List of chord progressions

The following is a list of commonly used chord progressions in music.

Code
Major	Major
Minor	Minor
Atonal	Atonal
Bitonal	Bitonal
Ind.	Indeterminate
PD	Phrygian dominant
Mix.	Mixolydian


Name	Image	# of chords	Quality
50s progression	I–vi–IV–V	4	Major
IV-V-I-vi	IV-V-I-vi progression in C major	4	Major
I–V–vi–IV	I–V–vi–IV chord progression in C	4	Major
I–IV–♭VII–IV	I–IV–♭VII–IV.	3	Mix.
ii–V–I progression	ii–V–I	3	Major
ii–V–I with tritone substitution (♭II7 instead of V7)	ii–♭II–I	3	Major
ii-V-I with ♭III⁺ as dominant substitute	ii–♭III⁺–I	3	Mix.
vii^o⁷/V–V–I (common in ragtime)	vii^o⁷/V–V–I	3	Major
Andalusian cadence	iv–III–♭II–I	4	PD
Backdoor progression (front door is V7)	ii–♭VII I	3	Major
Bird changes	I vii^ø–III7 vi–II7 v–I7, IV7 iv–♭VII7 iii–VI7 ♭iii–♭VI7, ii V7 I–VI7 ii–V	20	Major
Chromatic descending 5–6 sequence	I–V–♭VII–IV	4	Mix.
Circle progression	vi–ii–V–I	4	Major
Coltrane changes	Coltrane changes in C: I–V/♭VI ♭VI–V/III III–V I.	6	Major
Eight-bar blues	I–V–IV–IV–I–V–I–V	3	Major
Folia	i–V–i–♭VII–♭III–♭VII–i–V–i–V–i–♭VII–♭III–♭VII–i–V–i	4	Minor
Irregular resolution (Type I: Two common tones, two note moves by half step motion)	V7–III7	2	Major
Montgomery–Ward bridge	I–IV–ii–V	4	Major
Omnibus progression	Omnibus progression.	?	Major
Pachelbel's Canon	I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V	5	Major
Passamezzo antico	i–VII–i–V–III–VII–i–V–i	4	Minor
Passamezzo moderno	I–IV–I–V–I–IV–I–V–I	3	Major
I–V–vi–IV progression	I–V–vi–IV	4	Major
Ragtime progression	III⁷–VI⁷–II⁷–V⁷	5	Major
Rhythm changes	I-iv-ii-V / I-I⁷-iv-I-V-I / III⁷-VI⁷-II⁷-V⁷	15	Major
Romanesca	III–VII–i–V–III–VII–i–V–i	3	Major
Sixteen-bar blues	I–I–I–I–I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–I	3	Major
Stomp progression	IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–I7–IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–I7–IV7–#ivdim7–I7/5–V7/V/V–V7/V–V7–I7	6	Major
Twelve-bar blues	I–I–I–I–IV–IV–I–I–V–IV–I–V	3	Major
I−vi−ii−V	I–vi–ii–V	4	Major
♭VII–V7 cadence	♭VII–V–I	2–3	Mix.
V–IV–I turnaround	V–IV–I	3	Major
I–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII	I–♭VII–♭VI–♭VII	3	Minor
IV^△7–V⁷–iii⁷–vi	IV^△7–V⁷–iii⁷–vi in C	4	Major
♭VI-♭VII-I	♭VI - ♭VII - I	3	Major

List of chord progressions

Further reading

See also