Today’s lesson is on the classic 1-4 walk-up chord progression.
Every serious gospel pianist should know this walk-up because they can be heard in lots (and lots) of gospel songs.
A Preparatory Note On The 1-4 Walk Up Chord Progression
Before we go into our objective in this segment, let’s take a look at what the term chord progression means.
“What Is A Chord Progression?”
A chord progression is the movement of chords from one degree of the scale to another. The degrees of major and minor keys are represented by the major and minor scales respectively.
The degrees in the key of C major are eight in number and are represented by the C major scale:
Here are the degrees in the key of C major…
C is 1
D is 2
E is 3
F is 4
G is 5
A is 6
B is 7
C is 8
The 1-4 Chord Progression
The 1-4 chord progression is a chord movement from the first degree of the scale (aka – “the tonic”) to the fourth degree of the scale (aka – “the subdominant”.)
In the key of C major:
…a 1-4 chord progression is the movement of chords whose roots are C:
…and F:
…which are the first and fourth tones of the C major scale respectively.
“Take Note…”
The interval between the root notes of the chords in a 1-4 chord progression are a perfect fourth interval apart. Therefore, if you’re familiar with the perfect fourth interval in all twelve keys, you’ll easily spot out the root notes of the 1-4 chord progression in any key.
Check out the perfect fourth interval in all twelve keys…
The C perfect fourth interval:
The Db perfect fourth interval:
The D perfect fourth interval:
The Eb perfect fourth interval:
The E perfect fourth interval:
The F perfect fourth interval:
The F# perfect fourth interval:
The G perfect fourth interval:
The Ab perfect fourth interval:
The A perfect fourth interval:
The Bb perfect fourth interval:
The B perfect fourth interval:
These perfect fourth intervals are the first and fourth tones in any key you’re in (whether major or minor.)
“Now that we’ve covered the movement of the root note, let’s take a look at a regular 1-4 chord progression in the key of C…”
Attention: The chords for the 1-4 chord progression can vary from triads, to seventh chords, ninth chords; sophisticated voicings can be used too and this depends on who is playing or the audience. However, you’ll permit me to use triads in the illustration below.
Chord 1 in the key of C major is the C major triad:
….while chord 4 is the F major triad:
“Check out this 1-4 chord progression…”
Chord 1:
…the C major triad.
Chord 4:
…the F major seventh chord.
The 1-4 chord progression can be spicier if we introduce the walk-up technique; let me show you how this works.
The 1-4 Walk-Up Progression
The goal of the 1-4 chord progression is to take you from the first degree of the scale to the fourth degree of the scale. However, in-between first and fourth degrees are the second and third degrees.
In a 1-4 chord progression from C to F:
…the second and third degrees – D and E:
…fall in-between.
Instead of a chord movement from the first to the fourth (C to F in this case):
…you can walk up to F thus…
C:
…to D:
…to E:
…to F:
Irrespective of the fact that the walk-up involves the second and third degrees of the scale, it doesn’t make it a 1-2-3-4 chord progression. Here’s how it appears…
1 – (2 – 3) – 4
It’s still a 1-4 chord progression consisting of the first chord and the destination chord, with two passing chords sandwiched in-between.
Here are the chords of the classic 1-4 walk-up chord progression in the key of C.
Chord 1:
…the C major triad.
Chord 2:
…first inversion of the Bb major triad.
Chord 3:
…first inversion of the C major triad.
Chord 4:
…the F major seventh chord.
“The Walk-Up Progression Sounds Good. Don’t Take My Word For It; Check This Out…”
Here’s the song “Lord make me over” by tonex in the key of Ab. However, we’ll be doing this example in the key of C.
Take #1 – “Lord make me over” by Tonex using the 1-4 chord progression
Lord make me:
…O-ver:
Sounds good…however, you need to check this one out too.
Take #2 – “Lord make me over” by Tonex using the classic 1-4 walk-up chord progression
Lord:
…make:
…me:
…O-ver:
I’m sure you enjoyed that because it sounds a whole lot better! Permit me to take this study to another level by giving you in-depth analysis of the classic 1-4 walk-up progression.
An In-Depth Breakdown Of The Classic 1-4 Walk Up Chord Progression
There are two perspectives to the 1-4 walk-up chord progression. The first is the regular way of seeing it in the key of 1 while the second perspective has to do with seeing it in the key of 4.
“Let me throw more light…”
In the key of C:
…C:
…is 1 and F:
…is 4, consequently, there are two perspectives to the classic 1-4 walk-up progression in the key of C…
- Analyzing it in the key of C
- Analyzing it in the key of F
Notwithstanding that the classic 1-4 walk-up progression is played in the key of C, we’ll be breaking it down in the key of F.
“Once again, here are the chords of the 1-4 walk-up progression in the key of C”
Chord 1:
Chord 2:
Chord 3:
Chord 4:
“Let’s go into the analysis…”
A good way to start is to switch the interval name of the notes from the key of C:
…to the key of F:
So, we’re talking about a 5-6-7-1 chord progression in the key of F. Check it out…
Chord 5:
…the C major triad.
Chord 6:
…first inversion of the Bb major triad.
Chord 7:
…first inversion of the C major triad.
Chord 1:
…the F major seventh chord.
Attention: The classic 1-4 chord progression can be understood as a 5-1 chord progression to the fourth degree of the scale (which is F in the key of C.) It is important to note that the strongest root movement in music for the past 500 years is from the 5th tone to the 1st tone.
A Short Note On Chords 6 and 7
Before we round up this lesson, it is important for me to add that the chords 6 and 7 are not scale degree chords. In the key of F:
…the chords of the sixth and seventh tones:
…are the D minor:
…and E diminished:
…triads which are entirely different from the chords we used as chords 6 and 7.
Final Thoughts
This is just the beginning of this study. In subsequent lessons, we explore the use of this classic walk-up progression in other subtle ways.
“Here’s one of the several options…”
A 2-5 walk-up chord progression in the key of C
Chord 2:
…the D major triad.
Chord 3:
…first inversion of the C major triad.
Chord #4:
…first inversion of the D major triad.
Chord 5:
…the G major seventh chord.
The above progression can be used over the hymn “I need thee every hour” in the part that says “can pe-e-eace a-fford.”
Can pe:
…second inversion of the G major triad.
…e:
…the D major triad.
...eace:
…first inversion of the C major triad.
…a:
…first inversion of the D major triad.
…ford:
…the G major triad.
That’s all for today and thanks for the time you’ve invested.
See you in the next lesson.
Chuku Onyemachi
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