Progressions sound "natural" or "stalled" because each chord has a job. Those jobs sort broadly into three.
Part two was about building chords. Now it is about ordering them. There are patterns to the ordering because each chord has a job to do.
Broadly three jobs
The six usable chords in a key sort into three groups. In C major it looks like this.
- Home (tonic) — C. This is the house. It settles.
- Opening out (subdominant) — F, Dm. One step out of the door.
- Tension (dominant) — G. Pulls you back towards the house.
- C (home) → F (opens out) → G (tension) → C (home)
C | F | G | C
The job a chord does inside the key. We sort them into three: settling, opening out, wanting to return. Am and Em sit close to home, and what they do depends on the chords around them.
Swap the order and the flow changes
Tension (G) wants to resolve to home (C). Put C after G and it lands comfortably. Put F after G instead and it sounds like you set off home and turned back — a small step backwards.
- C → F → G → C (lands cleanly)
C | F | G | C
- C → G → F → C (turns back)
C | G | F | C
The second one is not wrong. Rock and brass-band writing use that backwards feeling on purpose. But when something "flows badly" for no reason you can name, check whether tension and opening-out have swapped places — that is often the culprit.
Generate over home–opening–tension–home. The foundation is straightforward, so where the melody lands is easy to hear.
Generate over C, F, G, CChords have broadly three jobs. Leave home (I), open out (IV), build tension (V), return home. That order sounds the most natural.
Quick review
Everything here is answerable from this chapter. Pick an option and the answer appears straight away.
Question 1
Which job pulls back towards home?
Question 2
Which order sounds the most natural?