Songs that use the 1 3 6 4 chord progression
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- čas přidán 16. 05. 2024
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What I would call the "She's Electric" or "Second Dominant Axis progression", this progression is really quite common across many styles of pop and rock.
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0:00 I - III - vi - IV
1:02 Examples
2:39 Variations
3:40 Pianote
4:20 Secondary Dominant
7:32 Patreon
When I heard the progression the first song that came to mind was “All my favourite songs” and I couldn’t believe when he played it!
I think this is the first time I’ve recognised a song from its chord progression alone
Philip Glass uses a lot of chord progressions where, in close voicing with inversions, he shifts between chords by moving one or two notes in each triad a semitone (up or down, in similar or contrary motion) to the next.
"I III vi IV" reminds me of a progression he has used in a number of pieces (most notably the second movement of the 'Tirol' Piano Concerto and 'Truman Sleeps'/'Setting the Sail' from 'The Truman Show', as well as a couple of his Piano Etudes) but starting on "vi", to go "vi VI I III", which translates into minor as "i VI III V" (translating "vi" to "i") so, instead of "C E a F" in C major, he uses "a F C E" in A minor (with voice leading: "ACE ACF GCE G# BE" - and moving the E down to D briefly to further bring us back to A minor with a transitional "g#°" (G# min dim)).
One interesting thing I noticed about the use of the IV-iv plagal sigh with this progression is that the chromatic note in iv is enharmonic to the one in III: in C, III (E major) contains a G♯, while iv (F minor) contains A♭. So there's a nice consistency there, which may make it easier to come up with a melody (or when writing a melody in the I-III-vi-IV using that note, may make the IV-iv present itself). Of course, the IV-iv-I is a pretty common twist anyway, so maybe it doesn't need that much explaining.
I've got to say David I am addicted to your videos! Easily the best out there! Thanks ever so much for the incredible work and the straightforward way you present it. Many thanks, Warren
Thank you Warren! I love your videos too! 😀😀
Wow! What an honour!@@DavidBennettPianoCan I email you? Love what you're doing
Thanks all.@@DavidBennettPiano
HNY Wazza! Rock ON in '24! \m/
These "songs with the ,... chord progression" videos are amazing. You have a way of explaining the theory behind it in the most illuminating way. Thank you!
For me it's the L'amour Toujours progression. It's the first song that I hear when I hear this.
Yes! Crazy that it wasn’t mentioned
I hear You Got It when I hear it
The riff for 'Lithium' by Nirvana starts with this progression, although it's mostly power chords.
I don't think I've ever seen a Nirvana song used as an example in one of David's videos. I feel like he might not like the band.
@@reginaldperiwinkleI think it rather has to do with the fact that, as said, it mostly is power chords. The point of interest of these videos is exploring chords that are not common, and this one as to do with the fact that this progression is non diatonic with the major I to major III. However, when using only power chords, you remove that point of interest by using only the tonic and the fifth.
@@thegreatnamehere5684 Exactly. A series of major/minor ambiguous power chords is not the same as the progression that's being discussed. Also, I highly doubt David has particular enmity towards Nirvana. I don't think he goes around saying "Curt Cobain is bollocks!"
@@thegreatnamehere5684 Nirvana songs are a lot more nuanced than they may appear. Often the power chords are fleshed out by note choices in the vocal melody. Rick Beato has done a video on In Bloom, I think, where he highlights chromaticism as the vocal plays the thirds. I'd love to see a breakdown of a Nirvana song on this channel - or early REM, as they are often quite unpredictable. Great work though! And happy new year to both the channel and it's viewers...
This was very notable by it's absense. David doesn't seem to respect rock bands or guitar players in general, which is fine, I guess
After 68 years on this planet, I finally learned what a chord progression is from you. I know nothing about music, yet listening to it has been the love of my life, but there is a chord progression I've heard in some songs that I desperately want to learn about. It melts my heart every time I hear it. John Mayer uses it in his song I guess I just fee like, and it happens 7 to 8 seconds into the guitar solo. It feels like it plunges you into the depths of sorrow, but then the following chords gradually pull you back up from there.
I'm pretty sure the chord progression in that song is mostly just a I-IV most of the time with a vi thrown in there every now and then in the verses. As far as I can tell, the chords for the solo are that same I-IV vamp, but the shift in tone and mood are due mostly to John Mayer's lead guitar work. He uses tonicization and modal mixture (very common in blues guitar, especially his brand of blues guitar) which puts those same "boring" chords in a brand new and different context.
