What is a chord progression?
A progression is the order the chords come in. Musicians describe it with Roman numerals, called scale degrees: I is the home chord, IV and V are its strongest neighbours and vi is the relative minor. That way, the same progression works in any key.
→ Learn the degrees with diatonic chords · → Guitar chord chart
Probably the most used sequence in pop and rock. In G: G, D, Em, C.
The same four chords starting on Em: it sounds more melancholic.
A classic of old ballads and doo-wop. Great for practising the G → Em change.
Just degrees I, IV and V: the backbone of classic rock, country and folk. Here in A.
The “way back home”. With a seventh on the V it sounds like bossa nova.
Minor, minor and a major V: a dramatic sound common in tango, flamenco and ballads.
12-bar blues
A full 12-bar blues in A, one chord per bar. It is all done with A7, D7 and E7.
Strumming patterns for beginners
Each box is half a beat: count “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”. ↓ is a downstroke, ↑ an upstroke, B is just the bass note (the lowest string of the chord) and an empty box is your hand moving through the air without hitting the strings. The audio plays G, D, Em and C with the pattern.
Your first pattern: one strum per beat. Use it to learn chord changes.
The hand goes down and up constantly. It is the basis for every other pattern.
The most used acoustic pattern. The trick is the “↑ ↑” in the middle, with the downstroke on beat 3 missing the strings.
Bass on beats 1 and 3 with a short strum in between. Very common in folk and country.
Bass on 1 and two strums: “one, two, three”. For waltzes and songs in 3/4.
Upstrokes only, always on the “and”. Mute with your palm right after each one.
Strumming-hand tips
- Your hand never stops: down on the beat, up on the “and”, even when you don't hit the strings. That keeps the rhythm.
- Change chords on the last “and” of the bar. A slightly messy chord is better than stopping the rhythm.
- Use a metronome at 60–70 beats per minute and only speed up when you play it cleanly three times in a row.
- Pick or fingers? Either is fine to start. With fingers, use the thumb going down and the index going up.
Practise chords and rhythm in the app
The app shows the fingering for every note as you play and checks you through the microphone. Free, no sign-up.
Open the app →Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest strumming pattern?
Four downstrokes per bar, one on each beat. Then move to eighth notes (↓↑) and only then to the pop pattern.
Which chords should I learn first?
Em, Am, C, G and D. With them you can play the I–V–vi–IV and vi–IV–I–V progressions in G.
How do I play the same progression in another key?
Use the degrees. In C, I–V–vi–IV is C, G, Am, F; in D it is D, A, Bm, G. Diatonic chords show the chords in each key.
How do I know if I'm in time?
In the Dedilhado Vivo app the chord path has a metronome and the microphone checks whether each chord rang on time.