Pop Lab

For the best experience, use a desktop browser.

This tool shows how a bunch of pop songs are built from the same chord progressions. Play around with it to help build intuition on how to play pop songs by ear!

Pick a song from the dropdown, or hit Play Random Song to jump in
Explore — switch chord progressions to change the emotional feel, discover other songs built on the same chords, or tweak settings like key and tempo

Chord Progression

ProgressioniDefines the overall emotional basis of the song

Chord VariationiDefines how the chords are played in the song

Melody

Songs for I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V (14)

Player

[Space] to Play/Pause

KeyiDefines the main note the song revolves around (kind of)

OctaveiShift both chord and melody octaves together

Visualizer

Select a progression to see piano roll