The Rules Of Chord Changing

The chords in any key are always named like this:

I      II    III   IV   V   VI   VII

C    Dm  Em    F    G   Am   Bm

I have put the C chord scale in there so you can see how it works. Okay, here’s the rules:

A I chord can change to any chord.

A II chord can change to any chord except the I

A III chord can change to any chord except the I or VII

A IV chord can change to any chord

A V chord can change to any chord except the II or VII

A VI chord can change to any chord except the I or VII

A VII chord can change to any chord except the II or IV 

Don’t worry if this looks a bit confusing,  This is " how to play guitar easily "... it will become second nature as you use it. Chord changing is a feel thing. You will just know what chord to change to once you have been doing it for a while. It’s like muscle memory; you only have to think about it so hard when you first start doing it, then it becomes more natural as you use it. If you change chord and get it wrong, you can find the right one in an instant. It’s not like driving a car, if you get it wrong nobody dies, just play on.

Share