List of chord progressions

See also: List of chords

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

Code
Major Major
Minor Minor
Atonal Atonal
Bitonal Bitonal in
Ind. Indeterminate
PD Phrygian dominant
Mix. Mixolydian
Name Image Sound # of chords Quality
50s progression
I–vi–IV–V
 4 Major
IV-V-I-VI
IV-V-I-VI progression in C major
IV-V-I-VI chord 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–♭II7–I
 3 Major
ii-V-I with ♭III+ as dominant
substitute
ii–♭III+–I
 3 Mix.
viio7/V–V–I

(common in ragtime)

viio7/V–V–I
 3 Major
Andalusian cadence
iv–III–♭II–I
 4 PD
Backdoor progression
(front door is V7)
ii–♭VII7 I
 3 Major
Bird changes
I viiø–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–I
 3 Major
I−vi−ii−V
I–vi–ii–V
 4 Major
♭VII–V7 cadence
♭VII–V7–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

Further reading

  • R., Ken (2012). DOG EAR Tritone Substitution for Jazz Guitar, Amazon Digital Services, Inc., ASIN: B008FRWNIW.

See also