Getting Started Writing Chord Progressions

In this short introduction, we’ll look at some techniques for writing a chord progression for a single song section (for example, a verse or a chorus).

There are many other ways to do it, but these techniques alone can generate countless songs.

Try recording different versions of your chord progression so you can pick your favorite later. It can be powerful to separate your writing (free-flowing and experimental) self from your curating (judgmental) self.

Start with a Key

Choose a key for your song. Then write down the six common chords for that key. Here is a list of some common keys with their common chords (notated with Roman numerals):

I  - ii  - iii - IV - V  - vi
------------------------------
C  - Dm  - Em  - F  - G  - Am
D  - Em  - F#m - G  - A  - Bm
E  - F#m - G#m - A  - B  - C#m
F  - Gm  - Am  - Bb - C  - Dm
G  - Am  - Bm  - C  - D  - Em
A  - Bm  - C#m - D  - E  - F#m

C and G major are the easiest keys on both guitar and keyboard, and F major is equally easy on the keyboard.

You can always write your chord progression in an easy key and then transcribe it to a different key later using a table like the one above.

Let’s say you choose the key of C major for your song. You would write down:

I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi
C - Dm - Em  - F  - G - Am

The great thing about this small list of chords is that they are very likely to “sound right” when played together.

If you want your song to be in major, treat the I chord as the home chord of your song. If you want your song to be in minor, treat the vi chord as the home chord.¹

The vi is called the “relative minor” of the I. You can think of the vi as the I chord’s shadowy twin.

Ground Yourself in the Key

Ok, time for some songwriting.

Start by playing your home chord long enough to ground yourself. Then you’re ready to try out combinations of your six chords.

You can begin by alternating between the home chord and one other chord in the key. For example, play I and ii back and forth. Experiment with different combinations.

Separate Your Chords into Core Chords and Color Chords

In a major key, you can think of the major chords (I, IV, and V) as your core chords and the minor chords (vi, ii, and iii) as your color chords.

Imagine the core chords as the skeleton and the color chords as adding depth and mood. Experiment with different combinations of them and get a feel for the sounds that resonate with you.

For example, you could begin with a couple of core chords and one color chord. After trying a number of possibilities, you could try one core chord and a couple of color chords. And so on.

In a minor key, think of vi, ii, and iii as the core chords and I, IV, and V as the color chords.

Write Down a Distance Line for Your Chords

You can also think of the chords as more or less distant from home. Write them down in this order (for a major key):

I - V - IV - vi - ii - iii

For example, in C major:

I - V - IV - vi - ii - iii
C - G - F  - Am - Dm - Em

Let’s call this a distance line.

Try to gradually expand your options from left to right on the distance line you wrote down. So first try picking from I, IV, and V. Then try picking from I, IV, V, and vi. And so on.

For a minor key sound, you can write the distance line in this order:

vi - iii - ii - V - IV - I

There are various ways to think about the distance between chords. If you don’t like the order I’ve presented here, experiment and discover one that works for you.

Try out Circle of 5ths progressions for a sense of inevitability

If you want to build a sense of inevitable movement toward home, try playing the chords in this order:

iii -> vi -> ii -> V -> I

For example, in the key of C major:

Em - Am - Dm - G - C

Now try playing different parts of this sequence. For example, you can play just ii - V - I.

For a different sound, you can also play these in the opposite order (adding in IV this time):

IV -> I -> V -> ii -> vi -> iii

For example, in C major:

F - C - G - Dm - Am - Em

Experiment with Different Harmonic Rhythms

The “harmonic rhythm” refers to how fast your chords change.

Experiment with different harmonic rhythms by changing the timings for each chord in your progression. Here are some examples in C major:

| I | I | V | V |
| C | C | G | G |

| I | I | IV | V |
| C | C | F  | G |

| I | IV | V | V |
| C | F  | G | G |

| I | IV | ii | V |
| C | F  | Dm | G |

Each | _ | is a bar, which is 4 beats in 4/4 time.

What Next?

You should be able to write a lot of chord progressions using just these ideas. But if you want to learn more, here are a few places to go next:

• Download my free Chord Progressions Cheat Sheet PDF↗(opens in a new tab) for more techniques, useful tables, and common progressions.

• Read a quick introduction to how the chords in a major key relate to each other. I also have a quick introduction to minor key chord relationships.

• Try out a practical series of exercises that teach you about each of the chords in the major key one by one.

• Dig deeper into how chord progressions work in major keys as well as in minor keys.

• For a more advanced approach, break through these major/minor boundaries and try exploring what I call the super key. You’ll learn how to mix keys together in your chord progressions to discover new sounds for your songs.