Reggae major vamp progression on guitar
What is the Reggae major vamp progression?
The Reggae major vamp progression is A and D (I–IV), in the key of A major. Read as harmonic function it moves tonic → subdominant, cycling as a vamp with no full cadence. Play one chord per bar and let it loop.
Four chords, a whole story: A (I, home) → D (IV, the stroll). Hit play. First pass, just listen. Second pass, follow with your finger on the names — and notice that by the second-to-last chord, your body already knows A — home — is coming.
Guitar
On the acoustic guitar you hold the whole song in your hands: the low sixth string lays down a bass note while the higher strings build the chord above it. Folk, country and Celtic songs are built on the acoustic guitar; in reggae it chops the off-beat, and Hawaiian slack-key is its own gentle guitar tradition. Its home chord A keeps its lowest note on A and rings 2 open strings.
Circle of Fifths: See the key's diatonic chords and its secondary dominants · try it in Chord and Fret
Save this progression in Chord and FretReharmonize: Want richer substitutions? Reharmonize's Subtle and Medium levels are free; Bold and Jazz are part of Pro · use it in Chord and Fret
Learn each chord of the trip
This is one shape of A. In the app, every chord in this progression comes with its other shapes and audio, free. Open in Chord and Fret →
Metronome: Drill this change in time, with tap tempo and subdivisions · open in Chord and Fret