#11 The 2-5-1 building block

Songwriting can be an arduous process sometimes, and there are occasions where we need all the help we can get. When this situation crops up, nobody will judge you for rummaging around in your songwriter’s toolbox for some tried and tested tricks to help you out.

One such technique that can be incredibly useful when it comes to populating your empty page with a few carefully chosen chords, is to use the 2-5-1, also known in its Roman numeral form as the ii-V-I.

But what exactly is a 2-5-1? Well, it’s a sequence of three chords, traditionally embraced by the jazz fraternity but equally of use whatever your genre. When strung together