Useful Chord Progressions For Guitar

Learn useful chord progressions

A chord progression is a sequence of chords. Three, four, five chords or so following after each other forms a progression. It's easy in theory, but the delicate aspect is to find great, and perhaps original, combinations. What makes a chord progression stand out is not only the chords it contains – many songs use pretty much the same – it's also about the rhythms and instrumentation. On this page you will be presented with typical chord progressions. It starts with fundamental and easy progressions that include few chords and continues with progressions with more chords (the first in most categories is presented by diagrams; otherwise, the chord names can mostly be clicked on if you need to look them up). See also Chord progressions in famous songs.

Progressions with 2 chords (vamps)

Progressions using only two chords are sometimes called vamps (a vamp can also be just a single chord played). These progressions are not directly mind-boggling, but are included here for the sake of completeness and also to make you familiar with a term that you may encounter once in a while. Am – Em Em – A E – A G – Gsus4 Am7 (5X555X) – D9 (X5455X) Am – A11 (X00000) Emaj9 (076870) – Bm11 (7X7750) In vamps, chords can be hold on to longer, for example, two bars each. The Em - A progression (i - IV) is also known as "Minor rock vamp". The Am - A11 is a so-called pedal point vamp. C5 (X3X013) – G5 (3X0033) Em (XX2453) – Gmaj7 (XX5432) The above is examples of chord pairs, which are relevant to vamps.

Ebook

The Illustrated Chord progression ebook includes around 200 progressions – all chords illustrated with diagrams. Together with audio examples.

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Progressions with 3 chords

Common progressions using only three chords: D, G, A D – G – A G – C – D A – D – E This is the form of the most common progression that exist in guitar playing. It can be written in Roman numerals as I - IV - V, which represent a certain sequence of chord degrees that can be transposed to all keys. See I - IV - V progressions in all keys. So far, only major chords have been involved – let’s add some minor chords ...

Progressions with 4 chords (including minor chords)

Common progressions using four chords: Em, C, D, G Em – C – D – G Am – F – C – E C – Am – Dm – G F– Bb – Gm – C In longer progressions, there is often a need for mixing major and minor chords. Click here for progressions with backing tracks.

Progressions with 5 chords

C – Em – Am – F – G G – Am – Bm – C – D You can develop these progressions by using substitutions and embellishments. Such as Cadd instead for C, Em7 instead for Em, Am - Asus2 instead for Am, Fmaj7 instead for F and G7 instead for G.

Progressions including 7th chords

7th chords can create some flavor  to progressions. D, F#7, G D - F#7 - G Am7 - E7 - Dm7 - G7

Progressions including various extended chords

There are more extended chords besides the 7th and the use of different extended chords adds more "color". This simple progression ... C - Em - Am - F - G - C can be more colorful as: Cmaj7 - Em7 - Am7 - Fmaj7 - G7 - Cmaj7 ... and the tone color can be varied even further by including some substitutions: Cmaj9 - Em9 - Am11 - Fmaj7 - G13 - Cmaj7 See The Chord Reference ebook for over 800 chord diagrams.

Progressions with dissonant sound

Progressions with much dissonance is often wanted in styles such a metal. Here follows an example: Bsus4/E (0244XX) – B5/F# (2244XX) – Gmaj7 (3244XX) – Em6/G (3424XX)

Chord streams

A category of progressions that involve diatonic chords that follows the scale order: C, Dm, Em, F C – Dm – Em – F G – Am – Bm – C – D Compare, for example, the chord chain G - A minor - B minor - C - D with the notes of the G major scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#.

Chord progressions as outro

When ending a song, the standard way is to return to the root of the key. There are some common progressions for this, including that is called cadence: F – G – C C – D – G Ab – Bb – C Another ending concept is to involve a chromatic chord movement: D7 - C#7 - C7 - G7

Or with some alternate bass notes: D7/A - C#7/G# - C7/G - G7 Diminished chords can be included together with other non-diatonic chords: G - Gdim7 - Am7 - Abmaj7 - G As a 1st ending, leading back to verse: C - C7 - Cdim7 (XX1212) - Dm7b5 (XX0111) - C - G(#5) (XX5443) - C Another ending concept is to modulate the IV chord from major to minor: C - Cm - G Another ending concept is the circle progression, based on descending fifth intervals: E7 - A7 - D7 - G A7 - D7 - G7 - C

Progressions including chords with altered bass note

Chords with an alternate bass note can enrich chord progressions. Dm, Dm/C, G/B Dm – Dm/C – G/B G – G/F# – Em D – D/A – G

Progressions including pedal points

Progressions with many chords in a row using the same bass note: A/D - G/D - F#m/D - D Note that the shapes, which otherwise are identical, have their root notes on different frets.

