Pick a key and hear the chord progressions songs are actually built on — pop, rock, blues, jazz, folk and sad/minor — written out as real chords in your key, with the Roman numerals underneath. Tap any chord to hear it, or play the whole progression.
Showing common progressions in G major. Tap a chord to hear it; hit ▶ Play to strum the progression.
🎛️ Got the chords? Now match any song's tone to your gear — free →Choose your song's key with the buttons above and flip between Major and Minor. Each card is a famous progression family — the same shapes behind thousands of hits — shown as the real chords in your chosen key. Tap a single chord to hear it, or press ▶ Play to strum the whole progression in time so you can hear how it moves. Then grab your guitar and play along.
I–V–vi–IV (the "four-chord song") is the pop axis — the same four chords behind an enormous number of hits. vi–IV–I–V is the same wheel started on the sad chord, so it feels more emotional. I–IV–V is the backbone of rock, blues and country. ii–V–I is the engine of jazz. I–♭VII–IV is the Mixolydian, classic-rock sound (think "Sweet Home Alabama"). In minor, i–VI–III–VII and i–iv–v give you the cinematic, melancholy movement, and the Andalusian i–VII–VI–V is the flamenco/dramatic descent.
The Roman numerals under each card describe the progression independently of key — I is the home chord, IV and V are the two chords a fourth and a fifth above it, vi is the relative minor, and so on. Uppercase means a major chord, lowercase means minor, ° means diminished. Learn a progression once by its numerals and you can instantly play it in any of the twelve keys — that is exactly what the buttons above do for you.
What are the most common chord progressions?
By far the most common is I–V–vi–IV (and its rotations like vi–IV–I–V and I–vi–IV–V). I–IV–V powers rock, blues and country, while ii–V–I is the heart of jazz. All of them are generated above in whatever key you pick.
What chords are in the key of G?
Set the key to G, Major, and every card shows you: the diatonic chords of G are G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F♯dim. The progressions above are built from those. Switch the key button to see any other key instantly.
What is a sad chord progression?
Sad, emotional progressions usually live in a minor key or start on the vi/minor chord — flip Tonality to Minor and try i–VI–III–VII or i–iv–v, or in a major key use vi–IV–I–V. The tool writes them out and plays them for you.
Can I use these on my own site?
Yes — this generator, along with the tuner, metronome and chord transposer, is free to embed. Grab the embed codes →
Find the scale that fits these chords → · Chord shapes & diagrams → · All free guitar tools →