EDM Chord Progressions

Cheat Sheet
Interval Chart Diatonic Chord Qualities Popular Major Chord Motion Charts
INTERVAL NAME SEMITONE MAJOR KEY QUALITY Progressions
Unison +0 1 Major
Minor Second +1 2 Minor I - V - vi - IV
Major Second +2 3 Minor
Minor Third +3 4 Major I - IV - V
5 Major
Major Third +4
6 Minor
I - vi - IV - V
Perfect Fourth +5
Tritone +6
7 Diminished I - vi - ii - V
Perfect Fifth +7 MINOR KEY QUALITY I - V - vi - iii - IV
Minor Sixth +8 1 Minor
I - iii - IV - V
Major Sixth +9 2 Diminished
Minor Seventh +10 3 Major
Major Seventh +11 4 Minor
Octave +12 5 Minor
6 Major
7 Major

Chord Formulas Diatonic Seventh Chords Popular Minor

CHORD NAME FORMULA MAJOR KEY QUALITY Progressions
Major 1-3-5 1 Major 7th
Minor 1-b3-5 2 Minor 7th i - VI - VII
Diminished 1-b3-b5 3 Minor 7th
i - III - iv - v
Sus2
Sus4
1-2-5
1-4-5
4
5
Major 7th
Dominant 7th i - VI - III - VII
Bonus Tips
Augmented 1-3-#5 6 Minor 7th
Major Seventh 1-3-5-7 7 Half- i - v - VI Download MIDI of your favourite tracks and analyze
Diminished
Minor Seventh 1-b3-5-b7
7th
i - iv - v them, or at least try recreating them
Dominant Seventh 1-3-5-b7
Half Diminished Seventh 1-b3-b5-b7 MINOR KEY QUALITY VI - iv - v - i Use + or - 5 or 7 semitones on oscillators to get a
Diminished Seventh 1-b3-b5-bb7 1 Minor 7th
more harmonic sound
2 Half-
Diminished
Extra Resources Learn the rules, then break them
Try splitting your chord progressions between
7th
3 Major 7th EDMProd different sounds
4 Minor 7th musictheory.net Chords form the basis of your track, so make sure
5 Minor 7th you nail them before moving onto less important
6 Major 7th Hook Theory
7 Dominant 7th Harmony for Computer Musicians by parts, like mixing and sound design
Michael Hewitt

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