The 12 Most Common Chord Progressions (and Songs That Use Them)

The most common chord progression is I-V-vi-IV, which is C, G, Am, F in C major, and the same four chords started on Am (vi-IV-I-V) carry hits from “Zombie” to “Despacito”. Rock, country and blues grew up on I-IV-V, and jazz still runs on ii-V-I. Below are the 12 you will hear most, each written in Roman numerals and spelled out in an easy key, with songs that use it.

What is the most common chord progression?

Hooktheory, whose TheoryTab site breaks songs down chord by chord, labels I-V-vi-IV “the most popular progression” on its list of common progressions. Numerals like these are how musicians write a chord progression, a set order of chords, because the same numerals work in every key. Number the notes of the major scale 1 to 7, build a three-note chord on each one using only notes from that scale, then write the major chords in uppercase and the minor chords in lowercase (the one diminished chord gets a small circle). That system is called Roman numeral analysis, and in C major it gives you seven chords that all sit on the white keys of a piano:

Minor keys count from their own home chord. A minor uses the same seven notes as C major, so its chords are the same seven in a new order: i (Am), ii° (Bdim), III (C), iv (Dm), v (Em), VI (F), VII (G). Some books write the minor-key VI and VII as bVI and bVII; the chords are identical either way.

Most common chord progressions in pop

Pop leans on a few loops built mostly from I, IV, V and vi. The first two are the same four chords in a different order.

1. I-V-vi-IV (the pop four). C, G, Am, F in C major. The loop under U2’s “With or Without You”, Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” and Adele’s “Someone Like You”. It opens at home, pulls away on V, swerves to the minor vi where your ear expects home, and lets IV lead back to the start, so it can repeat for a whole chorus without sounding finished. The comedy band The Axis of Awesome built a 2008 medley, “Four Chords”, out of hits that share it, and our 1-5-6-4 chord progression guide spells it out in all 12 major keys.

2. vi-IV-I-V (the minor start). Am, F, C, G in C major. The pop four started on its sad chord, so the whole loop leans wistful. The Cranberries’ “Zombie” (Em, C, G, D), Linkin Park’s “Numb” and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” run on it. Try this order in a verse and switch to I-V-vi-IV for the chorus: the chorus then starts on the home chord, and the song seems to open up.

3. I-vi-IV-V (the ’50s progression). C, Am, F, G in C major. Also called the doo-wop progression or the “Heart and Soul” changes, after the 1938 Hoagy Carmichael tune that many people first learn as a two-person piano duet. Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me”, The Penguins’ “Earth Angel” and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” use it. Because V comes last and resolves straight into I, every lap of the loop lands firmly at home, where the pop four slides back in from IV.

4. IV-V-iii-vi (the Royal Road). Fmaj7, G7, Em7, Am in C major. Japan calls it ōdō shinkō, the royal road progression, and it is a staple of Japanese pop, from Ikimonogakari’s “Blue Bird” to YOASOBI’s “Yoru ni Kakeru”. Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” uses it too, and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” runs a close cousin with a ii9 chord in place of the IV. G7 promises a return to C, Em7 stands in for it, and the loop falls to Am, so home never quite arrives.

5. I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V (Pachelbel’s Canon). C, G, Am, Em, F, C, F, G in C major. Eight chords from the Baroque canon, which is in D (D, A, Bm, F#m, G, D, G, A). For the first six chords the bass drops a fourth and climbs a step, over and over, so the line walks slowly downhill. Maroon 5’s “Memories” borrows the whole thing, while Green Day’s “Basket Case” and Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger” take most of it and change the ending.

Most common chord progressions in rock, blues and country

Early rock and roll, country and the blues all lean on the three major chords of a key: I, IV and V. The last four entries in this group step outside the major key, first with a borrowed bVII chord and then with three minor-key loops.

6. I-IV-V (the three-chord song). G, C, D in G major. Between them, the key’s three major chords contain every note of its scale, so they can harmonize any melody that stays in the key. As a loop it drives Ritchie Valens’s “La Bamba”, The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” and The Troggs’ “Wild Thing” (A, D, E, D). Songwriter Harlan Howard called country music “three chords and the truth”, and these are the three.

