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The Formula
100+ Chord Progressions
www.holistic-songwriting.com
The Mindset
“Why the hell would you even make a guide like this? Clearly there is no one formula to summarise all of
Nirvana’s work, right?"
Right. My intention with this PDF is to a) give you a quick start into writing grungy chord progressions next
time you’re sitting down to write and b) to understand Nirvana’s band sound better. I’m not claiming that
using this formula will turn you into the next Kurt Cobain, but maybe it will help you find your unique sound.
“I want to write a simple, 2-chord chorus in the style of Nirvana. What chord progression
would you recommend?”
Oh me, you always ask the best questions, you handsome devil, you. Let’s start with this
classic Nirvana chord progression, found in In Bloom, Come As You Are and Drain You.
Examples
C-Eb: In traditional harmony, this would be called moving up to the chromatic mediant.
C-Ab: In traditional harmony, this would be called moving down to the chromatic mediant.
In classical terms: I-bIII or I-bVI
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Examples
C-F-Ab-Eb C-F-Ab-D C-G-Bb-Eb C-G-Bb-D
C-F-Ab-Ab C-F-Ab-G C-G-Bb-Ab C-G-Bb-G
C-F-Ab-Bb C-F-Ab-Eb C-G-Bb-Bb C-G-Bb-Eb
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Examples
C5-Ab5-F-Ab C5-A5-F-Ab C5-Eb5-F-Ab C5-E5-F-Ab
C5-Ab5-F#-A C5-A5-F#-A C5-Eb5-F#-A C5-E5-F#-A
C5-Ab5-G-Bb C5-A5-G-Bb C5-Eb5-G-Bb C5-E5-G-Bb
C5-Ab5-A-C C5-A5-Ab-B C5-Eb5-Ab-B C5-E5-Ab-B
C5-Ab5-Bb-Db C5-A5-Bb-Db C5-Eb5-A-C C5-E5-A-C
C5-Ab5-B-D C5-A5-B-D C5-Eb5-Bb-Db C5-E5-Bb-Db
C5-Ab5-C-Eb C5-A5-C-Eb C5-Eb5-B-D C5-E5-B-D
C5-Ab5-Db-E C5-A5-Db-E C5-Eb5-C-Eb C5-E5-C-Eb
C5-Ab5-D-F C5-A5-D-F C5-Eb5-Db-E C5-E5-Db-E
C5-Ab5-Eb-Gb C5-A5-Eb-Gb C5-Eb5-D-F C5-E5-D-F
C5-Ab5-E-G C5-A5-E-G C5-Eb5-E-G C5-E5-Eb-Gb
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Formula #4: X ±? ±Y ±?
“I want more chord progressions!”
If you want to craft your own Nirvana-esque chord progressions, I got one more for tip you: A lot of Nirvana’s chord
progressions are built on sequencing out chord movement. In other words, you start on a chord (X), move that
chord somewhere and remember by how many semitones (±?) you moved. Then you go to any other chord (Y) and
do that same move (±?) again. All of this is easiest to see on guitar where the chord shapes give you a visual clue.
Example:
You start out in C and randomly move to F. That’s up a fourth (5 semitones up). So X=C and ±?=+5. Now all
you have to do is pick another random chord Y. Say you pick Eb. That will make the last chord (Eb+5
semitones=) Ab. So your final chord progression will read:
C-F-Eb-Ab
Here’s a few more examples using different intervals and random Y-chords:
C-G-Eb-Bb (up a fifth), C-G-D-A (up a fifth), C-Ab-B-G (down a major third), C-F#-Eb-A (down a tritone), etc.
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