This week I’m sharing two musical ideas using BEAD Guides Chord Flow that I think of almost like a seesaw, because I feel like they balance each other. I don’t think there’s really any musical principle that makes that true—it’s just the way I feel.  Each is probably the most common change made to the left and right neighbor in BEAD Guides Chord Flow.  Check it out below!  

Last week we had a great Fearless Songwriting Challenge. The Fearless Songwriters collectively wrote a total of 65 songs. Not too shabby. 

The next challenge starts in just a few weeks on Sunday February, 7th. It’s the annual take over of the Fearless Challenge by Beth DeSombre. She approaches the prompts just a tad differently than I do, harvesting suggestions from performing songwriters in the community.  Read the FAQ (Fearlessly Asked Questions) or join the weekly email to learn more!. 

P.S. This blog is Patreon supported. If you value the prompts and, you can support the [Patreon here]. If you’re merely curious or a little short of cash, enjoy.  

The Prompt:

The Musical Idea:

Here’s a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above:

Recently, I was watching another video by Jake Lizzio from Signal Music Studios. He’s talking about the chord progression from the song “Something,” by The Beatles. 

It’s a gorgeous song which uses a lot of “borrowed chords.” Borrowed chords are something we haven’t talked about here yet, so I figured why not check ‘em out, so that’s what this weeks worksheet talks about. 

As a cool side note, “Something” uses both the major and minor “line cliches” that I posted about a couple of weeks ago too. Check out the progression George Harrison put together. It’s the kind of song you’ll want to steal ideas from for years and years to come once you understand it.  

The Prompt:

The Musical Idea:

Here’s a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above:

I’m going to keep this one short. It’s Christmas Eve and ebbing towards Christmas as I’m typing.  Happy Holidays to you and yours. By the time I send the next email 2020 will be behind us. Here’s to the New Year!

The Prompt:

The Musical Idea:

Here’s a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above:

Here’s a follow up to last week’s progression (called a line cliché) which changed from C to Cmaj7 to C7, (and so forth). The same thing can be done with a minor chord, and it sounds just as cool. Maybe cooler. The names of the chords get a little funky in this one, but the principle is exactly the same; simply lower a note one fret for each change. It’s easier to see than to describe, which is why there’s a little video talking through a couple different examples of this change. 

The Prompt:

The Musical Idea:

Here’s a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above: