Hey!
The question might sound silly but I`ve been wondering if you incorporate any cool chords into your chord progressions. You know, chords outside your scale.
It would be cool if you used roman numbers notation like V7 or tell me what the chord is in a minor, because I always write in piano roll in a minor and change the key digitally but anything will do.
When it comes to me, I love to use V9, so in a minor it`s an extended E Major chord instead of the usual e minor. Notes are EG#BDG. It resolves really nicely into a minor, the root.
Another one would be II, so D Major when I`m in a minor. Well, it`s always nice to try to use the major version of the chord, it sounds uplifting. To give you an example, it`s the last chord in the chord progression in Deadmau5 - Ghosts n Stuff. You can replace d minor or a minor with it, no one expects D Major inquisition!
Also I`m going to experiment more with bVI and bVII in major scale. In C Major it`s G# Major and A# Major, I believe. When resolved to C Major it`s a nice movie-like happy ending. Technicolor by Madeon ends this way.
When it comes to chords within the scale I love to use sevenths. My favourite chord ever is VI7. In a minor it`s F Major 7 I believe. I might be wrong because it could be like a dominant or major seventh I`m not really good with the theory about them but yeah. It feels nostalgic to me. Also v7, V7, I7, iv7 and vi7. Sometimes I might extend to a ninth.
So, how about you? I`d love to know
Cheers!

I didn't fully comprehend everything you wrote but adding 7th and 9th voicings to chords is a great idea. Also, inverting your chord voicings can help mask your chords.

Quote from: Matt Viper on January 13, 2016, 07:35:33 pm

Also I`m going to experiment more with bVI and bVII in major scale. In C Major it`s G# Major and A# Major,

Should't that be

bVI = Ab Major
bVII = Bb Major  ?

I know, it's nitpicking but otherwise I get confused. Great idea, btw!!

Yes.  And, there's nothing wrong with being pedantic about it. G# and Ab may be enharmonically equivalent, but they are different notes and create different intervals relative to other notes for some very good reasons, primarily that it doesn't work to conflate their naming in the context of key signatures, circle of fifths, chords, etc.

Non-diatonic chords can be really cool if you use them correctly for example taking a diatonic triad and adding a non-diatonic 7th over it (ex. I- maj 7). And then you can further it by placing tensions over top. The key is context in the song. Most chords like that sound terrible out of context. 

That title is right. I find such a chords as a really nice spice. Can't help myself, I still like to stay in-key most of the time, but once in a while, throwing in some 7th or suspended chord can work miracles. Finding that right place is the key, though.

EDIT: Thx wayfinder!

I didn't read OP tbh, but what I like to do is add 7ths and 9ths. A way to use chords outside of the progression is to use the secondary dominant of a chord. (Theory is worth learning because of them so I suggest you look it up if you don't know what it is.) They enable you to use chords as pivots to other keys, as well as just enhance your chord progression.