Chords & Progressions
Learn how chords are built and how to combine them into progressions.
What is a Chord?
Learn what chords are, how they are built from intervals, and why certain notes sound good together. Free interactive lesson with audio examples.
Major & Minor Triads
How to build major and minor triads, the difference between them, and how they sound. Hear and compare chords with interactive examples.
Inversions
What a chord inversion is, how to build first and second inversions, and why they matter for smooth voice leading. Free interactive audio examples.
Seventh Chords
What seventh chords are and how to build them - major 7th, minor 7th, dominant 7th, and diminished. Interactive audio comparisons.
Extended Chords
Extended chords explained - how 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths add colour and sophistication to your harmonies. Free interactive audio examples.
Suspended Chords
What suspended chords are (sus2 and sus4), how they replace the third for tension and ambiguity, and how they resolve. Free audio examples.
What is a Progression?
What a chord progression is, how chords move through time using Roman numeral analysis, and which chords belong to each key. Free lesson with audio.
Common Progressions
The most popular chord progressions in music - I-V-vi-IV, ii-V-I, 12-bar blues and more. Play each progression and hear how it sounds.
Cadences
Perfect, plagal, deceptive, and half cadences explained - how chord progressions end and why some endings feel complete. Free interactive examples.
Borrowed Chords
What borrowed chords are (modal interchange), how to use chords from the parallel key, and which ones sound best. Free interactive lesson.
Secondary Dominants
What secondary dominants are, how V/V and V/ii create tension before any diatonic chord, and how to use them in your progressions. Interactive audio examples.