Can I write rock chord progressions for free?

Yes. Veena is an AI DAW with a personal music producer built in. Describe the song you want and CoProducer builds it with you — beats, chords, melody, arrangement and mix — as real tracks you can edit, mix and export. Free, in your browser. Ask for "E5–G5–A5 power chords on Overdriven Guitar" and CoProducer offers three takes, then writes the bass and drums against yours.

What are the most common rock chord progressions?

I–IV–V and the 12-bar blues, the Mixolydian I–bVII–IV, the double-plagal bVII–IV–I, the minor-pentatonic I–bIII–IV and minor loops like i–bVI–bIII–bVII. Most are played as power chords, root and fifth only. Veena's CoProducer writes any of them in any key on Overdriven or Distortion Guitar, as MIDI you can edit note by note.

What is a power chord?

A root and a fifth, usually with the root doubled an octave up: E5 is E–B–E. With no third it's neither major nor minor, so it stays clear under heavy distortion and fits any rock progression. In Veena, ask CoProducer for power chords on Distortion Guitar, then drag notes in the piano roll to reshape any voicing.

Rock Chord Progressions: 5 Riffs With Power Chords

Rock chord progressions are short, loud and built from the minor pentatonic scale: the 12-bar shuffle, the I–bIII–IV riff, the double-plagal bVII–IV–I, a Dorian i–bIII–bVII–IV and the garage-rock I–IV–v–IV. Free in your browser, Veena's CoProducer plays them on real guitar sounds and writes the band around them, like a personal music producer in the room.

Each progression below comes with guitar shapes (strings low to high, x for muted) and the exact notes they sound, so you can play along or read them straight off the piano roll. Rock ranks among the genres people type most in a first request to CoProducer, and 79.3% of new users who ask for it get a first result on day one (Veena's own data).

Five rock chord progressions, with guitar shapes

The 12-bar shuffle (A)

| A5 | D5 | A5 | A5 | D5 | D5 | A5 | A5 | E5 | D5 | A5 | E5 |, a 160 BPM shuffle.

Numerals: I–IV–I–I, IV–IV–I–I, V–IV–I–V. Shapes: A5 is x02xxx (A2–E3), D5 is xx023x (D3–A3–D4), E5 is 022xxx (E2–B2–E3). The D5 in bar 2 is the "quick change", which gets you off the home chord early. For the boogie, keep the A string open and rock the D string between the 2nd fret (E) and the 4th (F#): fifth, sixth, fifth, sixth, the engine of rock and roll.

The bIII riff: I–bIII–IV (E)

E5 – G5 – A5 – E5, straight 8ths at 120 BPM.

Shapes: E5 022xxx (E2–B2–E3), G5 355xxx (G2–D3–G3), A5 x022xx (A2–E3–A3). Every root comes from the E minor pentatonic scale, E–G–A–B–D, so the G chord (the flat third) sounds like a riff even though the song is in E major. Palm-mute the verse and let the chords ring in the chorus, and you have half of blues rock.

The double plagal: bVII–IV–I (D major)

C – G – D, 110 BPM, open chords strummed.

Shapes: C x32010 (C3–E3–G3–C4–E4), G 320003 (G2–B2–D3–G3–B3–G4), D xx0232 (D3–A3–D4–F#4). Each chord is the IV of the next: C is IV of G, and G is IV of D. That's two plagal "amen" cadences in a row, which is why this is the singalong outro that could run forever. The C chord borrows its C natural from the Mixolydian mode.

The Dorian loop: i–bIII–bVII–IV (B minor)

Bm – D – A – E, 100 BPM, one chord per bar.

Shapes: Bm x24432 (B2–F#3–B3–D4–F#4), D xx0232, A x02220 (A2–E3–A3–C#4–E4), E 022100 (E2–B2–E3–G#3–B3–E4). The E major chord holds G#, the raised sixth of B minor, so the loop ends bright and pushes back into Bm instead of sinking. Minor, but determined: an alt-rock chorus in four chords.

The garage riff: I–IV–v–IV (G major)

G – C – Dm – C, 124 BPM, all downstrokes.

Shapes: G 320003, C x32010, Dm xx0231 (D3–A3–D4–F4). The minor v is the twist: its F natural is the flat seventh of G, a rough Mixolydian edge that a plain D major would sand off. The riff rocks IV–v–IV like a pendulum. Overdriven Guitar, loud, with the bass doubling the roots.

Play them with CoProducer

Open daw.veena.studio, sign in with Google and paste this song built on the bIII riff and the double plagal, both in E:

Make a blues-rock song in E at 120 BPM with straight 8ths. Verse on E5 – G5 – A5 – E5 (I–bIII–IV–I): two Overdriven Guitars panned left and right, palm-muted. Chorus opens up on D – A – E (bVII–IV–I) with the guitars ringing out. Electric Bass (pick) on the roots, the Pop kit with the snare on 2 and 4 and a crash on every chorus downbeat, and a Distortion Guitar lead filling the gaps with E minor pentatonic licks. Intro 4 bars, verse 16, chorus 8, verse 16, chorus 8, outro 8 on the chorus chords.

You get three takes of the rhythm guitar from CoProducer. Keep the one with the best riff; the bass locks to your pick and the lead is written around it. Then open the guitar clip with a double-click:

Tighten the palm mutes. With the snap on 1/8 Beat, drag the ends of the verse notes in so they chug instead of ring.
Fatten the chorus. On the second guitar's clip, select the chorus chords and press Ctrl/Cmd+↑, so the two guitars sit an octave apart.
Record your own solo. Hit record with a one-bar count-in and play over the chorus; a red box shows exactly where the take will land.

You can also load your own amp-sim or guitar plug-ins through the Veena Bridge. For the whole band, see how to make rock music or hand the part to an AI guitarist.

What kills a rock progression

Thirds under heavy distortion. Full major and minor chords turn to mush when the gain goes up. Power chords stay clear.
Changing chords every beat. Rock riffs repeat. Let a two-bar figure run the whole verse.
Guitar and bass fighting. Lock the bass to the guitar's roots and the kick.
No contrast between verse and chorus. Palm-muted and low for the verse, open and ringing for the chorus.

For the J-rock take on these shapes, see the anime chord progression; for heavier, metal-leaning harmony, go to dark chord progressions, or try new riffs in any key in the chord progression generator.

Rock Chord Progressions