Common Chord Progression

Major Progressions

I   IV    V
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I   I     IV    V
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I   IV    V     V
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I   IV    I     V
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I   IV    VI     IV
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I   IV    iV     I
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I   VI    II     V
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I   V     vi    iii    IV     I    IV    V
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I   V     vi    IV
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III VI    II    V
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I   II    V     IV
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I   V     IV    iv
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I   III   VI    V7
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I   IV    II    V      I
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V   VI    IV    I
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IV  V     VI    I
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I7  IV7   V7
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i   IV7   V9
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I   vi    IV     V
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vi  IV    I      V
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ii  IV    V
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VI  IV    I
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Minor Progressions

i   iv    v
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i   iv    V
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i   ii    V     i
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i   VI    III   VII
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ii  V     I
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The plain idea

A chord progression is the sequence of chords under a song, the harmonic road the melody travels on. The Roman numerals above describe progressions in any key: in C major, I–IV–V is C–F–G; in G it’s G–C–D. Learn a progression once as numbers and you can play it in every key.

A handful of progressions carry an astonishing share of popular music:

Progression	In C	In G	Sound and examples
I–IV–V	C F G	G C D	the backbone of blues, rock’n’roll, folk (“La Bamba”, “Twist and Shout”)
I–V–vi–IV	C G Am F	G D Em C	the modern pop progression (“Let It Be”, “With or Without You”, “Someone Like You”)
vi–IV–I–V	Am F C G	Em C G D	the same chords, starting on minor: moodier
I–vi–IV–V	C Am F G	G Em C D	the 1950s “doo-wop” progression (“Stand by Me”, “Every Breath You Take”)
ii–V–I	Dm G C	Am D G	the heart of jazz
12-bar blues	C C C C / F F C C / G F C G		the form underneath blues and early rock

Why it matters

Progressions are the shortcut to playing hundreds of songs. When you recognise “that’s just I–V–vi–IV”, a new song is 80% learned before you start. They also make writing songs much less mysterious: choose a progression, play it on a loop, and hum melodies over it until one sticks. That is how a great many songs are actually written.

An everyday analogy: a journey with landmarks

Each chord has a role, a bit like stops on a commute. I is home. IV is a pleasant detour that moves you away. V is the last stop before home, full of anticipation. vi is home’s shadowy twin, the relative minor, sharing two notes with I. A progression is a route between these stops, and the satisfying ones end with V→I, the train pulling into home station.

A worked example: the 12-bar blues in A

One bar per chord (four beats each), with the dominant 7th chords that give the blues its flavour:

| A7  | A7  | A7  | A7  |
| D7  | D7  | A7  | A7  |
| E7  | D7  | A7  | E7  |

That’s I–I–I–I / IV–IV–I–I / V–IV–I–V. The final E7 (the “turnaround”) sends you back to the top. Play it with a shuffle rhythm and improvise over it using the A minor pentatonic scale (A C D E G) and you are playing the blues. This exact form underlies Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”, and Elvis’s “Hound Dog”.

The minor progressions above, decoded

i–iv–v and i–iv–V: in A minor, Am–Dm–Em or Am–Dm–E. The major V (E, borrowed from the harmonic minor scale) gives a much stronger pull home, which is why classical minor pieces almost always use it.
i–VI–III–VII: in A minor, Am–F–C–G. The same four chords as the pop progression, starting on the minor; epic and anthemic.
ii–V–I and its minor form ii°–V–i are the building blocks of jazz standards.

Common misconceptions

“Using a common progression is unoriginal.” Melody, rhythm, lyrics and arrangement make a song distinctive. Thousands of great songs share four chords.
“Progressions must start on I.” Starting on vi, IV or ii changes the mood completely.
“You need all the chords of the key.” Plenty of hits use just two or three.

How it connects

Music Theory, Triads, Musical Keys, D Major
Songs to Learn: spot the progression in each.

The truth revealed: a few chord journeys underpin most of the music you know. Learn the routes, and you can travel anywhere.