chorus: F-Am/E-Dm

 

Pink Floyd's 'Great Gig in the Sky':

Bm-F-F6-F-Bb-F/A-Gm7-C9

Fmaj-Bbmaj7-Ebmaj7-Cmin7-F7-Bbmaj7-Ebmaj7-Bb

Bb/D-Bbm/Db-F#7-Bm

 

Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' (score available free online.

[stikygum]

I know people notate different, but what does VII(6/3#) mean?

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by clusterchord here's a definetely gloomy one, play slow with dx7 bells layered with some massive, dark stringy pad (a la jx): Dbm Cm/Eb Dbm/E Bm or: I - VII(6/3#) - I(6/3) - VI(natural) rising bass line. intro to a dead can dance track on "within the realm of dying sun". dont remember which track anymore.. (disk got stolen long time ago) in general, lotta hollywood style scary progressions are chromatic modulations of minor triads, sus2/4's or minor 9-7's via one common tone. for ex. Dbm - Em - Am - F#m etc

 

[SaltyDogg]

Hmmm... I am lost on that one too. Was trying to get my head around it but I'm no expert on notation.

 

If the key is Db... then Cm would be a "sharpened" VII? But Bm should be a minor VII instead of a VI?

 

The Eb and E refer to the base line... but wouldn't they be notated as II and III?

 

 

Clusterchord, can you shed some light?

[imissthewar]

My favourite is A - C#m - G - Bm

[Guest Guest]

 

Originally posted by clusterchord Cm/Eb VII(6/3#)

 

 

I see what you're saying, but a better way to notate this would be:

 

?vii(6/?3)

[Don Solaris]

 

Originally posted by Mintbeetle It's not really depressing -- I would describe it as "bittersweet" -- but I really really love I - vi (lowered an octave) - IV - V.

 

Mintbeetle can you give me some hint about "I - VI - IV - V" thing, or am i playing something wrong:

 

http://www.rolandsynthesis.com/tmp/Sound001.mp3

 

(this way i played it i just dont find it interesting. I hope i did something wrong.)

 

AFAIK you dont need to write "vi", as VI is always a minor.

[Guest Guest]

 

Originally posted by Don Solaris AFAIK you dont need to write "vi", as VI is always a minor.

 

 

Whether you choose to write VI- or vi doesn't matter; you only need to be consistent. However, solely writing VI can be extremely misleading and is often used for very general purposes. In this case, VI- or vi is much more appropriate because we are dealing with a very specific chord progression.

[bball_1523]

here's another one I like:

 

Bmin-Bbmin

 

it sounds sad and mysterious

[PintoMusic]

If anyone has heard of the band Eleven (www.elevenworld.com), they might agree that keyboardist Natasha Shneider reigns supreme at composing dark and incredibly somber progressions.

[Don Solaris]

 

Originally posted by bball_1523 example: Cmin-Amaj sounds really epic and adventurous to me.

 

eh, in that case try the classic: Amin - Bmaj - Amin - Bmaj

 

 

Originally posted by eminor9 Amin-Amin/G-Fmaj7-E7 ---cut---

 

What do you mean by G and E7? I noticed you use "min" for minor and "maj" for major, so i guess these two arent one of those.

[Guest Guest]

 

Originally posted by Don Solaris What do you mean by G and E7? I noticed you use "min" for minor and "maj" for major, so i guess these two arent one of those.

 

 

Amin/G

 

This means to play an Amin7 chord in the third inversion.

 

G A C E

 

In other words, play an Amin triad over the note G.

 

 

E7

 

This is the common notation for a E dominant seventh chord:

 

E G# B D

[pagan]

C#M7-Cm7-Dm7

 

Try to add to the end Neapolitan or finish with long m9 chord. Most dramatic that I have heard.

[Don Solaris]

 

Originally posted by IcedNote E7 This is the common notation for a E dominant seventh chord

 

I've seen different chord notations. For example in one notation style the "7" is 7-th minor, while "7M" is 7-th major. In above example, everything would be fine. We would have:

 

E7 = E (major) + 7th (minor) = E 7th dominant

 

However, problem would then be with the chord before that - Fmaj7. Using second style it would be:

 

Fmaj7 = F (major) + 7th (minor) = F 7th dominant (but that = F7 to first notation syle!)

 

I wasn't sure which notation style did he used. Because in the first notation style, Fmaj7 would be:

 

Fmaj7 = F (major) + 7th (major)

 

Using the second method, you would need to write:

 

Fmaj7M

[clusterchord]

 

Originally posted by SaltyDogg If the key is Db... then Cm would be a "sharpened" VII?

youre right, i misspelled several things there. it's been a while..

