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Music
Grade 7-12
Common Chord Progressions Reference Cheat Sheet
A printable reference covering Roman numerals, major-key progressions, minor-key progressions, cadences, and functional harmony for grades 7-12.
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This cheat sheet covers common chord progressions used in pop, rock, classical, jazz, and film music. Students need it to recognize patterns, write stronger songs, and analyze music more quickly. It helps connect chord symbols, Roman numerals, and key signatures in one reference. The goal is to make progressions easier to hear, play, and transpose.
Key Facts
- In a major key, the diatonic triads are I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, and vii°.
- In a natural minor key, the diatonic triads are i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI, and VII.
- The progression I - V - vi - IV is common in pop music and creates a strong, familiar major-key sound.
- The progression ii - V - I is common in jazz and strongly leads back to the tonic chord.
- The progression I - IV - V - I uses tonic, predominant, dominant, and tonic functions to create a complete phrase.
- A perfect authentic cadence usually uses V - I in major or V - i in minor, with a strong sense of ending.
- Roman numerals show chord function in a key, so I - V - vi - IV can be played in any major key.
- Uppercase Roman numerals usually mean major chords, lowercase Roman numerals mean minor chords, and the ° symbol means diminished.
Vocabulary
- Chord progression
- A chord progression is a planned sequence of chords that supports a melody or musical phrase.
- Roman numeral analysis
- Roman numeral analysis labels chords by their scale degree and quality within a key.
- Tonic
- The tonic is the home chord of a key, usually labeled I in major and i in minor.
- Dominant
- The dominant is the chord built on scale degree 5, often labeled V, and it strongly pulls toward the tonic.
- Cadence
- A cadence is a chord pattern that creates a pause, ending, or point of arrival in music.
- Diatonic
- Diatonic chords use only the notes that naturally belong to a key.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Mixing uppercase and lowercase Roman numerals incorrectly is wrong because chord quality matters. In C major, ii is D minor, not D major.
- Treating the same chord name as the same function in every key is wrong because function depends on the key. G major is V in C major but I in G major.
- Forgetting to raise the leading tone in minor-key dominant chords can weaken the cadence. In A minor, E major or E7 often gives a stronger V - i than E minor.
- Assuming every progression must start on I is limiting because many songs begin on vi, IV, or ii. The tonic is still the home chord even if it does not appear first.
- Changing keys without changing the Roman numerals carefully leads to wrong transpositions. I - V - vi - IV in G major is G - D - Em - C, not C - G - Am - F.
Practice Questions
- 1 In C major, write the chords for I - V - vi - IV.
- 2 In G major, write the chords for ii - V - I.
- 3 In A minor, identify the Roman numerals for the progression Am - F - G - Em using natural minor chords.
- 4 Explain why V - I usually sounds more final than IV - I in a major key.