Chord Progressions for the Piano!


Use chord progressions to prevent monotony in your piano playing!



A chord progression is a series of chords that you play to harmonize the melody.

Using the same chords throughout the song can bring in some monotony. This is where using the correct piano chord progressions can enhance the harmonic aspect of your piano playing.

Note that these progressions can be used for any musical instrument.


Most Common Chord Progressions


There are many ways in which you can use a combination of chords… but let us look at the most popular ones.

Here, we will only look at 3-note chord progressions. Check out Piano Lessons-II for more information on how to construct chords.

Let us assume that the song is based on a major scale and the chords to be used are scale tone chords.

So the 1st, 4th, and 5th chords will be Major chords, the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th chords will be minor chords and the 7th chord will be a diminished chord.

The scale tone chords are usually referred to using Roman Numerals, so the above seven chords can also be referred as I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII.

With all this information, you should be able to play some of the most common and popular chord progressions listed here:

  • I-IV-V


  • II-V-I


  • III-VI-II-V-I




    • Recommended Books!


    Piano Chords & Progressions: The Secret Backdoor to Exciting Piano Playing! by Duane Shinn




    Chords & Progressions For Jazz & Popular Keyboard by Kenneth Baker





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