Chord progressions are the canvas on which musicians paint their masterpieces, and it’s a canvas which is a piece of art in itself. A chord progression can be simple and catchy, or it can be technical and complex, it can stay in one key or it can change like the seasons. Either way, a chord progression is what drives the song, as it literally shapes the music that accompanies it. All of the song writing giants, such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan, to name a few, have/had a tremendous knowledge of the art of the chord progression. We’re not going to promise you tremendous knowledge, but will offer you a good head start in the way of making your own music – in an easily digestible chunk to boot.
This guide is meant to inject an interest in song writing in new and old guitarists alike, it is our hope that at some point after reading this you will pick up your old guitar, blow off the dust, and join us in playing music. Music is the universal language of the human soul, after all; it speaks more volumes about us than a library full of books ever could, so learning to communicate in this language is a wonderful ability to have. Read on, assimilate everything and start making your own music! Play for yourself, and others will listen, not the other way around – music is a journey, a personal voyage.
Chord Progression Guide
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 to the charts to help you. Note, I/IV/V is highlighted in bold as it’s such a popular chord progression, this way you can easily see chord progressions you can play without having to squint at the chart.
Above is a chord chart for the seven most used keys. To create a progression, simply follow a chord progression formula (I is always the key of the progression). For example, a very popular chord progression formula is I-IV-V (highlighted in bold on the chart), in the key of C, the chord progression would be C/F/G, in the key of D the progression would be D/G/A. Another extremely popular chord progression, arguably the most popular (used in hundreds of songs), is the I/V/vi/IV (one-five-six-four). In C the chords would be C/G/Am/F and in G it would be G/D/Em/C. 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 as all the chords in the progression originate from its scale. Note that the vi (6th) note is always the relative minor of the major scale. So for example, in C major, the relative minor (vi) is Am, while in F major the relative minor is Dm.
Above is a chord chart for creating minor chord progressions. As mentioned before, the vi is the relative minor of any major scale. For example, you’ll notice that all the notes in Am are the same as those iin C major in the first chart, and all the notes in Dm are found in F major and so on. This is very useful to know as you can so you can mix and match major and minor progressions and stay in the same key.
You can substitute the chords in the charts for different chord types, for example to play a chord progression using 7th chords you can – substitute all of the minor chords for minor 7th chords, substitute the major chords (I/IV) for major 7th chords and substitute the V chord for a dominant 7th chord.
Now for what you have been waiting for: 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, or you can substitute major and minor chords for 7ths or 9ths, so feel free to experiment! Note: We have transcribed all of the major chord progressions into the key of C to make it easier for you to simply start practicing as soon as possible, as even the absolute beginner knows, or should be learning, the open chords in C major. However, if you wish to play these progressions in a different key, which I’m sure you eventually will, you will have to do the work of converting them yourself – don’t worry, it’s one of the easier and more useful things you’ll ever have to learn to do!
Progressions With 2 Chords
- I – IV – C/F
- I – V – C/G
Progressions With 3 Chords
- I – IV – V – C/F/G
- I – IV – V7 -C/F/G7
- I – ii – IV – C/Dm/F
- I – iii – IV – C/Em/G
- ii – V – I – Dm/G/C
Progressions With 4 Chords
- I – IV – I – V – C/F/C/G
- I – IV – I – V7 – C/F/C/G7
- I – IV – V – I – C/F/G/C
- I – IV – V – IV – C/F/G/F
- I – V – IV – V – C/G/F/G
- I – V – vi – IV – C/G/Am/F
- I – vi – V – IV – C/Am/G/F
- I – vi – IV – V – C/Am/F/G
- I – vi – ii – V – C/Am/Dm/G
- I – vi – ii – V7 – C/Am/Em/G7
