The music theory of neo soul

Today, we’ll take a deep dive into the music theory that helps to build neo-soul chord progressions.

Chord progressions are generally created by choosing existing chords from the major scale. In neo-soul music, 7th chords are the most common sound used when building chords.

It’s worth having a quick look at the E major scale and the chords found in this key before jumping into today’s exercises.

If you’re familiar with the chords found in the E major scale, then you’re ahead of the game!

If not, here are some useful voicings built from the 6th string:

...and the 5th string:

Major scale madness

Everything that you'll ever need on guitar can be found within the major scale. It's the center of our Western musical universe

• When it comes to analyzing chord progressions, all roads lead back to the major scale.
• Developing a strong understanding of how chords are built and the intervals that make up the major scale forms is key to analyzing harmony.

Hot tip: Once you learn how the chords are formed in one major scale, you'll have learned the rule for all major scales. Amazing!

The numbers... What do they mean?

Learning the numbers system is a crucial skill for any musician.

• The numbers system is a quick and easy way to reference chords by assigning each chord a roman numeral based on its order of appearance in the major scale.
• The advantage to the numbers system is that if you memorize how its used to name chords, you can use roman numerals I -- VII to refer to chords in any key (instead of memorizing 12 different sets of chord names).
• This will make it simpler to analyze songs, plus it’s much easier to think of chords as roman numerals rather than individual chords.

The real secret to this system is that no matter how complex the chords and substitutions get, the major scale chord system still underpins how most chord progressions move.

Let's get chordal: the II V I progression

In the upcoming chord progressions, Sam will take you through some methods for spicing up common chord progressions.

You're likely to see some non-diatonic chords (that come from outside the major scale), so it's important that you're comfortable with the major scale chords and numbers system before jumping in.

• Keep your eye out for mentions of the II-V-I progression.
• Here’s what it looks like in the key of E major:

• In jazz and neo soul, it's also common to access chords outside of the key by using secondary dominant chords.
• Any diatonic chord can be set up by the II and the V from that key.
• For example, the VI chord in the key of E major (C#m7) can be "set up" by the II and the V chord from the key of C# minor:

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Chord progression 1

Now that you’ve acquired some new skills, let’s see you put them to the test!

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Chord progression 2

Excellent work! Let’s dig into the second chord progression.

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Fantastic work today, you’ve completed one of the harder days of Grade 1. Time for some well-earned rest and we’ll meet you back on Day 6 for a deeper look at adding feeling.