R&B Chord Progressions: 7 Smooth Loops (With Free MIDI)

You have the drums, maybe even a melody in your head, but the beat still sounds like trap or pop instead of R&B? Nine times out of ten it is the chords. R&B lives on extended chords: sevenths and ninths that sound warm, a little jazzy and smooth instead of plain and bright.

Good news: you do not need a music degree for this. Below are 7 R&B chord progressions you can play right away, all written in C major or A minor (mostly white keys), with Roman numerals so you can move them to any key. Plus a free way to get them as MIDI.

What makes a chord progression sound R&B?

A basic chord (a triad) has three notes: the root, the third and the fifth. R&B producers usually add more notes on top:

• Seventh chords add the seventh note. Cmaj7 (C, E, G, B) sounds soft and dreamy, Dm7 (D, F, A, C) sounds mellow, G7 (G, B, D, F) sounds like it wants to move.
• Ninth chords add one more note on top. Am9 (A, C, E, G, B) is that lush, late night neo soul sound.
• Movement by small steps. Good R&B voicings move each note as little as possible from one chord to the next. That is what makes a progression feel smooth instead of jumpy.

How to read the numbers: lowercase (ii, iii, vi) means minor, uppercase (I, IV, V) means major. "maj7" is a major seventh, a plain "7" is a dominant seventh. In C major, ii7 is Dm7, V7 is G7 and Imaj7 is Cmaj7.

7 R&B chord progressions to try

1. ii7, V7, Imaj7 (Dm7, G7, Cmaj7)

The "two five one". It comes from jazz and it is everywhere in R&B and soul. The G7 creates tension, the Cmaj7 lets it go. Loop it with an extra bar of Cmaj7 and you have a full four bar loop.

2. IVmaj7, iii7, ii7, Imaj7 (Fmaj7, Em7, Dm7, Cmaj7)

A slow walk down the scale. Every chord is one step lower than the last, which sounds relaxed and a bit nostalgic. Great for slow jams and intros.

3. IVmaj7, III7, vi7, v7, I7 (Fmaj7, E7, Am7, Gm7, C7)

Known as the "Just the Two of Us" progression, after the Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers song that made it famous. The E7 and the C7 are borrowed chords that are not in the C major scale, which gives it that sweet, slightly bittersweet color. It has been reused in a lot of R&B and hip hop.

4. Imaj7, vi7, ii7, V7 (Cmaj7, Am7, Dm7, G7)

The jazzy version of the classic one, six, four, five pop loop. Same shape, but the sevenths make it sound warm instead of cheesy. Easy to sing over.

5. i9, iv9 (Am9, Dm9)

A two chord minor vamp. Simple, moody and very neo soul. Because the chords are so rich, two of them are enough. Leave space for the vocal and let the bass and drums create movement.

6. Imaj7, IVmaj7 (Cmaj7, Fmaj7)

The floating loop. Both chords are major sevenths and they share notes (C and E), so the change is soft. Works for dreamy, alternative R&B and for chill hooks.

7. iii7, vi7, ii7, V7 (Em7, Am7, Dm7, G7)

Each chord moves up a fourth (or down a fifth) to the next one. This "circle of fifths" movement keeps pulling forward until it lands on Cmaj7. Use it as a turnaround at the end of a section.

Cheat sheet: notes in every chord

• Cmaj7: C, E, G, B
• C7: C, E, G, Bb
• Dm7: D, F, A, C
• Dm9: D, F, A, C, E
• Em7: E, G, B, D
• E7: E, G#, B, D
• Fmaj7: F, A, C, E
• G7: G, B, D, F
• Gm7: G, Bb, D, F
• Am7: A, C, E, G
• Am9: A, C, E, G, B

How to make these chords actually sound like R&B

1. Pick a warm sound. Electric piano (Rhodes style), soft keys, mellow pads or a clean guitar. A bright, hard piano makes the same chords sound like a ballad.
2. Use inversions. Do not play every chord from the root up. Move the notes so each chord sits close to the previous one. Your progression instantly sounds smoother.
3. Let the bass play the root. Put the root note in the bass and leave it out of the chord in your right hand, or play it very softly. This keeps the low end clean and the chords open.
4. Humanize the timing. Play chords a tiny bit before or after the beat, and vary the velocity. Quantized to 100 percent sounds stiff, especially in R&B.
5. Do not overcrowd the vocal range. Ninth chords have a lot of notes. If the singer gets buried, drop a note or move the voicing lower.
6. Change the sound before you change the chords. A two or four chord loop can carry a whole song if the drums, bass and arrangement develop.

Get R&B chords as free MIDI

Do not feel like clicking every note into the piano roll? Try our free Chord Progression Generator. Pick the R&B mood (it uses seventh chords for a warmer sound), choose major or minor, your key and tempo, and click a chord to hear it. Keep regenerating until something hits. Then download the MIDI: you get a chords track plus a bass line on the root notes, ready for FL Studio, Logic Pro, Ableton or any other DAW. The MIDI is free to use in your own releases.

Writing chords for a beat or loop you already have? Check its key and BPM first with Beat Lab, so the progression fits. Want to build the rest of the beat too? Read how to make an R&B beat in FL Studio.

Recording vocals over your R&B beat?

Once the chords are done, the vocal decides whether the track sounds finished. If you record melodic rap or sung hooks yourself, the Frenna-Inspired Vocal Preset Bundle gives you a starting chain in Logic Pro or FL Studio with stock plugins only. Frenna is a Dutch artist; for US listeners, his melodic, tuned and upfront vocal sits in a similar lane as the melodic rap and R&B-leaning side of Drake's records. It is a style reference and a starting point, not a copy of anyone's vocal chain, and not affiliated with either artist.

FAQ

What is the most common R&B chord progression?

There is no official ranking, but the ii, V, I (Dm7, G7, Cmaj7 in C) is a core move in R&B, soul and jazz. Most of the other progressions here are variations on that idea.

Is R&B usually in a major or minor key?

Both. Major key progressions with major seventh chords sound warm and romantic, minor key vamps with minor ninths sound darker and more neo soul. The generator lets you pick either.

Can I use these progressions in a song I release?

Yes. Chord progressions are common building blocks in music, and the MIDI from our generator is free to use in your own tracks, also commercially. Just do not copy someone else's actual recording or melody.

Do I need to know music theory to make R&B beats?

Not much. If you know what a seventh chord is and how to read Roman numerals, you can already make the 7 loops above in any key.

Want more free stuff for your beats, like a BPM finder, master checker and audio converter? Check out all our free music tools.