Country Progressions
Before continuing your way through this book it will be important to have a basic understanding of a Country chord progression. Most Country songs follow a common sequence of chords with each chord played for a certain amount of bars.
A Country progression is generally constructed from the three basic chords in a key which are illustrated in the following table. These three chords are referred to as the I, IV and V chords. The Roman numerals relating to the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes of the major scale from which each chord takes its name.
16 Bar Country Progression
The 16 bar Country progression is the most common chord sequence used in Country. There are many variations of this progression. The following example consists of two bars of the I chord, four bars of the V chord, four bars of the I chord, two of the IV chord, one bar of the I chord, one bar of the V chord and two bars of the I chord.
Measure numbers are indicated below the staff at the beginning of each bar.
To play the previous progression in the key of G, substitute the symbols I, IV, and V with the three basic chords in the key of G (G, C and D), as shown in the table on the previous page. To play the first example, use the suggested rhythm pattern.
Rhythm Pattern
To play the same progression in the key of D, substitute the symbols I, IV and V with the three basic chords in the key of D (D, G and A), as shown in the table on the previous page.
Rhythm Pattern
As mentioned previously there are many variations of the 16 bar Country progression. The first of these variations inserts the V7 chord in the 5th bar and the 17 chord in the 10th bar. Try the following example in the key of G.
Rhythm Pattern
A Seventh Chord
A7
To play the A7 chord, place the second and third fingers of your left hand as shown in the diagram, and strum all six strings.
Rhythm Pattern
To play the previous 16 bar Country progression variation in the key of D an A7 chord is needed. Study the diagram shown.
Eight Bar Country Progression
Another common Country progression is the eight bar Country progression. A variation of this sequence is shown next.
Rhythm Pattern
The eight bar Country progression here is played in the key of G as follows.
Rhythm Pattern
The next example is same progression as previous but in the key of D.
As with the 16 bar Country progression there are several variations on the 8 bar Country progression, some of which will appear throughout the book. The following variation incorporates the V7 chord.
Rhythm Pattern
