music composition music tool • PUBLISHED Saturday, August 22, 2026

Building progressions

Western harmony has been so interesting to spend my last couple of years with. It’s almost silly how it all just builds from just one thing, the V to I cadence.

Over time I have been compiling how these progressions build from just small basics and I thought I should post about it.

LevelTags81 of 81Key

Progression in C	Numerals	Mode	Difficulty ↑
C F G C	I IV V I	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C G Am F	I V vi IV	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Am G C	I vi V I	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Dm G C	I ii V I	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C F Dm G	I IV ii V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Am Dm G	I vi ii V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Dm G Am	I ii V vi	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C F Am G	I IV vi V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Dm F G	I ii IV V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Em Dm G	I iii ii V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Em F G	I iii IV V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Em Am G	I iii vi V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Am Em G	I vi iii V	major	Beginner diatonic triads
C Dm7 G C	I ii7 V I	major	Beginner 7th chords
C Am Em F G C	I vi iii IV V I	major	Beginner long
C Am Dm F G C	I vi ii IV V I	major	Beginner long
C Em Am Dm G C	I iii vi ii V I	major	Beginner long
C F Em F G C	I IV iii IV V I	major	Beginner long
Cm Fm G Cm	i iv V i	minor	Beginner minor key
Cm Ab G Cm	i ♭VI V i	minor	Beginner minor key
Cm Ab Eb G Cm	i ♭VI ♭III V i	minor	Beginner minor key
C C/E F G C	I I6 IV V I	major	Intermediate inversions
C G/B Am G C	I V6 vi V I	major	Intermediate inversions
C D G C	I V/V V I	major	Intermediate secondary dominant
C Am D G C	I vi V/V V I	major	Intermediate secondary dominant
C A Dm G C	I V/ii ii V I	major	Intermediate secondary dominant
C E Am G C	I V/vi vi V I	major	Intermediate secondary dominant
C F Fm C	I IV iv I	major	Intermediate borrowed
C Fm G C	I iv V I	major	Intermediate borrowed
C F Gm C	I IV v I	major	Intermediate borrowed
Cm Ab Eb Bb G Cm	i ♭VI ♭III ♭VII V i	minor	Intermediate minor keylong
Cm Bb Eb Ab G Cm	i ♭VII ♭III ♭VI V i	minor	Intermediate minor keylong
Cm AbMaj7 Eb G Cm	i ♭VImaj7 ♭III V i	minor	Intermediate minor key7th chords
C Am Bdim7 G	I vi vii°7 V	major	Intermediate 7th chordsdiminished
C Dm Bdim7 G	I ii vii°7 V	major	Intermediate 7th chordsdiminished
C G/B Am F G C	I V6 vi IV V I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C F/A Em Dm/F G C	I IV6 iii ii6 V I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C F/A G C/E F G C	I IV6 V I6 IV V I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C G/B Am F G G/B C	I V6 vi IV V V6 I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C G/D C/E F G G/B C	I V64 I6 IV V V6 I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C G/B Am Dm/F G F/A G/B C	I V6 vi ii6 V IV6 V6 I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C G/B Am C/G G C	I V6 vi I64 V I	major	Intermediate longinversions
C Am B Em F G C	I vi V/iii iii IV V I	major	Intermediate longsecondary dominant
Cm Ab Fm Dm7b5 G Cm	i ♭VI iv iiø7 V i	minor	Intermediate minor keylong7th chords
Cm F Cm G Cm	i IV i V i	minor	Intermediate minor keyborrowed
