3-Chord Songs and the 4-Chord Trick

Legal notes The material in this book book was written by by Andree-Ann D., D., Nick Long, Long, Lisa McCormick and and Christopher Sutton and Sutton and is the copyright of Easy Ear Training, Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior permission from Easy Ear Training Ltd. with the exception of short excerpts used for review or educational purposes.

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© 2013 Easy Ear Training, Ltd

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A Note About the Musical Examples This book features musical examples to help you learn. Since not all eBook readers have full support for sound clips, we provide a number of alternatives: 1. Play Button Simply press the Play button within the book to play the sound directly. 2. “Listen Online” links Tap Tap the link next to the play play button to open the sound sound in your web web browser. browser. 3. On the Web Visit http://eartra.in/bbprogaud http://eartra.in/bbprogaud to to access all the sound clips from the book. On a computer, using Adobe Reader software Reader software to open the PDF version of the eBook will work best. If you have any difficulties please email [email protected] .

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Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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What is a chord? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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What is a chord progression? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The 3 chords every every musician should know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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How to learn from thousands of 3 chord songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 Meet vi, the sad twin of the chord family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 The most important four-chord progression: progression: vi-IV-I-V vi-IV-I-V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9 Four chords and the truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 BONUS Lesson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 The Perfect Next Step Step for Guitar Players Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 0 Don’t stop there... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Introduction For a long time I wandered lost in a mess of chords. I would diligently learn the chords for each song I wanted to play, play it for a while, and then move on - starting almost from scratch to learn the next song. I couldn’t play anything I didn’t have the sheet music for and I had no idea why particular chords were used for a song. I just played what I was told to. Discovering one simple musical concept changed this completely and freed me as a musician. Here it is: You can play any song u sing just three ch ords. It sounds too good to be true - and in truth, there are some subtleties to it. You You can use more chords to make a more compelling arrangement. Playing in particular keys means learning more chords. But the point remains: Three chords are all you need . If you know this, then suddenly playing a song by ear doesn’t seem so vast and intimidating a challenge... In this book you’re going to learn why 3 chords are all you need, which 3 chords they are, and how to use them to play songs by ear. We’ll We’ll even take it one step further and look at the next most important chord you can add, with the ‘four chord trick’. trick’. Learning about 3-chord songs and “the I-IV-V ” is one of the liberating advances I’ve made as a musician. I hope you’ll find it just as exciting and empowering as I did.

Christopher Sutton Founder, Easy Ear Training

P.S. Don’t P.S. Don’t miss the great bonus resources we’ve we’ve put at the back of this book - they’ll help you continue learning, and connect your new 3-chord understanding with your instrument.

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What is a chord? A chord is three or more notes played at once. Different combinations of notes will create different chord sounds. Some work well together – some not so much!

Listen to a chord (E major triad)

Here’s a less pleasant chord!

Listen online

Listen online

Learning about the different types of chord, and learning to recognise them by ear is a key part of harmonic ear training and very important for composing composing,, writing songs and songs and playing by ear. ear. progression . A series of chords played one after another is called a chord progression. Learn more about Chords

What is a chord?

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What is a chord progression? A chord progression (or just “progression”) is a sequence of chords played one after another. There are particular particular common chord progressions progressions which which are used again and and again in popular music, music, because certain chords work well together to create moods and a satisfying sense of progress in music. This leads to a large number of “3 chord songs” and songs” and “4 chord songs”. songs”. Here are a few examples of what is probably the most popular chord progression – The “I-V-vi-IV ” progression. progression. It should sound familiar, familiar, it’s used in thousands of songs!

The ‘I-V-vi-IV ’ in A

Same progression, different rhythm

Same progression, different key (C)

Listen online

Listen online

Listen online

Same progression, different instrument (piano) Listen online

Can you hear the similarity of musical character, despite the rhythm, key and instrument changing? Here’s a completely different progression to contrast: There are endless endless possible chord chord progressions progressions so when composing composing or writing songs don’t be afraid to experiment and explore. A different chord progression

Still, popular music often returns to the tried-and-true, and perhaps all you need is “four chords and the truth”!

Listen online

What is a chord progression?

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The 3 chords every ev ery musician should know Learning about chords chords can can be overwhelming. Want to learn to play guitar? Trying to learn how to write pop songs? Need to analyse a 14th Century composition for music theory class? Understanding the world of chords is essential for all of these, but there’s so much to learn. Fortunately there is a particular way to look at chords which is simple – but actually provides the bulk of the understanding you’ll need to build these musical skills! From the 24 major and minor chords, to all the variants (augmented, extended, and power chords, just to name a few few types!), to knowing which which can be used when according to complex rules of harmony… There is an awful lot to know about chords! But most of the music we listen to sounds so simple and so natural – surely things can’t be all that complicated? It turns there are just three chords which are most important to any piece of music. If music. If you want to really improve your music appreciation, learn about these 3 chords.

