Chord Progression Flow Chart
Which chord can follow which · major and minor · tonic → pre-dominant → dominant → home
How to play
- This is the map most tonal music follows. Chords are grouped by function — the job they do — and the arrows show the direction harmony normally travels: Tonic → Pre-dominant → Dominant → back to Tonic.
- Tonic (T) is home and rest. Pre-dominant (S) moves you away and sets up the tension. Dominant (D) is maximum tension and pulls hard back to the tonic.
- Tap any chord to hear it. Tap a progression chip to trace that path through the chart — each chord lights up in turn as it plays.
- You can move forward along the arrows freely, and skip back to the tonic at any time. Going backwards (dominant straight to pre-dominant) is the one move that sounds unusual — the dashed line is the “resolve home” return.
- Change the key and the roman numerals stay put while the letter names change — that is the whole point of thinking in functions. Vol sets volume.
In this way, chord progression flow chart allows you to listen to how these harmonic function resolve and connect. To play it, tap out chords yourself on your screen or choose a preset progression that will trace complete path for you. It enables you to internalize the journey from stable tonic, through the pre-dominant departure, to the tension of the dominant returning home.
This layout group chords into three functionally related columns. Home is where the heart is, so the first column contains the tonic chords. The second column contain pre-dominant chords which take the harmony away from the tonic. The third column provides the dominant chord which pull it back to the tonic. You’ll see arrows connecting the columns indicating usual direction of harmonic flow.
How to Use the Chord Progression Chart
The letter name of each chord is shown alongside the Roman numeral indicating its harmonic role in given key. At the top is a row of button labels that indicate which key you’re in. They include C, G, D, A, E, F, B-flat and E-flat. Changing keys alters the letter name of each chord without altering it’s function. So, you can learn to play any progression in a key that suits your playing and singing range.
A further twist is that there is a switch next to the key selector which toggles between major and minor modes. In major mode you have your regular diatonic triads together with a major dominant. In minor mode you have natural minor chords in parallel; however, the dominant become a major triad to give more pull back home. This shows common practice in tonal music where we often raise the fifth chord as leading tone.
Tap a single chord chip to play the chord immediately. As the chord is played, it’ll briefly highlight and the readout section below will display name of the chord, its Roman numeral, and current key context. In this way, you can isolate particular harmonies and listen for color they bring based off the key you’ve chosen.
Below main chart are some popular progressions to use as a way to hear an entire harmonic movement. You will find things like I-V-vi-IV, which is a very popular progression or even just more classical I-IV-V-I and others. Simply click on the name of the progression and it will play through each chord in turn, slightly pausing for breath after each. To follow direction of the harmony, the chips illuminate in sequence so that you can see what’s coming next at all times.
The play path button will allow you to hear the progression again but not alter it. If you have selected one progression and want to run through it again, this button will play selection starting from the highlighted progression on screen. It is a good tool for remembering how the chosen loop sounds. To change between progressions, simply select another one and compare harmonic paths.
Use bottom-right corner slider to adjust volume. It adjusts how loud your synthesised sound will be. If you’re working with the widget in quiet environment, lower this down. If there’s some background noise and you want the chords cutting through, then turn it up.
Click the fullscreen button to expand this widget for a closer look. The chart will gain some room and lose distractions of other content on the page. This is handy if your device screen isn’t large, or simply if you wish to concentrate fully on how harmony flows visually. To leave fullscreen mode, press the button once more.
A quick reference guide expands by clicking on how to play button. The panel gives a summary of basic navigation tips and what each arrow direction represent in terms of function. It is handy if you want to remind yourself how the arrow direction matches tension or release in music. When you finish reading, it will collapse back into place.
Experiment with other keys, perhaps to a key you are more comfortabley playing or singing. Listen to how same Roman numeral progression sounds identical in function but different than pitch. In the example, listen for how chord progressions naturaly move from the pre-dominant to the dominant chord. Listen to this in both a minor and a major context.
Notice also how each chord resolve back to the tonic. From wherever you are in sequence, the widget enables you to resolve to home. It shows how the tonic act as the center of the key.
Mentally combine shorter sections and you have longer and more complex paths to trace. It is a tool that helps you cross divide from abstract theory to real sound. Tension and release becomes much clearer once you hear the chords played through.
Explore the key combinations and progression. It is best to take your time with it. Hear how harmony works as you start playing.