Chord Progression

A series of chords that acts as / describes a framework for the music


In Practical Terms

Generally, use chords comprised of notes that are "in key" to create a progression that is "in key".

To narrow down what chords are "in key" for your progression, first see the key's scale notes:



Then take a note from the key and:


to create a three note chord.




Repeating for each note in the key gives a series of chords that are "in key", e.g:



Creating different sequences from this series of chords gives chord progressions that are "in key".




More Info

Note many traditional styles of music will use different systems of theory and not follow or have the above system of harmony. However this concept of diatonic chord progressions (or a modified form) is still often incorporated in modern popular productions across the world (contemporary, popular, dance music, film scores etc).