For me, I find myself coming back to the ascending bVI - bVII - i progression in a lot of my XHB entries... I know it fairly well and IMO there's lots of ways to get emotional expression out of it quickly. What about you guys, what are some chords you find yourself coming back to often?

B-CD (all minor of course

ii-V-I of course!

prob i - III - VI - VII (minor scale, so in Cm it'd be)
its one of the most basic progressions, and so my feeble brain defaults to it
(also i tend to use 7th chords on those, probably to an unhealthy degree lmao)

just ii dorian by itself for 4 minutes and 20 seconds

Similar to MattMoney, I often use the [bVI - bVII - I] progression in a major key (a.k.a the "Mario Cadence").

Although as I've gotten better at jazz I've sometimes started replacing it with [iv - bVII - I] (a.k.a the "backdoor ii-V-I").

I used to almost always default to a [I - bVII] vamp which is easy and nice to solo over; I had to force myself to stop using it so much so I would branch out to other chord progressions lol. Really I just like borrowing chords from the parallel minor key.

Also I like using IV a lot, it's the prettiest chord.

There's 2 I gravitate towards.

i -> VII -> Vii -> ii

It starts on a classic tonic minor then goes to VII to establish harmonic minor. After setting up the expectations it breaks them by going to the natural minor subtonic, and then wraps up on ii which both natural and harmonic minor share. I use it to make things sound evil.

another one of my favorite progressions is

i -> vi /6

I use this in my funkier tracks. Most of the time I go through the progression in one measure and just loop it. To switch it up, I either slow down the harmonic rhythm or I just key change.

I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV I IV

IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7

or

IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7 IVM7 IM7

^ the ultimate progression. If I could choose one to save in the event that all others were destroyed forever, it would be this.

but also I'm very often hitting the vi or VI depending on the mode of the song. I also like moving to the IV from the III, or similarly moving to the vii from the V. ALSO I've been recently into moving to the major IV when the tonic is a minor i.

i don't believe in chords. chords are a fiction produced by Big Harmony to sell more notes

i do fall back on the bird changes or variations on em pretty regularly, along with varying some on the trane changes

ii - V - I - tries to suck my blood occasionally. i fight it back by going i - v/i - vi - vii

i don't think in terms of set progressions much, but plagal-cadence-type root motion is definitely a standby -- for me all the microtonal harmony stuff has probably only made that more true

@jangler I don't think the microtonal people were invited

I usually just start with D minor, then I put other things next to it until it begins to approach coherence

though I have always had a fondness for -

i - v - III - VII - IV - VII

idk i don't use them (all ik is that i like using minor chords and sometimes minor 7ths)

i used to really gravitate towards IV-iii-ii-I and still do but nowadays i like to change it up a little and do a IV-iii-vi-ii-V-I.
tho at its core its still my beloved IV-iii-ii-I...

As a lover of weeb music, it is, of course, The Anime Progression®. From this entry:

"A variation from the “Bird blues”, perhaps what makes a song sound the most anime-like is this progression: I (4 beats) | ♭vi° (2 beats) | III7 (2 beats) | vi (4 beats) | v7 (2 beats) | I7 (2 beats). Use it and abuse it. Many anime songs do it, like Nichijou OP1, Gridman and Dynazenon OPs, Monster Musume OP, We Never Learn OP1, Blend S OP (yes, the meme), Kill la Kill OP1, Spy x Family OP3, and I can go on and on. Spy x Family OP1 and Haruhi Suzumiya’s iconic ED1 even use it for both the verses AND the chorus".

ii, bII, i! or ii, bII, I. when the song just grooves around the root I may lead it back to the start w ii, then bII w the flat seven some times, then back to the start

bVI, bVII, i just comes out. in more ancient times every band I was in or close to was into Iron Maiden A LOT and this one was everywhere. if there's a Mega Man bitpack I'll probs land on a bVI, bVII, i! used to do lots of bVI, bVII, i, bIII too; nowadays I end up at bVI, bVII, i, IV more

bIII, IV, bII, i comes out a lot too. or bIII, IV, bII, bIII, bVII, bII, i. when I need a "chorus" I end up here a lot? or just smth to take a break from a blues kinda groove thing or cue in the next part. the i will go to I at the end some times, the i may really be suspended

no idea what those are, but I think mine goes:
III - ii - XIV - F - Q +19 - x²

It's the Pure Furies chords for me lol
i VB bVII IVB bVI bVII i i
i VB bVII IVB bVI bVII Isus I

4 to 1

i dunno. it sounds pretty good tho

(in all seriousness for arps i use a lot of 3-7 and 4-7 arps. mostly because they sound good just about anywhere)

most LSDJ thing to say lol

i'd love to do an OHB series all about getting the most out of basic workaday chord patterns. "three chords and the truth" that'd be cute.

Not sure about any particular chord progressions, but I like using the Major II and Major VI a lot. The brightness of the raised tonic or raised 4th can really add a lot to a piece.

Also line cliches or stepwise motion - I don't think I've messed around with it as much lately, but it's fun when the harmony feels like it has a clear trajectory in one direction or another.

It's hard for me to tell since i only rely on my ear and don't know much theory (the have fun and be yourself method of understanding music which does not bring any consequences at all/s) but listening back i think i use a lot of I-IV probably

Correction, i think i use also II-V-I a lot. Maybe. Who knows actually

I don't know what that means. I write music by ear :)

I find myself often gravitating to ii-iii-IV(-V) as well as to IV-iii-ii, and their variations. They're simple but effective for making a section feel dynamic, and aren't super cliche (at least, not on a "you can sing different songs to it" level).

I - I+ - ii forever and ever

gotoandplay

@ordinate what the fuck is a + chord

@SRB2er: + denotes an augmented chord, so a major chord with the 5th raised a half step.

As for me, while I like to think my music theory taste inclines me to something unique and complex, that’s not really how things turn out. My fallback as of late tends to be this:

I - VIM7 - iv7 - v7

I think it’s a variation on something I picked up from the Last Bible franchise’s soundtrack and easily loops into itself forever. I usually mix it up at times by substituting the last chord with it’s dominant counterpart (V7) or with a tritone substitution if I’m feeling dramatic (bIIM7). Depending on the context, some of the chords may also be rendered as add9 chords on top of the 7ths, especially the 2nd and 3rd ones.

tennisers

no literally in fauna/fungi near the end i tried to do something that resembled a tennisers progression just because i thought it was really cool

I - IV - I - V is fun to play with

whats a chords?