Patterns

Open the Songbook

Chord patterns, named by theory, to play in any key. References are not full charts.

Patterns are common chord moves. They are not the chart of a recorded hit.

• The Four Chords I–V–vi–IV

  Bright at the start, a moment of shade, then open again: the four chords more songs use than any other. They fit any tempo and are the easiest place to begin.

• Four Chords, from vi vi–IV–I–V

  The same four chords, started from the dark one, and suddenly far more wistful. It suits slow ballad tempos of 70–90 BPM especially well.

• Four Chords, from IV IV–I–V–vi

  Starting one step early gives the chorus a lift-off feeling. Suits mid-tempo pop.

• Four Chords, from V V–vi–IV–I

  Starts on tension and settles comfortably at the end. Good for closing a chorus with certainty.

• Doo-wop Changes I–vi–IV–V

  Four classic chords with a round, nostalgic ring. They come into their own on an unhurried eight-beat feel.

• Three-chord Song I–IV–V

  The most basic three chords there are. They carry folk, rock and nursery songs alike and hold up at fast tempos.

• Rock Three Chords I–V–IV

  It never ties itself off, so it keeps rolling, which is why repeating rock riffs love it. Play it hard.

• IV–V–I Cadence IV–V–I

  Two chords of build-up and one release: the ending. Good practice for the last two or three bars of a song.

• Royal Road IV–V–iii–vi

  Swells a little, then settles into minor. Extremely common in Korean and Japanese ballads and anime themes.

• Komuro Progression vi–IV–V–I

  Leaves from the dark chord and arrives bright at the end. Fast dance pop uses it to push a chorus upward.

• Royal Road, Sevenths IVM7–V7–iii7–vi7

  The Royal Road with every chord turned into a seventh. Same progression, but much softer and more urban in colour.

• Minor Royal Road bVI–bVII–v–i

  The Royal Road seen from the relative minor, ending in minor with a long afterglow. Making the third chord major pulls even harder.

• ii–V–I Cadence ii–V–I

  The basic jazz cadence reduced to triads. The best way to learn by ear where tension goes and where it resolves.

• ii–V–I with Sevenths ii7–V7–IM7

  The basic cadence of jazz standards. Pressed slowly at a swing tempo around 80 BPM, the colour of each chord comes through.

• Minor ii–V–i iiø–V7–i

  The cadence that resolves into minor. The tightening tension is strong, giving a dark, rich feel that ballads use often.

• Turnaround IM7–vi7–ii7–V7

  Four chords that go once round and come back to the start. Used when a chorus ends and the song returns to the top.

• iii–vi–ii–V Cycle iii7–vi7–ii7–V7

  A cycle stepping down in fifths. It leaves from one slot further than the turnaround and takes longer to come home.

• Rhythm Changes, A section IM7–vi7–ii7–V7–IM7–I7–IV–iv

  The first eight bars of the standard form, simplified to one chord per bar. Good for practising chord moves at a fast swing.

• Twelve-bar Blues I7–IV7–I7–V7–IV7–I7–V7

  The basic form of the blues, twelve bars as one block. Keeping the bar count exact is the whole point; the last bar is where it turns back to the top.

• Quick-change Blues I7–IV7–I7–IV7–I7–V7–IV7–I7–V7

  A twelve-bar variant that visits IV7 early, in the second bar. A less plain opening, and the more commonly played form.

• Eight-bar Blues I7–IV7–I7–V7–I7–V7

  Twelve bars compressed into eight. Short enough to loop for practice, and especially good at slow tempos.

• Blues Turnaround I7–VI7–II7–V7

  The short loop in the last two bars of a blues that sends it back to the top. All dominant sevenths, so it keeps rolling.

• Canon Progression I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V

  Eight classic chords over a bass that walks down like a staircase. Known everywhere from the Pachelbel Canon (1653–1706), and at its best at a slow tempo.

• Andalusian Cadence i–bVII–bVI–V

  A Spanish-flavoured cadence that tightens as the bass steps down one note at a time. Common in flamenco and rock ballads alike, with the tension peaking on the last chord.