More specifically, he uses the b3 and b6 degrees of the scale, which are very common in blues and hint at modulation from ionian mode to dorian or aeolian, or just a general minor modal center
@@FaustinaFalcon8 Thanks. :)
All you need is love at the chorus, on the third part of the chorus has a I III7 vi V IV V I which is relatively similar, this 1 to 3 major (especially major 7th) is an element in chord progressions that people find very pleasing, and with good reason as it sounds amazing
I think Bo Burnhams 'Kanye rant' where he sings ablut Pringles and mental health uses it as well. Such a great progression. Thanks for the Video
Bar Italia by Pulp and Bones by Will Wood and the Tapeworms also use this progression
Excellent David!! Some well explained theory about this common progression as well.
I absolutely love these videos! I know a modest amount of music theory, but building chord progressions is something I still struggle with. Theses breakdown videos really help me to understand these changes and how they function. Thank you David!!
Much more satisfying than a I V iv VI. Greetings from germany and you all have a happy new year!
Santeria by Sublime, When It Rains It Pours by Twiddle, and Linoleum by NOFX also use this progression!
Great video David!
Great job Dave, rock on in '24! \m/
I think I know a bit about music theory but I always learn something from your videos. The III being the V of vi is something that never would have occurred to me. You are an excellent teacher David so keep up the good work. Thanks.
I was looking at the chord progression of Together by The Raconteurs earlier today and it was very close (by staying diatonic) : I iiim vim IV.
It’s very interesting to see how this small variation of the third degree change a lot on the feeling of this progression.
Thanks a lot for your videos, they’re really helpful and one of the best I watch on CZcams !
Another great video David
THIS CHORD PROGRECION IS LIKE THE THE OFICE INTRO!
Can you make more videos about more different/interesting chord progressions that use more non diatonic chords and weird patterns? Really love your channel but kinda getting bored of the typical pop chart ones and they've been covered lots already on other channels 😅. I miss the unique videos you released in the past and hope you can keep doing those and less algorithm-pleasing stuff (which is hard I understand)
We need him to cover all the songs that use Giant Steps Chord progression😀
Jiminy Glick: I'm a huge fan. Not the current stuff, but the older, better things you used to do. 🙂
well since it’s using a major 3 and not a minor 3, it is non diatonic right?
@willelliot8928 true but I'm thinking of stuff like more complex Radiohead or Beatles songs
I couldn't agree more. I didn't even realize why some newer videos have been less interesting to me than older videos, but you've got it spot on. at this point in my music theory journey, I'm pretty familiar with all of these chord progressions and I'm able to identify them and I'd like to learn some new ones that are less easy to understand
Finally a simple explanation of the function of the secondary dominant. Thank you.
One song that comes to mind is ‘Good News’ by Mac Miller. It wraps the progression up interestingly as well
YESS! it was the first thing i thought of
These are my favorite videos of yours. 😊
Happy new year
Love your videos
A personal favourite of mine, I won’t lie. One I find myself falling back to more than I probably should.
Please make a video on long chord progressions. Most of the ones you have are 4 chord progressions. Would like to see longer ones like Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix.
I love these chord progression videos! I bet you would make for a great DJ with this knowledge. 🙂
THAnk you for making such good quality videos
Thanks 😊
Fantastic thank you
I love this chord progression and it's always been my favourite. It's really versatile as you can really start on any chord and still have it sound powerful. Marketland by Lemon Demon starts on the III and Drink by Destroy Boys starts on the IV.
No doubt I'm going to steal this chord progression. Cheers David
Happy new year DBP .
“Jukebox” by Jason also uses this progression. I remember loving that track but not really knowing what it was that was amazing. It’s only in the past year or so I’ve been very interested in harmony and started investigating things like that.
6:53 "It's that chromatic note, the G# which is doing that lifting onto the next chord, and as you can see we get this lovely line..." exactly! And in fact, there are many chords you can use instead of the V/vi chord in order to get the same line and the same effect. The simplest is I+ which makes this line into a line cliché, but you can also have a vii°/vi which is stronger than the V/vi, and there is also the option to use the less traditional chord I+sus2 (which in the key of C major is C-D-G#, which you may also call G# b5 or the VIIb5/vi) which still remains on the C like the I+ chord but has the D of the diminished chord, to have a completely twisted chord that doesn't have any of the notes of the "standard" V/vi except for the secondary leading tone that makes it work the same way.
bo burnham uses this quite often - inside's goodbye and words words words are 2 examples off my head
Art is dead too :)
I was trying to play this chord progression on guitar, and I knew it sounded familiar, it's the happier than ever progression
The bridge of Silverstein - My Heroine (uses the I-V/vi-vi-V-IV variant) 😍
I feel like it pops up in bridges pretty often even when it's not the main progression, either in the normal version or with the loop shifted back to start on the IV(-I-V7/vi-vi)
That first chord in the Lady Stardust clip, looooove that voicing so much!
