C Chord Progressions: I IV V vi

Remember from last time:

I. C major
ii. Dm
iii. Em
IV. F major
V. G major
vi. Am
vii(b5). Bdim

Now that you already know about I-IV-V (look above or refer to yesterday's entry), we'll bring in the vi chord in C major: A minor. Several popular chord progressions include some sort of combination of the I, IV, V, and vi chords.

As I-vi-IV-V: C Am F G

As I-vi-V-IV: C Am G F

As IV-I-V-vi: F C G Am (Alternatively, I-V-II-iii)

As V-vi-IV-I: G Am F C (Alternatively, I-ii-bVII-IV)

As vi-IV-I-V: Am F C G (Alternatively, i-bVI-bIII-bVII) - check out Eagle-Eye Cherry's 1998 hit "Save Tonight"

As vi-I-V-IV: Am C F G (Alternatively, i-bIII-bVI-bVII)

C Chord Progressions: I IV V

Remember from last time:

I. C major
ii. Dm
iii. Em
IV. F major
V. G major
vi. Am
vii(b5). Bdim

Many, many, many, many chord progressions in popular music contain some permutation of the I-IV-V progression, and since we're talking about the key of C:

I-IV-V can be replaced by the C, F, and G major chords.

You can change the order of the chords for some familiar-sounding progressions:

As I-IV-V-IV-V: C, F, G, F, and G chords.

As I-V-IV-I: C, G, F, and C chords.

As IV-I-V: The F Lydian-sounding F, C, and G progression. (Also referred to as I-V-II.)

As V-IV-I: The G Mixolydian-sounding G, F, and C progression. (Also referred to as I-bVII-IV.)

All this looks a lot like high school algebra, but it sounds better than it looks (pun intended).