I–V–vi–IV chord progression
The four chords behind hundreds of pop songs. If a song sounds familiar after four chords, it’s probably this.01
In every key
Roman numerals name each chord by its place in the key: I is home, IV and V are the major chords around it, ii, iii and vi the minor ones. The same pattern works in any key.
| Key | Chords | How to play it | Practise |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | C G Am F | Open chords | Play along |
| G | G D Em C | Open chords | Play along |
| D | D A Bm G | Barre chords, or capo 2 with C shapes | Play along |
| A | A E F♯m D | Barre chords, or capo 2 with G shapes | Play along |
| E | E B C♯m A | Barre chords, or capo 4 with C shapes | Play along |
| F | F C Dm B♭ | Barre chords, or capo 5 with C shapes | Play along |
| B♭ | B♭ F Gm E♭ | Barre chords, or capo 3 with G shapes | Play along |
| E♭ | E♭ B♭ Cm A♭ | Barre chords, or capo 3 with C shapes | Play along |
02
Songs that use it
- “Let It Be” – The Beatles
- “With or Without You” – U2
- “No Woman, No Cry” – Bob Marley
Chords only, as usually played. The songs themselves aren’t included.
03
The change to practise
In C the slowest change is C → G: nothing stays down, so land all fingers as one shape.
Play along in time
Chordbyte plays the progression with a metronome and a one-bar count-in, shows each chord as it comes, and has four strumming patterns from one strum per chord to “old faithful”. Pick a key in the table above, or start in C.
Play I–V–vi–IV in C04