Three-chord rock: example chord phrases

Listed below are 24 examples of 4-bar, three-chord phrases in C major. Feel free, of course, to transpose them into other keys and to use them in your songs. No one owns a copyright on these commonly used chord phrases.

A chord phrase is a sequence of chords for a single musical phrase. You might also hear people use the equivalent terms chord progression or chord change.

Phrases can be various lengths. 4- or 8-bar phrases are typical in rock music, but, as I'll discuss in a future post, you can make your songs more interesting by using phrases of different lengths. It's only in the interest of keeping things simple that all of these examples are 4-bar phrases.

1. C | F | C | -
2. C | - | F | C
3. C | F | C | F
4. F | C | F | C
5. C | - | - | F
6. C | G | C | -
7. C | - | G | C
8. C | G | C | G
9. C | F | G | -
10. C | - | F | G
11. C | F | G | F
12. C | F | G | C
13. C | F | C | G
14. C | G | C | F
15. F | C | G | C
16. F | G | F | C
17. G | C | F | G
18. G | C | G | F
19. C - | F C | - - | F G
20. C - | F - | G - | F C
21. C G | F - | - G | C -
22. C F | C - | - F | C G
23. F C | G - | F G | C -
24. F - | C G | F - | G C
    

Optional assignments (a/k/a your "songwriting homework"):

• Create an alternate version of each phrase by substituting one or more chords borrowed from C minor.
• Try transposing all 24 of these phrases into C minor.
• Create an alternate version of each of the C minor phrases by substituting one more more chords borrowed from C major.
  
• Create one more variation of each of the 24 phrases by making some other change. You could substitute another chord that's not one of the three main chords, you could change the rhythm, change a bass note, play it backwards, add a seventh, or do something even more radical. It's your move!
  

After you complete all four optional assignments, you'll have a list of 120 chord phrases at your disposal. And obviously we're just scratching the surface of the possibilities of "three-chord rock." Even with this limited vocabulary, you can still stay a lot.