- I – vi – iii – IV – C/Am/Em/F
- I – iii – vi – IV – C/Em/Am/F
- IV – I – IV – V – F/C/F/G
- vi – IV – I – V – Am/F/C/G
- I – VI – IV – V – C/A/F/G
- ii – V – I – vi – Dm/G/C/Am
Progressions With 5 Chords
- I – vi – ii – IV – V7 – C/Am/Dm/F/G7
- I – vi – ii – V7 – ii – C/Am/Dm/G7/Dm
- I – ii – iii – IV – V – C/Dm/Em/F/G
- I – ii – vi – V – I – C/Dm/Am/G/C
- I – vi – ii – V – I – C/Am/Dm/G/C
- I – iii – vi – V – I – C/Em/Am/G/C
Progressions With 6/7/8 Chords
- I – IV – I – V7 – IV – I – C/F/C/G7/F/C
- vii – iii – vi – ii – V – I – IV – Bm7b5/Em/Am/Dm/G/C/F
- I – IV – I – V7 – IV – I – vi – V – C/F/C/G7/F/C/Am/G
Progressions With Flattened (b) Chords
- I – vib – IV – C/Abm/F
- I – iii – IV – vib – C/Em/F/Abm
- I – iii – viib – IV – C/Em/Abm/F
- I – viib – IV – V – C/Abm/F/G
Natural Minor Chord Progressions
- i – VI – VII – Am7/Fmaj7/G7
- i – iv – VII – Am7/Dm7/G7
- i – iv – v – Am7/Dm7/Em7
- i – VI – III – VII – Am7/Fmaj7/Cmaj7/G7
- ii – v – i – Bm7b5/Em7/Am7
Harmonic Minor Chord Progressions
- i – iv – V – Cm(maj7)/Fm7/G7
- ii – V – I – Dm7b5/G7/Cm(Maj7)
Melodic Minor Chord Progressions
- ii – V – i – IV – vii – III -vi – Dm7/G7/Cm(maj7)/F7/Bm7b5/Ebmaj7#5/Am7b5
Modal Chord Progressions
- (Ionian) I – IV – V – I – Cmaj7/Fmaj7/G7/Cmaj7
- (Dorian) ii – iii – IV – I – ii – Dm7/Em7/Fmaj7/Cmaj7/Dm7
- (Phrygian) iii – ii – vi – IV – iii – Em7/Dm7/Am7/Fmaj7/Em7
- (Lydian) IV – vi – V – iii – IV – Fmaj7/Am7/G7/Em7/Fmaj7
- (Mixolydian) V – IV – I – V – G7/Fmaj7/Cmaj7/G7
- (Aeolian) vi – V – IV – V – vi – Am7/G7/Fmaj7/G7/Am7
Diatonic Progression Cycles
- (2nds) I – II – III – IV -V -VI -VII – I – C/Dm/Em/F/G/Am/Bm7b5/C
- (7ths) I – VII – VI -V -IV -III -II – I – C/Bm7b5/Am/G/F/Em/Dm/C
- (3rds) I – III – V – VII – II – IV – VI – I – C/Em/G/Bm7b5/Dm/F/Am/C
- (6ths) I – VI – IV – II – VII – V – III – I – C/Am/F/Dm/Bm7b5/G/Em/C
- (4ths) I – IV – VII – III – VI – II – V – I – C/F/Bm7b5/Em/Am/Dm/G/C
- (5ths) I – V – II – VI – III – VII – IV – I – C/G/Dm/F/Em/Bm7b5/F/C
Progressions can be made from these cycles in any combination.
These can be applied to any of the 7 tone scales: Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major etc
Jazz Chord Progressions
With jazz chord progressions you have to substitute the standard major/minor chords for 7ths (you can also play 9ths, 11ths or 13ths.) These are the basic chord substitutions: I = maj7, ii = m7, iii = m7, IV = maj7, V = dom7, vi = m7, VII = m7b5. We have omitted all the 7s in the formulas simply because they look messy (ii/V/I looks cleaner than iim7/V7/Imaj7). We have only included a 7 in the formula if we want to make a chord a dominant 7th, eg II7 (D7) when it is usually ii (dm7).
- ii – V – Cmaj7/G7
- ii – V – I – Dm7/G7/Cmaj7
- ii – V – I – vi – Dm7/G7/Cmaj7/Am7
- I – vi – ii – V – Cmaj7/Am7/Dm7/G7
- VI7 – II7 – V – I7 – A7/D7/G7/C7
- iii – vi – ii – V – I – Em7/Am7/Dm7/G7/Cmaj7
- I – vi – ii – V – iii – VI7 – ii – V – Cmaj7/Am7/Dm7/G7/Em7/A7/Dm7/G7
- I – II7 – ii – V – I – Cmaj7/D7/Dm7/G7/Cmaj7
- I – I7 – IV – ivm7 – iii – VI7 – ii – V – I -Cmaj7/C7/Fmaj7/Fm7/Em7/A7/D/G7/Cmaj7)
- ii – V – I – IV – vii – iii – vi – Dm7/G7/Cmaj7/Fmaj7/Bm7b5/Em7/Am7
The last progression in this list is the ultimate one to practice as it contains all 7 notes of the major scale – play it in every key and get completely used to the sound that each chord makes and how they fall into each other; this is perhaps the best thing you can do in terms of developing your ‘ear’ for chord progressions.
Here’s a closer look at the last two chord progressions, below each progression are two ways of approaching it on the fretboard (there are countless ways!) utilising both barre and open chords.
I – I7 – IV – ivm7 – iii – VI7 – ii – V – I
ii – V – I – IV – vii – iii – vi
Examples of Chord Progressions Used 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 Bob Dylan
(C/Dm/Em/F/G) - I – vi – iii – IV – Where is My Mind by The Pixies
(E/C#m/G#m/A) - I – iii – vi – IV – Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
(C/Em/Am/F) - I – V – II – VI – iii – Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix
(C/G/D/A/Em) - I – II7 – ii – V – I – Girl From Ipanema by Antônio Carlos Jobim
(Fmaj7/G7/Gm7/Cmaj7/Fmaj7 - I – v – IV – V – ii – V – ii -IV – V – Candyman by The Grateful Dead
(C/Gm/F/G/Dm/G/Dm/F/G)
Now go make some music!
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