C – Am – Dm – G. You already own that progression; it's probably one of the first things you ever looped. Add a single note to each chord — the 9th, the 11th, the 9th, the 13th — and it becomes Cmaj9 – Am11 – Dm9 – G13. Same I – vi – ii – V in C major, only now it sounds like a jazz standard. And in all four grips, that added note sits on top, on the B string.
That's the whole post: one progression, three lenses, thinning out as it goes. Four notes, then two, then one. Everything stays in C major at a relaxed ♩ = 85, straight eighths, standard tuning.
Thread 1 — Rhythm (Four Chords, Four Colors). All four extended grips comped over an unhurried muted-strum groove. The three-note fill in each bar isn't a new lick — it's that grip, picked apart.
Thread 2 — 6ths (Two Notes That Spell the Whole Progression). The same changes harmonized in two-note sixths on strings 3 and 1, entering after a rest in every bar of the loop so the line floats rather than marches.
Thread 3 — Lead (The Same Four Chords, One Note at a Time). The progression as a single-note melody — arpeggios, scale tones and a few chromatic notes that lean into whatever comes next. It lands on the 3rd of C rather than the root, which is most of why the ending sounds smooth instead of final.
Thread 1 puts the harmony under your hands first, so it's the natural place to start. Each part stands on its own, though, if that's what your week has room for.