T h e 3 c h o r d s e v e r y m u s i c i a n s h o u l d k n o w

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It’s It’s as easy ea sy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 This lesson will discuss the I, IV and and V chords and chords and their importance in music. Don’t be discouraged by the use of the strange symbols I, IV and V! If you’re you’re not familiar with roman numerals, numerals, that’s just a way of writing “the one, four and five chords”. As you follow along, just read I as “one”, IV as “four” and V as “five”. We’ll use the famous song “Imagine” by John Lennon as our example of a I–V-IV (“one (“one five four ”) ”) progression.. progression Whether you are just starting to explore music or have been playing an instrument for many years, you have surely heard or read about the I, IV and and V chords. chords. These chords are extensively talked about in music theory and for a very good reason; in short, they represent the fundamentals of classical and popular music. These three chords chords are considered considered the backbone, or driving force behind many well-known well-known pieces of music. In fact, there are a huge number of popular pieces of music which use only these three chords! You can buy whole books of 3 chord guitar songs, for example. This is why you should learn to recognise I, IV and and V chords chords by ear. Whether you are a fan of Mozart or prefer listening to the Beatles, the I, IV and V chords chords are three chords that you should definitely learn more about. Read on to find out why the I, IV and and V chords chords are so important in music. We will also be analyzing a few short clips of audio to develop your appreciation of these chords.


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Types of chord There are a lot of different different ways to think about chords. If you play guitar, guitar, you probably probably think in terms of chord boxes and fingering shapes which can be moved up and down the fretboard. A pianist may think in terms of the visual pattern on the keyboard or relate them to the corresponding scales. When we talk about I, IV and and V , we’re actually looking at things slightly differently, in a way that’s more familiar to the song writer or composer. These ‘degree ‘degree’’ labels let us talk about about what chords do and and how they sound without without getting bogged down in key signatures and sharps and flats and fingering and so on. If what you’re interested interested in is hearing chords and chords and the impact they have on a song’s song’s sound, this roman numeral (or ‘degree ‘degree’) ’) analysis is the way to go. Just one catch: catch: You can’t directly hear a “I chord” chord ” or a “IV chord” chord” – we do need to pick a key for our examples. We’ll We’ll use the key of C, which means our I, IV and and V chords chords are C, F and G major respectively. respectively. Explanation below! For now, now, just take a listen to these t hese three chords:

The I Chord in C = C major Listen online

The IV Chord Chord in C = F major Listen online

The V Chord Chord in C = G major Listen online


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The I chord The one chord is also also referred to as the ‘tonic ’ chord. chord. This chord will usually let you know what key a song is written in. As we said above, the I chord isn’t a particular chord; it depends on the tonality of a song. For example, if you wrote a song in the key of F, your I chord would be F. However, if your song is written in C, the I chord would be C. Because the I chord matches the key, it is the most important impor tant of all the chords in that key, and the other chords used will all have a sound based on their t heir relation to the I chord. The I chord is what sparks the beginning of the song and is also what the t he song usually comes back to at the end, in a cycle. Listen to the example below, which is the chords to “Imagine” by John Lennon. Notice how each musical phrase starts with C and comes back to it. This is the I chord of the song! Progression: I-V-IV

The chord progression of ‘Imagine’ Listen online


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The I V chord chord The IV chord chord will be a chord based on the fourth degree of degree of your tonality. The term ‘degree’ just means where that note occurs in the key’ key ’s scale. For example, in our example song above the I chord was C major. major. From the C major scale, we know the fourth note will be F. F. This means that the t he IV chord chord of this song is F major. Simple as that! There’s another relationship here that is interesting interesting to look at: because because C is the fifth note in an F Major scale, if our key is F, then F becomes our I chord and C will be our V chord. chord. This is actually one of the reasons that these two particular chords work so well together. We We will learn later the V-I” sound, dominance of the “ V-I sound, but in short: going from I to IV (e.g. (e.g. C to F) is also using that particular dominance. Because the tonic note of the I chord is one of the notes in the IV chord, chord, it makes it very easy to go from IV to to I or I to IV seamlessly seamlessly in music. Having this note in common links the sound of the two t wo chords. Listen again to the clip of Imagine, and notice this time how the transition from the last chord (F or “IV “) “) back to the first (C or “I“) is pleasing to the ears and feels natural.

