Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Composer's Lounge Sad, melancholic chord progession

HI!
Im fairly new to piano and till now been composing only simple songs using 3 chords (I, IV, V)
I wonder if anyone could give me a nice, sad, melancholic chord progression to write a nice melody over it.

To get started, you might try doing the same basic thing in minor:

im7(9), ivm9, iim7b5, V7#5b9, im7(9)

In C that's:

Cm7(9), Fm9, Dm7b5, G7#5b9, Cm7(9)

(Even just toggling back and forth between im7(9) and ivm9 sounds good and sad.)

Also, for melancholic, nothing beats the minor add 9 chord (in C, for example: C-D-Eb-G). Even the research shows it:

http://tagg.mediamusicstudies.net/articles/xpdfs/musemeuse.pdf
http://www.tagg.org/articles/xpdfs/jochen0411.pdf

i-V6-i-iv6-i64-V7-i

i-v6-bVI(Maj7)-V7

Thanks!
@Mike A
I want to make sure if I know chords correctly. Dm7b5 is D, F, bA, C and G7#5b9 is G, B, bE, b B?

@Kreisler
Thanks, I wonder if you could write this in the key of C (or any other major key)

Correct for Dm7b5.

For G7#5b9, the b9 is Ab, rather than Bb (because the 9th is A). However, the Bb (or, technically, A#) is the #9, and it also sounds good. Often sounds good to do the #9 then drop that note down to the b9 -- first A#, then Ab.
(By the way, you have the right note for the #5 in that chord, but technically it's spelled D# rather than Eb. The fifth of G is D, and you're raising it a half step.)

Neither of my examples are in a major key, but in C minor, they would be:

Cm, G/B, Cm, Fm/Ab, Cm/G, G7, Cm

and

Cm, Gm/Bb, AbMaj7, G7

For me, a melodic sequence using the three successive minor keys on the augmented chord, e.g. Cm,Em,G#m and the other three possible cycles, gives a peculiarly haunting effect, provided it isn't overdone, of course.

Hey Pian00b,

Try composing a sad melodic line first, and then add the chords later.

Best, John