Beautiful chord progressions can make guitar playing so much more emotive. Here are 5 songs that really pull on your heartstrings.
5 Chord Progressions to Try:
Why I Love Beautiful Chord Progressions
As a guitarist, my bread and butter is classic rock. Give me a humbucking bridge pickup, and I’m happy. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to play something softer that makes your guitar sing in a different way. You never know when these songs might come in handy.
All About Beautiful Chord Progressions on Guitar:
- Nice chord progressions can create an emotional and powerful voice on guitar.
- These 5 tracks highlight memorable chord progressions that give each song its distinctive timbre.
- By learning new, beautiful chord progressions, players can add and embellish their own playing.
Half The World Away – Oasis
Our first pick in our look towards beautiful chord progressions comes from Manchester in the 1990s. Noel Gallagher’s trance-like acoustic guitar work laughs at Wonderwall in this song.
What I like most about Half The World Away is how hypnotic the guitar part sounds, but also how easy it is to play, therefore making it accessible to more players. The main theme works around a C and an Fmaj7 chord.
Major 7th chords sound stunning because they add a natural 7th into the mix, providing a light and dreamy sound. Moreover, the chorus has lovely rises and falls thanks to an Am and C/B switch, along with F and Fm being placed next to each other. Be sure to give it a try!
Something – The Beatles
Sticking with the major 7th theme, we’re going to a band that inspired Oasis, allegedly. This track is great for showing how much you can do with just one chord.
What’s so good about Something by The Beatles? Despite hearing plenty of melodic movement, the first three chords are actually all just one chord. Well, almost. The chords in question are C, Cmaj7, and C7.
Running through these different voicings is so inventive. Plus, the harshness of that C7 is soon resolved by the V chord in that key, which is F. This is known as a perfect cadence. Across rock and pop history, this progression has been used many times, even in Kiss Me, which was the star song of the late 90s film She’s All That.
Ventura Highway – America
Some proper yacht rock here. An acoustic anthem that reminds me of long summer evenings. I’ve never been to California, and yet when I play this song, I’m right there.
This 54-year-old America track is notable for many reasons. For us guitarists, it has a mesmerising, magical harmonised intro between two guitars, whilst a third plays a simple, beautiful chord progression.
Likewise, we’re looking at a major 7th chord here. There’s a theme here… Thankfully, most major 7th chords are easy to play, and there’s also a G6 in here too, which just involves two fingers to play, with the rest being open strings. This track isn’t particularly emotional; it’s just nice. Nothing more, nothing less.
Nauseous – Conan Grey
Our next pick for beautiful chord progressions is something way more modern than my usual forte, and I’m sure yours too. Even though it’s not played through a Marshall stack, don’t disregard this one just yet.
We want to play this one with a capo on the 1st fret. Straight away, we know it’s going to sound nice, as raising the pitch of a song just makes the guitar sing differently. From here, we’re adding in yet another Fmaj7 chord, but with the addition of the rather fiddly C7/Bb.
Common amongst piano players, a slash chord is where we add in the bass note of another chord onto an existing chord. Furthermore, this Conan Grey hit is in a 6/8 time signature, which gives it a great rhythmic feel and allows players to approach strumming a little differently compared to 4/4.
I Guess I Just Feel Like – John Mayer
Concluding our look at beautiful chord progressions, we’re heading back to 2019. Every now and again, John Mayer produces something simply stunning. Gravity is one example, and this is another.
Sure, the chord work is nice enough in this track. It’s simple, which allows a blank canvas for virtually endless improv and soaring lead lines.
For those not quite there yet with improv, and maybe you’d like to sing along, the verse is just A, D and F#m. Mayer does occasionally add some embellishments such as Asus4 and perhaps a Dsus2, but otherwise it’s nice and simple. I think that the vibe during the solo backing is verging on Comfortably Numb in terms of pure feel and emotive playing.
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