The chord progression of ‘Imagine’ Listen online


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The V chord chord Hopefully now you’re getting the hang of this “degrees” idea. Have you already figured out why the V chord chord in the key of C is a G Major? It’s simply that G is the fifth fift h note in the C major scale. The V chord chord is often referred to as the ‘dominant ‘dominant ’ chord, which is a good word for how it sounds: powerful, imposing. It creates a tension that forces the human ears to impatiently wait for a more relaxed tonic sound – such as IV or or I. This man knew the importance of the V chord (Photo: Yoko Ono)

Music is all about tension and release and the V chord chord is essential to create a tension. It I t gives a reason, or a way, to go back to the I chord naturally. vi-IV-I-V V ” It is also used in many common chord progressions you’ll encounter such as “I–IV–V–I“, “ vi-IV-Iand “ii–V–I“.

You will often find the V chord chord placed in front of the I or IV chord, chord, since both of those chords feature the tonic note of the tonality. For example, let’s see how Imagine would sound if Lennon decided not to release back to the IV chord chord after using the V : Progression: I-IV Alternative chord progression for ‘Imagine’

Not very convincing is it? This is because the V chord chord cannot stand on it’ it ’s own – it needs to release to a tonic sound!

Listen online

In conclusion: the I, IV and and V chords chords are the backbone of music composition. Popular songs such as “Imagine” will use those ear-pleasing chords because they form natural chord progressions which do not disturb the tonal aspect of listening to music. When you create or listen to music, pay attention to those three chords and you’ll soon realize that many of your favorite pieces were written around those three simple chords! As we learned at the beginning, there are a huge number of songs (in all genres) that rely exclusively exclusively on these three chords. Read on to discover some popular examples of three chord songs.


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How to learn from thousands th ousands of 3 chord songs You’ve probably heard of “3-chord songs” before. These songs tend to be catchy and popular and only feature a few select chords – usually the same ones repeating themselves over and over. Have you seen these books in music shops: “How “How to play 3 chord guitar” or “1000 songs with 3 chords”? It might sound like exaggeration but there really are a huge number of songs which rely on just 3 chords. You You might be surprised just how much variety is possible despite this simple musical basis. The good news? These songs are great for beginner beginner musicians and are also the perfect tool to to train your ears and learn how to recognize certain chords. Ear training exercises exercises are great, of course, but nothing beats the capacity of recognizing chords in actual pieces and songs you hear.

How to learn from thousands of 3 chord songs

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Popular 3-chord songs Let’s Let’s start by looking at some of the most well-known 3 chord songs:

Ring of Fire (Johnny Fire (Johnny Cash) Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd) Leaving on a Jet Plane (John Plane (John Denver) Shook me All Night Long (AC/DC) Long (AC/DC) All Shook Up (Elvis Up (Elvis Presley) Love is a Rose (Ne Rose (Neilil Young) Young) Donna (Richie Donna (Richie Valens) Amazing Grace ( Grace (Daniel Daniel Thomas) You can also explore The Beatles’ early releases, though some of these push the 3-chord concept a little bit further by adding a few extra chords. As you can see, a big chunk of blues, rock & roll and earlier popular music was based around 3-chord progressions. There There is a reason for that: often three chords is all you need! Keeping the harmony simple allows these songs to focus more on the lyrics, the melody, or the arrangement, for example. Regardless of why they were written that way, these songs can help you improve your musical ears.


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The 3 most important chords As you know by now, the three most important chords in music are the “I, IV and and V ” chords. chords. It shouldn’t surprise you then to learn that all those 3-chord songs will most likely use the I, IV and and V chords. chords. These chords are also the standard progression for a “twelve-bar blues”, the foundation of blues music. Those three chords chords are what represent represent the ‘tonic’ sound, which is the core harmonic context of a song. All the other chords which can be used in a particular par ticular tonality are usually only there to either move from one of the chords to another in a more colorful manner, or add a minor touch to an otherwise major sound. Most beginners, when trying to figure out how to play a particular par ticular song, will pull up tabs or sheet music from the Internet. When faced with 3-chord songs, don’t do this! Instead, use your ears. Try to figure figure out what the I chord is; in most of those songs, it will be a simple major triad. You You should find there’s there’s a particular major chord which sounds good pretty much throughout the t he song. You can also try playing the corresponding major scale and seeing if it fits well against the melody. Those songs are based based on simplicity, simplicity, so you won’t won’t need hours to figure figure out what chords chords are being used! Once you figured out the key of the song, or the I chord), you’ll then be able to figure out the IV and and V chords chords – just count up the scale to the fourth and fifth notes and use the corresponding major chords. For example, if your I chord turns out to be F Major, you would count up F-G-A-B F-G-A-B♭-C to learn the IV and and V chords chords are B♭ Major and C Major respectively. These are probably the ones being used throughout the song. Note they won’t necessarily be found in the order “I-IV-V “! “! This is the next thing you’ll need to use your ears to figure out: what is the progression? Not so hard once you know it’s all based around just three chords!


