Chord Playground — a free chord progression generator and arpeggiator
Chord Playground turns a key, a scale and a mood into a chord progression you can hear straight away.
Arpeggiate it with real rhythms, read it as sheet music, and take it into your own music as MIDI, MP3, PDF or PNG.
It's free, runs in your browser and needs no sign-up.
What you can do
- Progressions by mood. Twelve moods — Happy, Sad, Melancholic, Energetic, Dreamy, Dark, Jazzy, Calm, Epic, Romantic, Mysterious and Groovy — each with hand-picked progressions, plus endless generated ones.
- 25 scales and modes. Major and minor, dorian, mixolydian, lydian, harmonic and melodic minor, phrygian dominant, double harmonic, hirajoshi, pelog, whole tone and more, in all 12 keys.
- 28 arpeggio rhythms. Straight 8ths and 16ths, shuffle, tresillo, dembow, bossa nova, charleston, gallop, triplets, 6/8 and waltz feels, ballads — with swing and humanise.
- 16 arpeggio patterns. Up, down, up-down, two-octave runs, alberti bass, root pedal, inside-out, random walk, or block chords with a bass line.
- Chord colour. Sus2, sus4, sevenths, add9 and inversions, labelled with chord symbols and Roman numerals.
- Sheet music and export. A grand-staff score with chord symbols, and one-click export to MIDI for your DAW, MP3, PDF or PNG.
How to use it
- Choose a key and scale.
- Pick a mood — the progression, rhythm and tempo follow.
- Press Play, then try other rhythms and arpeggio patterns while it loops.
- Click a chord to hear it alone, or swap it for another chord in the key.
- Export to MIDI or MP3 when you like what you hear.
Who it's for
Songwriters looking for a starting point, producers who need chords and arpeggios in MIDI, students learning how
scales, modes and harmony fit together, and teachers who want to show how rhythm changes the feel of the same chords.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Chord Playground free?
- Yes. It runs entirely in your browser with no account, and everything you export is yours to use in your own music.
- How do I make a chord progression for a mood?
- Pick a key and scale, then choose a mood such as Sad, Dreamy or Jazzy. Chord Playground builds a progression that suits it and sets a matching rhythm, arpeggio shape and tempo. Press Regenerate for more ideas.
- Can I use the progressions in my DAW?
- Yes. Export to MIDI to drag the chords, arpeggio and bass line into Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, GarageBand or any other DAW, or export an MP3 to listen anywhere.
- What is an arpeggio rhythm?
- An arpeggio plays the notes of a chord one at a time. The rhythm decides when each note lands — straight 8ths, triplets, a syncopated tresillo or a 6/8 lilt — and the pattern decides which note comes next. Chord Playground lets you combine any rhythm with any pattern.