How to turn chords into MIDI
To turn chords into MIDI, open the MIDI editor, open Chords, type the progression (for example Am F C G) and press Write. The chords appear as notes on a piano roll: press play to hear them, change any note, then press Download for a .mid file you can drag into FL Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro or any other DAW. It's free, runs in your browser and needs no account.
How do you type chords so the editor reads them?
Type chord symbols separated by spaces, the way they're written on a lead sheet: a letter name for the root, then the chord's quality.
| You type | Chord | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Am | A minor | A C E |
F | F major | F A C |
Fmaj7 | F major seventh | F A C E |
Am7 | A minor seventh | A C E G |
G7 | G dominant seventh | G B D F |
Gsus4 | G suspended fourth | G C D |
C/E | C major with E in the bass | E, then C E G |
F#m, Bb | F sharp minor, B flat major | F# A C#, Bb D F |
The editor writes the progression as notes, so you can drag, stretch or delete any of them afterwards. A symbol that isn't a chord is left out, and the editor tells you which one. Roman numerals (vi IV I V) are a way to think about a progression, not a way to type it: turn them into chord names in your key first.
Find the key first, then pick the chords
A progression only sounds right in a key. If you're writing to a beat, a sample or a vocal, find its key before you pick chords. Drop the audio in the Key finder (also at key.aden.space), or follow how to find the key of a song.
Then turn on the Key finder's Chords view. It shows the seven chords of the key you're setting, under the wheel: I ii iii IV V vi vii° in a major key, i ii° III iv v VI VII in a minor one. Press one to hear it and see it on the piano or guitar. Pick three or four that you like, type their names into the MIDI editor and you have a progression that fits the beat.
For a loop, a sample or a recording up to a minute long, the Key finder also reads the chords in it and lines them up under the clip's waveform. That's the quickest way to copy a progression you hear into MIDI: read the chords there, type them here.
Progressions to start from
Every progression below is written in C major or its relative minor, A minor, which share the same notes. To move one to another key, shift every chord by the same number of semitones. The music theory guide has the scales for every key.
| Numerals | Chords | What it sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| I V vi IV | C G Am F | The four-chord pop loop |
| vi IV I V | Am F C G | The same loop starting on the minor chord: darker |
| I vi IV V | C Am F G | Fifties doo-wop |
| ii V I | Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 | The jazz resolution home |
| i VII VI VII | Am G F G | A minor loop that never quite resolves |
| i iv V | Am Dm E | Minor with a strong pull home: E major comes from A harmonic minor |
In A minor, the natural v chord is Em. Swapping it for E major (E G# B) borrows the raised seventh of the harmonic minor scale, which is what gives the last progression its pull back to Am.
How to make a chord MIDI file with the MIDI editor
- Open the MIDI editor. It opens on a chord progression you can press play on straight away.
- Open Chords, type your progression and press Write.
- Set the BPM to your project's tempo. The notes move with it, so what you hear in the browser is what you'll hear in the DAW.
- Press play (or Space). Click the ruler to move the playhead.
- Change anything you want: draw notes, drag them, stretch them, delete them. Pick your DAW next to the sound and the editor uses that DAW's shortcuts.
- Press Download to save the .mid.
Draw notes instead of typing chords
Not every idea is a chord. For a melody, a bassline or a counter-line, draw it straight on the piano roll. Every note plays as you add or press it, and the keys on the left play when you press them. Zoom with a pinch or Ctrl/⌘ and scroll, and scroll sideways to move along. The eraser clears every note, and Undo in the toast brings them back.
A simple way to write a melody over your chords: start each phrase on a note from the chord underneath it, then move by step to the next one. Notes that belong to the chord sound settled; notes between them create the movement.
Open a .mid file
Drop a .mid on the editor, or press Open, to see and hear every note. Change what you want and download it again. That's handy for a MIDI file someone sent you, a pack you downloaded, or a part from a project you can't open right now (see open a DAW project without the DAW).
Hear it on a real sound
Press the sound name next to the player to pick what it plays on: Piano, Electric piano, Guitar, Muted guitar, Synth, Pad or Organ. They're made in your browser, so they play at once and offline. The sound you pick sticks for every MIDI player on Aden until you pick another.
You can also make a sampler from your own sample folder: a sample library, a Kontakt library's Samples folder, an SFZ instrument or a pack of one-shots. Aden reads it in your browser and uploads nothing. Kontakt's own compressed samples (NCW) and locked libraries can't be read by any browser, so use a library whose samples are WAV, AIFF, FLAC or MP3, or an SFZ. Samples longer than 8 seconds are cut to 8 for the preview.
The sound is only for listening. A .mid file holds the notes, not the sound: in your DAW, the instrument you load on the track decides what it sounds like.
Share a link instead of a file
The notes live in the link, so the address bar always holds your sketch. Press Copy link and send it: whoever opens it sees and hears the same notes in the editor, without an account. Links hold up to 400 notes; for more, download the file and send that.
Full screen fills the screen with the editor, and Escape leaves it. Recent keeps the sketches you left behind (another file opened, chords written, the notes cleared, the tab closed) in your browser, so you can open one again. They never reach Aden.
In ChatGPT, Claude and other AI apps, add MIDI editor by Aden (mcp.aden.space/midi-editor) and ask for chords or a melody as MIDI. You get the .mid and a link, and it can open the editor in the chat, already playing.
Get the .mid into your DAW
Most DAWs take a MIDI file by drag and drop:
- Ableton Live: drag it onto a MIDI track, or into the empty space below the tracks to make a new one, then load an instrument.
- FL Studio: drag it onto a channel in the Channel rack, or use File > Import > MIDI file.
- Logic Pro: drag it into the Tracks area.
- REAPER, Cubase, Studio One, Bitwig: drag it onto an instrument track.
If the chords sound too dense once the full arrangement is in, drop a note or two from each voicing, or move the bass note down an octave. If you're stuck on what comes after the loop, these ways out of writer's block help.
FAQ
How do I turn a chord progression into a MIDI file?
Type the chords as symbols, like Am F C G, into the MIDI editor on Aden and press Write. The editor writes them as notes on a piano roll, plays them back, and lets you download them as a .mid file to drag into your DAW.
Can I open and edit a .mid file online?
Yes. Drop the .mid file on the MIDI editor to see and hear its notes, change them on the piano roll and download it again. It runs in your browser and needs no account.
Does a MIDI file contain sound?
No. A MIDI file holds notes: their pitch, timing, length and velocity. The sound comes from the instrument you load on the track in your DAW, which is why the same file can play as a piano, a synth or a guitar.
How do I know which chords fit my song?
Find the song's key first, then use the chords that belong to it. In a major key those are I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi and vii diminished, so in C major that's C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim. The Key finder's Chords view lists them for any key and plays each one.
Is the MIDI editor free?
Yes, with no account, and it runs in your browser.
Less admin. More music.
More guides
Divide 60,000 by the BPM for a quarter note in ms, then x1.5 for dotted, x2/3 for triplet. Tables for 120, 128 and 140 BPM, plus Hz for LFOs.
The Camelot wheel codes the 24 keys 1A-12A (minor) and 1B-12B (major). Same number or one step apart mixes. Read any code in the free Key finder.
Tap along with the free BPM tapper and check the click against the song, or let the Key finder read the BPM from the audio, a song name or a link.