How to Write a Chord Progression

You don't need theory-school to write a progression that works. This is the short version — enough to start writing today.

Start with a key

A key is just a home base — a scale of seven notes and the chords built from them. In C major those notes are C D E F G A B. Build a chord on each note using only notes from the scale and you get the seven diatonic chords. Because they all come from the same scale, any of them will sound fine together, which is why picking a key first makes everything easier.

Learn the Roman numerals

Musicians label those seven chords with Roman numerals so a progression works in any key. Upper-case is major, lower-case is minor: I ii iii IV V vi vii°. In C major that's C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, B°. The three you'll use most are the I (home), the IV and the V — the brightest, strongest chords in the key.

Use tension and resolution

A progression is a little journey away from home and back. The V chord creates tension that wants to fall back to the I — that pull is the engine of most Western music. The vi (the relative minor) is your sad/reflective colour. A reliable recipe: start on I, wander through vi and IV, build tension on V, land back on I.

Steal a proven progression

Great songwriters reuse the same handful of progressions constantly. I–V–vi–IV (pop), ii–V–I (jazz), i–iv–v (minor-key hip hop) and I–IV–V (rock) will get you a long way. Progressions aren't copyrightable, so use them freely — the melody and production make the song yours.