Documentation for various aspects of music theory.
1 - Chords to Genre
Chord Chart
| Genre | Tempo Range (BPM) | Chord Progression | Chord Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Am7 – Em7 – Dm7 – G7 | A C E G - E G B D - D F A C - G B D F |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Am7 – G – Fmaj7 – Em7 | A C E G - G B D - F A C E - E G B D |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Cmaj9 – A7 – Dm7 – G13 | C E G B D - A C# E G - D F A C - G B D E F |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Cm – A♭ – E♭ – B♭ | C E♭ G - A♭ C E♭ - E♭ G B♭ - B♭ D F |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Dm9 – G13 – Cmaj7 – A7sus4 | D F A C E - G B D E F - C E G B - A D E G |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | E♭maj7 – B♭m7 – A♭maj7 – Fm9 | E♭ G B♭ D - B♭ D♭ F A♭ - A♭ C E♭ G - F A♭ C E♭ G |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Fmaj7 – C – Gsus2 – Am7 | F A C E - C E G - G A D - A C E G |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Fmaj7 – Cmaj7 – Em7 – Am7 | F A C E - C E G B - E G B D - A C E G |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | G – B♭ – E♭ – F | G B D - B♭ D F - E♭ G B♭ - F A C |
| Chillwave/Vaporwave | 60–90 | Gm – E♭ – B♭ – F | G B♭ D - E♭ G B♭ - B♭ D F - F A C |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Am – F – Dm – E7 | A C E - F A C - D F A - E G# B D |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Am – F – G – E | A C E - F A C - G B D - E G# B |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | C – G – A♭ – E♭ | C E G - G B D - A♭ C E♭ - E♭ G B♭ |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Cm – A♭ – Fm – G | C E♭ G - A♭ C E♭ - F A♭ C - G B D |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Dm – B♭ – Gm – A | D F A - B♭ D F - G B♭ D - A C# E |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Dm – F – A♭ – G | D F A - F A C - A♭ C E♭ - G B D |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Dm7 – B♭maj7 – Gm9 – A7 | D F A C - B♭ D F A - G B♭ D F A - A C# E G |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | E – G – F – A♭ | E G# B - G B D - F A C - A♭ C E♭ |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Fm – C – G♯ – D♯ | F A♭ C - C E G - G♯ C D# - D# G A# |
| Industrial Synthwave | 100–130 | Fm7 – C7 – G♯maj7 – D♯9 | F A♭ C E♭ - C E G B♭ - G♯ C D# G - D# G A# F |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am – E – F – Dm | A C E - E G# B - F A C - D F A |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am – F – C – G | A C E - F A C - C E G - G B D |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am – F – Dm – E | A C E - F A C - D F A - E G# B |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am – G – F – G | A C E - G B D - F A C - G B D |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am7 – Fmaj7 – Cmaj9 – G7 | A C E G - F A C E - C E G B D - G B D F |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Am9 – Fmaj9 – C6 – Gsus4 | A C E B - F A C G - C E G A - G C D |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | C – Am – F – G | C E G - A C E - F A C - G B D |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | C – Em – Am – F | C E G - E G B - A C E - F A C |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | C – G – Em – F | C E G - G B D - E G B - F A C |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Cm – A♭ – E♭ – B♭ | C E♭ G - A♭ C E♭ - E♭ G B♭ - B♭ D F |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Dm – F – A♭ – C | D F A - F A C - A♭ C E♭ - C E G |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Dm – G – C – Am | D F A - G B D - C E G - A C E |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Em – G – D – A | E G B - G B D - D F# A - A C# E |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | F – G – Am – Em | F A C - G B D - A C E - E G B |