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Practice exercise for 3 chord songs Here is a little exercise for you to try. The song “Love Me Do” by the Beatles, is a typical 3-chords song. By listening to the audio clip of the song, and the slowed down piano version that follows, can you figure out the I, IV and and V chords chords and then write out the entire chord progression progression to the song?

Love me do: Verse

Listen online

Love me do: Chorus

Listen online

If you’re having difficulty getting started there’s a hint below! Trainin Training g your your ears ears means means eventua eventually lly being being able to recogn recognize ize what what chords chords and interval intervalss are present present in in a song without sitting down with your instrument or spending hours at the piano or guitar trying to figure out what goes on in a particular song. The key to being able to do that is to practice ear training. Use those 3-chord songs to do so; they are simple, easy to get started with, and will also help you build your repertoire. The more you practice those songs and try to transcribe the chord progressions progressions yourself, the more your ears will get used to the I-IV-V progressions progressions and you will soon be able to spot those chords, even in more complicated songs. Exercise hint: “Love Me Do” starts on a G Major chord.


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Meet v sa d twin vii , the sad of the chord family Are you looking to play pop songs by ear or improve your music transcription skills? Want to spice up your song-writing? Have you heard of a ‘four chord song’ and wondered what that means? Make sure you know about the I, IV and and V chords chords and their use in popular three-chord songs before reading on in this article. It’s time to expand beyond the I, IV and and V chords. chords. These three chords chords are used in many many songs, called “3 chord songs”, but there’s a whole lot more you can learn to recognise with only a bit more ear training. So, how can you take a simple 3-chord progression and turn it into something a bit more colorful and different? Add a fourth chord, of course! course! Just as there are a huge number of 3 chord songs, there are even more “four chord songs”. There’s even a whole chapter of this book devoted to a particular 4-chord progression (the progression (the “sensitive “sensitive female chord progression”) progression”) which is used in a surprising number of popular songs! Read on to find out how adding a fourth chord, the vi (or “six”) “six”) chord, creates a whole new range of possible 4-chord progressions and 4-chord songs. In fact because this set of four chords is so versatile they are often called the “magic 4 chords”. Training your ear to hear hear the vi chord will allow you to appreciate and recognise vastly more chord progressions and easily play songs by ear or write new songs yourself. yourself.

Meet

v i

, the sad twin of the chord fami ly

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v i chord Meet the vi The vi chord can be defined as the ‘sad twin’ of the I chord – it is the first chord of the minor scale and so complements the sound of the I of the relative major scale. Like the I chord, it can be used in many different places in a chord progression. You You can use it simply to move more effectively from one chord to another, or even to add a touch of color and a new minor dimension to an otherwise entirely major chord progression. progression. Let’s Let’s start with a little bit of theory theor y regarding the vi chord. The vi chord is a triad based on the sixth degree of a major scale. For example, example, if we are in the key of C, the sixth chord would be a triad based off A:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C So from the C Major scale we can see the vi chord would be A–C–E, forming an A minor chord. As you will notice, there is only one note that differs from the C major chord (C-E-G). Let’s listen to the I chord and the vi chord played one after the other:

Listen: I - vi progression (C - Am) Listen online

As you can hear, these chords have very different sounds, yet somehow remaining quite similar. similar. This is because one is a major triad and one is a minor triad.

Meet

v i


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A happy traveller traveller The great similarity similarity between the I and vi chord is very important, because this will allow you to use the vi chord throughout the 3-chord progressions you’re you’re already familiar with, and it will sound very at home while still adding a bit of color and variety. Let’s Let’s listen to some example progressions, this time with the vi chord inserted in a I, IV and V progression:

C – Am – F – G – C

C – F – Am – G – C

=

=

I – vi – IV – V – I

I – IV – vi – V – I

Listen: I - vi progression (C - Am)

Listen: I - IV - vi - V - I

progression Listen online

Listen online

As you can see, the vi chord is at home anywhere in this progression progression – it really is like the ‘sad twin’ of the I chord! In summary, the vi chord is a very versatile chord that can be inserted in many contexts within a traditional 3-chord songs. This creates a “4 chord song”. It adds a new sound to an otherwise major progression and is easy to recognize due to its simultaneous similarity and difference with the I chord.

