Progressions
I–vi–IV–V Chord Progression
C · Am · F · G
The fifties progression — doo-wop, early rock and roll, and a thousand slow dances.
I–vi–IV–V Chord Progression
C · Am · F · G
- Key
- C
- Roman numerals
- I–vi–IV–V
- Notes
- 7
In every key
The same I–vi–IV–V progression transposed. Pick a key to see its chords and hear it.
Songs that use it
Stand By Me
Ben E. King
Every Breath You Take
The Police
Blue Moon
Rodgers and Hart
Understanding I–vi–IV–V Chord Progression
Why it works
In C the progression is C · Am · F · G. It walks down from the tonic to the relative minor, across to the subdominant, then up to the dominant, which throws it straight back to the tonic.
Unlike I–V–vi–IV it closes properly: ending on V creates a real cadence into the repeat. That gives it a rounded, period feel rather than an open modern loop.
How to use it
It is the backbone of doo-wop, and it survives intact into ballads and pop-punk. Substituting ii for IV gives I–vi–ii–V, the jazz-inflected version used throughout the Great American Songbook.
Learn this properly
Chapter 16: Form and StructureCommon questions
- What chords are in the I–vi–IV–V progression in C?
- In C the progression is C · Am · F · G. Move it to any key with the chord transposer.
- Why is it called the doo-wop progression?
- It underpins most of the doo-wop repertoire of the 1950s, which is where the name and the period association come from.
- What is the jazz variant?
- I–vi–ii–V, replacing the IV with a ii. It moves the bass by fifths and is the standard turnaround in the Great American Songbook.