Endings To Songs

So, you might be saying to your buddy, "Hey, how are we going to end our song?" Maybe these ideas will help you!
Here are a few examples of Endings, all in the Key of C:

1. "The Classic Ending" Abmaj7 Bb C
Once you realize that this is really the flat six of the scale as a Major7 chord, the flat 7 as a Major chord and then the I chord, it becomes easy to reproduce by going to the key you are in and finding the numbered chords. Here are the endings of this example in some other keys:

D Major - BbMaj7, C, D
Eb Major - CbMaj7, Db, Eb
E Major - CMaj7, D, E
F Major - DbMaj7, Eb, F
G Major - EbMaj7, F, G
A Major - FMaj7, G, A
Bb Major - GbMaj7, Ab, Bb

Now if you replace the simple numbers of the scales of these it would be:
Major Key you are in - b6Maj7 Chord, b7Major chord, and 1 Major Chord

Remember - Every key functions in exactly the same way in the "numbers." Understanding the "numbers" is the key to the Key.

2. "RnBi-ish" ending Am/F G/E F/D F/G C
3. "Mellow ending" Fm/C C
4. the "oh what-an-ending" F C/E Cm/Eb Fm/D C

Here are some endings to slow songs:

CLASSICAL OR URBAN ENDINGS
Key Eb LH/RH

Ab / G-C-Eb
G / F-Bb-Eb
F / Ab-Bb-C-Eb
Eb / F-G-Bb-Eb

Eb / C, Db, Ab *hold each note down as you play
/ C-F-A or C-Eb-Ab
/ B-Eb-F-Ab
/ Bb-Eb-G

/ Eb, D
C / Ab-Bb-C-Eb
D / Bb-C-D-F
Eb / F-G-Bb-Eb

Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / Eb-A-Eb
Bb / D-Ab-Eb
Eb / Db-G-Eb

Eb, D /
Db / F-B-Eb
Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / A-C-Eb-Gb
Bb / Ab-C-Eb
Eb / Db-G-C-Eb

I like this great sounding ending:

Eb Bb/ GbM7, Eb Db/ C, then Ab Eb/ Cm

2-5-1 is a very common ending. The 5-1 is probably the most common ending for most songs (ie hymns and Happy Birthday). If you're in the key of C, the G chord (V Chord) would come before the last chord, the C chord (I Chord).

A lot of times, it sounds good to play the V chord as a V7 chord (dom7) chord. A dom7 chord is 1-3-5-b7 (C7 is C-E-G-Bb). If you're playing in the key of C, the V7 would be G7 (G-B-D-F). Play the V7 this way 3-7b-1 or G7 would be B-F-G, which omits the 5 note of the chord. Substituting a V7 instead of a V before going back to the I gives a song a more jazzy/gospel sounding ending. On a VI-I ending add a iv minor chord as a passing chord. It gives it a slow jazzy ending. In other words:

IV - ivmin - I

In C major, this would be:
F - Fmin - C

I wanted to add some turn around/endings here:
* 1 6 2 5 (pretty common ending w/ diatonic chords, C6 am7 Dm7 G7)
* 1 b3 b6 b2 (b3 b6 b2 would all be M7 chords)
* right before the last chord, go up 1/2 step & play a Major7 chord
* easy Amen Cadence ending is 4 -1

If you're looking for some creative endings that could be added to songs, some of them probably could be modified and used as turnarounds. My friend, James Stevens, has a great site and great info to endings:

http://www.jamesstevens.com/likeariverendings.html"

And here is a cute way to end my blog on endings...
Take a look at how Caleb likes to end his songs:

http://calebplayspiano.blogspot.com/2008/09/calebs-song-endings.htm


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