Added: 3 years ago
From: SoundEscape5
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  • Copyright claims involve melody, not harmony so I guess I don't see your point.

  • The most used are for example:

    the typical C, G, Am, F

    and ; Bm, G, D, A.

    jesus christ i have so much stupid poser kids playing these things around my whole school, i try to explain how these chords work, but its really hard to explain. Its all because of the stupid djs that began this ten years ago, now every rapper and dance artist uses this withouth even realising this.

    i am an atheist, but man if i had some rules, using these chords seriously should be mabey be banned for a while.

  • is there a certain strum pattern that you are supposed to use to make it work like this???

  • A TON OF THE SONGS I PLAY ON MY PIANO ARE 4 CHORD SONGS.

    That's how I managed to record over 100 good videos.

    Even my bass guitar cover of BLINK 182 - Damn It...and U2 - With or Without You...

  • How could you miss out "Hey Soul Sister" by Train for the I-V-vi-IV????

  • One of my favorites for vi-VI-I-V is the Cranberries' Zombie. Just go major and bash LOUD during the chorus.

    The way you're strumming it makes it more of an Oasis with Wonderwall (which also fits with the variations here.)

  • playing a year and its now that alot of new songs are all coming together what im having trouble finding is strumming patterns. know of any simple ones (universal ones..ddd du ud )...you got a talent, and you did a great job, im inspired to rock it! thanks

  • These chords are used in a ton of movie soundtracks as well. It's crasy how popular they are.

  • Lol... that's crazy, because most songs use this progression... Wow...

  • dude alot of these songs are wrong

  • There are only 2 things you own the rights to when you make a song the lyrics and the melody. The chords/chord progressions and the beat are not copy-rightable.

    Ironically you can make the same beat using your own kit but you can't take the exact beat as is nor can you sample(you can request sample clearances to be professional and get it).

  • WOW...a young Tom Hanks on the Geeetar ;-) Nice job

  • Thank you for the explanation and music theory.

  • Em - C - G - D is also used on Zombie by ; cranberries.

    it's as simple as that.

    but sounds cool too

  • that's good :)

  • my english teacher brought When I Come Around by Green Day in the class for a listening and I thought that this melody reminds of something. I was thinking for 5 minutes and then I remembered a video made by a badass guy which was what I was searching for. I didn't know that there was When I Come Around in this video I confused it with Farmhouse because of the same chord progression :) I love this video! It's one of the best videos on youtube :)

  • Hmm. Not bad..

    I would definitely have waited till you lost the cold; singing with extra tension can damage your vocal chords. But not bad.

  • What chords are you using? Are just variations of Em, C, G, and, D? Or just Em, C, G, and, D?

  • a lot of these are Am F C G.

    different key to what your playing, they sound very flat in this key.

  • @yubious yea, since i had a cold i wanted to try to make it easier on my voice... granted i prob should have just waited to put this together, but a friend nudged me

  • Yeah a lot of these are AM F C G like save tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry... Although a lot of songs do use the progression Em, Cadd9, G, F#/D.

  • You missed good riddance in the first progression and who's gonna save us by green day and the living end

  • @fosy93 there's a lot out there

  • The last 2 didn't fit at all, but everything else was pretty good. Let it be starts on an F chord if I remeber correctly.

  • hahaha this is great, do you not like coldplay or something?

  • Thanx dude - things are beginning to click into place with theory and this has sealed how people change between scales.

  • man you got the same guitar that i have

  • @snrinternsupvza it's lasted me many yrs, weird shape and all

  • @snrinternsupvza I feel sorry for both of you. 

  • Many of these songs aren't in this key. So, even though a lot of songs use similar or the same chords, the key changes the whole feel of the song. Besides, the rhythm is usually different too.

  • @MusicStudio8 that's the point

  • i request more please

  • @canasfam i hope soon!

  • is it just me or is he really good looking!!

  • I have that keyboard too

  • I've also noticed this before. All the new songs are the same!

