Drill Chord Progressions: 10 Dark Loops (demos and free MIDI included)

HERE ARE 10 DARK DRILL CHORD PROGRESSIONS YOU CAN COPY, WITH DEMOS AND FREE MIDI!

What is a drill chord progression? It's the loop of chords under a drill beat. Usually it's 2 to 4 minor chords that repeat every 4 bars, with one dark move that keeps the loop from ever sounding happy.

The chords are simple on paper, but one wrong note can turn a dark loop into something that sounds like a pop song. So for every progression below you get the exact notes, a screenshot of the piano roll, a demo so you can hear it, and the MIDI to drag straight into FL Studio.

If you want the full beat making process first, check out our step by step drill beat tutorial. This post goes deep on one thing: the chords.

What makes drill chords sound dark:

Four things do most of the work:

• A minor key. A minor, C minor, D minor and G minor are the most common, but any minor key works.
• Tension instead of resolution. A half step move, a diminished chord or a chord from outside the key leaves the listener hanging, so the loop never settles.
• Short loops. Most drill progressions are 2 or 4 bars long. The variation comes from the drums, the top melody and the 808 slides, not the chords.
• Space for the 808. The chords sit in the middle of the keyboard, and the 808 plays the root note underneath.

Most drill sits between 130 and 150 BPM. UK drill usually lands around 140 to 145 BPM. All the demos in this post are at 140 BPM.

UK drill vs NY drill chords:

UK drill chords are usually darker and more cinematic: sus chords, diminished chords, piano and strings, with the 808 sliding around underneath. NY and Brooklyn drill keeps the chords simpler (often just 2 minor chords) and lets the 808 and the sliding bass carry the movement. Progressions 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 lean UK. Progressions 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 work great for NY style beats too.

How to use these chord progressions:

Every progression is written in A minor, with the notes of each chord in brackets. Each one lasts 1 bar, so 4 chords make a 4 bar loop. The free MIDI also has every progression in D minor and G minor, so you can drop it into your key without moving a single note.

The demos are played on Prototype Dusty Felts, a soft felt piano plugin. Any piano, bell or string sound works.

1. The Lowered Middle Note:

Am (A C E), Asus2 (A B E), Am, Asus2

This is the trick from our drill tutorial, taken one step further. Play a minor chord, then play the same chord with the middle note dropped one half step. The bass note never moves, so only the colour changes. That's why it can loop forever without getting annoying.

This is the safest starting point. Keep the 808 on A for all 4 bars and add a simple bell melody on top.

2. The Half Step Drop:

Am (A C E), Bb (Bb D F), Am, Bb

The root moves up one half step to a major chord that shares no notes with the first one. That's what gives it the horror movie sound, and it's one of the most used moves in dark drill melodies.

🔥 Pro Tip: slide your 808 from the A up to the Bb on bar 2 for a heavy, dragging low end.

3. The Descending Bass:

Am (A C E), G (G B D), F (F A C), E (E G# B)

The bass walks down one step at a time: A, G, F, E. The last chord is E major, and its G# pulls hard back to the A when the loop restarts. If the E major sounds too classical for your beat, swap it for E minor (E G B) for a colder sound.

4. The Tritone Shadow:

Am (A C E), Eb (Eb G Bb), Am, Eb

The two root notes are 6 half steps apart (the tritone), the most unstable interval there is. Eb major barely belongs to A minor, which is exactly the point. This one is bold, so use it as a short tag at the end of an 8 bar loop, or keep the 808 on A while the chord changes above it.

5. The Minor Four Turnaround:

Am (A C E), Dm (D F A), Am, E (E G# B)

A simpler, more classic minor loop. It's less menacing than the half step drop and leaves more room for a vocal, which makes it a good choice for a verse.

6. The Lift:

Am (A C E), F (F A C), G (G B D), Am

Every chord stays inside the scale, so nothing clashes and the loop feels bigger and more open. Use it for the hook or the second half of your beat after a darker verse. The 808 follows the root: A, F, G, A.

