know why I-IV-V progression is so popular?

[Roy]

I've been learning some interesting theory in my guitar lessons...(the teacher has yet to pick up a guitar after 6 lessons so far....he used to teach harmony at Berkley).

Anyway, the reason why the I-IV-V chord progression is so popular is: together the three chords (each having 3 notes) contain all 7 notes that are in the I chord key. So this opens up all kinds of possibilities for melodies.

(Now, I suppose someone out there is going to prove me wrong on this.)

[jam]

Oh, the learning just keeps on going today! That's really cool. I had never thought of that. Being a self-taught, theory-challenged guitarist, I love little tidbits like that. Thanks, Roy!

--jam

[d28mikeip]

Yeah it allows for a lot of different things. For instance, pentatonic scales (major and minor) are perhaps the most common scales used (and perhaps dorian also). A pentatonic minor fits perfectly in a I-IV-V sequence. No matter what note you play, it fits. So perhaps that has something to do with it.

I don't know WHAT you're talking about! Maybe I do it and I don't even realize it. I just play (rhythm and lead). But I admit I'd like to know.

Tom

[Roy]

Originally posted by Tayloresque
I don't know WHAT you're talking about! Maybe I do it and I don't even realize it. I just play (rhythm and lead). But I admit I'd like to know.

Tom

Pretend you are in C.. it's a "triad", made up of three tones (out of our 12 tone scale). The pentatonic major scale (say, in C) has 5 notes (the 3 chord tones....plus two more that our ears tell us go very well with the first three.) There are two more tones (to make a total of seven) that also belong in the key, and add a little more color...but you can't spend quite as much time on them if you are soloing in the key of C, because they want to be resolved back to "home base"...say, a chord tone.

If you have a keyboard or piano, play the C chord (C, E, G) on a piano. They are all white keys, right? All the other white keys also belong in that key as well (note that a piano key is different from a music key). The notes that "belong" in the key of C (or any other key) are laid out (going up) by adding

1 root
2 whole step
3 whole step
4 half step
5 whole step
6 whole step
7 whole step
8 half step (1 octave above the root)

My teacher is trying to get me to think in terms of which tones in a key are "home base", then which add some color (or tension), and which add even more tension. The more tension, the less time you can spend on a note before the listener wants it to be resolved back to "home base". Play a diminished chord...it is full of tension...it begs to be resolved. This is the subject of a recent post by MapleTrees, called (I think) "soloing".

[510picker]

Do you feel learning all of this theory stuff has made you a better player? I am at a "plateau" at the moment and have kicked the theory idea around as a possible new direction.

[MusicChica007]

Yes.....particularly in playing leads and in finding new sounds while "noodling"....opens up a new vista (thank you, Mapletrees!!).

PS (Posted by Tbondo....it isn't bad enough she takes all my money, now she puts her name on my computer)

[proy]

510,

I'm at a similar plateau and I'm going down the theory route. I need a better platform to build on.

Good Luck.

[Roy]

Originally posted by 510picker
Do you feel learning all of this theory stuff has made you a better player? I am at a "plateau" at the moment and have kicked the theory idea around as a possible new direction.

Yes, it's already helped in my soloing...how I put together a solo. I can tell I'm never going to learn to "spell" what notes I'm playing (A, B, etc.) like he wants me to (I never use it, so I won't practice doing it), but he admits you can be a great guitarist without this. I'm am trying to think in terms of the note numbers, though e.g. 1-3-5 being the major chord tones 1 b3 5 being the minor, etc., because I like the idea of knowing which notes to go for in terms of their "tension" value.
The Fretboard Logic (Vol. II) book goes into this stuff...I recommend it if you want to learn some theory for guitar.