  • on under the bridge ur missing a chord its e-b-c#m-g#m-a so in g it would be g-d-em-bm-c

  • But Pachelbel's Canon is I-V-vi-iii-IV-I-IV-V, completely different. I saw the pachelbell rant video but didn't understand how that's similar to I-V-vi-iv, maybe there's a I-V-vi-IV hidden in that eight chord progression above.

    Also, if you're reducing the entire song to an acoustic guitar, it might just be I-V-vi-IV but in a few cases, that's just the base line in the chords might really be iii or variations of IV when they're portrayed as vi's

  • try playing I V ii IV with the main verse from Katy Perry. It will work better

  • @hcarr In the interlude - "Someone call the doctor/ got a case of love bipolar..." it actually is VI IV I V

  • Actually Hot N Cold is I V ii IV

  • To be fair, When I Come Around's VI chord is an octave up from all of the others. The other songs I have no clue about.

  • iv VI I V - thats The Passenger by Iggy Pop too, right?

  • These "artists" are not artists. their producers and song writers all know that this is the catchiest progression and chords, will take the base from it, play around with it a touch and call it a new song, but lately i can sing all songs to one that i always remember "she will be loved" by maroon 5 and that is how i know its all the same over-produced garbage. Its what sells to brainwashed fools

  • Bands literally copy and paste music on a computer and call it their own.

  • I loved this video!

  • Yes thousands of songs share this chord progression and thousands of other songs share other chord progressions (countless blues songs have I-IV-V) and there will be thousands more to come.

    anyways the main thing is that the melody is the most important part of music, and if it happens to fit nicely over a common chord progression then so what.

    However you do have to give credit to the songwriters who can create a melody that fits into a more original chord progression and make it sound good.

  • Bravo Maestro! 

  • Your voice sounds good. You should make another video so we can hear it when you don't have a cold.

  • I don't like using those two chord progressions, they've been overdone way too much. I like to think outside of the box and use chords progessions that people wouldn't usually use but they still sound great like I use Am-Em-G-D or Em-D-Am-C Hell I'll even throw in 7ths and 9ths to really spice things up. Or I use the same chords like G-Gm-Gm7-Gsus...really the sky is the limit when you write music. Why do the same things over and over again?

  • lol i think everyone know's this chord progression. thing is i don't write my music around chord progressions. actually what i do is visualise events based on my own concepts and try and recreate the event in music. if i had to label it myself, i'd probably put it somewhere in the progressive rock/electronica section but it has a very organic sound.

    anyways, great video. really opens your eyes to how much different bands borrow this chord prog

  • CARAMELLDANSEN! That song introduced me to this conspiracy, but it used the progression in a way that made it as catchy as a steel trap!

  • okay so 1 5 6 4 and 6 4 1 5 and 1 2 6 4 are definitely the best EVER. EVER SO EPIC. as a synth player, i have to say they rule the chord world.

  • Thnk you!!!

  • @berrysoftball This wasn't even meant to be comedy.

  • @HomeGrownMalaysian and that is because you were the one who made the video. Yeah, even if it's not comedy it has been done before and as I stated in my original post not original.

  • @berrysoftball I didn't make this video O.O

  • @berrysoftball

    1. This doesn't seem to be made for comedy purposes

    2. There is nothing wrong with doing something that somebody else has done

    3. This is not fail

  • I never noticed or counted how many of a particular band or artist "Hits" are just the same chrod progression with a different vocal melody.

    What band or bands have the most "Hits" that are just the same chord progression? e.g RHCP has 3 I can think of Under the bridge, Soul to squeeze and Other side, it probably has many others too. Just curious to see if a band can have like 10 hits that are just the same song that would be crazy-.

  • play this song plz Richard Marx - One More Time

  • you said in the begin you playing it as em- c - g - d. but it seems you play as i don't remmber the notes but its (022033, 032033,320033,000323) is that right?

