The I–V–vi–IV progression.

I–V–vi–IV, said out loud as "one, five, six, four", is the most used chord progression in pop. In C major it is C – G – Am – F: the home chord, the dominant, the relative minor and the subdominant, one bar each, round and round. It has been called the four-chord song, the pop-punk progression and the sensitive-female progression, and every one of those names points at the same four chords.

Why it works

The progression never resolves and never gets stuck. I is home. V is the chord that most wants to return to I, but instead of going home it slips to vi, the relative minor, which shares two notes with I and sounds like a shadow of it. IV then leans back toward I, and the loop starts again. Every chord is diatonic, so any melody from the major scale fits over all four, and the bass line (C, G, A, F) moves in a wide, singable shape. Because the resolution is always one bar away, a verse can run on it for a minute without tiring, and a chorus can ride the same chords with a bigger melody.

Rotations and variants

The same four chords in a different order are different progressions, and each has its own songs.

• I–V–vi–IV with a ii (C – G – Am – Dm): swapping the last chord for ii softens the turn.
• In minor: the minor-key cousin is i–VI–III–VII (Am – F – C – G, the same chords heard from A minor), on the A minor chord progressions page.

Songs built on it

Verses or choruses that use I–V–vi–IV, with the year of release.

• Let It Be, The Beatles (1970)
• Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver (1971), chorus
• No Woman, No Cry, Bob Marley and the Wailers (1974)
• Don't Stop Believin', Journey (1981)
• With or Without You, U2 (1987)
• Someone Like You, Adele (2011)

And on the vi–IV–I–V rotation: Zombie, The Cranberries (1994); Numb, Linkin Park (2003); Apologize, OneRepublic (2007).

Related progressions

• The I–IV–V progression
• Major chord progressions
• Sad chord progressions

Piano sounds by the Salamander Grand Piano (Alexander Holm), CC BY 3.0.