The Sensitive Female progression

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Raba_licious
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2009/07/10 06:19:31 (permalink)

The Sensitive Female progression

If you guys know what Im talking about I don't get why its called that.
I mean I know lots of popular male artists who have used the progression
for example Apologize- One republic and Beautiful by Akon uses it
so it makes no sense to refer to it as that.. lol

and for you who don't know what im talking about
the progression (in the key of C ) is Amin-Fmaj-Cmaj-Gmaj
and its been overused in today's pop music..

so whats your thoughts???
post edited by Raba_licious - 2009/07/10 06:23:23
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    Slugbaby
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 08:24:06 (permalink)
    That's a stupid name for that progression (i know you didn't make it up).
    That's the problem with most pop music - it's not inventive. That progression has got to be one of the most common: off the top of my head it's "Passenger" by Iggy Pop, if you start it on the 3rd chord instead of the 1st it's U2's With Or Without You...
    And that's before my first coffee of the day.

    In 'C', it's up there with Cmaj- Amin-Fmaj-Gmaj and Gmaj-Fmaj-Cmaj-Cmaj... (I-VI-IV-V and V-IV-I-I for the cooler folk)
    post edited by Slugbaby - 2009/07/10 08:36:38

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    Kim Lajoie
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 08:43:42 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: Raba_licious

    and for you who don't know what im talking about
    the progression (in the key of C ) is Amin-Fmaj-Cmaj-Gmaj
    and its been overused in today's pop music..

    so whats your thoughts???


    First of all, you're suggesting it's VI-IV-I-V, but playing it sounds more like I-VI-III-VII in a minor key.

    For a major key, substitute the final VII for a V. ;-) But play the instrumental solo in the relative minor, so you're playing over the top of III-I-V-VII.

    And then for the bridge, switch to the relative minor, but play the same solo transposed up a third. So the backing is doing I-VI-III-VII (don't forget that - the VII doubles as the V when transposing back to the tonic), and the solo is playing over III-I-V-VII (in the same relative minor). Notice they both come together for the VII (which doubles a a V into the tonic).

    Ok, I'll stop now.

    -Kim.
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    quantumeffect
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 09:50:12 (permalink)
    I’m not a guitarist so please correct me if I’m wrong.

    Im, bVI, bVII (e.g., Am F G, etc.)

    Very rarely used, I think there are a few obscure pieces like All Along the Watchtower, sections of Stairway to Heaven and Layla (unplugged) that use variations of it.

    Im, bIII, bVI, bVII

    Livin’ on a Prayer, One of Us, and the list goes on ...
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    guitardog247
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 10:52:55 (permalink)
    Rabba. I don't pay much attention to the progressions. These progressions have been used by all genres, including classical, forever.

    A song is sooo much more than it's progression. It's what you do with the progression - melody, lyrics, tempo, rythymns, ornamentation of sorts, and on and on... Songs are still written with I, IV, V. And many more good songs will be written with just using I, IV, V. There's no such thing as overusing a progression. Certainly not in popular music.

    If those progressions aren't stimulating enough for you. Then find more experimental artists to listen to. And stop listening to that top 40 commercial crap. There are so many artists out there that are out-of-the-box, why listen top 40? I only listen to my public listener sponsored radio.


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    Slugbaby
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 11:10:32 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: Slugbaby

    That's the problem with most pop music - it's not inventive. That progression has got to be one of the most common: off the top of my head it's "Passenger" by Iggy Pop, if you start it on the 3rd chord instead of the 1st it's U2's With Or Without You...

    Quoting myself, how arrogant is that???

    I should clarify - i'm a fan of pop music, and noted 2 of my favourite songs...
    Guitardog, I agree. I song is WAY more than it's chords. There's presentation/arrangement, feel, melody, etc etc etc.

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    plectrumpusher
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 13:42:36 (permalink)
    Well you're basically going to have to balance the tried and true ( which is obtained it's repeated use because it works so well ) with the off the wall stuff . The listener wants to be mildly challenged instead of bored ( wide and sweeping generalizations for a thousand Alex),
    Part of wht music is engaging is because the mind uses its facilities to predict what might be next . If one is always right in this regard , one becomes bored ; If one is always wrong , then one gets frustrarted and tunes it out .


