A I – vi chord progression will sound boring if you don’t give it a bit of “oomph.” So, layer in the hooks, build some depth in the track, and have some fun with it. To that end, you will need to think a little outside the box. It’s one of those grooves you just don’t want to end. A song like “Fantasy” is filled to the brim with interesting instrumental layers that keep the song engaging from top to bottom. When you sing like Mariah, you don’t need too many chords it seems. If you want to, there’s no reason why you can’t throw it in though. Some people hear a ii chord in “Fantasy” too, but I don’t. Here’s Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” which is basically a two-chord song. You just need to get a little creative with it. The transition from I to vi sounds quite smooth and natural, and that shouldn’t come as any surprise, because there’s only one note difference between the two chords.īut is there really any applicability in the realm of Rhythm and Blues? Yes, of course there is. Well, it doesn’t get much simpler than this. While the two-chord sequence in Jordan’s song works great, that doesn’t mean you can’t add it to your toolkit and take it in other directions. Keep in mind that you can combine this progression with others. You’ll hear some killer piano / keyboard riffs throughout “This Is How We Do It.” It’s simplistic, sure, but that leaves plenty of room for other instruments to add flavor. Drawing out the vi chord like that will amp up the tension even more. In Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It,” the vi chord lasts for one and a half bars before moving to the bVII chord for half a bar. This is a phenomenal chord progression for creating tension in a song. Here’s Montell Jordan’s smash R&B hit “This Is How We Do It” to show this progression in action (and it basically follows the same structure throughout): This isn’t to say that R&B is always easy, or that all songs in the genre should only have two chords, though, because that’s not the case.Įither way, if you’re looking for more interesting progressions, don’t worry – we’ll be looking at more sophisticated progressions later.Īnyway, this one is obviously a minor progression, and the bvii chord might strike you as odd.

At the outset, it’s worth noting that there are a lot of great two-chord chord progressions that work quite well for R&B.

You are the reason piano chords b flat