Chord cheat-sheet

Chords & harmony: Cheat-sheet · Types · Dictionary · Play along

The harmonizing idea, worked out for all twelve keys. Harmonizing a scale means building a triad on each of its notes using only that scale's own notes — do that and every key hands you its own family of seven chords. This page is the ready-made result: pick a key and grab its chords, hear them, and see the common progressions they make.

Harmonizing lines up one chord under each scale degree (1–7), and the qualities always land in the same pattern. In major it's I ii iii IV V vi vii° (major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished) — identical in every key, so learn it once. The I, IV and V (the “primary” chords) carry most songs; vi is the relative minor. New to the idea? Start with Theory & Practice → Chords.

Chords in a key

C major — tap any chord to hear it. The gold ones (I, IV, V) are the primary chords.

Common progressions

These reuse the chords above. Pick a key first, then tap ▶ to hear the progression in that key — the chord names update automatically. Once a shape feels familiar, hear it inside real tunes over on Play along.

    Quick reference

    The seven diatonic chords for all twelve major keys, listed around the circle of fifths (C, G, D… then the flat keys). Scan across a row to grab any chord — click any chord to hear it.

    KeyIiiiiiIVVvivii°

    Click a chord in the table…

    Minor keys follow the pattern i ii° III iv v VI VII — e.g. A minor: Am B° C Dm Em F G (switch the key selector to any minor key above to hear them).

    How to use it

    • Start with I–IV–V. These three major chords harmonize thousands of songs. Add vi for the famous four-chord pop sound.
    • Capital = major, lowercase = minor, ° = diminished. The vii° is rarely played as-is; it usually acts as a softer stand-in for V.
    • Find the key of a song by which chords appear — if you see C, F, G, Am you're almost certainly in C major.
    • Relative minor: every major key shares its chords with the minor key starting on its vi (C major ↔ A minor).
    • Want fancier colors (7ths, 9ths, sus)? See the chord types appendix. Curious why the qualities line up this way? That's the modes.
    • Ready to play? Take these chords into real songs on the play-along page — loop famous progressions in any key.