# Diatonic chords

Interactive version: [`chord-cheatsheet.html`](chord-cheatsheet.html). Part of **In C**, after [How chords are built](building-chords.md). Next: [Chord changes](songs.md).

These are the chords in a key. [How chords are built](building-chords.md) already stacked a triad on every note of a major scale,
using only that scale's notes. C gave you **C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, B°**. G gave you the same jobs with
new letters. This page writes that family for every key, ready to grab. The concept is
**smooth voicing**: shared notes stay under the same fingers, and the rest of the hand steps.

> The qualities always land in the same order. In **major** it is **I ii iii IV V vi vii°** (major,
> minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished). Learn it once. **I, IV and V** carry most songs;
> **vi** is the relative minor. The building of a triad — root, 3rd, 5th — is on
> [How chords are built](building-chords.md).

## Diatonic chords — all twelve major keys

Listed around the [circle of fifths](circle-of-fifths.md) — C, G, D… then the flat keys. On the
interactive [chord-cheatsheet.html](chord-cheatsheet.html) every chord in this table is clickable —
tap any one to hear it.

| Key | I | ii | iii | IV | V | vi | vii° |
|-----|---|----|----|----|---|----|------|
| C  | C  | Dm  | Em  | F  | G  | Am  | B°  |
| G  | G  | Am  | Bm  | C  | D  | Em  | F♯° |
| D  | D  | Em  | F♯m | G  | A  | Bm  | C♯° |
| A  | A  | Bm  | C♯m | D  | E  | F♯m | G♯° |
| E  | E  | F♯m | G♯m | A  | B  | C♯m | D♯° |
| B  | B  | C♯m | D♯m | E  | F♯ | G♯m | A♯° |
| F  | F  | Gm  | Am  | B♭ | C  | Dm  | E°  |
| B♭ | B♭ | Cm  | Dm  | E♭ | F  | Gm  | A°  |
| E♭ | E♭ | Fm  | Gm  | A♭ | B♭ | Cm  | D°  |
| A♭ | A♭ | B♭m | Cm  | D♭ | E♭ | Fm  | G°  |
| D♭ | D♭ | E♭m | Fm  | G♭ | A♭ | B♭m | C°  |
| G♭ | G♭ | A♭m | B♭m | C♭ | D♭ | E♭m | F°  |

## Diatonic chords — minor keys

Minor keys follow the pattern **i ii° III iv v VI VII**.

| Key | i | ii° | III | iv | v | VI | VII |
|-----|---|-----|-----|----|---|----|-----|
| A minor | Am | B°  | C  | Dm | Em | F  | G  |
| E minor | Em | F♯° | G  | Am | Bm | C  | D  |
| D minor | Dm | E°  | F  | Gm | Am | B♭ | C  |

## Smooth voicing

The seven chords are a list of notes. A song is your hand getting from one of them to the next, in time. That move is the concept.

Play **C–G–Am–F** the way each chord is spelled, root on the bottom. **C E G**, then **G B D**, then **A C E**, then **F A C**. Every chord is the right one. The hand leaves the keys and jumps.

Keep every note the next chord already uses, and let the other notes step.

| Chord | Root position | Smooth | What the hand does |
|-------|---------------|--------|--------------------|
| C | C E G | C E G | the start |
| G | G B D | B D G | G stays. E and C step down. |
| Am | A C E | C E A | each note steps up |
| F | F A C | C F A | C and A stay. E steps up to F. |

From C to G, both chords contain **G**, so the finger on G stays down. E steps down to D. C steps down to B. **B D G** is still G — the chart still says G. The B on the bottom is only an inversion. From Am to F, **C** and **A** are in both chords, so those two fingers stay. Only E moves, up to F.

The left hand can play the roots underneath — C, then G, then A, then F — so the bass still names the chord. The right hand is the one that stays put. The same rule holds in every key. Shared notes stay, and the rest step. In G the loop is **G–D–Em–C**, and the hand does the same job with new letters. [Chord changes](songs.md) loops this under real tunes, with smooth voicing already on.

On the interactive page, **Root position** and **Smooth** play the two rows.

## Common progressions

These reuse the diatonic chords. Shown as Roman numerals so they work in **any** key — the
interactive page fills in the actual chord names for the key you pick. Each play button there
sounds the chords in root position, the way the chart spells them. Connect them the smooth way
above.

| Progression | In C major | Where you hear it |
|-------------|-----------|-------------------|
| I – IV – V | C – F – G | the 3-chord backbone (rock, folk, blues) |
| I – V – vi – IV | C – G – Am – F | the "4-chord pop song" |
| I – vi – IV – V | C – Am – F – G | 50s doo-wop / ballads |
| vi – IV – I – V | Am – F – C – G | emotional pop / singer-songwriter |
| ii – V – I | Dm – G – C | the jazz cadence |
| 12-bar blues | C·C·C·C · F·F·C·C · G·F·C·G | blues & early rock'n'roll |

## How to use it

- **Voice them smoothly.** A chart spells each chord from the root. Two chords in a row share
  notes. Leave those fingers down and step the rest. That is how a change stays in time.
- **Start with I–IV–V** — three major chords that 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 — C, F, G, Am ⇒ almost certainly C major.
- **Relative minor:** every major key shares its chords with the minor key starting on its
  **vi** (C major ↔ A minor).
- Want a symbol this page never uses — sus, 6, 9, a raised or lowered note? That catalog is
  [Other chord types](chord-types.md). Curious *why* the qualities line up this way? That's the
  [modes](modes.md).
- **Ready to change chords?** Take these into [Chord changes](songs.md) and loop them under real
  tunes, in any key.