Learn harmony

Chord progression guides you can hear

Explore pop, rock, and jazz chord data, then learn four useful chord progressions with playable examples in several keys.

Choose a route

Start with a sound or a chord pattern

A genre guide shows patterns found in adjacent chord moves and opens a preset generator. A progression guide explains one fixed Roman-numeral pattern and moves it through several keys. Both include playable examples.

Chord progressions by genre

Compare pop, rock, and jazz using real transition counts from the same dataset.

Genre guidePop chord progressions85,185 songs, real transition data, and a preset generator.Genre guideRock chord progressions67,238 songs, real transition data, and a preset generator.Genre guideJazz chord progressions7,001 songs, real transition data, and a preset generator.

Four progressions worth learning

Learn what each chord does, hear the movement, and transpose it without guessing.

Progression guideI–V–vi–IVLearn the I–V–vi–IV progression, hear C–G–Am–F, and transpose the same four-chord relationship into six useful keys.Progression guideii–V–ILearn the ii–V–I progression, hear Dm7–G7–Cmaj7, and see how its three harmonic jobs transfer into six keys.Progression guide12-bar bluesLearn the standard 12-bar blues form, hear all twelve bars in C, and move the same I7–IV7–V7 structure into six keys.Progression guideAndalusian cadenceLearn the descending Andalusian cadence, hear Am–G–F–E, and transpose its minor-key pull into six keys.

Why use Roman numerals?

Roman numerals name a chord by its job in the key. I–V–vi–IV is C–G–Am–F in C major and G–D–Em–C in G major. The relationships stay the same, even when every chord name changes.

Want to build your own route? Open the chord progression generator and choose the first and final chord.