If you have had your eyes and ears open at all in the last 5 years then you certainly would have noticed the lush, chill sounds of Lofi Music.
Used extensively by YouTubers like Casey Neistat to create cool and approachable vibes in their videos, this music is not showing any signs of losing its popularity.
I know when I want to create a nice chill vibe to do my cooking I put a LoFi Hip Hop playlist on, kick back and dice my courgettes.
The great thing about making lofi music is that it is not only fun to produce it is also super simple.
The trick to it is to get your head around the jazz-inspired harmonies (and the hip-hop beats of course).
I wanted to show you my favourite 13 Lofi chord progressions that you can use in your next Lofi track.
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1. Cmaj9 - Fmaj13 (I - IV)
Going from the tonic chord to the subdominant chord is one of my favourite chord progressions across all genres.
It feels like a musical hug.
You can take a simple C - F chord progression and jazz it up by extending the chords to include 7ths, 9ths, and even 13ths.
By adding the 13th to the subdominant chord you give it a dominant feel that makes you want to resolve back to the tonic. This feeling gives the progression a well-rounded sound.
2. Cmaj9 - Fmaj9 - G11 - Em7 (I - IV- V - iii)
With this chord progression, we are taking one of those incredibly familiar pop progressions and giving it that Lofi aesthetic by extending the chords into the world of jazz.
You could quite easily just use 7th chords in this progression but by adding those extra notes it brings in a lot of warmth and emotion.
The surprise movement here is the G11 to the Em7 which has such a lovely cadence to it.
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I want this starter pack!3. Cmaj7 - Amin7 - Dmin7 - G7#5 (I - vi - ii - V)
I really love this progression for the simple fact that we have chucked in a cheeky little #5 on the G7 chord.
What this does is create a chromatic movement within the progression from the Dm to the G7 back to the tonic.
If you are feeling fruity then you can easily substitute the G7#5 with a G7b5. It creates a similar kind of tension but has a slightly softer or duller feel.
4. Cmaj9 - G7#5 - Amin11 - Fmaj9 (I - V - vi - IV)
This Lofi chord progression epitomises what I love about music; everything is just tension and release.
And that is what this progression does so well.
The move to the G7 creates tension and the move to the Amin creates a release. Then the move to the Fmaj9 creates tension and moving back to the Cmaj creates a release.
This one would be really good if it was syncopated to highlight this rhythmic cadence.
5. Cmin9 - Gmin9 - Cmin9 - G7b9aug5 (i - v - i - V)
I’ve given you two options here because I often like to utilise both the minor dominant chord and also the major dominant chord. Both have very different qualities.
Just to emphasise that I have extended the G7 to include not just a b9 (Ab) but also an augmented 5th (D#).
You won’t believe me until you listen to it but that G7b9aug5 actually feels quite soft and not nearly as jarring as you would expect.
By combining both the major and minor dominant chord this progression has a lot of melodic possibilities.
6. Cmin11 - Gmin11 - Cmin9 - Bdim7 (i - v - 1 - vii)
This progression has a similar feel to the previous one in that it relies heavily on the 1-5-1 cadence but the change is in the final chord of the progression.
I have added a diminished 7 chord to really bring the tension so that the return to the Cmin11 feels a lot more cosy and homely.
Feel free to combine these two progressions to create an 8 bar progression of your own.
7. Cmin11 - F7 - Abmaj7 - Ebmaj7 (i - IV - VI - III)
This is one of those progressions that feels like it is constantly unresolved and yet it never feels weird.
In fact it feels akin to that moment when you are learning to juggle and you finally realise you are juggling (and then drop the balls).
Sorry, weird analogy.
The culprit for this is the dominant IV chord, the F7. This is a borrowed chord from another key and so feels a little out of place, and yet when it drops down to the Abmaj7 it feels like it makes total sense.
Clever stuff.
8. Cmin11 - Fmin11 - Cmin11 - G7b5 (i - iv - i - V7)
This chord progression does two things that I really like.
The first is that it is the good old I-IV-V progression that got me through so many hours, no, years of guitar playing.
