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GarageBandSongWritingUnit 1
GarageBandSongWritingUnit 1
Chord Progressions
Vocabulary
Pitch: How high or low a note sounds, this depends on the frequency, or how quickly or slowly the air
hitting your eardrums is vibrating
Consonance: a set or series of pitches that are conventionally accepted as being at rest, calm, peaceful
Dissonance: a set or series of pitches that are conventionally accepted as being in a state of unrest and
needing completion
Half step: In western music, the closest possible distance between two pitches, for example, C to C#.
The distance between these two notes (called an interval) is 1/12 of an octave.
Whole step: Two half steps, for example C to D. The interval between these two notes is 1/6 of an
octave.
You might immediately panic when you hear the words “chord progression,” but this is simply a term
musicians use to describe the underlying musical structure of their piece. Just like letters are put
together to form words (that are then put together to form sentences, paragraphs and essays or
stories), individual pitches can be played together to form chords (that in turn can be formed into
phrases, sections, movements and entire musical compositions). Simply put, a chord progression is a
series of chords. If you think of writing again, it is basically like words in writing being put together to
form a complete sentence. Nearly every song you already know and love has some sort of chord
progression. This is what keeps the piece moving along, builds tension (mental or emotional strain),
creates a big "moment” or resolves (returns to stability) the tension.
Musicians live in a world of tension and resolution. When we think of music, there are parts of the song
that are unstable, that make your brain say “move on” or “something is about to happen and we’re just
waiting for it.” Other parts of a song bring you a sense of closure or peace. A good writer will write a
story that has a beginning, middle with a problem or conflict, and an end that gives the reader closure.
Composers can do the same thing with music, only the medium they write with is pitches and they must
manipulate chords and melody to convey their thoughts.
Our brains really like to try to anticipate or figure out what is going to happen next. Song writers use
this to their advantage to make their song enjoyable and interesting to listen to. For example, at the
end of a song, the chord progression generally “comes back home” to give listeners a sense of
completion. Songs that don’t do this literally leave the listener hanging- the song doesn’t sound
complete. Just like an author that leaves the reader on a cliffhanger, or does not end the story “happily
ever after”, songwriters will sometimes strategically leave the listener unresolved, depending on the
nature of the song.
In the middle of a song, the songwriter might leave you hanging, building tension by using what we call
“unstable” chords in music. It’s true; some chords are more stable than others. Certain chords make us
want to immediately get away from them. These would be considered unstable. These chords usually
have a lot of dissonance (clashing musical tones) that make us want to move away from them to a set of
pitches with more consonance (agreeable and stable). A songwriter might build tension by keeping the
listener in a series of unstable chords, and then finally resolve them with a very stable chord.
While we’re on the topic of chords, let’s figure out which chords are these mythical “stable” or
“unstable” chords. First, we must start with a basic musical scale in the key of C major. This means it is
a scale starting and ending on the note ‘C’ that is 7 notes long (8 if you include the highest note, which
technically is the same note as the first one). On a piano, this would be a scale made up of only white
keys. Additionally, the major scale follows a certain pattern of whole and half steps, specifically “whole,
whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half”. See figure 1.0.
Figure 1.0
On each note of this scale, we can add two more notes, spaced the interval of a third apart, creating
chords with three notes each. Each of these chords can be labeled with upper or lower case roman
numerals according to their scale degree and whether the chord created is major or minor. See figure
1.1
Figure 1.1
I ii iii IV V vi vii I
Notice that the chords built on the first, fourth and fifth scale degrees are all major, and those built on
the second, third, sixth and seventh scale degrees are minor. Musicians write chords in terms of Roman
numerals so that they can play songs in lots of different key signatures (scales that start on different
notes and have different sharps and flats). Singers have different vocal ranges so a certain singer might
choose a key signature that better fit their vocal range.
The most stable chord of all is the I chord. Music always wants to return home to this chord. The V
chord is a very “active” chord, because it is the furthest away from the I chord. It wants to move to a
new chord, but especially wants to return to I. Another chord that is extremely active is the vii chord. It
REALLY wants to get back home to I. Some songwriters will prolong the return after they have played a
V or vii chord to give the song more motion, the listeners anticipates returning home to I but their ears
are tricked when it goes to a different chord. Those sneaky composers!