  • @oatuvia 022033 is acually a Em7 while a standard Em usually is played 022000. And 032033 is a Cadd9 and a standard C is usually played 032010. As for the D it's usually 000232 not 000323, however you should not strum the low E and A. And in this video he plays the D like this: 200232. It has a F# as the lowest note and doesn't sound so different from a regular D and can replace a regular D in many songs and progressions.

  • pop sucks anyway.

  • i think this is great keep it up :)

  • For the vi-IV-I-V: progression you're missing smashing pumpkins- Disarm lol

  • i beg to differ, but i'm not here to explain myself

  • i like going from this and then going to a 4-1-6-5 progression. and then back to the 6-4-1-5 progression.

  • hahaha you forget the lyrics a lot, don't ya! :P

  • Zombie by the cranberries basically has the same chord progression as the the first set as well :D but that song is shit:P

  • hey hey, no yelling at zombie xD but yea, almost, only it uses Em instead of F

  • The Gaslight Anthem uses "vi IV I V" ALL the time.

    But I love them anyway, people need to listen to lyrics more often rather than popular chords.

  • A lot of Blink songs have the same chord progression.

    C G Am F

  • there are others chords?

  • I'm glad you point out that just because songs use the same progressions that does not mean they are the same.

  • Study Music Theory people and this will all make sense! Its soo simple

  • disarm by smashing pumpkins and zombie by the cranberries works as well but with a little struming change. nice

  • you were quite pleased with yourself after the 'snow' rap werent you ? ;)

  • sarcasm?

  • I think "I'm sailing away" by Styx works as well but I'm not completely sure.

  • Don't forget Dammit by Blink 182, You're Gonna Go Far Kid by The Offspring, and Your Guardian Angel by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. I believe they all have this same progression but I can't be sure haha

  • Don't forget "Mr. Jones"

  • @Postscript624 - Actually Mr. Jones involves a progression of Am F Dm and G chords so.

  • Ah, I usually play it Am F C G, which would explain my confusion. Where I got the idea that it had that chord progression I have no idea...

  • Not sure about most of the songs, but Bon Jovi "It's My Life" has a different progression.You are right about artists borrowing from other artists, but there are only so many notes to choose from.

  • @ninjazeeb - actually the chorus part i play in the medley is 6-4-1-5, so yea it fits, maybe u can't hear it, but again, to all who want to check the theory behind the music, the information is online and in the sidebar for help

  • no guy, the it's my life chorus has that progression

  • In response to RocketCrusader's comment. He is playing Dsus4. That is why he never lifts his pinkie and ring finger. I use that chord for this progression. It works well try it. Very good job. I love this video.

  • good idea for for a video, im amazed at how many songs use the same chord progression

  • Yeah, there are only so many chord progressions. I've even noticed songs like "breathe, just breathe" (or whatever it's called) have the same chord progression as a lot of AC/DC songs!

  • Ah the ovation cc057 from 2001. I own one as well. Piano black. Your strings need some work however, sounds chinsy.

  • capos are for lazy players. Bar chords baby

  • hell yea it sounds better with bar chords anyways

  • its the exact same

  • Daughtry sucks so bad. His songs are so boring

  • Get yourself a capo!

  • Get yourself a life ;)

  • Just one question, how are you playing the D? i can make out the Em, C, and G chords, but I have no idea how you're playing your D..

  • all songwriters know this progression. The art of writing a good popsong is to use this progression in the wright-way and in the wright-situation.

    Its like a color for a painter. For it self its only a colour. But In a context it can become art.

  • @hybrisss - exactly

  • @hybrisss i love the way that you put that

  • @hybrisss Well put. Also, Iron & Wine has a genius slide part to it that distracts you from the fact he's using that chord progression.

  • @hybrisss If only you used "Wright" in the right way and in the right situation.

  • @Mega11414 lol sorry for that mistake.

  • @Mega11414 lol yeah i mean right :D

  • the reason for those who are learning...the basics of music theory teach that when the intervals(distance between 2 notes) with chords(which are harmony) can start with any key as long as the progress to the next note or chord are the same distance as the original key it was played in--ex. f to g# is a whole step and a half--then g# to a# is a whole step. now choose d...then f would be a step and a half. then f to g is a whole step. it will sound the same just in a different key.

