Backingtracks with chord progressions

What are chord progressions?

Chord progressions are a series of chords used in a piece of music. The chords in a progression are shown by Roman numerals and are determined by key. The chord progressions determine how a piece of music unfolds over time.

Find Backing Tracks with chord progressions for guitar

Find the right jam and backing track with chord progressions with our advanced search. Use one of the search filters and choose the desired key, genre, ... and much more.

The chord progression for guitar are neatly written down or are displayed in the videos, so go ahead and select Backing Tracks with chords or with chords - play along.

• With chords: the chords are displayed in simple text format.
• With chords play along: the chords are displayed in the video as you play along.

Dive right in and start to jam!

Backing Tracks with easy chord progressions

The following backing tracks can be used as an introduction for soloing over chord changes.
They are simple chord progressions over which you can use one single scale.

12-bar Progressions | Examples

• Slow 12 Bar Shuffle Blues Guitar Backing Track Jam in E by Nick Neblo - E Major Pentatonic Scale
• Funky Slap Blues Rock Backing Jam Track in E 115 bpm by Only Backing Tracks - E Blues Scale

Two Chord Backing Tracks | Examples

• Two Chord Backing Track in Am by Artmant Studios - A Minor Pentatonic Scale
• A Dorian Mode Funky Groove Backing Track by QuistJam -  A Minor Pentatonic Scale
• C Major Jam Track - Cmaj7 to Fmaj7 by Rowan J Parker - C Major Scale

Understanding Guitar Chord Progressions

Chord progressions are normally written and referred to with the use of Roman numerals. Let's start with the major scales and keys. 

For example, the C major scale is this:

C - D - E - F - G - A - B 

When we use roman numerals it looks like this:

I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii(dim) 

• The capitalized numerals are major chords 
• The lowercase ones mean minor chords
• The 7th chord is a diminished chord. 

With that in mind, we can take any major scale and create chord progressions. 

Let’s take a look at the 3 common chord progressions: This common chord progressions are used by many artists in countless songs 

I-IV-V Chord Progressions

The I - IV - V chord progression is one of the most common chord progressions in music. The I is the root note, followed by the 4th and 5th note of the scale. An example of the C scale:

• I chord is the C major chord. 

• IV chord is F major chord

• V chord is the G major chord

So if you play an I - IV - V chord progression in the key of C, the chords are C - F - G 

Here are some popular songs the I-IV-V progression: Bob Marley - Stir it Up, CCR - Bad Moon Risin', GnR - Used to Love Her 

I–V–vi–IV Chord Progressions

Another common chord progression. We already know I, IV, and V chord from the previous progression, all we must do is determine the vi chord of a scale. In a major key, the vi chord a minor chord. 

With the C major scale we would give the following result:

C - G - Am - F

Here are some popular songs the I-V-vi-IV progression: Lady Gaga - Paparazzi, Aerosmith - Cryin', Bob Marley - No Woman, No Cry

Backing Tracks with I–V–vi–IV Chord Progressions: I - V - vi - IV in A | Popular Chords Backing Track; Rock in A minor (I - V - vi - IV) Backing Track No.17

more to watch: The Australian comedy group Acis of Awesome makes a medley with 38 songs using this chord progressions.

12 bar Chord Progression

The 12 bar progression is generally associated with the blues but is also commonly used in country music. In fact, many songs outside of the genre have used the progression successfully. Let’s take the key of C for example:

I - IV - I - V - IV - I - I
C - F - C - G - F - C - C

The basic 12 bar blues consists of the following:

• 4 measures of the I chord
• 2 measures of the IV chord
• 2 measures of the I chord
• 1 measure of the V chord
• 1 measure of the IV chord
• 1 measure of the I chord
• 1 measure of the I chord

Here are some popular songs 12 bar progression:  B.B. King - The Thrill is Gone, Elvis Presley - Hound Dog, Tracy Chapman - Give Me One Reason

How To Soloing Over Chord Changes on Guitar

If you've already learned how to play guitar chords. You probably are ready to learn how to play a solo over a chord progression. What notes should you pick when playing your solo over chords? 

You can determine these notes based on: 

• the key of the song, 
• off the chords themselves, 
• or by using a relative minor scale.

Don't forget to read our article about "How do you play over backing tracks". 

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