The epic minor
i | VI | III | VII
The minor key’s broad loop, climbing through its three major chords: the sound of trailers, battle scenes and big endings.
Guitar · chord progressions
Film chord progressions
The chord progressions of film scores and trailers: epic minor loops, heroic cadences, chords that sound like magic and chords that sound like a villain. Each is in numerals, so it works in any key; press Play to hear it on guitar.
Style
Key
Chords
Colours
homehome, minorthe pullthe doorthe acheheroiccinematicfar awaythe liftsoft falldaylightfull darkcolour
What each chord does in its key. Press a chord to hear it and read more.The rising minor
i | VI | VII | i
Up through the two major chords below the tonic and home again: a build that lands with force, made for a theme’s first statement.
The victory cadence
I | I | ♭VI ♭VII | I
♭VI and ♭VII, borrowed from the minor key, marching up to the tonic: the fanfare of the moment the hero wins.
The chromatic mediant
I | ♭VI | I | ♭VI
Two major chords a major third apart, sharing one note: a shift that sounds like magic, wonder and wide open space.
The lift to wonder
I | III | IV | iv
The major III lifts out of the key, then IV turns minor: wonder, then a lump in the throat.
Dorian hope
i | IV | i | IV
A minor tonic with a major IV, the Dorian mode’s colour: mysterious but hopeful, for journeys and quests.
The Picardy ending
i | iv | V | I
A minor progression that ends on the major tonic, the Picardy third: light breaking through at the very end.
Minor chords a major third apart
i | vi | i | vi
A minor chord falling to the minor chord a major third below and back: dark and imperial, the sound of a villain’s march.
The Lydian flight
I | II | I | II
The major chord a step above home, from the Lydian mode: weightless, the sound of flying.
The Neapolitan
i | ♭II | V | i
The major chord a half step above the minor tonic, then V: old, dramatic and tragic.
The half-step menace
i | ♭II | i | ♭II
A minor chord and the major chord a half step above, over and over: suspense, danger, something approaching.
Light to shadow
I | i | I | i
The tonic turning from major to minor and back: the same place, seen in light and in shadow.
The ascending epic
VI | VII | i | i
Up from VI and VII to arrive on the minor tonic and stay there: the climb into the last chord of a trailer.
The faraway shift
I | ♭III | I | ♭III
A major chord and the major chord a minor third above: distant, strange and wide, a favourite of science fiction.
No progression matches. or search every progression ›
What makes a chord progression sound cinematic?
Film music leans on chords from outside the key. The major chords on ♭VI and ♭VII, borrowed from the minor key, sound broad and heroic; a jump between two major chords a third apart (a chromatic mediant) sounds like magic, because the chords share a note but little else. Minor keys with their major chords (VI, III, VII) give the epic sound, and slow tempos and long held chords do the rest.
How do composers make music sound dark?
Minor chords related by thirds, or by the tritone, instead of by fifths: they do not belong to one key, so the ear cannot settle. A minor chord moving to the minor chord a major third below is a classic sound for a villain or an empire.
How to play these like a score
Let the chords ring: choose One strum, let it ring, or a slow arpeggio pattern, set the tempo low, and press Loop. Play them high on the neck, or with open strings ringing, for a wider sound.
More: sad chord progressions, rock chord progressions, every chord progression.