Progressions
I–V–vi–IV Chord Progression
C · G · Am · F
The four chords behind an enormous share of modern pop — bright, complete, and endlessly loopable.
I–V–vi–IV Chord Progression
C · G · Am · F
- Key
- C
- Roman numerals
- I–V–vi–IV
- Notes
- 7
In every key
The same I–V–vi–IV progression transposed. Pick a key to see its chords and hear it.
Songs that use it
Let It Be
The Beatles
Don't Stop Believin'
Journey
Someone Like You
Adele
With or Without You
U2
Understanding I–V–vi–IV Chord Progression
Why it works
In C the progression is C · G · Am · F. It opens on the tonic, moves to the dominant, drops to the relative minor and lands on the subdominant — so every chord is diatonic and no two adjacent chords share fewer than one note.
The vi is what makes it. Without it the progression is a plain I–V–IV and sounds like a hymn; with it, the third bar turns inward without leaving the key, and the IV then lifts back out. That small shadow is why the loop can repeat for three minutes without tiring.
How to use it
Because it ends on IV rather than V or I, the loop never fully closes — it hands straight back to the tonic at the top. That is exactly what a verse-chorus pop structure wants.
It is often called the "four chord song" or the 1564 progression. Starting the same four chords on the vi gives you vi–IV–I–V, which sounds markedly darker while using identical harmony.
Learn this properly
Chapter 11: Diatonic HarmonyCommon questions
- What chords are in the I–V–vi–IV progression in C?
- In C the progression is C · G · Am · F. Move it to any key with the chord transposer.
- Why is it called the four chord song?
- Because a very large number of pop songs use these same four chords in this order. It is also known as the 1564 progression, after the scale degrees.
- What is the difference between I–V–vi–IV and vi–IV–I–V?
- The same four chords, rotated to start on the relative minor. Starting on vi makes the loop sound darker even though the harmony is identical.