    There are also the rythm, melody and lyrics to concern yourself with , so as a previous poster suggested , take a wholistic approach , and don't just focus on the harmony (chord progression )

    If you haven't got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart.......Then you are just an old sour fart!!
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    jcatena
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 15:20:48 (permalink)
    IMO harmony is one of the elements of music creation, that can have a lot or very little weight in a song.
    In jazz, progressions have very often a lot of weight. The listener is used to follow more complex harmonic schemes and apreciate the creativity or variety of that aspect of the composition.
    In electronic, just a nice sound may make the song.
    In pop, its more often the vocals and melodies.
    And so on.
    Not that anything else doesn't matter, not that these are fixed rules.
    A combination of rithm, harmony, melody, sounds, etc can make a unique composition even if each has been heard a lot of times before.
    Regardless, I always apreciate very much the innovation in any aspect of the music.

    Jose Catena
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    ShiftingKevin
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 17:37:27 (permalink)
    I have a new thought on pop music progressions. It's basically all been done before, so when I hit on a good progression, I don't research it to find what it was used for previously, as that will cloud the creative faculties. Instead, I try to form my own melody around it, and make sure afterwards that it isn't a subconscious plagiarism.

    Don't forget, you can't make a valid court case based on a progression, but you can do so based on a melody! The progression doesn't define the music, in my opinion. People don't go around humming 4-chord progressions; they go around humming melodies.

    It's all about the melody in the music and the hook in the lyrics, baby!

    Raba... I have to say, I love the two songs you mentioned. Now I know they're tied together. On a related note, for any of you who play live, I recommend a funky mid-song swap I like to do that I stumbled upon last year. While playing Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good," I realized that I could do a guitar-based rendition of Akon's "Don't Matter." Weeeee! I love this stuff! Haha.
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    bayoubill
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 21:13:38 (permalink)
    Speaking of sensitive female progressions...... More guys have got laid while listening to a I vi IV V and all the variations than any other!

    ps. What i meant to say was radios got PLAYED
    post edited by bayoubill - 2009/07/10 22:37:57

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    bapu
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/10 22:14:48 (permalink)
    Amin-Fmaj-Cmaj-Gmaj


    Do I hear a forum collab coming on?
    By all the females?
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    guitardog247
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/11 00:07:01 (permalink)
    I kind of like what you said kevin about the court case.
    I believe that also goes with music publishing. If your in a Band that "writes" together. Which songwriter in a band actually wrote the song?

    Say you have a guitarist that writes these really cool riffs. But the singer writes very cool lyrics and melody.
    The copyright and publishing only consider the melody and lyrics as "the song". Unless of course the guitarist (and the rest of the band) make some sort of agreement on who shares the songs. With their respective lawyers.

    Because in the end, the thing that people hum/sing along too, is the melody and lyrics.

    This is kind of a neat little thread. Let's keep it going.

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    No How
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/13 12:15:35 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: bapu

    Amin-Fmaj-Cmaj-Gmaj


    Do I hear a forum collab coming on?
    By all the females?



    LMAO....

    Soft Sensitive Sonaritas

    s o n g s

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    ShiftingKevin
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/13 12:21:06 (permalink)
    ORIGINAL: No How
    Soft Sensitive Sonaritas


    I'll grab the corn chips and queso. Haha, should we pull Julibee and Mamabear in hear to see if their interest is piqued? I love the progression, and a good female vocalist could really make something of it! Mamabear tickling the ivory could really pull some heartstrings with A minor, too.


    ...the chord ...not a young member!
    post edited by ShiftingKevin - 2009/07/13 12:22:37
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    BluesMeister
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/15 01:06:48 (permalink)

    If I'm not mistaken, when using Roman numerals to denote chords, minor chords in the root key are written in lower case: I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii

    I threw together a jazz-tinged tune recently that was ii-iii-IV-iii (twice). The chorus gets really complex when using Roman numerals, here it is:
    |F|F+|F6|F7|Bm|Bbm|F|F6|Gm|D7|Gm|D7|

    See how the verse is 8 measures and the chorus is 12 measures. Rules are there for the breaking!

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    OldDog
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    RE: The Sensitive Female progression 2009/07/15 11:12:48 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: ShiftingKevin


    Raba... I have to say, I love the two songs you mentioned. Now I know they're tied together. On a related note, for any of you who play live, I recommend a funky mid-song swap I like to do that I stumbled upon last year. While playing Mellencamp's "Hurt So Good," I realized that I could do a guitar-based rendition of Akon's "Don't Matter." Weeeee! I love this stuff! Haha.



    Another is take The Romantics "What I like about you" and morph it into "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.". I don't know what it is about Mellancamp but his stuff seems to always work well with a blend.
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