Chord Progression Library — 60+ Progressions with Playback & Theory
Browse 60+ curated chord progressions across pop, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, and classical. Play any progression in any key, read the roman numeral notation, and learn the music theory behind each one. Filter by genre and mood. No signup, no download.
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How to use this chord progression library
Diatonic chords in any major key
These are the seven chords built naturally on each degree of the major scale. Any chord progression using only these chords is called diatonic.
| Degree | Roman numeral | Quality | In C major | In G major | In A major | Function |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | I | Major | C | G | A | Tonic — home, rest, resolution |
| 2nd | ii | Minor | Dm | Am | Bm | Pre-dominant — builds tension toward V |
| 3rd | iii | Minor | Em | Bm | C#m | Mediant — tonic substitute, colour chord |
| 4th | IV | Major | F | C | D | Subdominant — warmth, departure from I |
| 5th | V | Major | G | D | E | Dominant — tension, pulls strongly to I |
| 6th | vi | Minor | Am | Em | F#m | Submediant — emotional, relative minor |
| 7th | vii° | Diminished | Bdim | F#dim | G#dim | Leading tone — instability, pulls to I |
Chord Progression Guide — Roman Numerals, Functions, and Genre Patterns
A chord progression is not simply a list of chords — it is a sequence of harmonic functions that creates movement, tension, and resolution in music. Every chord in a key carries a functional role: tonic chords establish the home base, dominant chords create tension that demands resolution, and pre-dominant chords build toward the dominant. Understanding these functions, rather than memorising specific chord names, is what allows a musician to write in any key and understand why progressions work across different songs and genres.
Why roman numeral notation is more useful than chord names
When a songwriter writes I-V-vi-IV, they describe the same harmonic logic whether the song is in C major (C-G-Am-F) or G major (G-D-Em-C). The emotional journey — tonic to dominant to minor submediant to subdominant — is identical in both keys. Roman numeral notation lets you learn one pattern and recognise it across thousands of songs, transpose it to any key in seconds, and communicate it to other musicians regardless of their instrument's natural range. Uppercase numerals indicate major chords; lowercase indicate minor; the degree symbol (°) indicates diminished.
Online chord progression library free — genre patterns explained
Each genre has harmonic fingerprints. Pop music gravitates to I-V-vi-IV and I-IV-V because they are maximally consonant and emotionally clear. Jazz adds chord extensions (seventh, ninth, eleventh) and substitutions like tritone substitution and secondary dominants. Blues anchors everything to three chords — I, IV, and V — and derives emotional complexity from the interplay of the blues scale against those harmonies. Classical common-practice harmony emphasises voice leading, where each note moves by the smallest possible interval to the next chord. Learning progressions across genres expands your harmonic vocabulary and helps you identify what makes each genre emotionally distinctive.
Chord progressions — 8 questions answered
A chord progression is a sequence of chords forming the harmonic foundation of music. Chords are built on scale degrees of a key. Roman numeral notation (I, IV, V) describes progressions independent of key, so the same pattern can be played in any key.
Roman numerals assign a number to each scale degree. Uppercase (I, IV, V) = major chords. Lowercase (ii, iii, vi) = minor chords. In C major: I=C, ii=Dm, IV=F, V=G, vi=Am. Lets you learn one progression and play it in any key.
I-V-vi-IV is the most used progression in modern popular music. In C major: C-G-Am-F. Thousands of hit songs use it. It works because each chord move has a clear function: tonic, dominant, minor submediant, subdominant.
The fundamental jazz progression. In C major: Dm-G-C (or Dm7-G7-Cmaj7). The ii builds pre-dominant tension, V resolves to I. Appears in nearly every jazz standard and many pop and gospel songs.
A fixed 12-bar chord progression using I, IV, and V. In A major: A-A-A-A-D-D-A-A-E-D-A-E. The backbone of blues and early rock and roll. The blues scale works over it because only diatonic chords I, IV, V are used.
Major progressions use chords from the major scale and sound bright or uplifting. Minor progressions use natural minor scale chords and sound darker or more emotional. C major and A minor share the same notes but have different tonal centres.
Choose a key and mood, browse matching progressions, play one and hum a melody over it. Learn the most common patterns first (I-V-vi-IV for pop, i-VI-III-VII for minor pop, ii-V-I for jazz) then experiment with chord substitutions.
LazyTools Chord Progression Library is 100% free. 60+ progressions, playback in any key, roman numeral notation, theory explanations, genre and mood filtering. No download, no account, no signup.