{"id":8609,"date":"2020-02-01T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=8609"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:17:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T17:17:29","slug":"build-chord-progressions-free-midi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build chord progressions (50 free MIDI files included)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chord progressions can be a black box for many producers, since the music theory behind creating them can feel illusive and intimidating.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In our comprehensive tutorial above, we go over the basics of constructing chord progressions and demystify the process for newer producers.  We explore the following topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Diads<\/li><li>Triads<\/li><li>Inversions<\/li><li>Extensions<\/li><li>Rhythmic variations<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than covering these concepts in a solely abstract setting, we apply them directly to genres spanning pop, trap, reggaeton, hip hop, deep house, R&amp;B, lo-fi, progressive house, and future bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try out the chord progressions from the tutorial and more with <a href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/How-to-Make-Chord-Progressions-50-Free-MIDI-Files.zip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">this free collection of MIDI files.<\/a> We&#8217;ve also compiled the accompanying drum loops from the video <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"this Collection (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/sounds\/collections\/nickthechen\/a0qGj_E7VdgiyD8yaHqDf9fG9Os\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do you approach constructing your own progressions? Do you have any questions on how to build them? Let us know in the comments below, and check out our Skills lessons for more <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"in-depth videos on future bass chord progressions (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/skills\/lessons\/fa457418-c329-4f94-bf04-fb1ce87411e6\" target=\"_blank\">in-depth videos on future bass chord progressions<\/a> as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/skills\/lessons\/281bba5f-87d4-47d3-a093-15f63d2b016f\/videos\/e4d43338-6d2f-4e07-baf5-9c5d7ae4cbe8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"lo-fi hip hop progressions. (opens in a new tab)\">lo-fi hip hop progressions.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Take your music further with the weekly tutorials, new plugins, and fresh sounds available in the Splice Creator plan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/splice-plans\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Explore Splice plans<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this tutorial, we go over the basics of constructing chord progressions for genres spanning pop, house, lo-fi, trap, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":8612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1886,1889,1699,1696],"tags":[1713,1633,641],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to build chord progressions (50 free MIDI files included) - Blog | Splice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this tutorial, we go over the basics of constructing chord progressions for genres spanning pop, house, lo-fi, trap, and more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to build chord progressions (50 free MIDI files included) - Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this tutorial, we go over the basics of constructing chord progressions for genres spanning pop, house, lo-fi, trap, and more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-01T12:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T17:17:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chord_Progressions_012320_BlogPost.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nick Chen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nick Chen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nick Chen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/006da68db2cca36c1730e68e67130d39\"},\"headline\":\"How to build chord progressions (50 free MIDI files included)\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-01T12:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T17:17:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/\"},\"wordCount\":194,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/build-chord-progressions-free-midi\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chord_Progressions_012320_BlogPost.png\",\"keywords\":[\"beginnner\",\"composition\",\"MIDI\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Free\",\"Free MIDI\",\"Music Theory\",\"Tips &amp; 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