I–V–vi–IV progression

The I–V–vi–IV progression is a common chord progression popular across several genres of music. It involves the I, V, vi, and IV chords; for example, in the key of C major, this would be: C–G–Am–F.^[1] Uses based on a different starting point but with the same order of chords, include:

• I-V-vi-IV (known as Optimistic)
• V-vi-IV-I
• vi-IV-I-V (known as Pessimistic)
• IV-I-V-vi

The 50s progression uses the same chords but in a different order (I–vi–IV–V), no matter the starting point.

Variations

A common ordering of the progression, "vi–IV–I–V", was dubbed the sensitive female chord progression by Boston Globe Columnist Marc Hirsh.^[2] In C major this would be Am–F–C–G. Hirsh first noticed the chord progression in the song "One of Us" by Joan Osborne,^[3] and then other songs. He named the progression because he claimed it was used by many performers of the Lilith Fair in the late 1990s.^[2]

Dan Bennett claims the progression is also called the "pop-punk progression" because of its frequent use in pop punk.^[1]

The vi–IV–I–V progression has been associated with the heroic in many popular Hollywood movies and movie trailers, especially in films released since 2000.^[4]

The chord progression is also used in the form IV–I–V–vi, as in songs such as "Umbrella" by Rihanna^[5] and "Down" by Jay Sean.^[6] Numerous bro-country songs followed the chord progression, as demonstrated by Greg Todd's mash-up of several bro-country songs in an early 2015 video.^[7]

A 2009 song by the comedy group The Axis of Awesome, called "Four Chords", parodied the ubiquity of the progression in popular music. It was written in D major (thus using the chords D major, A major, B minor, and G major) and was subsequently published on YouTube.^[8] As of August 2016, the most popular version has been viewed over 40 million times.^[9]

Examples

Examples of use of the I–V–vi–IV progression include:

• Adele – "Someone Like You" (chorus)^[10]
• Alanis Morissette – "Head Over Feet"^[11]
• The All-American Rejects – "Night Drive" from Move Along^[12]
• The Rolling Stones – "Beast of Burden"^[1]
• The Beatles – "Let It Be"^[1]
• Blink-182 – "Dammit",^[1] "Feeling This",^[1] "Always", "Carousel", " What's My Age Again?"
• Bob Marley & The Wailers – "No Woman No Cry" (verse) (chorus too, but followed by I–IV–I–V)
• Green Day – "When I Come Around"^[1]
• Idina Menzel – "Let It Go" (Chorus)^[13]
• James Blunt – "You're Beautiful"^[8]
• Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean – "Don't You Wanna Stay"^[14]
• Mika – "Happy Ending"^[15]
• P!nk – "Perfect"^[16]

Songs using the vi–IV–I–V progression:

See also

• Roman numeral analysis
• "The Complexity of Songs"

References

Further reading

• Scott, Richard J. (2003). Chord Progressions for Songwriters. iUniverse. pp. 216–218. ISBN 0-595-26384-4. 

External links

• Axis of Awesome - 4 Four Chord Song (with song titles) on YouTube