Common chord progressions
Chords rarely appear alone. These are some of the patterns they fall into most often, realized here in real keys so you can see and hear exactly how they work, not just read the roman numerals.
- I - IV - VThree major chords, the tonic, subdominant and dominant of the key, cover an enormous share of folk, country and early rock songs.
- I - V - vi - IVFour chords that turn up in an almost suspicious number of hit songs from the last several decades, across genres from arena rock to power ballads.
- I - vi - IV - VThe same four chords as the pop progression, reordered to put the relative minor right after the tonic.
- ii - V - IThe backbone of jazz harmony.
- I - vi - ii - VA relative of the '50s progression that swaps the IV for a ii chord.
- I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - IThe harmonic skeleton under an enormous share of blues, early rock and roll, and jazz standards.
- i - iv - VThe minor equivalent of the three-chord trick.
- i - VII - VI - VA descending progression rooted in flamenco and in classical practice going back centuries, walking down by step from the tonic through the flattened seventh and sixth degrees before landing on a major V.
- vi - IV - I - VStarting on the relative minor instead of the tonic gives this loop a reflective opening before it blooms into the major lift of IV to I.
- I - V - vi - iii - IV - I - IV - VThe eight chord ground bass from Pachelbel's best known piece, walking down the scale in steady steps while the upper voices weave above it.
- I - vi - ii - VThe turnaround at the heart of rhythm changes, the chord scheme behind a huge share of swing era tunes and bebop heads.
- i - VI - III - VIIThe minor key answer to the pop progression: four chords circling the tonic without ever quite landing until the loop repeats.
- vi - ii - V - IA ii-V-I with two extra bars of setup.
- ii° - V - iThe minor key version of the jazz turnaround.
- I - vi - ii - V - IFive chords walking the circle of fifths back to the tonic, dressed with sevenths the way church and soul players actually voice them.
- IV - iii - ii - IFour seventh chords stepping down toward the tonic.
- i - i - i - i - iv - iv - i - i - V - iv - i - iThe same twelve-bar frame as the major blues, moved into a minor key.
- I - iii - IV - VLike the classic pop and fifties loops but with the iii chord where the vi would normally sit.
- I - bVII - IVThree major chords with the seventh degree lowered a half step.
- bVI - bVII - ITwo borrowed majors climbing by whole step into the tonic.
- iv - bVII - IA jazz favorite that sneaks into the tonic from the flat side.
- I - bIII - IVThe tonic followed by a major chord on the lowered third, then the subdominant.
- i - bII - V - iA classical cadence built around the flat second degree.
- V - IThe full stop of tonal music: dominant to tonic, tension to rest.
- IV - IThe gentler ending: subdominant to tonic instead of dominant to tonic.
- I - ii - VA phrase that ends on the dominant instead of the tonic, unfinished on purpose.
- V - viThe dominant sets up a homecoming and then lands on the relative minor instead.