• Circle of Fifths I–IV–vii°–iii–vi–ii–V–I

  Steps down in fifths through nearly every chord in the key. A good exercise for learning by hand which chords a key contains.

• Plagal Cadence IV–I

  A soft ending that sets the song down gently rather than cutting it off. Familiar as the hymn-book Amen.

• Minor Four Chords i–bVI–bIII–bVII

  The four chords minor keys use most. Dark without being heavy, so it fits rock and ballads alike.

• Minor Round Trip i–bVII–bVI–bVII

  Goes down and comes back the same way, which turns hypnotic the more it repeats. Good for setting a mood at a slow tempo.

• Natural Minor Three i–iv–v

  The three chords of the natural minor as they are. A plain, folk-like darkness with little pull, so it repeats comfortably.

• Harmonic Minor Three i–iv–V

  Only the last chord changes to major, and the pull becomes strong. The same three chords, far more dramatic; alternate it with the natural minor form.

• Minor Chorus i–bVI–iv–V

  Settles wide, then tightens again at the end. Well suited to closing a minor-key chorus.

• Dorian Vamp i7–IV

  Minor, but with a major chord on the fourth degree, so it sounds dark and wide open at once. Made for funk and jazz riffs that swing between two chords.

• Mixolydian Rock I–bVII–IV

  Major, but with the seventh chord dropped a semitone, giving the rough edge rock loves. Suits a mid-tempo riff.

• Aeolian Vamp i–bVII

  The simplest minor loop there is, just two chords. Changing only the tempo and rhythm changes the mood completely, so it is a good place to start practising.

• Fifties Changes with Sevenths Imaj7–vi7–IV–V7

  The doo-wop loop, dressed with sevenths so each chord leans into the next. Slow ballads sit well on it.

• Fifties Changes, ii for IV I–vi–ii–V

  The same loop as the fifties changes, but the third chord is the supertonic instead of the subdominant. Jazz standards use this shape all the time.

• Pop Canon I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V

  The canon sequence written as eight pop bars. It climbs, dips, and walks back without ever sounding like a classical piece.

• Canon with Sevenths Imaj7–V7–vi7–iii7–IVmaj7–Imaj7–IV–V

  Pachelbel’s sequence with sevenths on the first six chords, so each step pulls harder than a triad would.

• Minor Canon i–v–VI–III–iv–i–iv–V

  The canon sequence started in minor. Darker on the way down, with a major V at the end that asks to repeat.

• Gospel Turnaround I7–IV7–I7–V7

  A four-bar close used in gospel and early jazz: each chord is a seventh, and the last one turns the form around.

• Gospel Walkdown I–I7–IV–iv

  Home, then a seventh that falls to IV, then the minor iv that aches before it returns. Common in hymns and soul ballads.

• Bossa ii–V–I ii7–V7–Imaj7

  The jazz cadence in a slow two-feel. Two bars of ii, two of V, then four of I is a common bossa layout; here each chord gets one bar.

• Minor Bossa Cadence iim7b5–V7–i7

  The minor-key ii–V–i, with a half-diminished second degree. Darker than the major bossa cadence, same slow pulse.

• Twelve-Bar Minor Blues i–iv–i–V–iv–i–V

  The twelve-bar blues in minor. The turnaround uses a major V so the form still asks to start again.

• Rhythm Changes Bridge III7–VI7–II7–V7

  The middle eight of rhythm changes: four dominant sevenths walking down by fifths, back to the A section.

• Canon Pop Short I–V–vi–iii–IV

  The first five steps of the canon sequence, used as a verse loop in a lot of recent pop. It never quite cadences.

• Plagal Amen IV–I

  The amen cadence, two chords. Gospel, hymns, and slow outros all use it to say the phrase is finished.

• Phrygian Vamp i–bII

  A two-chord minor loop with the second chord a half-step above the tonic. It sounds Spanish, modal, and unresolved.

• Dorian Two-Chord i7–ii7–i7

  Two minor sevenths a step apart. A modal vamp: the harmony barely moves, so rhythm and melody have to.

• Passamezzo Antico i–VII–i–V–III–VII–i–V

  A Renaissance ground bass in minor. Eight chords, repeating, that later folk and hymn tunes still lean on.