Chord Progression Generator
Pick a key, a mood, and a length — instantly hear a fresh progression with Roman numeral analysis.
Why This Works
Every chord in a key has a function — a job it does in the music. The tonic (I or i) is home; the dominant (V) creates tension that wants to resolve back home; the subdominant (IV) moves you away from home without much tension. Great progressions are simply smart sequences of these functions.
Pop progressions stick to the strong I, IV, V, and vi to feel instantly familiar. Jazz uses ii–V–I cells to chain key centers together with rich extended chords. Blues turns every chord into a dominant 7 for that growling, unresolved tension. Gospel walks stepwise through the diatonic chords with passing motion. Cinematic styles borrow chords from the parallel minor (bVI, bVII) for grandeur, and Modal/Experimental writing avoids the V → I cadence entirely, leaving the listener floating in a single mode.
The Roman numerals stay constant across keys — that means a I–V–vi–IV in C (C–G–Am–F) sounds the same emotionally as a I–V–vi–IV in G (G–D–Em–C). Learn the numbers and you've learned every key at once.
How to Use This Progression
- 01Loop it and hum
Set the tempo to slow, hit Play, and sing nonsense syllables over the loop. Strong melodies almost always emerge from a great progression.
- 02Vary the rhythm
Don't play one chord per bar. Try two beats on the I, six beats on the V, or syncopate the changes — rhythm transforms the same chords into a new song.
- 03Solo over it
Improvisers: use the key's scale (major, minor, or pentatonic) and target chord tones on each change. The Roman numerals tell you exactly when each function lands.