Meet

v i


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The most important four vii - I VV-II -V chord progression: v In the last chapter we introduced the vi chord: the “sad twin” of the chord family. Now it’s time to look at the most common progression using this chord, one which turns up in all kinds of songs and will undoubtedly sound very familiar to you… The vi–IV–I–V progression, also referred to as I–V–vi–IV, is a very popular option for many songwriters. In fact, you would be very surprised if you did a bit of analysis on all your favorite hits to realize how many of them use that exact same progression! That That should tell you something: this particular chord progression is like gold. Not only does it sound natural and familiar, but it is ‘catchy’ ‘catchy’ and can support very beautiful melodies. In a way this is the natural extension of the “three chord song” or “three chord trick” we trick” we looked at before. before. By introducing the minor vi chord we create a more powerful and emotional progression. And like that 3 chord trick you’ll find there are lots of easy 4 chord songs you can play just by learning to play this progression on your instrument. Read on to learn all about the ‘four-chord song’ chords… chords…

Th T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t f o u r c h o r d p r o g r e s s i o n : v i - I V- I -V

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The famous four chord progression Let’s Let’s start by listening to this progression:

Four chord song vi-IV-I-V V progression: vi-IV-I-

Listen online

vi–IV–I–V V in This was Am–F–C–G: Am–F–C–G: vi–IV–I– in the key of C.

And now the alternative form:

Four chord song progression: I-V-vi-IV

Listen online

That time it was C–G-Am–F: C–G-Am–F: I–V–vi–IV . Same chords, same order – just starting star ting on a different chord (I instead of vi).


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The wide world of four-chord songs I’m sure you’ve you’ve already started thinking about one or two t wo songs you know that this chord progression reminds you of. This is because there are, indeed, a ton of them. Here’s a dozen on a YouTube playlist: playlist :

• The Beatles – Let it Be (verse) • U2 – With or Without You • Black Eyed Peas – Where is the Love • The Rolling Stones – Beast of Burden • Lady Gaga – Paparazzi (chorus) • Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under the Bridge (verse) • Journey – Don’t Don’t Stop Believing (that classic piano intro!) • Bob Marley – No Woman No Cry • Toto – Africa (chorus) • Men at Work – Down Under (chorus with extra V turnaround) • Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting (chorus) • Maroon 5 – She Will be Loved (chorus) • A-HA – Take on Me (almost! Can you spot the dierence?) • and SO MANY MORE! Of course not all these t hese songs rely solely on these four particular chords – but their chorus, or more recognizable hooks, revolve around them. Going from 60’s rock to the 80’s and pop icons of the 00’s, these four chords have been used, reused, and recycled again and again...


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Make it your own vi–IV–I–V V is The point is: vi–IV–I– is perhaps one of the most natural chord progressions in music. It is pleasing to the ears and can support very different melodies. After all, for The Beatles, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson and Toto Toto to write four very different songs based on the same chord progression it has be a very versatile combination of chords indeed!

If you are a songwriter, songwriter, you might think t hink you should shy away from using this chord progression as it has already been covered. However, However, it is important to note that there is only a limited combination of chords in music and hopefully the examples above demonstrate just how versatile this progression progression can be. Use it to your advantage to write your own melodies. It’ It ’s a great way to start – and there’s there’s nothing wrong in following in the footsteps of musical geniuses that came before you! For more about this magic progression (also called the “sensitive “sensitive female chord progression”!) progression”!) read on to “Four Chords Ch ords and a nd the t he Truth”. Truth”.


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Four chords and the truth There’ There’s an old joke that asks: “What’s the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist?” Answer: “ A rock guitarist plays three chords to a million people and a jazz guitarist plays a million chords to three people! ” That may be true, true, but if you want want a stone cold hit you you need to write a four chord song. song. Don’t believe me? Check out “The Four Chord Song” by Australian comedy rock band Axis of Awesome. Awesome. Well-trained ears may even pick out what the four chords are (guitarists: ( guitarists: no peeking at Lee’s left hand!) Warning: This video contains a few F bombs if you are offended by such things or you want to play it to youngsters please use the following link: Kid-friendly version

It turns out that the four magical chords are E, B, C# minor and A. But with so many chords to choose from, why did dozens of hit songs end up with the same four chords? At first glance, it seems strange that so many songs should sh ould have the same chords. After all, with 12 notes to choose from, and a choice of major or minor, there should be thousands of pleasant-sounding chord progressions and we should never need to repeat ourselves. ourselves. Unfortunately for budding songwriters, the odds are that picking four chords at random will result in something th at sounds horrible. So what are the secrets behind those four magical chords? T To o find an answer we need to understand where chords come from.

