Progression (music)

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In music, a progression is any sequence of chords . While a cadence leads to a goal with a formulaic movement, there are no special rules or style guidelines for progressions. Progressions are not tied to a specific shape.

This term is often used in jazz , but increasingly also in pop music , especially when songwriters, composers and musicians communicate with each other about their work. The word is spelled identically in the English language.

Accompaniment of melodies

Compositions in jazz and pop music are often based on progressions that harmoniously accompany a melody . In popular music, the melody is often created first and the chords are then added as accompaniment. In jazz it is often exactly the other way round: the chords are on paper and the musicians then improvise their melodies “live”.

The same melody can be accompanied by many different progressions, each producing a very different experience. Songwriters and composers take advantage of this to make their pieces varied and interesting.

If a relatively short progression is repeated over and over in a piece, it is called a harmonic ostinato .