chordslol

Genre

Rock chord progressions

Guitar-driven music with power chords and blues influence

What makes it sound like this

Harmonic fingerprints.

  • Power chords
  • Blues-based progressions
  • Modal mixture
  • Pentatonic scales

Where it lives

Common keys.

The tonal centres rock keeps coming back to — usually because they sit well on the instruments the style was built on. Each key page carries its full diatonic chord set, and links its relative minor for the darker corners of the genre.

4 progressions

The changes rock runs on.

Written in roman numerals, then spelled out in the key of C. Every chord links to its own page; where the pattern has a full progression page of its own, that link is on the card.

Power Chord Riff

I5 — VII5 — IV5 — I5

Classic rock power chord progression

Smoke on the Water

i — III — IV — i — III — IV♯ — IV

Classic rock riff progression

Sweet Child O Mine

I — VII — IV — I

Mixolydian rock progression

Go deeper

Progression pages filed under rock.

Each one is realized in all fifteen keys of its mode, with audio and the songs that use it.

I-IV-I-V

I — IV — I — V

Classic 4-bar phrase with a leading-tone pull on bar 4.

I-♭VII-IV (Mixolydian Rock)

I — ♭VII — IV

Mixolydian flavor; classic rock pull.

i-♭VI-♭VII-i (Andalusian Rock)

i — ♭VI — ♭VII — i

Aeolian rock pattern; metal anthem flavor.

I-V-I-IV

I — V — I — IV

Inverted three-chord trick.

i-iv-V (Minor Three Chord)

i — iv — V

Minor three-chord with major V.

i-♭VI-♭VII (Aeolian Loop)

i — ♭VI — ♭VII

Aeolian rock loop.

Vocabulary

The chords that define the sound.

Not just which qualities rock reaches for, but those qualities built on the roots the genre actually plays in. Every chord links to its shapes, audio, and voice-leading notes.

Power Chord

Distorted power chords

Major

Open chords

Minor

Dark sections

Dominant 7th

Blues influence