Create a play-along band for practice. Pick a preset like 12-bar blues, pop or funk, or type your own chord progression, then choose the key, style and tempo. Drums, bass and chord comping play instantly and loop, and you can download the track as WAV audio or as MIDI for your music software.
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Start from a preset
Ready
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How to use the Backing Track Generator
Pick a preset such as 12-bar blues, or type your own chords in the box (bars separated by |).
Choose key, style and tempo. Changing the key transposes the chords for you.
Press Play backing track. After a one-bar count-in the band loops the progression while the chart shows the current bar.
Balance the mixer: turn off the part you want to play yourself, for example the bass or the chords.
Download WAV or MIDI to practice offline or arrange the track further in a DAW.
Common progressions to practice over
Progression
Roman numerals
In C
Scale to improvise with
12-bar blues
I7 I7 I7 I7 · IV7 IV7 I7 I7 · V7 IV7 I7 V7
C7 … F7 … G7 F7 C7 G7
C minor pentatonic or C blues scale
Pop "four chords"
I V vi IV
C G Am F
C major pentatonic / C major
Sensitive female / ballad
vi IV I V
Am F C G
A natural minor (same notes as C major)
50s doo-wop
I vi IV V
C Am F G
C major
Jazz ii–V–I
ii7 V7 Imaj7
Dm7 G7 Cmaj7
D dorian → G mixolydian → C ionian (all C major notes)
Rock mixolydian
I bVII IV I
C Bb F C
C mixolydian or C major pentatonic
Andalusian cadence
i bVII bVI V
Am G F E7
A harmonic minor / A phrygian dominant over E7
Funk vamp
I9 (one chord)
C9
C dorian or C minor pentatonic
How the band is generated
Drums follow a pattern for each style: backbeat snare on beats 2 and 4 for rock, pop and blues, a ride cymbal "ding, ding-a ding" for jazz, beat 3 kick and rim for the reggae one-drop, and 16th-note hi-hats with ghost notes for funk. A short snare fill marks the last bar of the form and a crash marks bar 1.
Bass plays the chord's root (or the slash bass note) in a style-specific figure: the classic boogie line 1-3-5-6-♭7-6-5-3 for blues, a walking line with a chromatic approach note into the next chord for jazz, syncopated octaves for funk.
Chords are voiced in the middle register, and each new chord picks the inversion closest to the previous one, so the comping moves smoothly instead of jumping around.
Practice tips
Start 10 to 20 BPM below the target tempo and raise it once you can play cleanly. Use the Metronome for slow technical work.
Mute the part you are learning: turn off Chords to practice comping, or Bass to play bass lines yourself.
Target chord tones (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th) on beat 1 of each bar, then fill the space between them with scale notes.
Singers can move the key with the Key menu until the melody sits comfortably; the Chord Transposer transposes full lead sheets too.
Type the chords into the progression box with a vertical bar between bars, for example | C | Am | F G | C |. Two chords in one bar get two beats each. Choose a style, key and tempo and press Play backing track. The chart below the box shows how the chords were read.
What is a 12-bar blues progression?
It is a 12-measure chord pattern built on the I, IV and V chords of a key, usually played as dominant 7th chords: four bars of I, two of IV, two of I, then V, IV, I and a turnaround V. In A that is A7 A7 A7 A7 | D7 D7 A7 A7 | E7 D7 A7 E7. The quick-change version moves to IV in bar 2.
Which chord names can I use?
Major (C), minor (Cm, C-), 7, maj7, m7, m7b5 (half-diminished), dim, dim7, aug, sus2, sus4, 7sus4, 6, m6, 9, m9, 11, 13, add9, power chords (C5) and slash chords like C/E for a different bass note. Sharps and flats are written with # and b. Use % to repeat the previous chord.
What does swing or shuffle mean here?
In the shuffle and jazz styles the second eighth note of each beat is delayed to two thirds of the beat (a triplet feel, long-short). Rock, pop, funk and ballad play straight eighths, where both halves of the beat are equal. Reggae uses a light swing.
Can I use the MIDI file in GarageBand, FL Studio or another DAW?
Yes. The MIDI file has a tempo track with the chord names as markers, drums on channel 10 (General MIDI drum map), bass on channel 2 and chords on channel 1 with a General MIDI program for the chosen sound. Load it and assign your own instruments.
Why is the guitar or chord sound simple?
All instruments are synthesized in your browser in real time, so nothing has to be downloaded and it works offline. For studio-quality sounds, export the MIDI file and play it through the instruments in your music software.
Is it free to use the tracks?
Yes. The tracks are generated from your chords on your device, so you can practice with them, use them in lessons or record over them. Chord progressions themselves are common musical building blocks and not owned by anyone.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.