Chord Progression & Harmony Guides
Practical music-theory guides built around the same ideas used by the generator: scales, progressions, inversions, voicing and chord color.
Music Theory Basics: Notes, Scales, Chords and Progressions
Start here if terms like key, scale or chord are still new. This guide builds the basic vocabulary you need to understand the Studio without assuming previous music-theory knowledge.
Read guide →FundamentalsRoman Numerals and Scale Degrees
Roman numerals describe the relationship between chords and the tonal center. Once you can read them, the same progression makes sense in every key.
Read guide →FundamentalsScales and Modes: Major, Minor, Dorian, Mixolydian & Harmonic Minor
Five scales cover a surprising amount of modern songwriting. Learn what changes between them, how they feel, and where each one tends to work.
Read guide →FundamentalsHow Chord Progressions Work
A chord progression is more than a row of chord names. The order, function and timing of the chords shape how the harmony moves.
Read guide →FundamentalsCadences and Harmonic Resolution
Cadences describe how harmony approaches a point of rest. Some sound final, some stay open, and others deliberately avoid the resolution your ear expects.
Read guide →Progression TechniquesChord Inversions: Why the Same Chords Can Sound Completely Different
Changing which chord tone sits lowest can transform a blocky progression into smooth, connected harmony without changing the chord names.
Read guide →Progression TechniquesVoice Leading: Making Chord Changes Sound Smooth
Good voice leading minimizes awkward movement between individual notes. It is the difference between valid harmony and harmony that already feels arranged.
Read guide →Progression Techniques7ths, 9ths, Sus Chords and Other Chord Extensions
A progression can keep the same harmonic functions while chord extensions dramatically change its color. Jazz, house and trance use that idea in very different ways.
Read guide →Genre GuidesBlues Chord Progressions
Blues harmony has recognizable forms, but those forms are frameworks rather than fixed scripts. Timing, dominant-seventh color and turnaround choices strongly affect the result.
Read guide →Genre GuidesJazz Chord Progressions
Jazz harmony often treats chord color and voice leading as structural. The same functions can appear in simple seventh chords, richer extensions or modal vamps.
Read guide →Genre GuidesHouse Chord Progressions
House can thrive on a two-chord vamp or a longer emotional loop. Groove, voicing, chord color and repetition often matter as much as the chord sequence itself.
Read guide →Genre GuidesTrance Chord Progressions
Trance often uses familiar minor-key harmony, but phrase length, voicing, bass movement and sound design can completely change how that harmony feels.
Read guide →