Different chord progressions are used to give a song a certain sound. Much of the pop music we listen
to today is based on only a handful of chord progressions. See figure 1.2.
Figure 1.2
• "Pompeii"- Bastille
IV - I - vi - V
• "Payphone"- Maroon 5
Figure 1.3
C Dm Em F G Am Bm C
I ii iii IV V vi vii I
Worksheet 1:
Chord Progressions in GarageBand
Figure out and write the letter chord names below the Roman numerals of these common chord
progressions:
1. I – V – I
2. I – IV – V - I
3. vi – IV – I – V
4. I - V - vi - IV
5. IV – I – V – vi
6. IV – I – vi – IV – V – vi – iii – IV – I – IV – V
7. I – IV – vii – iii – vi – ii – V – I
Worksheet 2:
Playing Chords in GarageBand
When you open the GarageBand app, you will see a carousel of icons. Find the “Smart Guitar” icon and
open it. You will see a guitar neck, with the various chords labelled across the top. Try clicking each of
these chords to hear what they sound like (make sure you sound is on and you volume is loud enough
for you to hear it).
Clicking the chord letter name will play a whole chord, while clicking on a single string will play just one
note from the chord. Take turns playing through each of the chord progressions from the previous
exercise. Do any of the progressions sound familiar? Try playing them for one beat each, then try
playing each chord four times before switching to the next chord. Try to time your switches with the
metronome clicking (if your metronome isn’t clicking, see me and I’ll turn that feature on).
In the space below, create and write 5 new chord progressions using the chords available to you in
GarageBand. Remember what we’ve learned about the V, vii, and I chords (music wants to “come back
home” to the I chord, and get away from V and vii chords). Write your progressions with both letter
names and Roman numerals, one below the other. Each group member should have different
progressions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Smart Instruments
Now that we have a basic understanding of chord progressions, can identify a few common chord
progressions and play them, it’s time to delve into some of the more complex features available to us in
GarageBand.
1. From the carousel when you open the app, choose a Smart Guitar. If you already have the app
open, you can get back to the carousel by tapping “Instruments” in the upper left hand corner.
2. Once the Smart Guitar is open, locate the small dial labelled “autoplay” near the upper right side
of the screen. This feature allows you to choose a playing style for an instrument.
3. Choose one of the numbers, and then try tapping one of the chords. The guitar will
automatically start playing the chord! Tap the chord again to stop the music, or switch to a
different chord.
4. Try choosing a different style of playing by selecting a different number from the selection knob.
Make sure the button to the left is set to “chords” not “notes”.
5. Play through your chord progressions from worksheets 1 and 2. Start by allowing each chord to
play for 4 beats, and then tap the next chord to start it playing for the next 4 beats (and so on).
6. Return to the main carousel by tapping “instruments” in the upper left hand corner. Experiment
using the auto play feature on bass, strings and piano. In the strings section, you can choose
what instruments play by tapping them to turn them on or off. Tap different areas of the chord
bar to change how high or low the chord sounds.
7. Notice that in Smart Piano, you can split your chords, having a different set of bass notes as
treble (higher) notes. Just like in Smart Guitar, tapping the chord letter name at the top allows
the bass and treble notes to be played at the same time. Make sure everyone in your group has
a chance to experiment with piano.
8. Finally, experiment with Smart Drums. This one works a bit differently. You must drag and drop
instrument icons to the square in the center of the screen. The power button to the left will
turn your rhythm on or off. Rhythms become louder, softer, more and/or less complex
depending on where you place them. The dice randomly places the instruments to create a
beat.
Worksheet 3
Smart Instruments
Place an X in the box when each group member has had a chance to experiment each Smart Instrument
feature.
