Hi Guys & others (grin)I have been reading this thread during it's lifetime and after it went to sleep, i.e. before I just woke it up.
I am in a phase of my music-learning where I want to be able to understand chords, chord progressions and related music theory, especially to do with arrangements and improvising. I play Celtic lever harp, so I am not able to just play any old chord when I want to, like guitarists , banjo players, mandolin players etc.
A quick bit of info on lever harps, just in case you have never been up close & personal with one:
Generally it is easier to set up the levers so that you play in one key e.g. C major/A minor, or G major/E minor, etc. The most frequent keys that I play in at sessions are C maj/A minor, G maj/E minor & D maj/B minor.
Accidentals are not easy because it means flipping the lever at a strategic point before playing that bar, and flipping it back again afterwards.
I have been studying the info and suggestions in this thread, and also in a couple of books that I have about chords and arranging.
The chords that I can make in the Key of C major (& A minor) are:
C, C6, Cma7, Dm, Dm6, Dm7, Em, Em7, F, F6, Fma7, G, G6, G7, G9, Am, Am7. (i.e. no sharps or flats, because it is set up in the key of C)
(I have a similar list for the other two frequently played keys.) If I tried to do other chords in that key I would need accidentals so it would mean flipping levers.
Anyway, to get to the point - I have found this thread really helpful, and it has motivated me to start looking into this chord progression/arrangement stuff much more seriously because I *finally* am starting to *get* what it is all about and how it works. I looked at the circle of fifths information and it finally clicked, too.
I also set up a file on MsExcel where I laid out the chords of a few songs and then put the roman numeral chord symbols next to them and started to see the patterns that they form in a new way. Because I am dyslexic I find it very hard to memorise the chord progressions but by expressing it visually with colours and on different lines I can *see* the patterns that they make much more clearly. And once I see things visually I can usually remember them a lot more easily.
So thanks guys (& others) for your helpful discussion.
Helen