Piano Diagram Generator — Chord Progression Charts
The piano diagram generator turns a chord progression into keyboard images. In The Ultimate Piano's Progression Generator you start from a built-in progression, type your own, or build it chord by chord from a search — and every chord comes back as a picture with note names and the inversion you chose, with fingering numbers if you want them. Next to each chord you see its scale degree in the key, and you can play the whole progression back with a metronome before you download it.
Generate complete chord charts for any progression in all 12 keys — ready to use in teaching materials or music books.
On this page
How to Open the Diagram Generator
Open the Progression Generator from the Create menu in the header.
Keyboard Shortcut: Press Ctrl+Shift+D (or Cmd+Shift+D on Mac) to open it directly.
Creating a Chord Progression Chart
1. Set the Key
The key sits in its own row at the top, above everything else, because it applies to everything: to the progressions you generate and to the scale degree shown next to every chord. It starts on C major, so you can generate right away.
To change it, click the key button to open the Circle of Fifths — an interactive wheel showing all major and minor keys. Click the outer ring for major keys or the inner ring for minor keys. The Circle of Fifths also shows the key signature in a staff preview, so you can check you picked the right key.
2. Start From a Progression
From Presets:
Select a preset progression from the dropdown. Progressions are grouped by genre:
Or type it yourself in the text field — in one of two ways:
- Roman numerals, resolved in the selected key. Uppercase for major, lowercase for minor, and you can add a quality suffix:
I IV V I — in C major: C, F, G, C
- ii V I — D minor, G major, C major
- ii V7 Imaj7 — with sevenths where you want them
- ♭VI ♭VII I — a ♭ (or b) lowers the chord a half step: A♭, B♭, C
- in a minor key the numerals count from the minor tonic: i iv V in G minor gives Gm, Cm, D
- Chord symbols, used exactly as written:
Am F C G. Slash chords work too: if the bass note belongs to the chord, as inC/E, you get the matching inversion; if it doesn't, as inC/DorF/G, the bass note is added below the chord.
Separators: spaces, commas, or dashes all work (I-IV-V, I IV V, I,IV,V).
Choosing the octave: add @ and a number from 1 to 7 to put a chord in a specific octave (middle C is C4). With chord symbols the number is the octave of the root — C@3 is C3–E3–G3, Am7@5 starts on A5. With Roman numerals it is the octave of the key's tonic, and every step sits above it: in G, I@3 starts on G3 and IV@3 on C4, so a numeral progression keeps its shape in every key. If the chord lies outside the keyboard range you have set, the picture simply shows that part of the keyboard. A chord that would go below A0 or above C8 is skipped and named in a short note.
While you type, anything the generator doesn't recognize is listed right below the field, so you can fix a typo before you click Generate.
Click Generate. Each chord gets its own keyboard image tile. Generate always builds a new list — if the grid already holds chords, the app asks before it replaces them, so a progression you built by hand is never lost by accident.
3. Add Chords From the Search
The search on the right lets you build a progression chord by chord. Type a root note and you get every chord type on that root, in every inversion, each as a small keyboard picture:
F— all chords on FFm7,Bb°,C+,Gmaj— narrow it down with the usual chord shorthandF@3— the same results, and the chord you add is placed in octave 3- The type filter next to the search shows only triads, sevenths and sixths, extended chords, or altered chords
Then:
- Click a result to add it at the end of the grid, or
- Drag it into the grid — onto the free dashed slot at the end, or next to an existing chord to insert it right there.
The chord is then drawn on the keyboard like every other tile, with all the same options.
4. Arrange the Grid
- Reorder: grab a tile by its title bar (the dotted handle on the left) or by its keyboard picture and drag it to a new position.
- Remove: click the × in the tile's corner.
- Change a chord: use the dropdowns on the tile (see below).
5. Listen to the Progression
The playback bar sits above the grid:
- Play / Pause and Stop, plus Loop to repeat the progression (off by default)
- Tempo & time — set the tempo from 30–240 BPM with the slider or by typing it, and choose one of 4 time signatures (4/4, 3/4, 6/8 or 2/4). The tempo can be changed while the progression is playing.
- Metronome — switch it on and pick a plain click or a drum groove that fits the time signature. Count-in plays one bar before the first chord.
Each chord lasts one bar and changes on the downbeat. The tile that is sounding is highlighted, so you can follow along. Editing the progression while it plays stops the playback.
