Chords for SMOOTH Chord Progressions Using Pivot Points

_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [Eb] _
_ [F] _ _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ [Cm] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [Fm] _ _
[E] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ _ _ Hi, and welcome back to another lesson _
What we're going to talk about in this lesson is pivot points now
This is not some formal theoretical concept, but just a phrase I made up for this lesson
To sort of encapsulate the idea and the idea is very [G] simple
Usually when you switch between chords you want to keep as many voicings
[Gb] Similar as possible
Usually that gives the feeling that the chord progression moves smoothly
So if you change between two chords try to have at least one or two notes that are
The same in both you can't always have it but try
now
_ basically
_ When I say pivot points, I mean
Chords in the note that or notes in the chord that you're playing
That remain the same while the usually the external notes in the formation
Change in some way.
They can change in the same way or they can change maybe in opposing ways
So let's take a look at the [F] progression.
I played initially and this will hopefully help clarify some of the ideas
[Gm] _ So the first chord is a C minor and I have a C E flat G and C
[G] And then the middle two notes the E flat and the G stay the same while the external two notes move in unison _
Downwards so the second chord is a G augmented five or just a G augmented
_ then the next
[Eb]
chord is an
_ E flat and [A] then you can actually play this _
Which I guess you can
[F] Call an F dominant 9, but I actually prefer to play this
[Eb] I thought it just sounded better and I still have if you see the pivot note here
So I pivoted from this
[F] To this and this is just an F dominant [Dm] 7 so A, E flat, F, [F] A
Now at this point, I really couldn't keep going down.
So I had to switch to a new form [Fm] and
This is the form I switch and this is an F minor
Now here the pivot point was this C
_ Which then turned into a C [Cm] minor and _ _ [Ab] _ then into an A flat dominant 7 _ _ _ _
And then [D] two chords in quick succession
_ _ [G] _
_ _ _ [C] So I was as I was going down from the A flat
I [F] went here [F] first and this is a G dominant 7 sus4
I wanted to do the sus4 because I wanted to keep this pivot point and then it [G] resolved to a G dominant 7
_ _ [Cm] Now I couldn't keep going here or I didn't want to and I switched to another form
_ which is a C minor again only this is an inversion of the C minor chord and
Here my pivot point was this G
_ This turned into [G] a G major
_ [Eb] _ _ E flat 7 _
dominant sorry E flat dominant 7 and
_ _ [C] _
C [Em] dominant 7 on the base of E [C] and _ _
[Fm] Then again I switched the form and _ _
To an F minor and I used the same trick I used before I kept the two middle notes
_ The same or fixed and I moved the two external notes [Ab] downwards
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ And I just ended at the on the E flat major
So this is the idea of pivot [Gm] notes.
It's basically the
whatever
_ Voicing or chord you're playing try to keep
One or two notes fixed and see if you can move things around about it. _
So that's it
I hope you've learned something interesting and I'll see [N] you next time _