Complete Guide to Programming Chord Progressions in a MIDI Piano Roll

Programming Chord Progressions in a MIDI Piano Roll

One of the first hurdles for anyone starting out in music production is figuring out how to program chord progressions. You want that lush, professional sound but have no idea where to start in a DAW. This guide walks you through everything you need to know about using a MIDI piano roll to build compelling chord progressions from scratch.

Understanding MIDI and the Piano Roll

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Rather than recording actual audio, MIDI captures performance data—which notes to play, when to play them, and how hard to hit them. The piano roll is the visual editor inside a DAW where you can see and manipulate this data. The vertical axis represents pitch, the horizontal axis represents time, and colored blocks (notes) represent individual MIDI notes. No sheet music knowledge required.

Chord Progression Basics

What Is a Chord?

A chord is two or more notes played simultaneously. A C major chord, for example, consists of the notes C, E, and G played at the same time. A chord progression is simply a sequence of chords that forms the harmonic backbone of a song. The chords you choose and their order have a huge impact on the emotional feel of your music.

Beginner-Friendly Chord Progressions

Here are three classic progressions to get you started, all in the key of C major:

• C → G → Am → F (I–V–vi–IV): The

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  よくある質問（FAQ）

  無料DAWでプロ品質の曲は作れますか？

  十分可能です。Cakewalk by BandLabやGarageBandなど、無料でもプロ級の機能を備えたDAWが多数あります。プラグインやサンプルを活用すれば、商用レベルの楽曲制作も実現できます。

  ブラウザDAWとインストール型DAWの違いは？

  ブラウザDAWはインストール不要で、どのPCからでもすぐに使える手軽さが利点です。一方、インストール型はオフライン動作やVSTプラグインの対応など、より本格的な制作に向いています。LA Studioのようなブラウザ型でもWebGPU対応でネイティブ並みの処理速度を実現しています。

  初心者におすすめのDAWは？

  まずはGarageBand（Mac）やLA Studio（ブラウザ）のような無料で始められるDAWがおすすめです。操作に慣れてきたら、Cakewalk by BandLabやReaperなど、より多機能なDAWに移行するのが良いでしょう。