7. The 12-bar blues. A7, D7, E7 in A. I-IV-V stretched across twelve bars, usually with dominant seventh chords. In A: four bars of A7, two of D7, two of A7, then E7, D7, A7 and a final E7 that turns the form around. Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” and Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog” both follow it. A common variant, the quick change, jumps to D7 in bar 2 and back to A7 in bar 3.

8. I-bVII-IV (the Mixolydian rock loop). D, C, G in D. The bVII is a major chord a whole step below home, borrowed from the Mixolydian mode (D E F# G A B C). The verse of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child o’ Mine” goes D, C, G, D, and The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” loops E, D, A, E. On piano, play it in G (G, F, C) and it stays on the white keys.

9. i-VII-VI-VII (the Aeolian loop). Am, G, F, G in A minor. It swings between home and the two major chords below it and never reaches a V chord, so it can cycle for an entire song. Jimi Hendrix’s recording of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” is built on it (Cm, Bb, Ab, Bb). Counted from the relative major (C for A minor), the same chords are vi-V-IV-V, and Hooktheory’s list of common progressions gives that version its own entry.

10. i-iv-v (the minor three-chord song). Am, Dm, Em in A minor. The minor twin of I-IV-V, darker and plainer. Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” moves between Dm, Gm and Am, the i, iv and v of D minor. Swap the minor v for a major E or E7 and the pull home gets much stronger, because its G# sits a half step under A; that major V comes from the harmonic minor scale.

11. i-VII-VI-V (the Andalusian cadence). Am, G, F, E in A minor. Named for the flamenco music of Andalusia in southern Spain. The bass walks straight down A, G, F, E, and the last chord is major, so its G# pushes hard back to Am. Ray Charles’s “Hit the Road Jack” and Del Shannon’s “Runaway” both loop it.

Types of chord progressions: loops, cadences and turnarounds

Most progressions do one of three jobs.

• Loops repeat for a whole verse or chorus. Most of them avoid a hard V to I landing, which is why the pop four, the Royal Road and the Aeolian loop can spin for minutes.
• Cadences close a phrase. A cadence is the chord move at the end of a line, and V to I (G to C) is the strongest one because the B in G rises a half step to C. IV to I (F to C) is softer: the “amen” at the end of many hymns.
• Turnarounds sit at the end of a section and swing you back to the top, like the E7 in the last bar of a 12-bar blues in A.

The last entry is the cadence that jazz leans on more than any other:

12. ii-V-I (the jazz cadence). Dm7, G7, Cmaj7 in C major. Played with seventh chords, it is the basic unit of jazz harmony, and standards such as Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” and Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose” lean on it, often rocking between ii and V before I arrives. The voice leading is tidy: the F in Dm7 holds as the 7th of G7, and the B in G7 holds as the 7th of Cmaj7. In a minor key it becomes Bm7b5, E7, Am: a half-diminished ii, a major V7 and a minor i.

Easy chord progressions for beginners on piano

Start in C major with the pop four, the three-chord song and the ’50s progression, all on the white keys. Play the root with your left hand, one note per bar, and keep your right hand in one spot by moving each finger to the nearest note of the next chord:

Fingers move a step or two at most, and most changes keep one note in place. Count four beats per chord at about 80 BPM, and once the changes feel automatic, move to G major, where G, D, Em, C adds a single black key (the F# in D). For minor loops, A minor gives you Am, G, F, G on white keys only; the Andalusian cadence there needs one black key, the G# in the E chord.

To hear eight of these before you play them, open the free online chord player, leave it in a major key and pick The pop four, Minor start, Doo-wop, Royal road, Three-chord song or Jazz turnaround from the progressions under the pads. The chord pads on the A minor key page play the other two, Andalusian cadence and Minor blues move. On iPhone, Gelato Chord, the chord instrument we make, puts the seven chords of whatever key you choose on seven keys, in scale order and labeled with their chord names, so in a major key the pop four is always the first, fifth, sixth and fourth keys, and ii-V-I is the second, fifth and first with 7ths switched on.