How to Write a Chord Progression

You will need to know how chords are put together, so learn your basics. Start by memorizing the basic triads in the key of C.

Repeat this to yourself,"CEG DFA EGB FAC GBD ACE BDF"
And, learn that the chord qualities are "Major minor minor major major minor diminished"

Now we get to the trick of building that strong chord progression; The "inside chromatic line".

What we are going to do is take a series of notes which are part of the chromatic scale, that is, the notes are only 1/2 step apart. An example would be G, F#, F, E

A chromatic line does two things to the ear which help this technique work;
1. They create a smooth voice leading motion - the chromatic line provides chord tones that are close, and therefore a smooth chord motion.
2. Any time there is a motion of more than one consecutive half-step, it grabs our attention. G to F# is nothing fancy, but that move to F after the F# grabs the ear. In the natural major and minor scales, there is no place that three half steps occur, so it is something out of the ordinary; always good for composers!


Now, we need to HARMONIZE our chromatic line. That is, we want to build a chord around each note, and create a progression. We'll make each note is our line "G,F#,F,E" either the root, third or fifth of a chord.

Let's start off with G as the root of the first chord. So, we play a G major.

Next, we have the F#. F# is the third of D major, so let's use that next.

Now, the 'F' note. That's out first outsider note. It's the root of an F chord, the minor third of a D minor chord, the major third of a Db chord, and/or the fifth of Bb chord. What to do? Well, play each of your possible choices! Now it's time to use your ear. Let's say we like the sound of the D minor chord.

That brings us to the E note. That's the root of EGB (Em) the third of CEG (Cmaj) or the fifth of ACE (Amin). Also possible is C# E G# - C# minor, not to mention suspended chords and even the notes of extended chords - the possibilities are almost endless see "The Ultimate Chord Guide" for more info!

Are you getting the idea? Try a C major chord, for example. This gives us the progression:

G major - D major - D minor - C major

This is a very strong sounding progression, and would be right at home in a Beatles tune! By the way, the Beatles used this chord concept so often that it's impossible to list all the song titles in the limited space here. A few examples - Strawberry Fields, Something, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Michelle (taking this idea to extremes!) Blackbird, Yesterday, and on and on.

There are a million more hits waiting to be written, so hop to it! Try reharmonizing a famous melody, then just taking those chords and writing your own tune to it. Remember - a song's melody and lyric are copyrighted, but chord progressions are NOT! Never let it worry you if your progression sounds familiar, chords belong to everyone.