This Chord Progression Must Die

[flippyshark]

I enjoyed this video from Oz-based comedy band Axis of Awesome.
The I-V-vi-IV chord progression has a long history, but somewhere during the nineties, it became not just ubiquitous, but a trademark of pseudo-soulful lazy, factory-churned music. (It's especially obnoxious when this progression is repeated without variation through an entire song.) Even today, it's the basis of Train's "Soul Sister," an earworm that some people find catchy, probably because they've been hearing it their entire lives. (It's currently on the top of my hate-meter. It's inescapable these days, and that strumming ukelele sounds like the cheesy music that gets played behind product demo videos or insurance ads. And name-checking Mr. Mister? Wow. I'm in a universe of agony.)

For any burgeoning garage bands out there, remember, this progression is best played in the key of C, so to avoid any of those inconvenient black keys. The four chords are:

C Major (C-E-G)
G Major (B-D-G)
A minor (A-C-E)
F Major (A-C-F)

Be sure to play them in this order, over and over and over and over. The chicks will arrive any moment. (I, on the other hand, will run away swiftly.)

OR buck the trend (please!) and switch them around a bit, into this order:

C Major, A minor, F Major, G Major

And you will have the basis of many great doo-wop songs of the fifties and sixties.

For my money, the much more basic I-IV-V (C-F-G) progression is far less irritating and more versatile. I mean, Blitzkrieg Bop,for heaven's sake. I'll take that over "Don't Stop Believing" any day!

[BarTopDancer]

There's another great bit about this called Pachelbel Rant.

[scaeagles]

Sadly, this type of stuff is exactly why I don't listen to much music, and if I find music I enjoy, it's typically because of clever lyrics rather than the music itself.

As a music theory/composition major in school, music simply became a string of mathematical formulas that all seem pretty redundant anymore. The simple fact of the matter is, though, that music is pretty much designed to work a certain way for what our ears are expecting. We like descending fifths (such as end a song with vi-ii-V-I) because the physics of music make us want that, and so most music obeys those rules.

[flippyshark]

Ah, but rules are made to be broken. Hence, my lifelong love of Frank Zappa.

But even within the standard rules and popular conventions, a little variation goes a long way. The progression in question does not please my ear. It's a recipe for trite. (Even the Pachelbel progression - I V vi iii IV I IV V - does not offend my ear nearly so much. It may be cliche, but it's still pretty.) Really, all it takes is a switch to another progression in the chorus or a simple variation in the bridge to make a song sound less horribly redundant. Let It Be has the four-chord progression in the verse, but only once before it shifts to a simple I V IV I in the next measure. I can listen to that song over and over. It doesn't make me feel like I'm being tortured.

It's probably a lot more subjective than sca indicates. What is bliss to my ears is likely poison to others, and much of what is loved by millions makes me want to move to the wilderness.

[Moonliner]

<Fingers in ears>

*Naaa!!!* *Naaaaaa* *Naaaaaaa*

I can't hear you.

*Naaa!!!* *Naaaaaa* *Naaaaaaa*

I like Soul Sister and apparently the less I know the better.....

</Fingers in ears>

[scaeagles]

Well, yeah, even within the "standard" rules there are ways to be creative, or at least much less boring. ii and IV substitute for each other very well, and throwing in an occasional 7th or 9th on a chord makes it much more interesting.

My favorite stuff in school was studying Bach and his voice leading. That guy almost always stayed within the rules but was an absolute master of making it interesting to the ear.

[flippyshark]

Actually, Moonliner, ignore my ranting and learn the amazingly simple progression on your nearest guitar or piano. You might be the life of the party and make young-uns think you're cool. I'm a bit curmudgeonly and elitist where popular music is concerned, but no one else need be.

[flippyshark]

Bach is amazing. I've got the Brandenburg concerti playing as I type this.

[scaeagles]

I share your rants....I just gave up on trying to enjoy any form of popular music and stopped ranting a couple of years after school. People are always surprised when they ask me what kind of music I listen to and I say "I don't".

That being said, every once in a while, for some strange reason I have never figured out, I will hear a piece of music and download it and listen it to over and over and over and over and it runs through my head annoying the hell out of me until I listen to it enough. I have no idea why I do this. Last one I did this with was the main theme from The Last of the Mohicans by Trevor Jones. Listened to it almost non stop for a month to make it stop in my head. Odd.

[flippyshark]

Luckily, studying music didn't wreck it for me, probably in part because I didn't study very hard.


Leo - Your next download - Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart. You'll thank me. (or kill me)