Damn yes me too, it’s gorgeous what is it
I call it the Alternative 1-5-6-4. As someone who, well, desires some more variety, I see this as an absolute win
lovely chords
Thanks for making this. I’ve heard this progression in many pop songs, but I’m not a music theorist so I could never place what it was.
One of my favorite ones
I need a music theory course. :Learn so much from your vids......but need the entire framework to hang each piece on. You're an excellent teacher . thanks.
Maybe try watching a music theory iceberg video and learn each topic from top to bottom
@@je4a301- I know it was a suggestion for someone else, but I think I am gonna steal it and run with it, cause I too wanted to have some learning framework. So thanks a lot!
Will do. Thank you@@je4a301
It's absolutely wild to me that one chord can cause such a drastic change in the feel of a song. Melodically this one feels just emotional for some reason. Lovely video David
Fun fact: This chord progression is exactly the same as another progression you talked about in another video, the Harmonic Minor Axis progression, except that progression starts on the vi chord instead
Agreed
Hey man, your videos are totally lacking any sort of bullsh*t or filler! Thank you for hitting the mark and making excellent content, every video is a gem!
YES! I can't be the only one that immediately associates this chord progression with She's Electric and Married With Children haha. Thanks, David.
"I'm so tired" by Fugazi is the music I have associated to this progression. Is played with a piano in the record and it's great stuff.
The music of Supertramp would be wonderful to explore!
Yes, I agree...that us one band, who wrote amazing songs that have stood the test of time, relatively speaking, that NO one talks about or analyzes...why???
One more thing this also does is strengthening the sixth and weakening the base if it is repeated. In case of C-E-Am-F, it may be heard as Am-F-C-E. It makes this a very "round" progression.
There is a great song from Venezuela that uses this progression. La Casa by Caramelos de Cianuro
Before the video started, I saw an ad and it was you in the ad so for a second I thought that this was just how the video started.
Holy shit I just started writings songs a couple months ago as a hobby and almost this exact progression was my first song lol. Just goes to show how much work I have ahead of me and how music really boils down to personal touch rather than huge new ideas (those are great too ofc haha)
Great video as always. But how do you come up with so many songs? Do you listen systematically to hundreds of songs and write down the harmonic structure, do you just remember a huge lot of songs, do you have written sources,. How do you manage the sheer numbers? Anyway, your work is clever and useful and entertaining, bravo! 👏👏👏👏👏🏽👏🏽👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
Australian band Grinspoon have a song called No Reason. The verse is mostly this progression.
I remember learning about the function of the leading tone in classical music (raised 7th in the minor key) when I was in school and would love to see a video about it's use in pop music if you've not done one already.
Check out my video on the “harmonic minor scale” 😊
@@DavidBennettPiano will do, thanks!
Wow this really clicked for me, thanks!
I don’t see Lady Stardust as a typical pop song. Nice work, thanks for sharing
It might have been interesting to hear a few examples using iii instead of III, this maintaining a diatonic progression, just to hear how they differ.
Yes, I immediately recognized that Cage the Elephant song when you first played progression.
Top quality content.
Thank you 😊
The song "monster" from adventure time also uses this secondary dominat progression (in this case G B7 Em C)
A song I like that uses the variation at 2:40, is ‘Maybe Man’ by AJR
2:33 A pretty big recent French song that uses this variation is Mr/Mme by Loïc Nottet
What i wish for in the new year is to get better at linking different chord progressions together so I can right better songs.
If you have made an upload like this, could you please point me in the direction of it, but if not please help by making one.
All the very best for the Hogmanay ❤
I just love these chord progressin videos, thank You very much for this one as well, great job and also the Happy New Year of 2024 to You🙂🙂😊😊
Could you analyze the album "A Charly Brown Christmas" and explain what makes it so great. Probably the best album I have in my collection.
This is my all-time favorite chord progression, and I had always known that borrowing the E major/E7 was a big reason it appealed to me - but somehow I never noticed the very obvious walk up from G->G#->A
Embarrassed that I missed that for what, 20 years now 😂 But glad to have it shown to me
Great explanation! Relied heavily on this for a song I released recently called Play the Game. That major to Minor IV chord resolving to the I has a real 'memories from the past' feel to it in my opinion. Keep up the good work David!