 

it is sharpened, or better said "raised" VII. as normal, diatonic VII in minor scale would be Cb major, not C minor. sharpened VII is "borrowed" from the parallel major key. however, VII in major is a diminished triad, thats why i put the # mark next to 3, to show its a minor. (G natural doesn 't belong to either minor or major scale of Db).

 

Originally posted by SaltyDogg The Eb and E refer to the base line... but wouldn't they be notated as II and III?

 

no because when using roman numerals you dont use backslash with the second numeral for bass note, and it would be harmonically incorrect. numerals stand for triads built on that peticular scale degree, not a single bass note.

 

instead, roman numerals use numbers with "interval to the bass" markings or "figured bass" - 6 above 3 for 1st inversion, 6 above 4 for second inversion etc,

 

however its not possible to show it in this font. so i used backslash to simbolize "one a top of another" and therefore created confusion with the other chord naming system.

 

 

Originally posted by SaltyDogg But Bm should be a minor VII instead of a VI?

nope. Db natural minor looks like this: Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bbb Cb Db. so it definetely is a VI, and i said "natural" meaning its not Bbb as it should be in natural minor, but raised to Bb (again "borrowed" from major scale)

 

all in all i think it should go like this, given that we are in minor:

 

I - #VII (6 above 3#) - I (6 above 3) - #VI

[clusterchord]

 

Originally posted by Don Solaris However, problem would then be with the chord before that - Fmaj7. Using second style it would be: Fmaj7 = F (major) + 7th (minor) = F 7th dominant (but that = F7 to first notation syle!) I wasn't sure which notation style did he used. Because in the first notation style, Fmaj7 would be: Fmaj7 = F (major) + 7th (major) Using the second method, you would need to write: Fmaj7M

 

never heard of this "second" method.

 

the Fmaj7 always stands for "major 7th chord", in other words "maj7" or "min7" deals with quality of the seventh, and as shorthand, implies the same quality of third in the chord. if u have a marking before it, it usaully deals with a different quality of third. these two define how your seventh* will sound.

 

Fmaj7 - F A C E (major 7th, major 3rd)

Fmin7 - F Ab C Eb (minor 7th, minor 3rd)

Fminmaj7 - F Ab C E ("minormajor seventh" i.e. minor 3rd but major 7th)

F7 - F A C Eb (dominant 7th, or "majorminor")

 

 

*in this four elementary 7th chords, fifth needs not be shoved as its always perfect. not until u want to use diminished, augmented or halfdiminished seventh chords, when u need to mark the quality of 5th as well.

[Don Solaris]

 

Originally posted by clusterchord never heard of this "second" method.

 

Actually i even use a software that has such description of the seventh. Here is a small segment from the help file:

 

the seventh (seventh scale degree) which can be :

* diminished by one tone, notated 6, located 9 semitones above the root, and corresponding in fact to the 6th scale degree

* minor, notated 7, and located 10 semitones above the root,

* major, notated 7M, and located 11 semitones above the root

 

For example, a chord of: D minor flat fifth, major seventh, will be notated Dmb5/7M.

 

NOTE: this was their description of chords in general, not chord notation in that specific program.

[clusterchord]

that is NOT the standard western world abides to. i think u will gain much more, if u learn the standard.

 

further more, i wouldn't trust various softwares, when in doubt, look into theory n harmony books. the example u posted already made me suspicuos: "* diminished by one tone, notated 6, located 9 semitones above the root, and corresponding in fact to the 6th scale degree.." is, in terms of voice-leading n harmony, completely misleading. it not a 6th, cannot be notated 6, as its really a lowered seventh. this, altough enharmonically the same as major 6th, has completely different function within the chord.

 

diminished "seventh" its built by three consecutive minor thirds. lets say u wanna build a dim 7th on 1st degree, it would go like this (in degrees):

 

1. 3. 5b. 7b. in minor u need to lower one semitone from minor 7th, tho in major u actually need to lower 2 semitones, or to double flat to get down there from a major 7th.

 

so, 5. and 7. are lowered from their normal , diatonic positions, that is why its called "diminished" 7th, as they will resolve below to degrees 4. and 6., respectively.

 

so, in C minor, a dim7th on 1st degree would be spelled: C Eb Gb Bbb, and not something like: C Eb F# and A. F is already a degree 4., and Ab is already degree 6. . u cant have two degrees with the same letter. since Bb is 7. degree in minor, Bbb is therefore flat 7. its a subtle but fundamental difference.

 

in this peticular case u could then resolve Cdim to Fm/C.

 

hope this was helpful.

[Don Solaris]

Thanks for infos!