7. The Phrygian Crawl:

Am (A C E), Bb (Bb D F), G (G B D), Am

The bass crawls around the root: up a half step to Bb, down to G, then home to A. You get the dark half step from progression 2, plus somewhere for it to fall.

This one is perfect for sliding 808s. Slide the 808 from the Bb down to the G for a menacing drag.

8. The Chromatic Bass:

Am (A C E), Bdim (B D F), Bb (Bb D F), Am

The top notes barely move here. B diminished and Bb major share the D and the F, so only the bass note changes (B to Bb) before it falls back to A. It's smooth and full of tension, which makes it great for intros and the last 4 bars before a hook.

9. The Two Chord Loop (Minor To Flat Six):

Am (A C E), F (F A C), Am, F

This is one of the most used drill progressions out there. In C minor it's Cm to Ab, and you'll hear it in a lot of NY drill. Two chords, one note of difference at the top, and the 808 drops from A to F. Simple, dark and easy to rap over.

10. The Harmonic Pull:

Am (A C E), F (F A C), Dm (D F A), E (E G# B)

It starts like progression 9, then steps down to Dm and lands on E major, which pulls you straight back into the loop. It's a great way to make a 2 chord loop feel like it's going somewhere.

Download The Free Drill Chord MIDI:

All 10 progressions in A minor, D minor and G minor (30 MIDI files). Each file is 4 bars at 140 BPM with 2 parts: the chords, and a root note bass line for your 808.

To use them in FL Studio, unzip the download, then drag a .mid file into the playlist or the channel rack. Not in the right key? Select all the notes in the piano roll and move them with the up and down arrow keys.

Add your 808:

Your 808 should play the lowest note of each chord. Here's progression 3 again, with drums and an 808 following the root notes A, G, F and E:

Keep the first 3 bars simple and save the slide for the last bar, so the listener hears the loop is about to restart. For full 808 rhythms you can copy, check out our 808 patterns for trap and drill, and for sound selection and slides see our ultimate guide to 808s.

🔥 Pro Tip: deep 808 notes can disappear on phone speakers. Add a little saturation so the higher harmonics carry the 808, and check your beat on a phone before you finish.

Make the chords sound like a real drill beat:

Keep the chords out of the low end:

Chords played below middle C will fight your 808. Keep them in the middle of the keyboard, and if they still sound muddy, cut the low end of the chord channel with an EQ. Start around 150 to 250Hz and listen.

Use close voicings:

Don't play every chord from the root up. Pick the version of the next chord whose notes are closest to the last one, so each note only moves a half step or a whole step. That's how the MIDI in this post is written, and it's why the loops flow instead of jumping around.

Give the chords a rhythm:

Holding each chord for a whole bar is dark and spacious. For more bounce, chop the chords into short stabs on the same 3-3-2 rhythm as drill hi hats (steps 1, 4, 7, 9, 12 and 15), so the chords and hats lock together. Our hi hat guide shows the 3-3-2 bounce step by step.

Add a top melody and effects:

Take the top note of each chord and turn it into a short repeating phrase on a bell or pluck. Then add reverb, or reverse the melody, which is a signature drill effect. Here's how to reverse samples in FL Studio.

Want Drill Melodies Already Made?

The Titans Sample Pack has high energy, dark melodies and chords with MIDI, made for hip hop, trap and drill. The pack is 224MB, has 149 files and is 100% royalty free.

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The Essence Melody Pack has 30 high quality melodies, including high energy trap and drill melodies, old school hip hop and R&B. It's 100% royalty free.

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CONCLUSION:

Drill chords don't need to be complicated. Two to four minor chords, one dark move and plenty of space for the 808 is all it takes. Start with one of the progressions above, then make it your own with a different rhythm, a top melody or a new key.

To summarize, here's how to make drill chord progressions:

1. Pick a minor key and a tempo between 130 and 150 BPM
2. Use 2 to 4 chords and loop them every 4 bars
3. Add one dark move: a half step, a diminished chord or a falling bass
4. Keep the chords in the middle of the keyboard
5. Let the 808 follow the root note of each chord

Thanks for reading and happy producing!

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Written by Luke Alderson