Smart
Name Smart Guitar Smart Bass Smart Piano Orchestra Smart Drums
Review
Let’s review what we have learned so far:
Worksheet 4:
Becoming a Recording Artist 8 Measure Song
1. Write your chord progression in the boxes below. You can use the same chord for more than one
measure if you’d like, just remember not to tap it again while you play it (or it will turn off)
Measure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number
Roman
Numerals
Letter
Names
2. Write the instruments you have chosen for your song in the space below.
Getting Fancy
1. Now that you have two tracks recorded, you might want to jazz it up to make it fancier. Try
adding a different Smart Instrument track to your jam.
2. Remember, you will need to use the same chord progression you originally used; otherwise
you’ll end up with a lot of dissonance (unless you’re into that sort of thing, but I’m not and I’m
the one grading you, so use the same one).
3. Try changing other parameters for your Smart Instrument. Change the type of instrument by
tapping the instrument icon. Lots of different choices will appear for each instrument. With
many you can even choose the type of distortion you would like or other special effects.
Experiment until you find something that suits your group.
5. Create a song that is 8 measures long and has at least 4 different instrument parts. Use the
same chord progression for each instrument. Include the following elements:
a. A drum track
b. At least one instrument that you’ve changed the parameters (instrument, special
effects, etc.)
c. The other two tracks are your choice, but they should both be different.
6. Save your song and name it (by going into my songs, holding your finger on the default song
title until it becomes editable and then changing it to something you will remember) so we can
listen to it.
Worksheet 5:
Getting Fancy 8 Measure Song
1. Write your chord progression in the boxes below. You can use the same chord for more than one
measure if you’d like, just remember not to tap it again while you play it (or it will turn off)
Measure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number
Roman
Numerals
Letter
Names
2. Write the instruments you have chosen for the getting fancy song in the space below, including what
special features or effects you’ve added to them:
Auto Play
Instrument Style Special Features or Effects
Example:
Pop Strings 2 Violin 1 and 2, Viola and Cellos only
Create Section A
1. Create a new song by going to “My Songs” and tapping the small plus sign in the upper left
hand corner.
2. Write the chord progression of your choice on your worksheet (page 11)
3. Choose an instrument to start your song. Record your 8 measure chord progression.
4. Record at least 3 different instruments of your choosing, remembering to use the same chord
progression each time.
5. This is your “section A”.
Create Section B
1. Tap the plus sign in the upper right corner. This will bring up a dialogue box that says “Section
A 8 bars”. Tap “Add” to create a section B.
2. Tap section B where it says “8 bars” and change the length of section B from 8 bars to 16 bars.
3. Tap the arrow to go back to the original menu, then tap the plus sign to make that menu
disappear.
4. Record a contrasting section B. You may use the same instruments or different instruments.
Section B should have at least 3 instrument parts, remember to use the same chord
progression for the entire 16 measure section.
5. Listen to the entire piece by tapping the upper right plus sign and choosing “All sections”. Fix
anything your group doesn’t like. You can delete a track you don’t like or messed up by holding
your finger on the picture of the instrument and then choosing delete.
ABA Form
1. To create a piece in ABA form, you will need to repeat the A section again. We can do this two
ways, either by playing it over again OR by duplicating what we’ve already done. I like to do
things the simply way, so we’ll duplicate.
2. Switch to tracks view by tapping the small rectangles icon. Tap the plus sign on the right side,
select Section A and then tap duplicate. A new section labeled Section C will appear directly
below Section B. If you look and listen, you will find that it is identical to Section A.
3. Make Section C fancier by adding a few more instruments, or taking away an instrument you
already have in this section and replacing it with another.
4. Be sure to save your work. Create a group name for your work and change the song title to
match your group name.
Worksheet 6
Making a Longer Song in ABA form
Group Name:
In the space below, write your chord progression in both Roman numerals and letter names, one chord
per measure. If the same chord is being played for more than one measure, write in both measure
number boxes.
Section A1
Measure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number
Roman
Numerals
Letter
Names
Section B
Measure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number
Roman
Numerals
Letter
Names
Measure
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Number
Roman
Numerals
Letter
Names
Section A2
Chord progression stays the same, but how have you varied this section? (ie, added more instruments,
changed what instruments play, changed playing styles, etc.) Describe in the space below.
Write your chord progressions for each section. Remember to label each section:
5. Please share any additional feedback or comments that will help improve this unit.