What it sounds like
Progressive house started in early-90s UK clubs (Sasha, John Digweed, Nick Warren) as the long-form answer to the four-bar build of euro-house — tracks that evolved over 12 minutes, layering elements in and out so gradually that you couldn’t point to where the energy started rising. Sasha’s Xpander (1999) is the canonical statement. By the late 2000s, deadmau5’s Strobe and Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff had brought the form into festival main rooms, and Eric Prydz built an entire career on the patience the genre demanded.
A bar in and you can place it: a rolling 4-on-the-floor at 126–130 BPM, chord pads that bloom across 8 or 16 bars (not 4), and a lead motif that takes 32 bars to fully reveal itself. The drop, when it finally lands, is cathartic — but only because the producer earned it through eight minutes of restraint.
The chord moves
Progressive house leans on lush minor 9th and major 9th cycles — same descending DNA as melodic techno but with more emotional bloom. The classic move is i–VI–III–v in natural minor, voiced wide across two octaves. Chord changes happen every 8 or 16 bars, not every 4, which is what gives the genre its sense of patience.
--chord minor9 --voicing wide --pattern pad and let each chord sit there for half a phrase before the next one arrives.
The groove
4-on-the-floor at 126–130 BPM, no swing. The kick is deeper than tech house, with a sub layer that shakes the room. Open hat on the offbeats. Closed hat on 16ths, riding low. Clap on 2 and 4 with plate reverb tail that lasts a full beat.
The bass is offbeat eighth notes with subtle filter movement that opens through every 16-bar phrase. The percussion fills (toms, shakers, ride bell) build very slowly — a single shaker enters at bar 17, a tom roll at bar 33, a ride bell at bar 49. The genre’s secret is in the timeline.
The sounds
- Chord pad: rich poly synth with 600ms+ attack, long release, hall reverb. Sidechained to the kick.
- Lead/arp: long-attack pluck or arp with delay and reverb. Often a sequence that evolves across 64 bars.
- Bass: deep sub + warm mid-bass on offbeats. Filter modulation across 16-bar phrases.
- Drums: 909 kit, plate-reverb-tailed clap, processed open hat. Layered toms for fills.
- FX: 32-bar white noise risers. Reverse cymbal at section boundaries. Vocal swells (no full vocal, just texture).
Production tells
Want it modern? Brighter top end, tighter sidechain, more compression. Eric Prydz’s recent work is dryer and tighter than his 2010s output.
Want it 1999-Sasha-Xpander-vintage? Longer reverb tails, wider stereo, master at -14 LUFS so the dynamics breathe. The genre needs space to feel epic — over-compressing kills the patience.
F#m9 → Dmaj9 → Amaj9 → C#m9
Click to hear it.
Listen to
Three records that show the style at full strength. Read them as listening pointers, not templates to copy.
Xpander
Sasha
listen ↗
Opus
Eric Prydz
listen ↗
Strobe
deadmau5
listen ↗
Six recipes
Six ways to cook Progressive house.
One starter recipe, three variations that each take the style in a different direction, one sectioned recipe, and one curated Live handoff recipe. Each one cooks from a Markdown recipe — edit it before the MIDI lands in your DAW.
Starter
Festival Lift Intro
A long-form offbeat house template with stable pulse, octave bass, wide sustain pads, and a clean upper response so the arrangement can expand quickly.
Study: Eric Prydz, “Opus” (2015). Use the source for pacing and expansion only; keep the generated idea rhythmically original.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_festival_lift_intro.mdVariation
Clipped Return Stabs
A short-hook alternate built from clipped stabs and a restrained lead for section-level contrast.
Study: Swedish House Mafia, “Don't You Worry Child” (2012). Use the reference energy profile only; keep the returned lead motif original.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_clipped_return_stabs.mdVariation
Gate Pulse Arc
A tighter, more urgent alternate with sixteenth-gate rhythm, octave pulse, and brighter shimmer support.
Study: Alesso, “Years” (2012). Focus on arrangement timing and lift points, not on copying any top-line motif.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_gate_pulse_arc.mdVariation
Swell Recall
A broader alternate with cinematic movement, slower pad motion, and a top line designed for long section transitions.
Study: Deadmau5, “Strobe” (2009). Treat the swell phrase as timing reference only; write your own hook shape after import.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_swell_recall.mdSectioned
Long Arc Arrangement
A full-song sketch with section-ready returns, a long intro hold, and DAW-ready full plus section MIDI exports.
Study: Dirty South, “City of Dreams” (2012). Treat the arrangement motion as scaffolding, not a finished form.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_long_arc_arrangement.mdLive handoff
Live Long Build
A practical handoff pack for arranging builds and returns, with section MIDI files and arrangement-friendly lane behavior.
Study: Axwell, “Center of the Universe” (2013). Keep this as a bridge-focused sketch; write your own topline and arrangement transitions afterward.
python jamburgr.py --config configs/recipes/progressive_house/progressive_house_bridge_ready_long_build.mdOpen in Live or Download uses the local bridge on this Mac. Download MIDI works in any DAW.
Ready when you are
Cook a Progressive house pack.
Drop this in your terminal and you'll have a Standard MIDI pack in a folder, ready to drag into Live. Edit anything, swap any sound, throw out what doesn't work.
python jamburgr.py --key "F# minor" --style progressive_house --progression i,VI,III,v --pattern pad --output-mode pack --out ./jams/progressive-house