307 named progressions, from I–V–vi–IV to the 12-bar blues and the Andalusian cadence, in any key and with any capo.
In E major, the I–IV–vi–V progression is E – A – C♯m – B. A stadium and pop-punk loop: it climbs to vi, and V pushes hard back to the start.
The library above is set to I–IV–vi–V in E major. Press Play to hear it with strummed guitar, bass and drums in a pop groove, tap any chord to hear it on its own, or pick another key or a capo.
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | E major | E G♯ B | tonic (home) |
| IV | A major | A C♯ E | predominant (moving away) |
| vi | C♯m minor | C♯ E G♯ | tonic (home) |
| V | B major | B D♯ F♯ | dominant (pulling home) |
Chords that share notes slide into each other; a change with no common notes sounds like a bigger step. Here is what each change keeps:
The easiest shape for each chord, with finger numbers. The barre chords are the hard part; the capo positions below can avoid them.
With the capo on the 4th fret you can play E major with C shapes, C, F, Am, G, and leave out the C♯m barre chord. Each row shows the shapes you play and how easy they are (capo positions above the 7th fret are left out: the guitar sounds thin up there).
| Capo | Shapes you play | How easy |
|---|---|---|
| 4th fret | C F Am G | Easy |
| 7th fret | A D F♯m E | Some barre chords |
| 2nd fret | D G Bm A | Hard |
| No capo | E A C♯m B | Hard |
E, A, C♯m and B, one bar each, in that order.
Capo on the 4th fret and play C, F, Am, G: the easiest shapes for this key.
Keep the numerals (I, IV, vi, V) and build each chord from the new key, or tap another key in the library above and the chords change for you.
C♯ minor. It has the same notes as E major, so C♯m (the vi chord) sounds at home in E progressions.