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Chord Progressions

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The term chord progression simply refers to the order in which chords are played in a song/piece of
music. START NOW

Play a few di erent songs/pieces and you will see that there are various di erent ways in which
composers order chords.
However, the good news is that there are a few simple guidelines which will help you massively when
writing your own chord progressions.
MUSIC THEORY LESSONS

Classical Music
The 5 basic rules of Chord Progressions
Baroque Music
There are 5 basic rules to follow when writing a chord progression.
Medieval Music
Follow these and your chord progression will de nitely “work”:
Renaissance Music

1. Choose a key to write in (if you are just starting out the C major, G major, A minor and E minor are Fugues

good keys to start with) Playing Leaps

2. Work out the primary chords (I, IV, V). Start to build your progressions with these. Then move on to Improve Your Left Hand Playing

using secondary chords (II, III, VI) to develop your chord progressions further. How To Play Faster Piano Notes

3. Always start and end your chord progression on chord I Play Piano With Your Left Hand

Play Your First Piano Piece

4. Try using some common progressions (see below)
The Circle Of Fifths
5. Try adding some circle progressions (see below)
Modulation

The Common Chord Progressions Arpeggios

pitch
There are some chord progressions which are used in lots and lots of di erent songs/pieces – they
Sharps and Flats
have been tried and tested in many di erent styles and will “work”.
Learn these and you will be able to play lots of di erent songs and easily use them in your composing. Bass Clef

They will work in both major and minor keys. Key Signatures

Tempo
Start with the following 4 progressions. (I have done an audio example in both a major key and then a
Chord Inversions
minor key for you to listen to)
Chord Progressions

Seventh Chords
Progression 1
Secondary Chords

Primary Chords

Introduction to Chords
 Triads
Click Here To Listen To Chord Progression 1
Canon Music

Progression 2 Rondo Form

Ternary Form

Binary Form

Cadences

Theme and Variations

Click Here To Listen To Chord Progression 2
Pedal Point

Relative Major and Relative Minor

Progression 3 Scales

Rubato

Pulse

Musical Structures

Musical Intervals
Click Here To Listen To Chord Progression 3
The Blues Scales

Progression 4

Click Here To Listen To Chord Progression 4

The Circle Progressions

Circle Chord Progressions are progressions where the chords seem to naturally follow on from one
another.
You will nd the following 2 circle progressions really useful.
Have a listen to the audio examples for each (again, each recording contains an example in a major key
followed by an example in a minor key).

Circle Progression 1

Click Here To Listen To Circle Progression 1

Circle Progression 2

Click Here To Listen To Circle Progression 2

 Quick Reference Chord Progression Sheet
I have put together this cheat sheet to give you the basic chord progressions in every key!
Feel free to screenshot it/print it out for quick reference.
You will see that some of the keys are really complex with lots of sharps and ats. If you are just
starting out I suggest you choose one of the following keys to write in:

Major – C, G, D

Minor – Am, Em, Bm

MAJOR KEY CHORD PROGRESSIONS

MINOR KEY CHORD PROGRESSIONS

 In the next lesson we are going to look at Chord Inversions.

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