Fav. Chord Change

love it when songs have a bit when they switch from major to minor & back again in the same key
like the verses in this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU_a98o_0pA

what are yours? give examples plz

I down to a vi. (Like C to Am.) Especially when under the same melodic line.

V - Vaug - I (e.g., A - Aaug - D), often used as an end-of-verse turnaround in older pop music.

It's all about context, but I do really love in a minor key when a V7 (esp. with a flatted 9) sounds like it's going to resolve and instead goes to the VI -- happens in Bach a lot. All the best chord changes happen in Bach.

Basically everything in this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fhqqxEQRRY, especially in the middle section.

at 3:40ish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9tcEuUWuhc

I -> iii (eg. F - Am) or vice versa catches my ear instantly, it just sounds so powerful to me, it's kind of a perfect hook for me because I seem to (at least) like every song which uses that change. I -> vi (eg. D - Bm) mentioned above strikes me in a similar way

somewhere in my heart I have a special place for I -> II7 (eg. A - B7), love it ever since the brigde of D-Plans "Memory Machine" completely blew my mind, there's so much power in this progression

Right now, either the F#m to A (as in the chorus of Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise") or the Bm to A (like in Blur's "Sing"). Sort of serves the same simple but effectively dramatic purpose. The F#m (to D, this time) shows up in Lindsey Buckingham's "Countdown," too. Just a satisfying, ultra-simple progression for a novice like me.

On the first Witch Mountain album, we had a song called "Victim of Chord Changes".

Brian Wilson - 'til i die (constant chord changes)
Rue du Soleil - roma (@ 3:30)

I IV iii at the end of a verse, particularly if a) the verse has been moving around combinations of I IV V, and b) the chorus starts VIII VIIdim vi

Also hold the iii for a bar and stick in an ominous drum fill.

in my high school band we did a reallllly long jam which was just going back and forth between C and E major. we called it "the Pink Floyd chord change".

^^^ just tried this out and LOL

I down to a vi. (Like C to Am.) Especially when under the same melodic line.

As a novice bass player I learned a bunch of songs with variants of 1-4-5, then songs with a 2 chord. Learning to use the 6 was a MAJOR revelation, esp with my love of old New Orleans R&B and swamp pop.

wow i'm kind of impressed they made a video for a long, dreamy track like 'desire lines' had never seen that before.

in response to the question, i've always really dug the change from the verse to the chorus in 'the wait' by killing joke. i have plenty more favourites though - i do love a nice chord change.

Earth Wind and Fire - After the Love Is Gone

right after the line "Something happened along the way, what used to be happy was sad," where it goes from the F to the unexpected B passing chord and then the E so it's suddenly in the key of B, and it sounds like a warping record.

V -> vi -> IV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xYHzC_yYTk

This whole album is gold, but from 13:39 here is one of those changes that always gets me.

Stuff's Stuff, at 10:55 -- probably among the most sublime 3:50 in music, but especially Richard Tee's piano solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZcTP3-ARFQ

There are a bunch of incredible changes in there, but there's something about that e-flat 9 at 13:19 after that incredible run that makes me feel like I just saw my home on the horizon after being lost for years

Holy shit, I was about to post when I saw that I had not only posted ten years ago (

Right now, either the F#m to A (as in the chorus of Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise") or the Bm to A (like in Blur's "Sing"). Sort of serves the same simple but effectively dramatic purpose. The F#m (to D, this time) shows up in Lindsey Buckingham's "Countdown," too. Just a satisfying, ultra-simple progression for a novice like me.

Someone with more theory knowledge that I have help me. This is the standard New Orleans R&B/swamp pop progression that always sounds so good to me. Chord changes are I to V on the verses, but then when it goes to the IV (lonely) what is the next chord (so lonely?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW0qwoShp5c

It sounds like iv, the minor fourth.

yup, it goes IV-iv-I, then IV-iv-II-V

I have a couple of favourite chord changes:

I to ♭VI maj 7th (e.g. G maj to E♭ maj 7). I first noticed it listening to the Beach Boys' Holland, where it is used in "Sail On Sailor" and "Steamboat". Note the second chord contains a G minor triad.

vi to ♭VI (e.g. B minor to B♭ major). I might have first noticed this in Roxy Music's "Chance Meeting" or the somewhat similar "Other Side of Life" by Japan.

Thanks Halfway and Crut, I'm pretty much a root note bass player but I grabbed a guitar and had just figured that out on my own.

vi to ♭VI (e.g. B minor to B♭ major). I might have first noticed this in Roxy Music's "Chance Meeting" or the somewhat similar "Other Side of Life" by Japan.

When I saw this thread title pop up, this was the first change that came to mind tbh. I love anything like am7 - Abmaj7 where the C and the G are sustained through.

Any chromatic mediant motion with a shared pitch is lovely to my ears... I - VI (C - A), I - III (C - E), i - iii (c - eb), i - vi (c - a) for example

In terms of basic shit, I'll never tire of I - iii - I - iii ("Clair De Lune", Edward Scissorhands)

i'll never get sick of the classic IV/V-I, or its cousin ii7-IV/V-I

I love anything like am7 - Abmaj7 where the C and the G are sustained through.

otm

Any chromatic mediant motion with a shared pitch is lovely to my ears... I - VI (C - A), I - III (C - E), i - iii (c - eb), i - vi (c - a) for example

also otm, I especially like working with groups of voicings that are like expansions/contractions of the harmonic series with 1 shared note, e.g.

C-C-G / F-C-F / G-C-E / Ab-C-Eb (shared middle tone)
C-C-G / G-D-G / Bb-Eb-G / C-E-G (shared upper tone)
C-C-G / C-G-C / C-F-A / C-E-G (shared lower tone)

Oof, there are so many.
One change i really like, I don't know how to write it out in numerals because it's not really in any particular key, but for example in the verse of 'light my fire' where it goes from Am to F#m and back again. I'm a fan of chromatic/non-diatonic things like that which undermine the sense of key. Keeps me on my toes heh

It's also in "i'm a living sickness", etc