The 6 Essential Chords in Every Key

Welcome! I'm Marcus Lapp, creator of The Indie Music Lab.
In this free PDF you'll be able to quickly reference and see which 6
chords will fit most naturally in any given key for any given song
that you write.
If you want to expand your knowledge of basic music theory

beyond what's in this pdf I have a FREE 30 minute Music Theory
workshop on my website that I highly recommend you check out.
*If you're ever stuck on what a chord means or looks like on your
instrument, remember your good old faithful friend, Google :)
6 Essential Chords in the Key:
Major Chords are RED C Major
Minor Chords are BLUE
Relative key: A minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
C Dm Em F G Am
Variations: Variations: Variations: Variations: Variations: Variations:
C/E Dm7 Em7 Fadd2 G7 Am7
C/G Fsus2 Gsus4
FMaj7
C# Major
Relative key: A# minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
C# D#m Fm Gb Ab Bbm
C#/F D#m7 Fm7 Gbadd2 Ab7 Bbm7
C#/G# Gbsus2 Absus4
GbMaj7
D Major
Relative key: B minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
D Em F#m G A Bm
D/F# Em7 F#m7 Gadd2 A7 Bm7
D/A Gsus2 Asus4
GMaj7
D# Major
Relative key: C minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
D# Fm Gm Ab Bb Cm
D#/G Fm7 Gm7 Abadd2 Bb7 Cm7
D#/A# Absus2 Bbsus4
AbMaj7
E Major
Relative key: C# minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
E F#m G#m A B C#m
E/G# F#m7 G#m7 Aadd2 B7 C#m7
E/B Asus2 Bsus4
AMaj7
F Major
Relative key: D minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
F Gm Am Bb C Dm
F/A Gm7 Am7 Bbadd2 C7 Dm7
F/C Bbsus2 Csus4
BbMaj7
F# Major
Relative key: D# minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
F# G#m A#m B C# D#m
F#/A# G#m7 A#m7 Badd2 C#7 D#m7
F#/C# Bsus2 C#sus4
BMaj7
G Major
Relative key: E minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
G Am Bm C D Em
G/B Am7 Bm7 Cadd2 D7 Em7
G/D Csus2 Dsus4
CMaj7
G# Major
Relative key: F minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
G# A#m Cm Db Eb Fm
G#/C A#m7 Cm7 Dbadd2 Eb7 Fm7
G#/D# Dbsus2 Ebsus4
DbMaj7
A Major
Relative key: F# minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
A Bm C#m D E F#m
A/C# Bm7 C#m7 Dadd2 E7 F#m7
A/E Dsus2 Esus4
DMaj7
A# Major
Relative key: G minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
A# Cm Dm Eb F Gm
A#/D Cm7 Dm7 Ebadd2 F7 Gm7
A#/F Ebsus2 Fsus4
EbMaj7
B Major
Relative key: G# minor
1 2 3 4 5 6
B C#m D#m E F# G#m
B/D# C#m7 D#m7 Eadd2 F#7 G#m7
B/F# Esus2 F#sus4
EMaj7
Here are a couple important things to keep in mind with this chart:
Notice how I put the relative minor key next to every major key. This
will be useful for you because if you want to play something in the key
of A minor, you'll use the exact same chords as you would in C major.
(That's why they're called “relative” major and minor scales).
And here's a bonus tip:
If you want more of a happy “major” sound, make the majority of your
chords in your progression the 1, 4, and 5.
If you want more of a sad and melancholy “minor” sound, use the 2, 3,
and 6 chords the majority of the time.
Flats & Sharps
The lowercase “m” (like in “A#m”) stands for “Minor”. So whenever you
see an “m” right after a chord, that means it's a minor chord.
Major chords don't require anything to prove that they are major
chords. If all you see is the letter (Like G or F#) then it is implied that it's
a Major chord. Only when a chord is minor do you need to mark it as
such. (by using a lowercase “m”)
A lowercase “b” like in “Ab” stands for what's called a “flat.” Meaning,
it's the very next note LOWER in pitch. (Ab = 1 pitch lower than A)
The # symbol stands for what's called a “sharp.” Meaning it's the very
next note HIGHER in pitch. (A# = 1 pitch higher than A)
Flats and sharps come from the way a piano keyboard is laid out
with black and white keys.
What's important for you to know is that the note between F and G
is F# (F sharp) because it's the next note higher (sharp) than the F.
But that exact note is ALSO a Gb (G flat) because it's the very next
note lower (flat) than the G.
That's why in this chart, you will see that I sometimes use the flat
version of the sharp version of a chord. Just know that every chord
like this has two names: The # version and the b version.
If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you go check out my FREE

Music Theory Workshop on my website. Here's the link:
https://www.theindiemusiclab.com/musictheoryworkshop
Thank you for downloading this free guide! I hope you found it
deeply helpful. If you would like to dive even deeper, go check out
our premium courses here:
https://www.theindiemusiclab.com/store
Happy music making!
Marcus Lapp / The Indie Music Lab

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Welcome! I'm Marcus Lapp, creator of The Indie Music Lab.

If you want to expand your knowledge of basic music theory

And here's a bonus tip:

Flats & Sharps

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you go check out my FREE

Happy music making!

Marcus Lapp / The Indie Music Lab

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