5 Cracking Chord Progressions (part 1)

COLIN ARCHER
3 min readMay 12, 2022

Learn 5 popular chord progressions in 12 keys

Cracking Chord Progressions part 1

Chord progressions are shown in the key of G major.

  • Each Chord Progression is shown using:
  • Chord names
  • Chord symbols
  • Roman Numerals
  • Nashville Numbers

After each chord progression, a table shows the progression in all 12 keys.

Progression 1

  • G major — D major– E minor — C major
  • The chord Symbols are G - D - Em - C
  • The Roman numerals are I — V– vi– IV
  • The Nashville numbers are 1– 5 – 6m – 4
Progression 1 in all 12 keys

Progression 2

  • G major — C major– D major — C major
  • The Chord Symbols are G - C - D - C
  • The Roman numerals are I– IV- V–IV
  • The Nashville numbers are 1– 4 – 5 – 4
Progression 2 in all 12 keys

Progression 3

  • G major – E minor – C major– D major
  • The chord Symbols are G - Em - C - D
  • The Roman numerals are I– vi — IV– V
  • The Nashville numbers are 1– 6m - 4 — 5
Progression 3 in all 12 keys

Progression 4

  • E minor — C major — G major — D major
  • The chord Symbols are Em - C - G - D
  • The Roman numerals are vi — IV — I — V
  • The Nashville numbers are 6m – 4 –1–5
Progression 4 in all 12 keys

Progression 5

  • G major — C major — E minor — D major
  • The chord Symbols are G - C - Em - D
  • The Roman numerals are I — IV — vi — V
  • The Nashville numbers are 1– 4 – 6m – 5
Progression 5 in all 12 keys

These 5 chord progressions are used in many popular songs. Use them to build your own songs. Try playing them in different keys.

Thanks for reading my first Cracking Chord Progressions article.

If you liked this article then please see my other Cracking Chord Progressions articles.

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COLIN ARCHER

Love Chord Progressions, Guitar, Songwriting, Music Theory, Sun Flowers, Dart & Flutter, Photography, Bike rides, walking up mountains, and HTML, CSS and JS.