Chords move in predictable ways

They go up or down in whole or half steps. They may leap to a fourth or a fifth. They usually use the notes from the key but often don't. When done in moderation, this creates interesting tension and release.

This simple rule of thumb doesn't explain all music, but it captures a surprising amount.

This rule helps me transcribe songs with lots of chords in them. It's fairly easy to think about the next chord as one of these 2 types of movements, instead of all the possible chords that you can play.

For example, here's "For no one" by the Beatles

C G/B Am G F Bb C

It starts on a C, which is also the key center. Then it goes down a step to the G, but it uses a B in the bass, so it's going down a half step.

You might be tempted to classify this as a move down a fourth to G, but it becomes clear by the next chord that Paul probably wasn't thinking about moving up and down fifths here. By using B as a bass note of the chord, you can treat the whole thing as a walk down the scale. C to B and then down to Am.

It's A minor, not major because that's in the key of C. But don't get hung up on the colors yet, think of the bassline first. You can try major, minor or something more exotic after you've figured out the bassline.

The jump to G is also a simple whole step down and so is the next one to F.

The jump from F to Bb is really interesting. It's the first leap across the scale to a fourth. It's also cool because Bb is not in the key of C so it gives it more colorful sound than the usual chords in the key. You might call this a "Borrowed chord" from the Mixolydian mode, but I find that jargony and not as useful for analysis. It's easier to think the 2 ways the bassline can move, instead of trying to make sense of the pratically infinite universe of chords around a key center.

After the Bb, it goes back up to the original C. Neat.