50s progression

Today, we are going to talk about one of the most popular, yet classic chord progression, the 50s progression! The formula is I-vi-ii-V. While this progression was popular during the fifties, you’ll find popular songs using this progression from many decades. Want to know more? Check out some of these examples: Close Your Eyes – […]






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Learning from the Masters – Part 2

Hi there! Today in Songtive we’re going to follow our ‘Learning from the Masters’ series reviewing another part of Led Zeppelin’s immortal classic Stairway to Heaven. But first let’s check out what we’ve already gathered from our analysis: For analysis purposes the most convenient way to get into it is to get the structure first. […]






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Learning from the Masters – Part 1

We’re going to learn composition techniques through one of the best ways there is to do so: analyzing musical masterpieces and reviewing some of the most interesting aspects they got to offer to make them the great artistic achievement they became. In order to do so we’re reviewing two of the most emblematic classic rock […]






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The Four Chords of Pop

Today we are talking about the four chords of pop! It is a four chord progression widely used in pop music through the years, and it has a natural attraction that leaves no indifferent listeners. Based in the previous Doo Wop progression we discussed before, it consists of a I – V – vi – […]






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Doo Wop Progression

Today in Songtive.com we’ll be analyzing a popular chord progression. It’s called the ‘Doo Wop Progression’, and is one of the most popular harmonic cycles ever! It consists of a I – VI – IV – V progression that defined an era, as you will see. Many songs going from jazz standards to timeless classics […]






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The Minor Fourth Chord

Today we’re gonna learn about a curious chord progression that you all can identify in a wide number of popular songs. We are talking about the use of a minor fourth degree (IVm) that adds a melancholic feeling to the phrases’ endings – which we already discussed with the name of cadences. There are many […]






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4 Ways to Develop Instrumental Solos

This time we will get some new resources to our composition toolbox. We will learn how to focus the creation of an instrumental solo – be it for guitar, piano, bass or any other instrument. But enough talk, let’s check it out! The Resources The musical resources we are going to discuss can be applied […]






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A Melody that Fits into a Chord Progression

This time we are reviewing one of the most interesting topics regarding music theory that you can use right now: how to make a melody that fits into the chord progression. One of the things that puzzled me when I was new to composing is how can I deliberately know – not by ear only – […]






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Tutorial 3 – Explore New World Of Music with Scale Spelling

In our previous posts (Tutorial 1 – Note Names, Placement and Major Scale and Tutorial 2 – Minor Scale Construction and Introduction to “Circle Of Fifths”) we were talking about a method of constructing Major and Minor scales, as well as we’ve introduced a very handy music tool – “Circle of Fifths”. Today, we are […]






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The Cadences

This time we will talk about cadences, one of the most useful harmonic procedures available to every composer or songwriter out there! Every musical hit you know uses it, every song you like it also makes use of it, which makes it very convenient to learn. Classical music, rock music, R & B music…you name […]






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