Chord Progression Generator
Progressions built from functional harmony, not from a shuffle — with the Roman numerals, what each chord is doing, and playback.
What the style and mood labels mean. They select harmonic patterns common in that kind of music, and colours that tend to suit that feeling. They cannot make a progression belong to a genre or feel a particular way — tempo, rhythm, instrumentation, arrangement and melody do most of that, and none of them are here.
Your progression
One chord per bar, four beats to the bar. Chords are voiced to move as little as possible from one to the next, so the progression does not leap about — but this is synthesised tone, not a recording of a guitar or a piano, and it will not sound like one.
Take it with you
How these are built
Chords in a key are not equal. Each one has a job, and progressions that sound finished are the ones where those jobs follow each other sensibly:
- Tonic — home. I, iii and vi in a major key. Where a phrase rests.
- Predominant — moving away. ii and IV. They set up what comes next.
- Dominant — the pull back. V and vii°. They want to resolve to the tonic, and a phrase that ends on one sounds unfinished on purpose.
Tonic to predominant to dominant to tonic is the shape underneath an enormous amount of music. The templates here are functional commonplaces of that kind — they belong to no particular song, and none is presented as if it did.
Borrowed chords
A borrowed chord comes from the parallel key or a related mode — a minor iv in a major key, a bVII, a major V in a minor key. They are switched off by default and, when on, every one is marked on its card with the mode it came from, because a chord outside the key you were told you are in should never arrive unannounced.
Locking
Lock a chord you want to keep and press Generate: the locked bars stay exactly as they are and everything else is rebuilt around them. Replace offers only chords doing the same harmonic job in the same key, so a substitution cannot quietly break the phrase.
Questions
Can I use these progressions in my own music?
Yes. Chord progressions are not copyrightable in themselves — they are the common vocabulary of music, and the same handful turn up in thousands of songs. What copyright protects is a specific recording or composition: melody, lyrics, arrangement, the actual work. Nothing generated here is taken from any of those.
Why does the same progression keep coming back?
Because a style has a limited set of patterns, and in a short progression there are only so many that hold together. Regenerate avoids repeating what is already on screen, but with two or three chords in one key the pool runs out quickly. Try a longer progression, a different style, or switching on borrowed chords.
What is a Roman numeral for?
It names the chord by its position in the key rather than by its letter, so the same progression can be read in any key. I–V–vi–IV is C–G–Am–F in C and G–D–Em–C in G. Upper case is major, lower case is minor, a small circle is diminished and a plus is augmented.
Does the playback sound like a real instrument?
No, and it is not meant to. It is synthesised tone generated in your browser — no samples, no recordings, nothing downloaded. It is there so you can hear the movement between chords. Play it on your own instrument to hear what it actually sounds like.
Why does the minor key sometimes give a major V?
Because natural minor has a minor v, which does not pull home the way a dominant should. Raising the seventh degree — harmonic minor — turns that chord major and gives a minor key a proper dominant. Switch on borrowed chords and it is offered, labelled as coming from harmonic minor.
What does "guitar-friendly" do?
It restricts the key list to C, G, D, A, E and F, which are the keys whose chords fall under open first-position shapes. It filters the keys rather than transposing what you already have — moving your progression to a different key without being asked would answer a question you did not put.
Not random chords
A generator that picks chords at random from a key produces something that is technically in the key and sounds like nothing. Chords are not interchangeable: each one has a job, and progressions that sound finished are the ones where those jobs follow each other sensibly.
There are three jobs. The tonic chords - I, iii and vi in a major key - are home, where a phrase rests. The predominant chords - ii and IV - move away and set up what comes next. The dominant chords - V and vii diminished - pull back to the tonic, which is why a phrase ending on one sounds unfinished. Tonic to predominant to dominant to tonic is the shape underneath an enormous amount of music.
Styles, moods and what they can promise
Ten styles - pop, rock, folk, blues, jazz-inspired, R and B-inspired, electronic, cinematic, worship-style, and random functional - each with its own set of harmonic patterns, plus six moods that bias the colours and the choice of template.
These labels select harmonic patterns common in that kind of music. They cannot make a progression belong to a genre or feel a particular way. Tempo, rhythm, instrumentation, arrangement and melody do most of that work, and none of them are in a chord chart. The templates are functional commonplaces of the kind any harmony textbook catalogues; none is presented as belonging to a particular song.
Complexity, borrowed chords and the twelve-bar
Basic triads, seventh chords, or extended and suspended colour. Sevenths are decided for the whole progression rather than chord by chord, because a phrase where two chords happen to be sevenths and two do not is not a colour choice, it is an inconsistency.
Borrowed chords - a minor iv in a major key, a flat VII, a major V in a minor key - are switched off by default. When on, every one is marked on its card with the mode it came from, because a chord outside the key you were told you are in should never arrive unannounced.
The blues style offers a full twelve-bar. It is a separate button rather than a length, because a twelve-bar trimmed to eight bars is not a twelve-bar blues - it stops in the middle of the turnaround.
Editing what you get
Lock any chord you want to keep and press Generate: the locked bars stay exactly as they are and everything else is rebuilt around them. Replace offers only chords that do the same harmonic job in the same key, so a substitution cannot quietly break the phrase. Transpose moves the whole progression up or down, respelling the key properly - Bb up two is C, not B sharp.
Playback
One chord per bar at a tempo you set, with looping and an optional count-in of clicks. Chords are voiced to move as little as possible from one to the next, so the progression does not leap about the way root-position chords read aloud would.
This is synthesised tone generated in your browser - no samples, no recordings, nothing downloaded - and it will not sound like a real guitar or piano. It is there so you can hear the movement. Play it on your own instrument to hear what it actually sounds like.
Can you use these?
Yes. Chord progressions are not copyrightable in themselves; they are the common vocabulary of music and the same handful appear in thousands of songs. What copyright protects is a specific composition or recording - melody, lyrics, arrangement, the actual work. Nothing generated here is taken from any of those, and no lyrics or song excerpts appear anywhere in this tool.
Quick answer
Choose a key, a mode, a length and a style, then press Generate. Each chord card shows the chord, its Roman numeral, its notes and what it is doing in the key. Lock the chords you want to keep and regenerate the rest, or replace one from chords that do the same job.
Key facts
- Built from functional harmony, not random chords
- Ten styles and six moods
- Two to eight chords, plus a full twelve-bar blues
- Triads, sevenths or suspended colour
- Borrowed chords labelled with their source mode
- Lock, replace, transpose and copy
- Playback with voice leading and an optional count-in
- No lyrics and no song excerpts
Frequently asked questions
Can I use these chord progressions in my own music?
Yes. Chord progressions are not copyrightable in themselves - they are the common vocabulary of music and the same handful appear in thousands of songs. Copyright protects a specific composition or recording: melody, lyrics, arrangement. Nothing generated here is taken from any of those.
How are the progressions generated?
From functional harmony. Each chord in a key has a job - tonic, predominant or dominant - and the generator follows patterns where those jobs succeed each other sensibly, using tested templates per style plus a functional machine for the random option.
What is a Roman numeral for?
It names a chord by its position in the key rather than by its letter, so the same progression can be read in any key. Upper case is major, lower case is minor, a small circle is diminished and a plus is augmented.
Does the playback sound like a real guitar or piano?
No, and it is not meant to. It is synthesised tone generated in your browser with no samples or recordings, so you can hear the movement between chords. Play it on your own instrument to hear how it actually sounds.
What does the guitar-friendly option do?
It restricts the key list to C, G, D, A, E and F, whose chords fall under open first-position shapes. It filters the keys rather than transposing what you already have.