A Journey through Chords

I take daily walks through the city of Utrecht and its surrounding neighborhoods.

Normally, I wander at random, favoring paths I didn’t take the last time. But eventually, I find myself retreading the same ground, or ending up somewhere else than I wanted to be.

Learning the map helps!

I don’t need to know every street by name, and honestly I don’t want to. But understanding the basic relationships allows me to orient myself and improvise more interesting walks every time.

Wandering into a chord progression

Chord progressions also take the listener on a journey. And like a physical journey, each destination takes on a different meaning based on what’s come before.

The mathematical language of music theory is like a map. It helps you understand how chords are related, but it also abstracts away the rich world of sensory detail that makes a musical journey worth taking.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with writing chord progressions by wandering through chords, leaving theory aside. A lot of great music is written that way.

But trying out chords is normally not random. The habits you’ve developed, the songs you’ve learned, and your knowledge of the instrument all shape the choices you make.

These can lead you to retread the same ground, and end up somewhere else than you wanted to be.

Making the map your own

Theoretical knowledge can help you see connections and possibilities that you would have missed. But you don’t need to be an expert!

Learn a little at a time, and find ways to actually use what you learn. Devise small exercises that test out concepts but also let you focus on writing real songs.

Use your imagination and inject some of that sensory detail back into the dry concepts of theory. Think in analogies and metaphor. Make theory your own.

My quick introduction to chord relationships is one example of this idea. I visualize chord relationships as a physical journey away from and back to home, and associate each chord with an image.

The idea is to spark your imagination when applying the concepts. And to help you remember the connections.

Just remember: it’s the journey and not the map that matters.