Cm Fm7 Bbsus4 Bb Cm	i iv7 ♭VIIsus4 ♭VII i	minor	Intermediate minor key7th chordssuspension
C/D F/D G/D C/D	I/2 IV/2 V64 I/2	major	Intermediate inversionspedal tone
C/A F/A G/A C/A	I/6 IV6 V/6 I/6	major	Intermediate inversionspedal tone
C C/E F Gm C	I I6 IV v I	major	Intermediate inversionsborrowed
C C/E Fm G C	I I6 iv V I	major	Intermediate inversionsborrowed
Cm AbMaj7 Fm Gm7	i ♭VImaj7 iv v7	minor	Intermediate minor key7th chordsborrowed
Cm G/B Eb/Bb Ab G Cm	i V6 ♭III64 ♭VI V i	minor	Intermediate minor keylonginversions
C C#dim7 Dm G	I ♯i°7 ii V	major	Advanced 7th chordsborroweddiminished
C F F#dim7 G	I IV ♯iv°7 V	major	Advanced 7th chordsborroweddiminished
C Edim7 F G	I iii°7 IV V	major	Advanced 7th chordsborroweddiminished
C Cdim7 Ddim7 G	I i°7 ii°7 V	major	Advanced 7th chordsborroweddiminished
C Dm7/C G/C C	I ii42 V/1 I	major	Advanced 7th chordsinversionspedal tone
C G/B Am F Fm C	I V6 vi IV iv I	major	Advanced longinversionsborrowed
Cm Ddim/F G Cm	i ii°6 V i	minor	Advanced minor keyinversionsdiminished
Cm F Bb Gsus4 G Cm	i V/♭VII ♭VII Vsus4 V i	minor	Advanced minor keylongsuspensionsecondary dominant
Cm Bb Eb Ddim/F G Cm	i ♭VII ♭III ii°6 V i	minor	Advanced minor keylonginversionsdiminished
Cm C7/E Fm G Cm	i V65/iv iv V i	minor	Advanced minor key7th chordsinversionssecondary dominant
Cm C#dim7 Ddim G Cm	i ♯i°7 ii° V i	minor	Advanced minor key7th chordsborroweddiminished
Cm C#dim7 Ddim7 G Cm	i ♯i°7 ii°7 V i	minor	Advanced minor key7th chordsborroweddiminished
Cm Bb Eb Edim7 Fm G Cm	i ♭VII ♭III iii°7 iv V i	minor	Advanced minor keylong7th chordsborroweddiminished
Cm C#dim7 Fm F#dim Gsus4 G Cm	i ♯i°7 iv ♯iv° Vsus4 V i	minor	Advanced minor keylong7th chordssuspensionborroweddiminished
C Ebmaj7 Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 C	I ♭IIImaj7 ♭VImaj7 ♭IImaj7 I	major	Advanced+ 7th chordsborrowedchromatic mediant
Cm Ab7 G Cm	i ♭VI7 V i	minor	Advanced+ minor key7th chordsaugmented sixth
C Ab7 G C	I ♭VI7 V I	major	Advanced+ 7th chordsborrowedaugmented sixth
C Dm7 Db7 C	I ii7 ♭II7 I	major	Advanced+ 7th chordsborrowedtritone substitution
C Fm7 Bb7 C	I iv7 ♭VII7 I	major	Advanced+ 7th chordsborrowedbackdoor dominant
C A D G C	I V/V/V V/V V I	major	Advanced+ secondary dominantmodulatingchained dominants
C Db/F G C	I ♭II6 V I	major	Advanced+ inversionsborrowedneapolitan
C E A Dm G C	I V/V/ii V/ii ii V I	major	Advanced+ longsecondary dominantmodulatingchained dominants
Cm Db/F G Cm	i ♭II6 V i	minor	Advanced+ minor keyinversionsborrowedneapolitan
Cm Fm7 Bb7 Ebmaj7 Dm7b5 G7 Cm	i iv7 V7/♭III ♭IIImaj7 iiø7 V7 i	minor	Advanced+ minor keylong7th chordssecondary dominantapplied ii–V
C E7 A7 D7 G7 C	I V7/V/V/V V7/V/V V7/V V7 I	major	Advanced+ long7th chordssecondary dominantmodulatingchained dominants
C Eb7 Ab B7 E G7 C	I V7/♭VI ♭VI V7/III III V7 I	major	Advanced+ long7th chordsborrowedsecondary dominantmodulating
Cm Fm DbMaj7 Cm7 Fm Bbmadd9 G/B Cm	i iv ♭IImaj7 i7 iv ♭viiadd9 V6 i	minor	Advanced+ minor keylong7th chordsinversionsborrowedchromatic mediant
Cm Ab7 Db/F G Cm	i V7/♭II ♭II6 V i	minor	Advanced+ minor key7th chordsinversionsborrowedsecondary dominantneapolitan
C CMaj7 C7 Fmaj7 F#dim7 C/G A7 Dm7 G7 C	I Imaj7 V7/IV IVmaj7 ♯iv°7 I64 V7/ii ii7 V7 I	major	Advanced+ long7th chordsinversionsborroweddiminishedsecondary dominantmodulating

Building progressions

More like this

Nadi

Chord Progression Generator