Intro To Chord Progressions!

 

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This handy little guide will help all musicians create their own catchy chord progressions on the fly! Included are two chord charts (one for major and one for minor) and a list of common progressions that you can make, referring the the charts to help you.

http://endofthegame.net/2011/08/16/chordprogressions/

Major Chord Chart

Above is a chord chart for the 7 most used keys. To create a progression, simply follow a chord progression formula (I is always the key of the progression). For example, the single most popular chord progression formula is I-IV-V, in the key of C, the chord progression would be C/D/E, in the key of D the progression would be D/G/A. While most chord progressions start with the key of the song (I), this is not always the case, for example the very popular jazz chord progression ii-V-I in the key of C would be Dm/G/C or Dm7/G7/Cmaj7. Even though the progression doesn't start on the C major chord, it is still in the key of C.

Minor Chord Chart

Above is the same chord chart as before, except this one is for use with minor chord progressions instead of major progressions.

Here is a list of common chord progression formulas, which you can use to start writing songs straight away! You can even make up your own chord progressions, so feel free to experiment!


Progressions With 2 Chords

• I/IV
• I/V 

Progressions With 3 Chords

• I/IV/V
• I/ii/IV
• I/IV/V7
• Ib/vii/IV
• Ib/iii/IV
• ii/V/I

Progressions With 4 Chords 

• I/IV/I/V
• I/IV/I/V7
• I/IV/V/IV
• I/vi/IV/V
• I/vi/ii/V
• I/V/vi/IV
• I/V/IV/V
• I/vi/ii/V
• I/vi/IV/V
• IV/I/IV/V
• I//IV/V/I
• vi/IV/I/V

Progressions With 4 Chords (Contains Flats 'b - minor chords are capitalised to make it easier to read')

• I/IIIb/IV
• I/IIIb/IV/VIb
• I/IIIb/IV/VIb/VIIb
• I/IIIb/VIIb/IV
• I/IIIb/VIIb/VIb
• I/IV/IIIb/VIIb
• I/VIb/IIIb/VIIb
• I/VIb/VIIb
• I/VIb/IV
• I/VIIb/IV
• I/VIIb/IV/V
• I/VIIb/IV/V
• I/VIIb/IV/VIb
• I/VIIb/VIb/VIIb

Progressions With 5 Chords 

• I/vi/ii/IV/V7
• I/vi/ii/V7/ii
• I/ii/iii/IV/V
• I/VI/IV/V/I
• I/ii/vi/V/I
• I/vi/ii/V/I
• I/iii/vi/V/I
• I/VIb/IV/IIIb/VIIb 

Progressions With 6 Chords

• I/IV/I/V7/IV/I

Progressions With 7 Chords

• vii/iii/vi/ii/V/I/IV

Some examples of these progressions in famous songs:

• I/IV/I/V - Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison (G/C/G/D)
• I/V/vi/IV - Let It Be by The Beatles (C/G/Am/F)
• I/V/IV - Blue Sky by The Allman Brothers Band (E/B/A)
• vi/IV/V/vi (or i/VI/VII/i) - I'm Eighteen by Alice Cooper (Em/C/D/Em)
• I/iii/IV/I - The Weight by The Band (A/C#m/D/A)
• I/ii/iii/IV/V - Like A Rolling Stone by The Rolling Stones (C/Dm/Em/F/G)

 Now you can make music!