Four chords and the truth

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Where do chords come from Most Western Western music is based on the notes of a particular scale, often called the key. If a song is in C major, you can be confident that any of the notes on the C major scale will sound good and are unlikely to clash. Chords are no different; any chord that contains only notes from the song’s song’s key will sound like it fits in with the song. Luckily, we do not have to find them by trial and error. error. There is a simple trick we can use to build all of the chords of a key. Pick a note from the scale to be the first note of your chord, then move two steps up the scale for your next note, then up two t wo more for the final one. If we take the Axis of Awesome as an example, the song is in the key of E major so we have the notes: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, and D#.

Listen to the E Major scale.

E Major Scale (piano)

E Major Scale (guitar)

Listen online

Listen online

This section contains a few few simplifications simplifications for the sake of brevity. brevity. If you you want to learn more more about chord theory there are lots of great books available and keep your eyes peeled for future articles on EasyEarTraining.com.


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Right then, let’ let ’s make some chords! We’ll use the trick from above to pick out the right notes: Notes

Chord Name

Chord Number

E, G#, B

E Major

I

F#, A, C#

F# Minor

II

G#, B, D#

G# Minor

III

A, C#, E

A Major

IV

B , D# , F#

B Major

V

C#, E, G#

C# Minor

VI

D#, F#, A

D# Diminished

VII

Looking at the table, you can see that from our E major scale we have the four magical chords E, B, C# minor and A!

The Chords of E Major

Chords of E Major (piano) Listen online

Chords of E Major (guitar) Listen online


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What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us? We have found out why songs in the same key tend to have the same chords, but there is another secret behind the Axis of Awesome’s “Four Chord Song.” Many of the songs they weave into their medley are not in the songs’ original keys (for example, U2’s version of “With “ With or Without You” You” is in D, “Let It Be” Be” is in G, and “Can “Can You You Feel the Love Tonight Tonight”” is in B#). In other words, Axis of Awesome transposed all of the songs into E major regardless of their original key. key. Does this mean they are cheats and the four chords are not magical after all? Far from it. If you go through every major scale and figure out all the chords, a pattern emerges. Whatever major scale you start with, you will find a major chord, then two minors, then two majors, then another minor, and finally a diminished chord. If you look again at the table above, you will notice that I labeled our list of E major chords with Roman numerals. If we call the chords in “Four Chord Song” by their numbers rather than their names, our chord progression of E, B, C# minor, and A becomes I-V-vi-IV . In fact, regardless of what key they are in, all of our four-chord songs share the progression I-V-vi-IV . This unassuming sequence of Roman numerals is the source of our four-chord magic.

Te Four Chord Song! (click to view interactive score)

Four Chord Song (piano)

Four Chord Song (guitar)

Listen online

Listen online

Now let us step back to the 1950s, because before there was the four-chord song there was the Three-Chord Trick.


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Anyone Can Play Guitar If you were to write down the chord sequences of every rock and roll, country, or blues song released during the 1950s or early ’60s using our Roman numeral approach, you might be surprised to discover that nearly every single one of them was based almost exclusively on the three major chords in our list: namely, I, IV and and V . This shortcut to writing a pop hit became so famous that it was known as the Three-Chord Trick . The songwriter Harlan Howard claimed all you needed to write country music was “three “three chords and the truth” (which has been cheekily paraphrased for the title of this chapter). When a snobbish music critic dismisses a new band’s sound as, “derivative, three-chord rubbish,” or when Status Quo or the Ramones are described as always using the same three chords, these are the chords referred to. They may use E, A and B or C, F and G, but when we look at it as Roman numerals, it always comes down to I-IV-V . Chord progressions heavy in major chords have a strident sound, perfect for energetic music like rock and roll, and changing between major chords produces the joyous harmony associated with praise music (the change from IV to I is even called the “Amen” change for change for this reason). But when you require more emotional weight, using only those three t hree energetic chords may leave your song sounding somewhat unsophisticated.


