These chord progressions form the foundation of thousands of songs. Do I have to say anything else? :)
View the full lesson at Common Chord Progressions | JustinGuitar
When should i move on from this lesson? I have practised about 5 of the patterns and can remember all of them, should I keep on learning them and then move on, or should I just move on when I feel like it?
1 Like
Hey. From which lesson do the bar chord shapes come from? I feel that I need to freshen up on that!
Thanks for all the good content
1 Like
After a little break I took up the theory course again. While it’s clear that in this lesson all chord progressions are diatonic, is it OK to use extensions like dominant 7 or major 7 chords? For example, the I - VI - IV - V progression sounds really nice with Dmaj7 - Bm - Gmaj7 - A7 or D - Bmin7 - Gmaj7 - A chords.
1 Like
@Jozsef
Playing extended chords and staying diatonic is absolutely fine and possible.
I won’t go into too much detail as you will meet more of the theory as you work through the theory course.
I will add that of the seven diatonic chords, all three minor chords can happily be played as min7, two of the major chords can happily be played as maj7 but one and one only major chord becomes dominant 7 … that chord is the V chord. The diminished can be extended to become a chord with two names (half diminished or m7b5).
Hope that helps.
Cheers 
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide
1 Like
Thanks for the explanation. I tried playing G7 in the above examples but it sounded really out of place, now I know why 
1 Like
It would … in the key of D your I and IV major chords are D and G which can become major 7 but the A and only the A (the V chord) becomes A7.
1 Like
I tried now to fit the m7b5 into this progression, and it’s really special. It sounds good only if it comes after degrees I, II or IV.
1 Like
The m7b5 is the variant of diminished chord that is used 90+ percent of the time when a diminished is used. A diminished triad is seldom used.
1 Like
I - V - II - IV sounded so familiar and then I realized it’s Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.
How strict a rule is that you have 4 chords in a progression? Or is it just that the majority of pop/rock music is structured this way? For example, the Dylan song alternates between the I - V - II and I - V - IV progressions.
1 Like
Have had to post this for a long time. 4 Chords | Music Videos | The Axis Of Awesome - YouTube
1 Like
in the Practice section of this lesson, the I - VI - II- V progression in key of Eb, where the chords become Eb, Cmin, Fmin, and Bb. Past the 12 th fret, playing the major and minor barre shapes are difficult to fit your fingers, especially the Cmin and Fmin chord. Any tips on how to play these tight chords?
1 Like
You can down tune your guitar to Eb or use A string root bar chords fir Eb Cm and Bb and play the Fm E string root first fret.
1 Like
Hi stitch, thanks for your prompt reply. I’m an old retired guy and a beginner, so bear with me if I don’t understand right away. The way I see it, your suggestion of using the A string for the barre chords wouldn’t follow the degree chord pattern, for instance the Eb root (I) is 5th string fret 6, but you say to use 5th string for Cm which would put it at fret 3 which is the opposite direction of the degree chord pattern. So for the Key of Eb, by putting the Eb chord root on the A string (fret 6), then keeping to the degree chord pattern should make the Cm chord root (VI) on the 4th string (D) at fret 10, and the Bb chord root (V) on the D string at fret 8. Then the root 6 and root 5 Major and Minor chord shapes wouldn’t work on the 4th string (D).
1 Like
Usually song are in Eb because the band is tuned down to Eb and would be played in the open to third fret. So if you’re in standard tuning the and want to play in Eb you either play at the 11 fret, use the chords I mentioned, use C and D shaped barre chords or use chord invertions.
Seeing you said you’re a beginner I’m thinking the easiest way to play this chord progression would be to tune your guitar down a semi tone to Eb.
Seeing this is a theory exercise you really don’t need to play it as long as you understand the theory behind it.
1 Like
stitch, sounds good, thank you for your comments, they’ve been very helpful.
1 Like
@magnanelli The scale degree that the chords are built on of necessity displays and reads as an ascending sequence of ordinal numbers.
1st, 2nd 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th become I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii (note that I have used lower case for minor / diminished).
BUT
You do not have to play the chords in a way that the root note must be higher in pitch when it comes to chord shapes.
An easy example could be in the key of D using the I, IV and V chords and 5th string root A-shape barre for the tonic then 6th string root E-shape barres for the IV and V.
The root note of the tonic chord D is at fret 5 of the 5th string.
The root note of the IV and V chords are on the 6th string so lower in pitch.
And that is absolutely 100% fine.
The lowest note in the chord does not have to always be higher in pitch than the lowest note in the tonic chord.
Sometimes that is impossible.
As for the key of Eb and its chords / chord progressions … as @stitch says, most guitarists avoid that key or tune down a semitone so they can think of that key the same way that guitarists normally think of the key of E. The detuning transposes the guitar to better suit songs in different keys.
I get it. It’s making sense to me. Thanks for the info Richard.
1 Like
Should I go learn my barre chords before progressing further from this lesson
1 Like
Hello @ChrisZey and welcome to the community.
Knowing note names on the E and A strings is a big help and being able to play barre chords rooted on those strings opens this world up.