Progressions including passing chords

Passing chords are often chords that don't belong to the key and used as "in-between chords". Bb7, G7(b9) and D#m7b5 are here used as passing chords: Dm7 – Bb7 – A7 Dm7 – G9 – G7(b9) – Cmaj7 Em9 – D#m7b5 – Dmaj7 Passing chords can be added chords to a progression, resulting in a higher complexity and frequency between the changes. For example, the progression C - G7 can become: C – C#dim – Dm – G7 Passing chords can also be chords with alternative bass notes that create smooth transitions: G – G/F – Em C – C/B – Am A – A/C# – D G/F, C/B and A/C# are the passing chords. Passing chords are often played for a shorter duration and typically to make the last beat in a bar. See inverted chords and slash chords for more charts and examples.

Progressions including ascending movement

Ascending and descending movements is an important concept in harmony. The following example includes an augmented chord which is often used to create ascending movements in the harmony: D (XX0775) - Daug (XX0776) - D6 (XX0777) - D7 (XX0778) All happens on the high e-string.

Progressions with major to dominant changes

Shifting between major and dominant is one way to create variation in the harmony. C - C7 - Fmaj7 - Dm7 - G G - G7 - C - C#dim7 (X4565X) - D Note that this concept often includes the I chord that shifts to dominant and when is followed by the IV chord.

Progressions with a secondary dominant

A secondary dominant can be included in an otherwise diatonic progression as a borrowed chord. It functions as the V chord in the relevant key. In the following example, D7 function as secondary dominant, which also is the V chord in the G major key: C - F - D7 - G The process can be repeated by include another secondary dominant, which will be the V chord of the borrowed secondary V chord. In the following example, A7 is the V chord in the D major key: C - A7 - D7 - G

Voicings

Examples including some less common fingerings: Cmaj7(no3) (X3500X) – G/B (X2500X) – Asus2 (X0220X) G6/9 (302200) – G6 (322000) – Cmaj13 (X32200) E6 (076600) – Add9/E (077600) – E9 (054400) Aadd9 (X07600) – Amaj9 (X06600) – Bm11 (7X7700) Go to the voicings main section for more examples and charts.

Chord progressions for blues

A common progression you can use to get a blues feeling is this: E7, A7, B7 E7 – A7 – E7 – B7 – A7 – E7 If you can't pull off a true blues vibe, try to strum four times at each chord and give extra accent to the first and third beat. So-called dominant chords are used here. Play the same chord sequence without a seventh note, and you will lose the blues sound.

A progression with some minor blues: Em – Am – Em – B7 – Am – Em A bonus bluegrass progression: C – C7 – F/C – D – A – D7 – G7 Almost like the one before but still a completely different thing. More progressions for blues guitar.

Progressions for jazz

Let’s get a little more sophisticated with these next sequences. Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 Let’s take another sequence, based on the same intervals: Bm7 – E7 – Amaj7 To really get the jazzy sound from your guitar you are advised to learn jazz chords.

Progressions for country

A typical progression is the I - IV- I - V: G - C - G - D Another one is the non-diatonic: C – A7 – D

If you're interested in this genre, see the guide to country guitar.

Progressions for rock style

This progression is associated with classic rock: E - D - A - E Another progression working in the rock genre: A - C - D - A To get a rock sound you only need three barre chords: Eb – Bb – Ab Here you need to use barre chords to bring the “fat” rock sound to it, omit the highest e-string. Begin with Eb using an A shape and use an E shape for Bb and Ab. Instead for barre chords, power chords can be used for a sound more familiar with hard rock: Eb5 – Bb5 – Ab5

If you're interested in this genre, see the guide to rock guitar.

Progressions for metal style

This progression can be used for metal: A5 - D5 - C5 - A5 - G5 - A5 If you're interested in this genre, see the guide to metal guitar for tabs and sound.

Progression for ballads

Chains of chords that could serve in ballads … Cmaj7, Cadd9, Aadd9, Dm7, G7 Cmaj7 - Cadd9 - Aadd2 - Dm7 - G7 D7 - Gmaj7 - Em7 - Am7 Even more color could be added by, for example, replace Em7 with Em11 and Am7 with Am11 in the second progression.

Progression for flamenco

A typical chord sequence in Spanish and flamenco music: Am – G – F – E See the guide to flamenco guitar.

Longer progressions

Here are some examples with longer chains: G – D – C – G – C – D – G D – A – Bm – F#m – G – A – D G – Bm – Em – C – G – D – Am – C – G Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – Bm7b5 – E7 – Am Notice that most progressions start and end with the same chord. This is not a must, but in most cases, it will sound better if the sequence return to its tonal center. Another "trick" utilized in the examples above is to use the V chord before the last chord, because it resolves perfectly into the I chord.

Progressions including substitutions

Substitutions in this context refer to chords that normally don't fit in (diatonically), but still can sound great under right conditions. For example, the G major can be substituting G# minor in progressions in the key of E major. The reason that this works is that G is "borrowed" from the E Minor Pentatonic scale. So, in especially rock style, in which a pentatonic sound fits well a chord progression like this can sound perfect:

E - A - G - B or:

E - G - A

A special related area is the tritone substitution.