If you know piano or an instrument, try out making the 3 a major 7th and adding a 2 7th and then doing the 4 to 4 minor its beautiful and really emphasises that feeling for me even more
Brilliant work as always. These chord progression videos are so underrates honestly. I really need to go back and watch the ones I missed!
Bar Italia by Pulp uses it, but with a minor 4th.
David Bennett FTW!
😀😀😀😀
It’s a negative harmony near palindrome. It would be if the III were minor, or the IV were minor. Its negative is i bVI bIII v, or vi IV I iii - which you see is a very similar progression. The III leads toward the minor and the IV (or iv more so) leads down to the major. Every new use of a progression has its own distinct emotional context, but it has a very bittersweet yet perhaps urgent sound, and its negative is more urgent with some passing bittersweetness. That’s amplified by the iv, or the V in the negative version.
Also - there’s another Sia song that uses it: “Never Gonna Leave Me”.
I find it amazing that I wrote a song with this progression but never knew this much about it.
Hello David, I really like your videos and you've been really helpful to me to understand music theory and etc.
I'd like to propose you to make some videos about rhythms too. Not compass formulas, but rhythms like brazilian funk, reaggeton, and others. Idk if you learned this on university and know how to talk about it, but i think it's a very interesting and important topic to present on your channel
Once again, thanks for your videos, i cant see myself learning music theory not from your channel
Hell yeah! It'd be awesome to see him talk about rhythms like Merengue and Guaguanco too!
Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms comes to mind as well
super
you must hear the smile!!
When I saw the chord progression i thought : "first day of,my life" by bright eyes. Amazing song.
There is also the lovely I III IV iv. Not sure if you covered this one.
The use of both #5 and b6 is really interesting.
I’ve covered that one in my “Creep chord progression video” 😊
Casino Night Zone from Sonic uses a similar progresion (I-III-iv-IVb). There's the IVb chord in "Married with Children", not in the first four chords, but it's the same musical idea
This chord progression has a very folk singer-songwriter vibe to it, despite of what genre it's being used in.
'Look Out Sunshine' by The Fratellis
I Married Myself by Sparks starts out I - III - vi - IV in B-Flat Major. I was just trying to learn this song when I noticed you had a new video and this chord progression was the first you covered. Blew my mind!
My first thought listening to this chord progression was "Way Less Sad" by AJR. The progression is bright, but not quite happy.
Itsuka by saucy dog. It added a 5th after the 4th, but basically the same. Then it uses even more nondiatonic stuff in the bridge.
can you make a video detailing this chord progression? it is below.
in A-flat major or F minor, the chords are:
D♭maj7-C7-Fm7-E♭m7-A♭7
I find this chord progression very interesting, so it would be helpful if you did a video explaining this chord progression and sharing your thoughts about it.
This is the exact same as the harmonic minor axis progression, but starting in the middle!
"Passing through" by Kaden Mackay is I-III7-vi-IV-iv, but close enough.
i got a david bennet add on this
Axis progression being Axis of Awesome? That’s amazing
Total "ah hah" moment for me!!! I feel like I get how I can use secondary dominant chords (like with intention) both to create variations on themes, but also to create satisfying tonic -> dominant -> tonic movement without being TOO predictable and bland. I love that your breakdowns are always in the context of popular music, it makes the theory SOOOOOO much easier to see practical uses for. THANK YOU
Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out, as covered by Eric Clapton during his MTV Unplugged performance uses a similar progression, but it becomes more complicated.
That's I III(7) VI(7) ii, which is an amazing progression but different in character because of VI instead of vi. It's in C, so it gets a cool vamp back and forth between G/G# and then G/A. Also features a II chord later in the progression as a nice surprise. Just a fantastic chord progression. One that Clapton has no claim to, as it happens, as every version of this song since the 1930s has the identical chords. But it is fucking awesome, and is similar enough that after watching this video, it is the song I picked up my guitar to play.
weezer mentioned (totally recommend doing a video on them)
I couldn't understand why that chord progression sounded so familiar and then weezer played and I understood
“The greatest”- Lana del ray. (In the chorus and guitar solo). It works incredibly well. 👍✌️
Thinking about « First day of my life », from Bright Eyes, with a tiny other variation: I-III-VI-IV(-V)
Could you please do a video on the progressions used in a lot of old, bluesy folk songs (e.g., Down by the San Francisco Bay, Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out) that go I III VI7 II7 V7, then maybe on to I VI7 II7 V7 I V7 I?
I used to call this chord progression the pop-punk progression. If you play it on an electric guitar, with power chords, you get the feeling that you played all the existing pop-punk songs at one moment