Chords That Sound Good Together

The science of chords that sound good together is part of chord theory. It's simple and interesting. And it's essential that you as a songwriter have an understanding of it. So here is the deal:

(If you're not familiar with chords and how to make them, visit the Keyboard Chords page first.)

The most important thing to know about chords is that whatever sounds good is good. Even if theory claims the opposite, you should still use your gut instinct and musical intuition to decide. Rules of chord harmony only give you a guideline but you can break out of them any time you want.

First of all, a tiny bit of theory:

Musicians often refer to chords with Arabic or Roman numerals (e.g. "5" or "V"). (On the Nashville Number System page there is a chart to help you find out which scales, notes and chords belong to which number.) Major scales are shown with capital letters and minor ones with small letters.

In major scales, you'll find the following notes:

• First chord (or root / tonic chord) - major - chord number in the scale: I
• Second chord - minor - chord number in the scale: ii
• Third chord - minor - chord number in the scale: iii
• Fourth chord - major - chord number in the scale: IV
• Fifth chord - major - chord number in the scale: V
• Sixth chord - minor - chord number in the scale: vi
• Seventh chord - diminished (root, and two minor thirds) - chord number in the scale: viio

For example, in the key of C:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B can be described as I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - viio

In minor scales, you'll find these notes:

• First chord (or root / tonic chord) - minor - chord number in the scale: i
• Second chord - diminished - chord number in the scale: iio
• Third chord - major - chord number in the scale: III
• Fourth chord - minor - chord number in the scale: iv
• Fifth chord - major - chord number in the scale: V
• Sixth chord - major - chord number in the scale: VI
• Seventh chord - major (root, and two minor thirds) - chord number in the scale: VII

Chords That Sound Good Together

The rules for chords that sound good together is quite simple:

There are strong and weak chords. Or to be precise, stronger and weaker chords. The strongest chords are the I, IV and Vchords. The other ones are weaker. This is a really simple rule to remember if you want to use chords that sound good together.

So in your chord progressions, you should have a balance of strong and weak chords. And the sadder song you'd like to write, the more weak chords you'd include.

It's also advisable to make the root chord (the "I" chord) the center of the song and emphasize it, especially in the Choruses. Listeners are used to this pattern and if you use some weak chords too, they won't find it predictable.

These are the most important rules to follow (or to be taken as guidelines) when writing a chord progression:

✓ The strongest chord progression one can think of is when there is a first chord and it's either followed by another chord four notes above it or five notes below it. The reason for this is that if you do this, the chords will have one note in common, which will make it sound fulfilling to the ear. For example, if you have a chord progression in the key of C major, the chord four notes above the first chord (C major) will be G major. C major and G major have one note (G) in common. Of course, it sounds boring if your whole song consists of these 4 and 5-note jumps, so you should mix these strong chords with weaker ones.

✓ Because Choruses are always more intense, you should use more strong chords in them, and more weak ones in your Verses.

✓ To make your chord progressions sound more pleasing and balanced, you should have a clear pattern of chord changes. For example, you shouldn't write a chord progression which repeats only after each 16th bar. Listeners like a little predictability, so it's best to repeat your chord pattern after every second or fourth bar. Simple is better when it comes to chord progressions.


So these are the most important rules about chords that sound good together.
If you're looking for some inspiration or you're not sure of your chord progression writing abilities, there is a great application for iPhone and iPad, called ProChords. The creators of this application analyzed thousands of hit songs. When you enter a chord, ProChords will suggest a list of possible chords that sound great after that chord. You can then save and export your progressions to GarageBand, for example.To find out more about chords that sound good together and in what ways you can use them, I recommend the Getting It Down Cold Music Theory Course. This is the best course I've found to quickly learn all the music theory necessary to be a great songwriter and/or musician.

More Music Theory