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Generate chord progressions in any key and hear them
Pick a key, a mode and a style. Get the chords with Roman numerals, lock the ones you like, play them in your browser and download a MIDI file.
Start here
Pick a key and a style
Pop loops come from the doo-wop (I-vi-IV-V) and singer/songwriter (vi-IV-I-V) families.
Your progression in C major
- CIC E G
- GVG B D
- AmviA C E
- FIVF A C
Learn the chords in each mode
A mode is a seven-note scale with its own pattern of whole and half steps. Stack every other note of the scale on each degree and you get its seven diatonic chords (Open Music Theory, musictheory.net). Every chord the generator picks comes from this table, except the blues dominant sevenths.
| Mode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major (Ionian) | CI | Dmii | Emiii | FIV | GV | Amvi | Bdimvii° |
| Natural minor (Aeolian) | Cmi | Ddimii° | EbIII | Fmiv | Gmv | AbVI | BbVII |
| Dorian | Cmi | Dmii | EbIII | FIV | Gmv | Adimvi° | BbVII |
| Mixolydian | CI | Dmii | Edimiii° | FIV | Gmv | Amvi | BbVII |
Read the Roman numerals like this: uppercase means a major chord, lowercase means minor, ° means diminished and ø7 means half-diminished seventh (Roman numeral analysis, seventh chords). The numbers count the degrees of the mode you picked, so VII in natural minor sits on the seventh note of that minor scale. Chord letters follow the lead-sheet symbols in Open Music Theory: m for minor, dim for diminished, maj7 for a major seventh.
Every chord stays inside the mode you picked. Classical and jazz players often raise the seventh note in minor to get a major V chord. This generator keeps the natural minor scale, so v stays minor.
See how each style builds its chords
Each style starts from stock progressions that recur in many pop and rock songs, collected in Open Music Theory. These loops can start on any chord of the cycle, so New progression also tries their rotations.
- Pop: I-V-vi-IV, I-vi-IV-V. Pop loops come from the doo-wop (I-vi-IV-V) and singer/songwriter (vi-IV-I-V) families.
- Rock: I-VII-IV-I, I-IV-VII-IV. Mixolydian gives you a major chord on the lowered seventh degree, the VII-IV-I double-plagal move.
- R&B: ii7-V7-Imaj7-vi7, IVmaj7-iii7-ii7-Imaj7. Every chord gets a seventh, and the roots move mostly by step or by fifth.
- Jazz ii-V-I: ii7-V7-Imaj7-Imaj7, ii7-V7-Imaj7-vi7. Roots fall by fifths: ii to V to I, with vi or iii to turn around.
- Blues 12-bar: I7-I7-I7-I7-IV7-IV7-I7-I7-V7-IV7-I7-I7. Three four-bar phrases: I, then IV back to I, then V-IV-I. With sevenths on, I, IV and V all become dominant sevenths.
- Sad: i-VI-III-VII, i-VII-VI-v. These loops stay in natural minor: i-VI-III-VII, the lament i-VII-VI-v and the circle of fifths i-iv-VII-III.
- Epic: i-VI-VII-i, VI-VII-i-i. These minor loops climb through VI and VII back to i.
- Lo-fi: IVmaj7-iii7-ii7-Imaj7, ii7-V7-Imaj7-vi7. Slow seventh chords step down the scale.
The 12-bar blues follows the form Open Music Theory describes: four bars of I, two of IV, two of I, then V, IV and two bars of I (the blues progression).
Follow a worked example
Pick C major and Pop. The first loop, I-V-vi-IV, gives you C, G, Am and F. Lock the Am, press New progression, and the other three chords change while Am stays put. Switch the key to G and the same numerals turn into G, D, Em and C. Press Play to hear it, then Download MIDI and drop the file on a piano track in your DAW.
Get answers to common chord questions
How do you make a chord progression?
Pick a key and a mode, then choose chords from that scale's seven diatonic chords. Start and end on the I chord (or i in minor) so the loop feels at home, and move through IV, V or vi in between. The generator does this for you, and you lock the chords you want to keep.
What are the most common chord progressions?
Open Music Theory lists stock progressions that recur in many pop and rock songs: the doo-wop loop I-vi-IV-V, the singer/songwriter loop vi-IV-I-V (and its rotation I-V-vi-IV), the 12-bar blues and the lament, which steps down from i through VII and VI to V (Open Music Theory).
What chords are in the key of C major?
C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim. As Roman numerals: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi and vii° (musictheory.net). With sevenths: Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Am7 and Bm7b5.
What chords go together in a minor key?
In A natural minor you get Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F and G, or i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI and VII. Raise the seventh note, as harmonic minor does, and Em becomes E major (musictheory.net).
What is a ii-V-I progression?
Its three chords fall by fifths into the tonic: in C major, Dm7 moves to G7 and then to Cmaj7. Pick the Jazz ii-V-I style to generate it in any key.
What is a 12-bar blues progression?
It runs twelve bars in three phrases: four bars of I, then two of IV and two of I, then one bar of V, one of IV and two of I (Open Music Theory). With sevenths on, the generator plays I7, IV7 and V7.
Check the method
Understand your result
I build each mode from its pattern of whole and half steps, spell every note on its own letter, then stack thirds on each degree to get the seven diatonic chords. Each style starts from stock progressions documented in Open Music Theory, and New progression changes only the chords you leave unlocked. Playback runs on the Web Audio API in your browser, and the MIDI file follows the Standard MIDI File format.
Read the related guide