Progressions including key changes

Key changes, also called modulation, is common in songs and create ambiguity by shifting the tonal center. It's especially common in jazz tunes, in which the key can change several times. One method is to use a so-called pivot chord (a.k.a. common chord), whose notes are shared by two keys. is. Using a pivot chord for shifting key is helpful if the other chords are including four or more tones simply because it's more tones involved. In the following examples, the pivot chord is marked by bold text: (starting in C key) Cmaj7 - Fmaj7 - Em (shifting to D key) - A7 - Dmaj7 (starting in G key) Gmaj7 - Cmaj7 - D (shifting to A key) - E7 - Amaj7 Another approach is a major to minor modulation: (starting in D key) Em7 - A11 - Dmaj9 - Dm9 (shifting to C key) - G13 - Cmaj7

Miscellaneous chord progressions

Other progressions: D – Dmaj7 – G – Gmaj7 Fmaj7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – E7 D – D/B – A – F#m – Em7 – A7 – D F – C – A – Dm – Bb – C – F C – Caug (X3211X) – F – Fm – C You can use all progression you find on this site in your own songs if you wish; chord progressions can't be copyrighted. See also the 500 Guitar Chord Progressions ebook.

Degrees – an essential shortcut for all songwriters

In the process of organizing chord progressions, a great way is to familiarize yourself with the term degrees. Instead of writing as G – D – C or D – A – G we can write I - V - IV and by that cover both examples. You may be puzzled with this, but the degrees are telling us the relationship of the chord according to the key (see the key and chord chart). The notes that belong to the key of G are G, A, B, C, D, E and F#. Therefore, G is number one (I), D number five (V), and C number four (IV). Let us now look at the key of D, the notes here are D, E, F#, G, A, B and C#. Therefore, D is number one (I), A number five (V), and G number four (IV). With this knowledge, you can use the chord progression I – V – IV in all keys and from now on you will understand what is referred to when you see progressions written in Roman numerals. Note that minor chords are written by small letters as in the chord progression vi – I – V – IV. Read also about chord progressions in various keys and the article about chords that sound good together.

Progression written in Roman numerals

I - IV - V examples: C – F – G C# – F# – G#

In depth: I - IV - V and I - IV - V7 progressions ii - V - I examples: Dm – G – C Am – D – G

In depth: ii - V - I progressions

I - vi - ii - V7 - I examples: D – Bm – Em – A7 - D A – F#m – Bm – E7 – A

Some theory behind chord progressions

There is no formula that all chord progressions can be based on or deciphered from. Still, there are some knowledge that will help you construct your own progressions. A rule of the thumb is that it will generally sound good if the chord includes one or more notes from the previous chord in a sequence. For example: C – Em – Am has the note construction: (c, e, g) – (e, g, b) – (a, c, e) There are many connections, what can be seen in the smoothness in the sound of the progression. This is, however, not constantly the case. Am and G works well together as a pair in sequences, but doesn’t share any notes: (a, c, e) and (g, b, d). Here it's another connection: note that the notes in the G chord are all one step below the notes in the Am chord in the key of both A minor and G major. When you create your own progressions it's important to understand how chords function in relation to each other. Compare these two sequences: a) A (I) - D (IV) - Bm (ii) - A (I) comment: the progression doesn't seem ready yet to go back to the home chord (I) b) A (I) - D (IV) - Bm (ii) - E (V) - A (I) comment: but after the V chord is added that resolves perfectly to the I chord, it feels just right Another example with three sequences: a) D (I) - A (V) - Bm (iv) - D (I) comment: feels too early for the home chord (I) b) D (I) - A (V) - Bm (iv) - G (IV) - D (I) comment: sounds better by adding the IV chord c) D (I) - A (V) - Bm (iv) - G (IV) - A7 (V7) - D (I) comment: sounds definite when landing on the home chord (I) after adding the strong dominant V as the second last chord

Check out the Chord progression generator tool.

Create tension in chord progressions

Here are three methods by which we can add tension, which can create some excitement in progression by involve features of the unfamiliar and unexpected. 1. Cmaj7 – C#dim7 (XX2323) – Dm7 Here we use passing chords creating a chromatic sequence, notice the semi-step linking for the root notes. We could simply play Cmaj7 - Dm7 with a whole tone step (C to D), which is completely fine harmonically, but also more familiar. 2. C – C(b9) (X32020) – G Here we are using an alternate chord, C(b9), which creates a movement (C, Db, D) inside the chords in the progression (without replacing the root). It's preferred to use the fingering 320033 instead of 320003 for the G to better establish the C, Db, D movement on the second string. Barré chord is an option: C (X35553) – C(b9) (X35653) – G (355433). 3. C – Caug – Am Here we use an aug chord for a semi-step movement that creates a movement and expectation which lead to Am (Dm doesn’t work as well here). In this case it’s not the root but the 5th that is shifting (G to G#) and creates tension and expectation for resolving into another chord. For more information, Chord Progressions For Songwriters can be recommended. With its 510 pages, it will teach you almost everything there is about chord progressions. For a shorter introduction with theory in focus, see The Chord Theory ebook. Useful tool: Transpose chord convertor More chord progressions: Advanced chord progressions | Chord progressions converted for capo | Chord strumming with metronome << Back to resources

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