Beautiful chord progressions
Imaj7–IVmaj7
- In C major
- Cmaj7 – Fmaj7
- Colour
- Floating, dreamy, never in a hurry
IVmaj7–V7–iii7–vi7
- In C major
- Fmaj7 – G7 – Em7 – Am7
- Colour
- The Royal Road: bittersweet J-pop and city pop
Imaj7–vi7–ii7–V7
- In C major
- Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7
- Colour
- Warm jazz turnaround
Imaj7–iii7–vi7–IVmaj7
- In C major
- Cmaj7 – Em7 – Am7 – Fmaj7
- Colour
- Soft and nostalgic
IVmaj7–iii7–ii7–Imaj7
- In C major
- Fmaj7 – Em7 – Dm7 – Cmaj7
- Colour
- A gentle descent, very lo-fi
Imaj7–ii7–iii7–IVmaj7
- In C major
- Cmaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Fmaj7
- Colour
- Rising step by step, hopeful
How to make chords sound beautiful
- Add the 7th and 9th: C becomes Cmaj7 (C–E–G–B) or Cmaj9 (add D). The extra notes rub gently and make the chord shimmer.
- Spread the voicing: root low in the left hand, the 3rd, 7th and 9th spread across the right. Close clusters sound muddy low down.
- Keep common notes: from Cmaj7 to Fmaj7 the E and the C can stay put. Smooth voice leading is half of 'pretty'.
- Soft instruments: electric piano, felt piano, a warm pad or nylon guitar. Our free Keys plugin is an electric piano made for this.
Play these in our free chord progression generator: pick Lo-fi or R&B / Neo-soul, set the mood to Dreamy, press play, then hum a melody and it re-harmonises around you.
More chord progressions
Chord progressions by genre and mood: jazz, gospel, neo-soul, rock, house, trap and hip-hop, minor, sad, happy, dark, emotional, R&B, country, EDM and piano. To learn why they work, read how to write a hit song.