Scale Degrees Next to Every Chord
Every chord shows its scale degree in the selected key in brackets — on the tiles and in the search results. In C major you read Dm (ii), G7 (V), B° (vii°) — and also chords from outside the key, such as B♭ (♭VII) or A♭ (♭VI). Change the key and all degrees update.
This is where the generator helps with understanding, not just drawing: you see at once which function a chord has in the key, and why a borrowed chord such as ♭VII sounds the way it does. To look at each chord quality on its own, open Learning Mode.
Customizing Your Chord Voicing Chart
Each tile shows:
- Chord symbol with its scale degree in brackets (e.g., "Dm (ii)"). For chords typed as Roman numerals you see exactly what you typed, e.g. "D7 (V7/V)" or "C (I/3)"
- Keyboard image with highlighted keys and note names, plus fingering numbers once you pick a hand
- Play button — click to hear the chord in its octave. If it lies outside the keys you see, you hear it without the keys lighting up
- Five dropdowns for customization:
Progressions from the presets and from Roman numerals are generated as triads unless you add a suffix (like V7). The Quality dropdown sets exactly the quality you pick — choosing "7" on a tile makes it a dominant seventh on that root. Changing any dropdown instantly redraws that tile.
Download
Click Download PNG below any tile to save it as a high-resolution image, rendered at 2x resolution by default. Perfect for teaching materials, presentations, or social media. For more export options — JPG, WebP, and 1x/2x/3x/4x resolution presets — see the Capture feature.
Chord Chart Generator — Use Cases
- Piano Teachers — Generate chord charts for lessons in seconds, and play the progression to students before handing out the sheet
- Music Theory Students — See the scale degree of every chord, hear the progression, then practice it in Learning Mode
- Songwriters — Try out a progression chord by chord, including borrowed chords, and listen to it at your tempo
- Content Creators — Create consistent keyboard diagrams for tutorials
- Book Authors — Generate consistent, print-ready chord diagrams
Tips
- Transpose a preset — Change the key and click Generate again
- Mix both ways — Generate a preset, then drag extra chords from the search between them
- Custom voicings — Use the quality and inversion dropdowns to customize individual chords
- Fingering — Switch the hand dropdown to RH or LH to add fingering numbers to a chord
- Bass lines — Use the bass dropdown for slash chords like C – C/B – C/B♭ over a descending bass
- Quick workflow — Pick a preset → Generate → Play → Download. Done in seconds.
For manual diagram creation with full control over individual keys, colors, and layout, use Toggle Mode with Capture. To write a full song chart with chords, lyrics, and sections, use the Leadsheet Editor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the chord chart generator work?
Open the Progression Generator in The Ultimate Piano. The key starts on C major; change it from the Circle of Fifths if you need another. Then choose a preset progression, type your own with Roman numerals (like ii V I) or chord symbols (like Am F C G), and click Generate — or build the progression chord by chord from the chord search. Each chord is displayed as a keyboard image with note names, and fingering numbers if you pick a hand, ready to download as PNG.
Can I create slash chords?
Yes. Type them as chord symbols, like C/E or F/G, or pick a note in a tile's bass dropdown. If the bass note is part of the chord you get the matching inversion; otherwise the bass note is added below the chord, in the picture and in playback. In the dropdown every one of the 12 notes works as the bass, even the root: C/C adds a C one octave below the chord.
Can I create a chord progression chart in any key?
Yes. Select any major or minor key from the Circle of Fifths. Presets and Roman numerals are resolved in that key, and every chord shows its scale degree in brackets. To transpose a preset, change the key and click Generate again.
Can I build a progression chord by chord?
Yes. Type a root note like F into the chord search and you see every chord type on that root in every inversion. Click a chord to add it, or drag it into the grid at the position you want. Tiles can be reordered by dragging and removed with the ×.
Can I hear the progression?
Yes. The playback bar above the grid plays the progression one chord per bar and highlights the chord that is sounding. You can set the tempo and time signature, turn on a metronome with a click or a drum groove, add a one-bar count-in, and loop the progression.
Can I download chord chart images?
Yes. Click Download PNG below any chord tile to save it as a high-resolution image. Downloads are rendered at 2x resolution — ideal for teaching materials, books, and presentations. For higher-resolution exports, use the Capture feature.
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