  • that progression is also the basis for almost every punk song to. not just pop wich is pretty scary when everyone just decides to stop playing the same progression

  • "kool...

    hottest vid on youtube...

    PLAYBOY/JAY-Z IS D KING OF HIP-HOP...

    pls ck it!

  • well it's not that they actually use this chord progression its just that you can use it to play it along with these songs

  • All the above- T-pain

    Glycerine - Tonic

    And most offspring songs.

  • cool vid...but "hot n cold" by katy perry is I-V-ii-IV, not I-V-vi-IV. You can sing the melody over the latter and it works, but it's actually different in the song.

  • i really really like this :) good on him, hes great :)

  • all you haters quit trashing this guy..and stop giving him your stupid tips.. he's doing great actually helping out a lot of beginner guitarist out there.. and he's just showing you what songs he can play in those chord progressions idiots.. i bet he will tear anyone of you apart..

  • Add Sum 41 - Pieces to your Em-C-G-D list.

  • same progression but wrong key. Dm-Bb-F-C

  • Do you know how many Sum 41 songs have that progression in different keys?

    Almost all of them. "We're All to Blame", "Pieces", "Over My Head", "Still Waiting", "The Hell Song".

    You could almost call it "The Sum 41 progression"

  • OVation rules!!!

  • I'm learning guitar but I have no idea about this I ii iii IV V vi vii....

    Also 'corresponding chords are G-D-Em-C and Em-C-G-D' can you give me link or something to read up on these?

    Thanks for your time.

  • vi-IV-I-V: < whats that??? and whats the strumming pattern

  • funniest comment iv seen on youtube, nearly in tears

  • @kairly1 - thanks!

    yea bad camera, really crap audio quality, still haven't gotten a new one yet

    @jbvrbyy

    that's just reorganizing to make 1-6-4-5... any mix of these 4 will end up sounding extremely familiar

  • Try the C-Am-F-G progression for pretty well every 50's song ever made

  • are you trying to call him gay?

  • good voice

    good playing

    bad acoustics in that room or bad quality of camera

  • Oh man, your voice is great! You should apply for American Idol, y'know?

  • man im not sure about this, what about wonderwall from oasis...?

  • wonderwall is not 1-5-6-4 or 6-4-1-5

    the verse, with fingers kept on 3rd fret b and e strings, is Em-G-D-A.. if the Em was a Bm then yes it would fit this group

  • Your vocals aren't great, but your music and theory is sound.

  • Somebody finally gets that creativity went down the drain years ago. Great medley of terrible music.

  • so, basically all coldplay songs could fit in, huh? :P

  • ops, I wrote that just seconds before your comment about it. :o

    by the way, don't mind you forget the lyrics. you should just invent anything to fill in the blanks. ;)

  • its really good but some of them arent exactly what you said, like the scientist and hot n cold.

    the scientist is Dm Bb F Fadd9 but it sounds right when you play gdemc. hot n cold is G D Am C which is pretty much close enough.

    nice job!

  • @samyosefdrumvid u may be right about Hot n Cold, (though the ii and vi tend to be interchangeable accidents by ear, so congrats on the catch) - for the scientist, yes on piano he moves from F to Fadd9... but that add9 is a G note, shared by the C (the V) which is the 'dominant' chord... the guitar, if say u were playing together with a piano, would likely pick the V to cover that....

    yet again though, thanks to all for catching the minor tweaks, goes to show how everyone can learn from music

  • Awesome, dude...

    The inclusion of Coldplay makes me happy, as they don't usually get a mention in these type of videos.

    Girls won't believe me when I tell them how derivative songs like Lost and The Scientist are until I play 'em for them -together-.

  • The first chord progression also sounded like Kids by MGMT

  • Yep it's the same

  • Thanks 4 the tip man, it helped alot

  • Thanks for the tips man, they helped alot

  • holy shit man your crazy!!