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How Strange The Change From Major To Minor Into each life, some rain must fall, and so sometimes songwriters need to convey a sense of sadness or yearning, and for this we need minor chords. A common mistake budding songwriters make is trying to write sad songs using only minor chords. No doubt even the greatest songwriters have embarrassing tunes like that squirreled away somewhere, the results of their inexperience and sparked by teenage angst. In fact, it is almost impossible to find a popular song containing only minor chords, because they tend to sound self-pitying or oppressive, oppressive, rather than moving. Skilled songwriters, on the other hand, may use that ploy to play with our emotions. In “Street “Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead, the verses consist of only A minor and E minor chords that establish a claustrophobic sound. When When it finally moves to C major in the chorus, it opens up and suddenly you can breathe again. Listen to this clip and see if you can hear the change. Radiohead – Street Spirit (fade out) Could you hear it? If you need a little help: it’s on the line “Fade out again.” The songs that make up Axis of Awesome’ Awesome’ss medley are filled filled with lyrics such as “Don’t stop believing,” believing,” “I can’t live with or without you,” you,” and “When “When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me. me.” If you were looking for a common theme among the songs, you might say they tend to sound positive in character, but also reflective, or as though one were striving to overcome overcome adversity. If we set out to write a song with that kind of feel we would probably write a progression with mostly major chords, and slip in the occasional minor. You You should not be surprised to hear this is exactly what we get with the I-V-vi-IV .


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The Sensitive Female Chord Progression You may wonder why “Four Chord Song” uses the VI chord rather than the other available minors in our list (II or III). The answer is that the VI chord is the strongest and most pleasing to the ear of the minor chords. It is the relative minor , so called because a minor scale starting star ting on the same note as the VI chord would contain exactly the same notes as the major scale starting st arting at I. For example, the E major scale we have been using has the notes E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, and D#. If we write the scale out starting from our vi chord C#, we get the notes C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A, and B, which is the C# minor scale. We could go even further, and start star t our whole progression from the VI chord. This would give us the vi-IV-I-V V . You progression vi-IV-IYou probably won’t be surprised to hear that this is also a very popular chord progression, so popular in fact that it is known as “The Sensitive Female Chord Progression.” It even has its own website website..


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They May Be Magical, But They’re They’re Not Everything By now, you might be feeling a little down, thinking that perhaps all the genius songwriters you idolized are just hacks churning out the same chord sequence again and again. You may even be thinking think ing about writing a sensitive song about it, vi-IV-I-V V progression using the vi-IV-I progression – until you realize how ironic that would be. But fear not. The choice of chords is just one aspect of writing a song, and an overemphasized overemphasized aspect at that. The chord progression provides the harmony of a song, but music contains many elements. As well as harmony, there is melody, rhythm, tempo, meter, meter, dynamics, articulation, art iculation, and timbre. And beyond the music, many artists feel that the story told by the lyrics is just as important to the success of a song. Ultimately, Ultimately, it is the emotional impact a song has on you that matters, not just its chords. If you learned that “Born “Born In The USA” USA” uses the same two chords all the way through (B and E), or that “Chain of Fools” Fools” by Aretha Franklin only has one chord (C#), would it make you think less of these wonderfully impassioned works? Next time you have the radio on, see how many songs you can hear that use the I-V I-V-VI-IV VI-IV progression!


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BONUS Lesson Being able to play by ear is one of the th e most desirable skills among musicians. But many people assume it’s a gift: you’ve either got it or you don’t. If you’ve read this far, hopefully you’re now convinced: you can learn to play by ear! Still not sure? We have a bonus lesson for you: Lisa McCormick of GettingStartedWithGuitar.net will show you just how easy it can be, be, and reveal reveal the “sexy secret secret of one, four, four, five” five”…

BONUS Lesson

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The sexy secret of “One, Four, Five” Let’s face it, sometimes music theory just doesn’t seem very sexy. But wait – Have you ever lusted after figuring out how to play a song on the guitar or piano, instantly, just by ear? No sheet music, no tabs, no chord charts. Just you, the naked song, and the starry night. A match made in heaven. Turns out, you may be a whole lot closer to that than you think. In many cases, all you need is an understanding of the magic of “One, Four, Five”, in order to quickly figure out how to play thousands of songs, by ear.

What’ What’ss “One, Four, Four, Five”? “One, Four, Five” Five” iiss common shorthand short hand for Basic Chord Theory. And Basic Chord Theory is the hidden system behind what makes chords work together, together, within a key. If you play a chord-based instrument (guitar, (guitar, piano, organ, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, etc.), understanding Basic Chord Theory can be a real game changer for you and how you connect with your instrument.

BONUS Lesson

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What Does it Mean? Let’s Let’s roll up our sleeves and dig in. Ready? Every major key (like the key of C, for example), has a corresponding major scale (the C major scale).