The second things is the use of the dominant 7 chord in the minor key. I use this all the time in my trailer music, specifically my neoclassical stuff because you get the mellow vibes of a minor key and the hard tension of a 7th chord.
Winning!
As before, if you find yourself using a dominant 7 chord you can utilise a b5 or a #5 to up the tension somewhat.
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I WANT THIS STARTER PACK!!!9. Cmin9 - Dbmin7 (i - bii)
Two chord sequences are the dark horses of music composition.
So many people overlook how effective they can be and also how much easier they make it for you as a composer and producer.
This little 2 chord sequence is by no means an exception to that rule.
The reason that this chord progression works so well is that it lends itself to simple stepwise melodies. When you use simple step melodies you are much more likely to create an addictive little hook for your track.
Awesome.
This one does also lend itself nicely to slightly darker feeling Lofi Hip Hop which I always think is a nice departure from a lot of the more sweet sounding tracks.
10. Cmaj7 - Bmin7 - Dmin7b5 (I - VII - ii)
This chord progression is to Lofi Hip Hop what the progression I-IV-V is to punk music. It’s an absolute staple that never gets boring.
Why?
Two reasons:
- Changing the 7th chord from a half diminished chord to a min7 chord. This basically means that rather than having a flattened fifth note in the B chord (which is F natural) we have an F# instead which gives this movement more stability
- The use of the half diminished chord on the Dmin. This means that rather than having an A natural we have an Ab which naturally wants to resolve down to the G in the tonic chord.
11. Cmin11 - Bdim7 (i - vii)
I overlooked this chord progression for years. Most probably because it is one of those ones that you naturally do on a piano when you are just mucking about with triads.
Well I did anyway.
Now, I hear this one in a completely new light. In fact whenever I heard this I immediately hear a full Lofi track playing in the background…in my imagination that is.
This progression really shows the sheer joy you can have with just 2 chords.
12. Cmin9 - Bbmaj7 (i - bVII)
What works here is the soft tension created by both chords. Even the tonic creates its own sort of tension. As well as that they both feel like the resolve as well.
If ever there was a little progression that had a wonderful balance of both jazzy tension inducing chords and sweet simplicity then this is it.
You can extend it as well by turning the Bbmaj7 into a Bbmaj9. Doing that then creates a mirror of the chord movement between the D in the Cmin9 and the C in the Bbmaj9.
13. Cmin9 - Fmin11 - Dmin7b5 - G7#5 (i - iv - ii - V)
I thought I would end on this delightful little number.
We have already seen the i-iv progression on this list but I wanted to tack on two chords to create a double whammy of tension.
The half diminished second chord and the augmented 7 chord. Combining these with the sweet sounds of the i-iv progression really does create the perfect Lofi vibe.
How to make your chord progressions sound more "Lofi"
The wonderful thing and the annoying thing about chord progressions are that they are all the same across all the genres.
You can have a piece of classical music using the I-IV-V progression and also a piece of hardcore grime using that very same progression.
And yet they sound very different.
So how do you get your standard chord progressions to sound more Lofi?
The answer is simple; extend the chord voicing to include 7ths, 9ths, 11s, and 13ths.
Doing this opens your chords into the world of jazz and therefore the world of Lofi Hip Hop which derives a lot of its harmonic language from jazz.
So for example if you have a very simple progression of C Am F G. You can make that sound more Lofi by turning them all into 7th chords; Cmaj7 - Amin7 - Fmaj7 - G7.
Here is a helpful little checklist to help you out.
- When using the dominant chord (chord number V) - try extending to a dominant 7 (b7 in the chord) and even changing the 5th note of the chord to a #5 or a b5. G7b5 for example.
- When you are using any minor chords - jazz them up by turning them into min7, min9 or min11 chords
- When you are using any major chords - extend them to maj7 or maj9 or maj13 chords
Download My Free MIDI pack of 13 Lofi Chord Progressions
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These files are part of my Lofi Essentials Starter Pack.
When you download these files and load them into your DAW I recommend that you play around with the chord voicing.
What I mean by this is that you can move some of the chord’s notes up or down an octave and just have a little fun exploring.
I have purposefully kept the chords mostly stacked in thirds to make it obvious but by all means, extend or compress those voicings.
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