29 Chord Progressions to Get You Going

The following list of chord sequences or progressions is suited for beginner guitar players, all the chords on this page are open chords that are fairly easy to press with your fretting hand.

Along the progressions I also included the chord diagrams of every chord involved, so you'll be able to look them up without distracting your attention by going somewhere else.

Knowing a number of chord progressions will help you write accompaniments to your own songs, you can use them as a starting point to put your lyrics on and feel free to mix and match other chords as you hear fit. You can also use the progressions to compose and write your own jamming tracks.

Am- - - C- - - G- - - Em

Used in VERSE of Fade to Black by Metallica

Em- - - C- - - G- - - D

Used with some variations in VERSE of Numb by Linking Park

Am- - - - - - - G- - - Em

Great guitar chord progression for slow songs and ballads

G- - - Em- - - C- - - D

à la '60s

Am- - - Dm- - - C- - - G

Am- - - G- - - F- - - E

A sort of progression often used in flamenco, you might quickly alternate the last E chord with the F chord a number of times to make it sound even more flamenco.

Am- - - D- - - C- - - F

Similar to Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

C- - - G- - - Am- - - F

Used in With Or Without You by U2

9. The previous progression extended

C- - - G- - - Am- - - F- - - Dm- - - F- - - Am- - - G

10.

Am- - - - - - F- - - G

A simple and well sounding chord sequences often found in rock and pop music

11.

Am- - - F- - - G- - - Em

Another variation of the 10th progression

12. The previous one extended

Am- - - F- - - G- - - Em- - - F- - - Dm- - - G- - - Am

13.

Dm- - - Am- - - G- - - F

Used in VERSE of Mystify by INXS

14.

Em- - - Am7- - - C2- - - D

In INTRO of Animal Instinct by Cranberries

15.

Am- - - C- - - Dm- - - F

In VERSE of I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry

16.

Em- - - G- - - D- - - A

17.

Am- - - G- - - Em- - - F

18.

Bm7- - - G- - - D- - - Dsus2

In VERSE of The Scientist by Coldplay

19.

C- - - G- - - D- - - Em

Used in Chorus of Breakeven by The Script

20.

C- - - Em- - - Am- - - F

In Queen UK by Bob Schneider

21. A beautiful, jazzy sounding sequence

Cmaj7- - - Am7- - - Fmaj7- - - Em7

22. Twelve Bar Blues Progression

A7 - X4 - - D7 - X2 - - A7 - X2 - - E7- - - D7- - - A7 - X2

23.

Am- - - F- - - Dm- - - Em

24.

A- - - E- - - D- - - A

Used in Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

25.

Am- - - G- - - F- - - Em - G

26.

Am- - - B7- - - Dm- - - E7

27.

Em- - - C- - - D7- - - G- - - C- - - Am- - - B7- - - Em

28.

Dm- - - G- - - C- - - Am

29.

Am- - - C- - - Dm- - - G

Many songs I mentioned in this chart were originally played in different keys, I adopted (transported) these chord sequences to better suit beginning and "lazy" guitar players to make it possible to play each progression just with the open chords.

Guitar Chord Progression Chart - image — Click the image to open a one page, printer friendly chart of 16 chord progressions from this page

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