Use Unexpected Chords Without Sounding Random — The 'Parallel Method'

[00:19] Chords that belong together, sound good together. But there is a world beyond those diietonic chord groupings. a world that is full of iconic songs, timeless most beautiful, intriguing, and captivating music that humans have ever

[00:34] we are going to venture today. And that chord progression I was just playing was created using a very simple method, a method that gives you access to some of those less common sounds. So, if you're bored with your chord progressions, if

[00:47] ways to put chords together, and most importantly, if you're looking for a way of repeatedly coming up with interesting, less predictable, and emotionally rich chord sequences, this video is for you. So, the method we'll

[00:59] be using today is called the parallel method. And that name comes from the term parallel modulation, which is a particular method for changing key throughout a song. And it's often used to create contrast between sections.

[01:11] today is a little bit different. What I'm going to do is show you how to beginning of the songwriting process. So, we're going to break the parallel method down into three simple steps. Step one, choose a key and lay out the

[01:24] chords of that key. Step two, take the parallel key and lay out the chords of that key. And then step three, start creating sequences using chords from both keys. So, let's pick the key of G to work with. Now, step one, lay out the

[01:40] chords in the key of G. And the key of G has the chords G, A minor, B minor, C, has the chords G, A minor, B minor, C, D, E minor, F sharp diminished. And if each key, I've created a free PDF mapping out all 12 keys and the chords

[01:54] in each of those keys. And this will be a handy reference as we move deeper into this parallel process. So if you're interested, you'll find the link below. So we've got our chords in the key of G. The second step is to take the parallel

[02:06] key and lay out its chords. Now, if we're working in the key of G, the parallel key is G minor. And this is the way it works for any key. If we're in the key of C, the parallel is C minor. If we're in the key of A flat, the

[02:20] parallel is A flat minor. And again, just to make it easier for you, in that free PDF, I've actually laid out these parallel pairings so you can quickly see the two side by side. So, our parallel key is G minor. And in the key of G

[02:35] minor, we have G minor, A diminished, B flat, C minor, D minor, E flat, and F. three and start creating some chord sequences with this parallel system because we now have these two keys laid

[02:50] out alongside each other in parallel to each other. And it is from this expanded set of chords that we can now start creating our chord progression. And a really nice way to start is to create a four chord progression

[03:03] moving back and forth between the two keys. So the template we might begin with is one chord from G major, one chord from G minor, one chord from G major, one chord from G minor, alternating back and forth between the

[03:17] two. [Music]

[03:35] Instantly, we have a chord progression that is less common, more surprising, more unusual. And a nice way to visualize this is to jump over to Hook Theory, looking at the most common chord moves that they've identified in their

[03:47] database of songs. So, we'll make sure we're in the key of G major. you'll see the diagram change, but you'll also see the songs in the database that are being referenced to create this data. And what this diagram is really showing you is if

[04:01] this diagram is really showing you is if we start in the key of G on the G chord, what are the chords that most commonly come next? So, we can see that 16% of the time the second chord is the D chord. We have the C chord, the four

[04:14] chord in the key of G at 14%. We have B minor 4%, A minor 5%, E minor 9%. And these percentages just represent the most common chord moves in this key. And

[04:26] then there's this gray circle here that says other. And if we click into that, we get all of these other chords appearing. And within this huge batch of chord options, we have the C minor down here, the chord that we have used as our

[04:40] here, the chord that we have used as our second chord at less than.5%. So what that means is using this parallel method has instantly created a chord progression that is statistically unique. We don't hear this move G to C

[04:55] minor as often as we hear lots of other chord combinations. And this is a really when you're trying to construct interesting, unique, surprising chord don't just sound like all the other songs out there. But of course, we're

[05:10] chord progressions for the sake of making unique sounding chord progressions. We have to always be mindful of the fact that every time we creating a different mood. And our mission as songwriters is to really tap

[05:24] into that mood that's been created and match it appropriately with lyrical and melodic content. Okay, so back to our chord progression in the key of G. We've got this pattern where we're starting on the G, then moving to a chord in the

[05:38] parallel G minor, then going back to the G major, then going to another chord in the parallel G minor. So, alternating back and forth between the two parallel keys is one kind of template. We can create

[05:53] another kind of template. And this template is going to be one chord from the major, one from the minor, another from the minor, and then back to the major. [Music]

[06:18] Or maybe we could do this one. [Music]

[06:38] chord sequences, this way of coming up with chord progressions is a gamecher because suddenly we're liberated from the seven chords that exist within the key. Suddenly you have different colors to paint with. You have different moods

[06:51] just started to happen as I was playing through those chords, especially that through those chords, especially that last one.

[07:13] Suddenly, melodies are starting to emerge from this process. And this is method. You're not just creating interesting core progressions. You're empowered and inspired to come up with some beautiful melodies. And they're

[07:27] elements of surprise embedded in them because they're emerging from these parallel method is really doing is introducing some ambiguity into the

[07:39] musical equation, sonic ambiguity. And what I mean by that is when we're writing in one key, it's usually quite clear where the tonal center of that clear where the tonal center of that song is. But in a parallel system, that

[07:53] stability isn't quite there because we're moving between two different keys. these more subtle, ambiguous musical landscapes. And you hear this done beautifully in a number of songs. One song that comes to mind is Lou Reed's

[08:08] song that comes to mind is Lou Reed's Perfect Day. That song begins with two chords going back and forth. The F chord to the B flat minor. And what's interesting about that is you've got the F chord belonging to one key and you've

[08:22] got the B flat minor belonging to the parallel key. So from the very first note, the very first beat of that song, we are introduced sonically to this parallel system. And that sets the tone for the entire song. Because as you move

[08:37] through the rest of the progression, you can see that Lou Reed really is jumping back and forth between the two parallel keys that he's established from the very beginning. Not only that, we have the verses leaning more heavily on the B

[08:51] verses leaning more heavily on the B flat minor and the choruses shifting to flat minor and the choruses shifting to the B flat major. So, we have this tonal shift between the sections. And this is also how this parallel system is

[09:03] familiar with the parallel concept, we can look at a few other templates and practical ways to use this method in your songwriting. Another template that we can use is one chord from G major,

[09:16] another chord from G major, a third chord from G major, and the fourth chord coming from the parallel minor. And this template has a particular effect because G major. So the ear is getting comfortable being in that key. And then

[09:30] we hear the fourth chord come along from the minor and it suddenly breaks that pattern. [Music]

[09:50] And that kind of sequence works really well as a loop. But another way of using this technique is to delay the introduction of that parallel minor even further, which really enhances the impact of it when it finally arrives.

[10:04] And it also allows us to pivot the chord progression in a different direction. So I'm going to play through four chords all from the same key, all from G major. And then I'm going to do the sequence again. And on the second time round, on

[10:18] the last chord, I'm going to use a borrow chord to pivot the whole progression into a different direction. [Music]

[11:07] think in terms of sections. So, we're creating one mood or one tonal center for one section and then shifting the tonal center and shifting the mood in really powerful if you're writing your

[11:22] song and looking for contrast between your sections or looking to take your listener on a particular journey or looking to support a narrative twist or a change of direction in your lyrics. Whatever the reason, having this

[11:34] parallel method really explodes the options available to you so you can make deliberate choices when writing your songs. Remember that free downloadable PDF has all of these parallel pairings laid out for you so you can start

[11:47] experimenting with your own combinations of chords. And please post in the progressions or combinations you come up with. I'd love to see them. I'd love to play through them and try them out. And happy songwriting. Bye.