7 super common chord progressions and why they work

this video is sponsored by hook theory today we're going to take a look at seven of the most common chord progressions that you'll find particularly in pop music we're going to have a look at how they sound why they sound the way they do and generally give you a good set of examples of songs that use this chord progression to make it easier to hear it in other examples so let's start with probably the chord progression that you guys are thinking of right now which is the famous four chords of pop music sometimes called the axis progression because it was famously um made into a musical joke by the axis of awesome my life is brilliant my love is pure i saw an angel of that i'm sure that's [Music] [Music] so just there you've already heard a whole bunch of examples of songs using this progression particularly in music i would say after the from the 1980s onward it became increasingly popular to use this chord progression and perhaps that popularity peaked around the late 2000s early 2010s it's hard to say exactly i feel like it's less common today actually than it was 10 years ago but there's loads and loads of songs that use this progression [Music] and it's just a really great progression to to loop [Music] which is why it's used so often often when it's used in a song it will be looped for a extensive period of time potentially for the entire song why it works so well in my opinion is we start with the the root chord then we move away as far away as we can really from that root chord we move to the fifth chord of the key that introduces tension and motion we we now need to go somewhere we can't just stay here so if we wanted to wrap things up we'd go back to one and now we sound completed done but that would be a bit boring so rather than going back to one after the five chord we go to six which offers a different type of resolution not a full resolution and then rather than staying here because once again that would be boring we now introduce a bit more attention by going to the four chord now the four chord much like the five chord doesn't necessarily feel resolved it doesn't want to stay here so we need to go back somewhere and that puts us back the one chord when i find myself in times of trouble mother mary comes to me [Applause] [Music] never mind i'll find someone like you just a small town [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] the next chord progression we're going to talk about is actually a very closely related chord progression to that first progression we talked about this is 6 4 1 5 and why it's closely related is as you may have noticed it's actually the exact same chord progression as the first one but starting with the sixth chord instead it sort of becomes like a minor version a minor key version of that famous four chord progression [Music] [Applause] my me [Music] if you're going to [Music] and actually in that axis of awesome skit that famous video they use the fact that these two chord progressions are related to segway into the other progression to sort of make their list of songs even longer [Music] [Applause] [Music] this chord progression sort of works for the same reasons that the other chord progression that we looked at works it's just a great balance of tension and release that allows it to continue looping around in indefinitely if you wanted to i personally prefer this one over the first one i feel like this has a slight it's kind of more dramatic in a way yeah like we're saying the first chord a minor in this instance is providing a point of rest the four chord introduces some tension the one chord resolves that tension but rather than remaining resolved we then go to our most tense chord the dominant chord which forces the chord progression to continue so we wind up in this perfectly looped chord progression that can just keep going around if it needs to as long as possible the next chord progression actually has a established name it's rare that chord progressions have a a well-recognized name really but this one does it's the andalusian cadence now the andalusian cadence is a chord progression associated originally at least with flamenco music from spain which is why it has the name andalucian cadence andalucia being the southern region of spain but of course it's not just used in flamenco music it's used in a whole range of other styles of music and what is great about this chord progression it just has that sense of descending it's a clear descending progression um starting on the one chord in the minor key the flat seven chord flat six chord and then the five chord and we're getting the major version of the five chord um which helps us then pull back up to the one to continue the loop [Music] and the way the sunlight [Music] i think about today [Music] so happy together [Music] the next chord progression is actually very similar to the andalusian cadence it's just the last chord that has differed so we're still starting on the minor one chord going to the flat seven going to the flat six but rather than then going to the five chord going back up to the flat seven i like to call this chord progression the aeolian vamp because it in these three chords effectively paints us into that aeolian color the natural minor and it has a less directional sound i would say than the andalusian cadence because we're not getting that five chord the five chord undeniably wants us to go back but by avoiding that five chords we remain in a floatier space where