| Synthwave | 80–110 | Fmaj7 – G – Am7 – Em | F A C E - G B D - A C E G - E G B |
| Techno | 120–135 | Am – F – C – E7 | A C E - F A C - C E G - E G# B D |
| Techno | 120–135 | Am – F – G | A C E - F A C - G B D |
| Techno | 120–135 | Am7 – G – F – E7 | A C E G - G B D - F A C - E G# B D |
| Techno | 120–135 | Bm – A – G – F#m | B D F# - A C# E - G B D - F# A C# |
| Techno | 120–135 | Cm – A♭ – G – D♯ | C E♭ G - A♭ C E♭ - G B D - D♯ G A# |
| Techno | 120–135 | C – Em – Dm – silence | C E G - E G B - D F A - (rest) |
| Techno | 120–135 | Dm – A♭ – C – A | D F A - A♭ C E♭ - C E G - A C# E |
| Techno | 120–135 | Dm – B♭ – F – C | D F A - B♭ D F - F A C - C E G |
| Techno | 120–135 | Dm – F – G – A | D F A - F A C - G B D - A C# E |
| Techno | 120–135 | Em – C – D – Bm | E G B - C E G - D F# A - B D F# |
| Techno | 120–135 | Em – D – C – Bm | E G B - D F# A - C E G - B D F# |
| Techno | 120–135 | Em – G – D – A | E G B - G B D - D F# A - A C# E |
| Techno | 120–135 | Fm – C♯ – B♭ – E♭ | F A♭ C - C♯ F G# - B♭ D F - E♭ G B♭ |
| Techno | 120–135 | Fm – G♭ – A♭ – E♭ | F A♭ C - G♭ B♭ D♭ - A♭ C E♭ - E♭ G B♭ |
| Techno | 120–135 | Am – F – G – F – silence | A C E - F A C - G B D - F A C - (rest) |
| Trance | 130–145 | Am – C – G – D | A C E - C E G - G B D - D F# A |
| Trance | 130–145 | Am – F – C – G | A C E - F A C - C E G - G B D |
| Trance | 130–145 | Am – G – F – E | A C E - G B D - F A C - E G# B |
| Trance | 130–145 | Bm – A – G – D | B D F# - A C# E - G B D - D F# A |
| Trance | 130–145 | Bm – F♯ – G – D | B D F# - F# A C# - G B D - D F# A |
| Trance | 130–145 | C – G – Am – F | C E G - G B D - A C E - F A C |
| Trance | 130–145 | Cm – G♯ – D♯ – A♭ | C E♭ G - G♯ C D# - D# G A# - A♭ C E♭ |
| Trance | 130–145 | Dm – B♭ – F – C | D F A - B♭ D F - F A C - C E G |
| Trance | 130–145 | Em – C – G – D | E G B - C E G - G B D - D F# A |
| Trance | 130–145 | Em – D – C – G | E G B - D F# A - C E G - G B D |
| Trance | 130–145 | Em – Dsus2 – C – G | E G B - D E A - C E G - G B D |
| Trance | 130–145 | Em – G – D – A | E G B - G B D - D F# A - A C# E |
| Trance | 130–145 | F – G – Am – G | F A C - G B D - A C E - G B D |
| Trance | 130–145 | Fm – D♭ – A♭ – E♭ | F A♭ C - D♭ F A♭ - A♭ C E♭ - E♭ G B♭ |
| Trance | 130–145 | F#m – D – A – E | F# A C# - D F# A - A C# E - E G# B |
| Trance | 130–145 | G – D – Em – Bm | G B D - D F# A - E G B - B D F# |
Creative heuristics
- Use inversions, omit the 5th, or add 7ths/9ths to make a familiar progression feel fresh without altering root movement too much.
- Use modal interchange: borrow chords from parallel modes (e.g. in C major, borrow A♭, B♭, etc. from C minor) to add surprise.
- Use suspended chords (sus2, sus4) and add9, 7, 11 to give air and tension.
- Use vamping on a section (stick on one chord) but modulate color via texture, rhythmic displacement, voicing drift.
- Insert passing chords lightly — e.g. between C and Dm, insert C♯°, or between Am and F insert E7sus4, etc.
Cross-genre twists
- Start with a synthwave progression (Am – F – C – G) but in the bridge shift to a chillwave take (Fmaj7 – G – Am7 – Em) to soften, then back.
- Use a techno loop (Am – F – G) and overlay a chord “splash” (e.g. Dm7 or B♭maj7) every 8 bars.
- Borrow a jazz chord (e.g. G13, Dm9) inside a trance progression as a pivot chord to change texture.
- Use a chromatic mediant substitution: e.g. in C → Am → F → G progression, replace F with A♭ or Fm for a brief dramatic color, then resolve back to C.