List of chord progressions

Last updated

The following is a list of commonly used chord progressions in music.

Code
Major Major
Minor Minor
Atonal Atonal
Bitonal Bitonal
Ind. Indeterminate
PD Phrygian dominant
Mix. Mixolydian
NameImageSound# of chordsQuality
50s progression
I-vi-IV-V 50s progression in C.png
I–vi–IV–V
4Major
IV-V-I-vi
IV-V-I-vi progression in C major IV V I VI.jpg
IV-V-I-vi progression in C major
4Major
I–V–vi–IV
I-V-vi-IV chord progression in C I-V-vi-IV chord progression in C.png
I–V–vi–IV chord progression in C
4Major
I–IV–♭VII–IV
I-IV-VII-IV. I-IV-bVII-IV chord progression.png
I–IV–♭VII–IV.
3Mix.
ii–V–I progression
ii-V-I Ii-V-I turnaround in C.png
ii–V–I
3Major
ii–V–I with tritone substitution
(♭II7 instead of V7)
ii-II-I Tritone substitution ii-subV-I.png
ii–♭II 7 rightside up.png –I
3Major
ii-V-I with ♭III+ as dominant
substitute
ii-III -I BIII+ as dominant substitute.png
ii–♭III –I
3Mix.
viio7/V–V–I

(common in ragtime)

vii /V-V-I Viio7 of V-V-I chord progression.png
vii /V–V–I
3Major
Andalusian cadence
iv-III-II-I Phrygian Andalusian cadence.png
iv–III–♭II–I
4PD
Backdoor progression
(front door is V7)
ii-VII I Backdoor progression in C.png
ii–♭VII 7 rightside up.png I
3Major
Bird changes
I vii-III7 vi-II7 v-I7, IV7 iv-VII7 iii-VI7 iii-VI7, ii V7 I-VI7 ii-V Bird Blues in Bb.png
I vii–III7 vi–II7 v–I7, IV7 iv–♭VII7 iii–VI7 ♭iii–♭VI7, ii V7 I–VI7 ii–V
20Major
Chromatic descending
5–6 sequence
I-V-VII-IV Chromatic descending 5-6 sequence.png
I–V–♭VII–IV
4Mix.
Circle progression
vi-ii-V-I Vi-ii-V-I in C.png
vi–ii–V–I
4Major
Coltrane changes
Coltrane changes in C: I-V/VI VI-V/III III-V I. Coltrane changes.png
Coltrane changes in C: I–V/♭VI ♭VI–V/III III–V I.
6Major
Eight-bar blues
I-V-IV-IV-I-V-I-V Eight-bar blues block chords.png
I–V–IV–IV–I–V–I–V
3Major
Folia
i-V-i-VII-III-VII-i-V-i-V-i-VII-III-VII-i-V-i Later Folia.png
i–V–i–♭VII–♭III–♭VII–i–V–i–V–i–♭VII–♭III–♭VII–i–V–i
4Minor
Irregular resolution

(Type I: Two common tones, two note moves by half step motion)

V7-III7 Irregular resolution I.png
V7–III7
2Major
Montgomery–Ward
bridge
I-IV-ii-V Montgomery-Ward bridge in C.png
I–IV–ii–V
4Major
Omnibus progression
Omnibus progression. Omnibus progression.png
Omnibus progression.
 ?Major
Pachelbel's Canon
I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V Pachelbel Canon bass line (quarter notes).svg
I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V
5Major
Passamezzo antico
i-VII-i-V-III-VII-i-V-i Passamezzo antico.png
i–VII–i–V–III–VII–i–V–i
4Minor
Passamezzo moderno
I-IV-I-V-I-IV-I-V-I Gregory Walker root progression.PNG
I–IV–I–V–I–IV–I–V–I
3Major
I–V–vi–IV progression
I-V-vi-IV I-V-vi-IV chord progression in C.png
I–V–vi–IV
4Major
Ragtime progression
III-VI-II-V Ragtime progression in C.png
III–VI–II–V
5Major
Rhythm changes
I-iv-ii-V / I-I -iv-I-V-I / III -VI -II -V Rhythm changes in C.png
I-iv-ii-V / I-I -iv-I-V-I / III -VI -II -V
15Major
Romanesca
III-VII-i-V-III-VII-i-V-i Romanesca.png
III–VII–i–V–III–VII–i–V–i
3Major
Sixteen-bar blues
I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I Sixteen-bar blues block chords tonic in C.png
I–I–I–I–I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–I
3Major
Stomp progression
IV7-#ivdim7-I7/5-I7-IV7-#ivdim7-I7/5-I7-IV7-#ivdim7-I7/5-V7/V/V-V7/V-V7-I7 Stomp progression block chords in C.png
IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–I7–IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–I7–IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–V7/V/V–V7/V–V7–I7
6Major
Twelve-bar blues
I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-V Twelve bar blues in C.png
I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–V
3Major
I−vi−ii−V
I-vi-ii-V I-vi-ii-V turnaround in C.png
I–vi–ii–V
4Major
♭VII–V7 cadence
VII-V-I BVII-V7 cadence in C.png
♭VII–V 7 rightside up.png –I

2–3Mix.
V–IV–I turnaround
V-IV-I V-IV-I turnaround in C.png
V–IV–I
3Major
I–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII
I-VII-VI-VII I bVII bVI bVII in C.png
I–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII
3Minor
IV△7–V7–iii7–vi
IV -V -iii -vi in C IVD7-V7-iii7-vi chord progression in C.png
IV –V –iii –vi in C
4Major
♭VI-♭VII-I
VI - VII - I BVI bVII I.png
♭VI - ♭VII - I
3Major

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See also

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