we don't necessarily have to go home if we don't want to [Applause] me [Music] [Music] wherever you are [Music] oh every musician can benefit from being able to tell how to play a song just by ear while ear training may sometimes seem like learning a new language it doesn't have to be that difficult hook theory have just released a really fun really effective ear training game called chord crush chord crush will play you a chord progression where only some of the chords are revealed to you and you have to using your ears identify the missing chords even if you've never detected chords by ear before chord crush starts you at the absolute basics and then will build up the difficulty as you progress for a limited time you can get 20 percent off a yearly premium subscription subscribe today at hook theory dot com forward slash david bennett this next chord progression is sometimes called the doo-wop changes or the 50s chord progression it starts on the one chord goes to the sixth chord to the four chord and the five chord and it's called the do-op changes or the 50's chord progression because it was very common in 50s duop music you can imagine [Music] [Music] it fits that style really well doesn't it but it's used in the whole range of styles as you'll see in a minute um why this chord progression is so effective i think is it's just a perfect little little journey away from the tonic back to the tonic so we start on our tonic chord of one then we move to the sixth chord which is still a resolved sound it doesn't sound like we now have to move anywhere so the first two chords are sort of just different types of feeling resolved but then the four chord the subdominant introduces a bit of tension and then the v chord the dominant introduces a load more tension which forces us back around to the beginning to continue the loop um now sometimes this chord progression is wrongly referred to as the blue moon chord progression blue moon being a famous song which supposedly uses this chord progression but it actually doesn't it the blue moon um uses the two chord rather than the iv chord um which is a very very similar progression d minor in this instance would be our two chord which is very similar to our four chord which would be f they're only one note different they both serve a subdominant function in the key so both the blue moon progression and the doo-wop progression are very similar but it's important to remember that they're not identical [Music] earth angel earth angel will you be mine happiness is [Music] [Music] [Applause] baby baby generally speaking the three most important chords of the key are the tonic chord one the four chord the subdominant chord and the fifth chord of the key which is the dominant chord with just those three chords you can create a whole sense of motion the tonic is our home the subdominant is a place away from the home but not um yearning necessarily to return immediately back but then the five really does want to go back it's a point of tension so the combination of these three chords gives us three different shades of tension allowing for that sense of movement [Music] so there are loads of songs written just using those three chords and loads of chord progressions based on just those three chords um one i want to show you now is a chord progression that starts on the one chord moves to the five chord then goes down to four then back up to five [Music] very major scale sounding they're all major key at all major chords [Music] sounds very upbeat doesn't it very happy but yeah once again this chord progression is used in a whole range of styles and can just serve as a really simple but effective bed to keep us in that major scale sounds [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the last chord progression i want to talk about is what i would call the mixolydian vamp it's a chord progression where we basically just through the means of three chords basically get painted into that mixolydian sound so we start on the root chord in this example f then we go to the flat version of the seven chord which is e flat we then go to the four chord b flat and then we go back to one and this is enough to give us that mixolydian sound because mixolydian is exactly the same as the major scale but with the flat 7 degree so the first chord establishes our home base the root of the key f the second chord immediately gives us that mixolydian sound by introducing the flat seven then the b flat gives us another place to go to and then we return back home it also has a very satisfying sound because between the flat seven the four and the one we're moving by the same interval uh a fourth or a fifth depending on your point of view um so effectively you could imagine it as moving around the circle of fifths these chords are very closely related and i think it results in a very sort of epic open sounding chord progression [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh is [Music] [Music] [Applause] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] uh [Music] freedom you gotta give the what to take [Music] and a big thank you as always goes to everybody who supports me on patreon including an extra special thanks going to these [Music] you

Channel: David Bennett Piano

Views: 876,573

Keywords: common chord progressions, famous four, axis of awesome, cadence, vamp, modes, music theory, chords, examples, songs, explained

Id: Vyc8lezaa9g

Length: 20min 57sec (1257 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 23 2022