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Guest post by Dale McGowan. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper.

I was 13 when I saw my brother’s college music theory textbook sitting on a table — Walter Piston’s Harmony. I had played clarinet and sax for a while, even did some arranging for jazz band. So I knew a little theory, but I was barely out of the blocks.

When I picked up the book, it fell open to a section called “Table of Usual Root Progressions.” Clickbait! I traced the words with a trembling finger:

(That’s an actual scan of the actual line in the actual book.)

Whoa.

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