  • you forgot Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins

  • and thanks to all for the feedback, all i did here was try to share some cool music theory in pop culture...

  • @GoLuckyOops - other progressions like this are abound in music, it all surrounds the 1,4,5 of the scale (ex: that's how 12 bar blues is constructed)... look up pachelbel's canon, it too is a very popular progression

    @ORLANDO8urFace - there are so many songs for these progressions.. compiling them for a massive medley might last an hour lol --

    but that's the beauty of music, as i mentioned to start, each of these are unique in their own way, they just share a progression

  • couple things for ya...

    Loved the detailed explination with the chords and all (vi IV...etc) helps a TON with transposing!!!

    other thing, i'm studying to be a music therapist and we often, well, moe than often, we constantly are playing songs on guitar or piano for group involement and such. so having this available has been a HUGE help for me.

    great playing and even if you voice may have been hoarse, you have a very nice tone.

    i'm very interested in what other songs you have for this:)

  • waandddaaaaaaaaa

    <3

  • yours is probably the most thorough explanation of the chords, and also most detailed list of songs thus far. i've collected almost 100 songs that use this format. i'd be glad to send you my list, if you're interested. too long for a comment.

  • RHCP is the only one that is actually hard lol

  • you have real talent...seriously...

  • i like this i also tyed playing it but it didnt sound write at all

  • (oops that was supposed to be E minor in my comment below lol... C major and E minor, good contrast of mood using this relative major and minor chord in the progression)

  • If you know other common progressions please do another video like this. BECAUSE THIS VIDEO IS SO AWESOME! THANK YOU! YOU ROCK! Haha. This is such a good example of well put together and yet basic nicely flowing progressions used in popular songs.

  • AWESOME! Thank you! Awesome! Hey are there other common progressions that are common like this? Also, how do you know what variant chord to use for the dominant chords? This progression sounds good because you use fifth up progressions involving the tonic (C to G, G to D), a strong second up progression (D to E), and then a third down Progression (E to C). And the Major Tonic chord C and relative minor (Am) sound nice and are a good mood contrast.

  • mate that is great work

  • awesome!!

  • it's not stealing, but it is lazy. crap writers like max martin use these as formulae to avoid having to becreative. after all, they're not artists, they're trying to sell posters and magazines of a "singer". the music just needs to be mediocre lyrics and backing.

  • You are really Good I got the chords down but I was wondering if you could give me strumming tips so I can make it sound good cuz for some reason it's not working?

  • disarm - smashing pumpkins. And by the way, the scientist is vi-IV-I... no V.

  • technically yes that is how the piano would play it.... but in recognizing that the bass (or underlying melody of the song) plays the 2, then 4, quickly 5 down to 3, then 2 (each number representing the notes in the scale)

    then that quick 5 and 2 correspond to the V chord's use of the notes 5-7-2 (play the V and it fits when coldplay finishes the progression each time through)

    so i play it that way on guitar

    but yes - indeed you are right

  • what guitar is that?

  • dude..COOL!!!

  • good research man. thanks for taking the time to do this.

  • that was prety cool. like your voice

  • Woah, ultra interesting. O_O

  • Thanks man, a very didactic for us, music noobs! :)

  • I'm interested in what types of music you're into. After having realizations about modern music like you have does it leave you with little to appreciate or do you fall victim to the same conformities as most people? Pop music is pop music for a reason, obviously, but do you still find yourself liking it? What's a sampling of you're average listening habits?

  • Artsy person alert!

  • HAHAHA!

  • is that an ovation cc28?

  • cc057 - discontinued (beauty)

  • thanks man just had a mini epiphany...great job

  • cool why is evrything upside down how did you do that

  • everyone should hear this

  • very nice

  • Thank you again for posting the michelle branch cover...

  • Thanks for your response. Sorry to sound so amateur, but what does "vi-IV-I-V" mean?...are these the strumming patterns? I'm still new to guitar...my apologies.