Why does this chord progression function?
I'm learning music theory in school and I stumbled into this chord progression at home. I think it is cool but I want to know why it is cool.
The chord progression is: Cmaj7 Gmaj7 B♭maj Amin7
Is it just because I have heard the chord progression before?
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It's a common progression in classical harmony if the middle chords are in first inversion. One has C,B,Bb,A as a bass line with chords above, C,G6,Bb6,a (with appropriate sevenths if wanted). It's a portion of the "lament descent" which is often used to express sadness; with a different bass, this interpretation may not hold. A nice continuation would be f6m,G which moves chromatically from tonic to dominant.
is it just because I have heard the chord progression before?
Probably because of this.
It is a most common progression in Pop music. It won't be easily described by functional harmony, even not by modes. I hear the progression in G-Major but it mustn't be.
It reminds me of the even more common "Don't go chasing waterfalls" (TLC) e.g. C-G-Bb-F!
(If we start this turn with Bb we get: Bb-F-C-G and this would be the circle of 5th in the direction of the sharps.)
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