Chord Progression Tips with Matt Zaddy

Show date:September 25th, 2022

With a sound that seamlessly blends folk-rock and modern soul, there’s something for every music fan to love about singer/songwriter Matt Zaddy. A storyteller at heart, his music is filled with tales of life, love, hardship and redemption. As someone who has shared stages with a diverse array of artists including K’Naan, Francesco Yates, and Canadian Rock legends Tom Cochrane and Jim Cuddy, Matt Zaddy’s intention is to connect with as many listeners as possible, regardless of any genre restrictions.

During the pandemic, Matt Zaddy focused on live streamed and pre-recorded concerts, music education, content creation in partnership with The Guitar Shop Canada, and socially distanced live performances where permitted. He has also hosted virtual online events for artists in his community and participated as an educator in seminars on arts entrepreneurship and home performance.

Matt shared the songwriting progress for his song A Dear Friend. Download the lyrics and the lead sheet for A Dear Friend to follow along.

We talked about:

The latest episode of listener songs for our songwriting challenge
The diverse music scene in Mississauga, Ontario and the Mississauga Music organization
How Matt uses an array of instruments to jump start his songs, and arranging guitar songs for piano and vice-versa
Matt’s journey from angsty dark music to simpler, folksier music
Creating lead sheets for your band – see the lead sheet for A Dear Friend
Using the secondary dominant chord trick to add music interest (in A Dear Friend, using A7 –> Dm7 as a cadence in the key of F major)
Our episode on the Circle of Fifths and how to brighten or darken your key change
Working with a producer who challenges you to improve your songwriting
A Perfect Circle’s take on John Lennon’s Imagine in a minor key (think utopian vs dystopian approaches)