This Weeks Chord Progression is a pretty rad classic rock style chord progression. You're chords are going to be: Bm7-E (4 times) then G-D-A (4 times) In the video, I show you how I like to come up with my chord progressions. They typically start as a melody first and foremost, something I hum in my head. After that I figure out the building blocks and piece it all together. A chord progression is born haha! This particular one started as a Frank Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia" adjacent melody. What's neat about this one, is I went into this with the notion that the whole progression was in A Mixolydian (very classic rock) but once I wrote the "intro", that wound up having a more Dorian vibe. Here's those relative scale things again...A Mixolydian and B Dorian have the same notes and therefore the same scale shapes. So do whatever you want! If you don't want to mess with modes, you'd totally still crush this progression with a B minor pentatonic scale! Have fun with this one! -Ben P.S. After listening back, the "chorus" part reminds me a lot of "With a Little Help From My Friends". Guess I nailed that classic rock vibe then eh? Haha!

Good day to you... This next chord progression is where the fear of - Music Theory 👹 - comes from lol... Even just to say these "chords" out loud, in their natural state, can make people wince 😅 or begin to sweat. This is a big deal because essentially your brain just... stops... We see all the possibilities but can't get passed the lingo or the verbbage that comes along with the territory... Not to worry, I have a very short clip of me playing through this overly complex chord progression, just so that you can see and hear how fun it can sound. Cheers to trial and error. Don't forget to record yourself and post it up today!

This weeks chord progression is really cool! Your chords are going to be: Gm - F - C (four times) then Bb - C (twice) I chose this progression since there has been some confusion around key signatures, especially when it comes to relative scales. I admit, this one adds fuel to the fire, so to speak, haha! I went into this one with the idea of a Dorian progression, meaning you could totally get away with playing purely pentatonic over it. That still works, however, I found myself sometimes hearing it as a more major progression, in which case, C Mixolydian is the answer. Guess what? Those are relative scales! G Dorian and C mixolydian have the exact same notes, and same scale shape, just starting on a different note respectively! Haha, so do whatever you want! Let me know how you guys hear this progression, does it sound more major or minor to you? Have a great weekend- Ben

Ok, I tried to go easy on you this week, and I suppose you could just take the easy way out on this one. It is still a really good chord progression, but if you try just a little bit harder, its a great chord progression. I'm talking about using a little bit of something called the CAGED system and what it can do to really spice up a chord progression. If you haven't heard of the CAGED system, or could never really wrap your head around it, we've got a full course in the classroom section for you to check out! Your Chord Progression of the Week is, in the key of Bm: Bm-G-D x 4 then A-G-D x 2 I know what you're saying, "wow Ben, no modes, no modal interchange!?" I know, I know...see, I CAN be merciful, haha! See you next week Mike! -Ben P.S. If you want to learn more about the CAGED system, consider joining our premium tier, where you can find an entire course dedicated to it. You'll also be able to find our other courses and be able to participate in our Riffs of the Week, as well as having access to all new courses and more, as they drop. Oh and its less than pack of picks per month, and you won't lose it in the couch, your pants you wore yesterday, or whatever alternate dimension picks run off to. https://www.skool.com/intermediate-guitar/about

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do! This one's a lot of fun because it totally builds on itself. It's four chords, and it spends most of its time sitting on that B minor, which gives it a nice "home base" to keep returning to. If you don't like how it sounds the first time, try again. That's what these good ol' 4 chord-loops are best for. B minor, A, F# minor, G, and then back to B minor. That's the whole thang! Once you've got those four shapes under your fingers, the magic is all in how you feel it out. I like to start with the picking. For that first chord, I'm not really holding all the notes down, and I'm muting the low E so it stays out of the way. So you can already imagine the rhythm taking form from the beginning... From there I drop right down to the open A. I'm technically holding the whole shape, but you don't have to, that's just the way I like to feel it. Then I go open-handed and jump over with my pointer for a little roll on the G string, and finish it with a hammer-on and pull-off. From there I'm just walking through the F# minor and the G, and back home to the B. This is a blast to solo over. The progression sits in a D Major scale, which is the relative major to your B minor, so you've got an easy playground to wander around in. I'd just stick to the pentatonic feel right there. It keeps things simple and it sounds great. That's the way I'd do it. Have fun with it, jam it up, and post yours up in the comments. We'll see you in the chats!