How to use it
- Pick a key. Choose the home note and major or minor. Use the key of your song, or one that suits your voice.
- Choose well-known or new. Well-known shows the classic progressions (filter them by style). Make a new one works as a chord progression maker: it builds a fresh 4- or 8-chord loop, with 7th chords if you like.
- Listen. Press Play to hear the whole loop at your tempo, or tap any chord to hear it alone.
- Learn the chords. The diagrams below show each chord on guitar, piano or ukulele.
- Use it. Copy the chords, or open them in the transposer to change the key, add a capo or print a chord sheet.
Worked example
Pick G major and the I – V – vi – IV progression: G – D – Em – C. In G, the chord numbers mean I = G, ii = Am, iii = Bm, IV = C, V = D, vi = Em. To sing it higher, change the key to A: the same numbers give A – E – F♯m – D.
A chord progression player for practice
Press Play to hear the progression strummed on guitar or ukulele, or as piano chords, at 70 to 130 BPM. Turn on Loop to keep it going while you practise the changes, sing over it or try a solo; a new key, tempo or instrument is picked up on the next time round. Save MIDI gives you the chords as a MIDI file for your music app, and Copy link keeps the progression for later.
To play a progression of your own, type its chords into the chord transposer (for example C G Am F) and press Play there.
How chord progressions work
Every key has seven chords, one on each note of its scale. They do three jobs. Tonic chords (I, and vi as a stand-in) feel like home. Predominant chords (IV and ii) move away from home. Dominant chords (V, and vii°) build tension that pulls back to the tonic. A common pattern is home → away → tension → home: I – IV – V – I is the plainest example.
In minor keys the home chord is i. Minor-key music often raises the 7th note of the scale, which turns the minor v into a major V with a stronger pull home: in A minor, E instead of Em. The generator uses that major V.
Chord progression chart: the well-known progressions
| Progression | Numbers | Example | About it |
|---|---|---|---|
| I–IV–V–I | I – IV – V – I | C – F – G – C (C major) | The basic cadence: tonic, predominant, dominant, tonic. |
| I–V–vi–IV | I – V – vi – IV | C – G – Am – F (C major) | The four-chord pop progression (also called the Axis progression). |
| vi–IV–I–V | vi – IV – I – V | Am – F – C – G (C major) | The same four chords, starting on the minor vi. |
| I–vi–IV–V | I – vi – IV – V | C – Am – F – G (C major) | The '50s or doo-wop progression. |
| ii–V–I | ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 | Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 (C major) | A cadence that is extremely common in jazz. |
| I–IV–vi–V | I – IV – vi – V | C – F – Am – G (C major) | The four chords of I–V–vi–IV in another order. |
| I–iii–IV–iv | I – iii – IV – iv | C – Em – F – Fm (C major) | Ends on the minor iv, borrowed from the minor key. |
| I–♭VII–IV–I | I – ♭VII – IV – I | C – B♭ – F – C (C major) | Uses ♭VII, a chord borrowed from the minor key. |
| 12-bar blues | I7 – I7 – I7 – I7 – IV7 – IV7 – I7 – I7 – V7 – IV7 – I7 – V7 | C7 – C7 – C7 – C7 – F7 – F7 – C7 – C7 – G7 – F7 – C7 – G7 (C major) | Twelve bars of I, IV and V with dominant 7th chords: one of the most prominent progressions in popular music. |
| I–vi–ii–V | I – vi – ii – V | C – Am – Dm – G (C major) | Ends on V, which leads back to I when it repeats. |
| I–IV–I–V | I – IV – I – V | C – F – C – G (C major) | Uses only the three main chords: I, IV and V. |
| IV–V–iii–vi | IV – V – iii – vi | F – G – Em – Am (C major) | Starts away from home and ends on the minor vi. |
| i–VI–III–VII | i – VI – III – VII | Am – F – C – G (A minor) | The four-chord progression in its relative minor form. |
| i–iv–V | i – iv – V – i | Am – Dm – E – Am (A minor) | Minor key cadence; the major V gives a strong pull home. |
| Andalusian cadence | i – VII – VI – V | Am – G – F – E (A minor) | Steps down from the tonic to the major V (i–♭VII–♭VI–V). |
| i–VII–VI–VII | i – VII – VI – VII | Am – G – F – G (A minor) | Rocking between VI and VII over a minor home chord. |
| i–iv–VII–III | i – iv – VII – III | Am – Dm – G – C (A minor) | Moves through the circle of fifths to the relative major. |
| iiø–V–i | iiø7 – V7 – i7 | Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 (A minor) | The minor ii–V–i of jazz. |
| i–VI–VII | i – VI – VII – i | Am – F – G – Am (A minor) | Climbs from the minor home chord through VI and VII. |
Tips
Loop it
Four-chord progressions are made to repeat. The generator ends new progressions on a dominant chord so the loop leads straight back to the first chord.
Change one chord
The quickest way to a more interesting chord progression: swap a chord for another with the same job, vi for I or ii for IV. The progression keeps its direction but gets a new colour.
Pick the key last
Write the progression in any key, then move it to the key that suits the singer with the chord transposer, or play it in an easier key with a capo.