Think: Do, Re, Me, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do. (alternatively: sing the first line to the Christmas Carol “Joy to the World”… and you’ll have the major scale – backwards!) Now, replace the Do, Re, Mi’s, etc. with numbers:

Do = 1. Re = 2. Mi = 3. Fa = 4. Sol = 5. La = 6. Ti = 7. We’re We’re going to be interested in numbers 1, 4 and 5… But what are they? Sticking with the example of the key of C, and the C major scale, sing or play the scale starting star ting on C:

Now, C = 1. D = 2. E = 3. F = 4. G = 5. A = 6. B = 7. With me so far? Single out number 1, number 4, and number 5 (“One, Four, Five”, remember?)

And you get: C, F, and G. Finally, Finally, play those as major CHORDS (not just notes). You You get a C major chord, an F major chord, and a G major chord.

BONUS Lesson

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Ready for the Sexy Part? Now let’s use these three chords (the “One”, the “Four”, and the “Five”) to figure out how to play a song by ear. ear. Grab your instrument and play along as you read. Let’s use the song “Amazing “Amazing Grace” Grace” as our guinea pig. Here’s the tune, if you need a reminder: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now n ow I’m found, Was blind, but now I see.

Listen to the melody Listen online

Play a C chord on your instrument, and sing “ Amazing Amazing grace” grace” (with your voice on the note G). Keep going into the song (“… (“… how sweet the sound…”), sound…”), playing a C chord the whole time. When you get to the word “sweet”, you’ll notice the C chord clashes with your voice!

Hear how the chord clashes at this point Listen online

Ouch. Time to try a different option. The rule of thumb here is to keep playing the same chord until you reach a point in the song where that chord does not work any more.

BONUS Lesson

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Here’s the trick: rather than trying every other chord in the world to fix the problem, try using either the “Four” chord (F major), or, the “Five” chord (G major), to accompany the word “ sweet ” in the song. Turns out the F chord chord sounds pretty good good there – that’s that’s the “Four chord” chord”,, remember. remember.

The four chord matches the melody better Listen online

Keep playing the four chord, and singing the song (“sweet (“sweet the sound ”). ”). When you get to the word “sound ”, ”, you should hear that it sounds like it’s time to change chords.

Hear it’s time for a change again Listen online

Again, don’t waste your time trying every chord in the world. Try Try your other two options from our “one”, one”, “four” and “five”: “five”: the t he C (“one”) or the th e G (“five”) chord. cho rd. … and you’ll that coming back to the C chord sounds pretty good there (the “One” “One” chord).

Returning to the ‘one’ chord works well Listen online

Stay with the C chord, and keep singing the song (“That (“ That saved a wretch like me”). me”). When you get to the word “me “me”, ”, notice that the chord works… but it doesn’t feel like it does the tune justice, does it?

A change is needed here Listen online

BONUS Lesson

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What are your options? F, or G. Let’s try the G, just for ha ha’s (the “Five” chord). Sing ‘me’ and play the G chord. Ah, how sweet the sound!

The five chord is best choice Listen online

Keep with the G chord, and keep singing the song. (“I (“ I once was lost ”). ”). Doesn’t sound quite right, does it? The G no longer fits the melody, and the chord wants to change again.

The G isn’t right any more Listen online

What’ll you go for? The C? The F? … if you figured out that it is a C, well done! Now, Now, you could continue chord-by-chord, but here’s a shortcut: can you hear that this third line is quite similar to the first line of the song? Then you can probably guess that the chords to use are the same! So for “I “I once was lost, but now I’m found ” we move from the C (one) to an F (four) and back to C (one), just like we did for “ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound ”.

It’s just like the first line Listen online

BONUS Lesson

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Almost to the end of the song now. Sing “was blind but ”, and play C. Sing “now “now I ” and play G. And finally back to the “one “one”” C chord to finish with “I “I see”! see”! Tip: It’s very common to start and end a song with the “one” chord.

A quick back and forth to finish Listen online

Now congratulate yourself! yourself! Hopefully you’re you’re feeling a bit less lost and a bit less blind – or deaf! You’ve just played this song by ear.

This is i s the power of “One, “One, Four, Five” Five” in a nutshell. nutsh ell.

BONUS Lesson

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Five More Little Factoids actoi ds You You Need Nee d to Know: • This system works in every key, exactly the same way. T way. Try ry working work ing out the same song, in another key. How about the key of G? • This system will work for thousands of basic songs. Folk songs, pop songs, rock songs (remember “Three chords and an attitude”? THIS is what they were talking about!). • The more you practice working songs out by this system of trial and error, the better and faster you’ll get at it. Playing it. Playing by ear will begin to come to naturally. • When “1”, “4” and “5” don’t cut it, try the “2”, “3”, or the “6”. But here’ he re’ss the rub: play these as MINOR chords! • Amongst musicians, chord-numbers are represented represented with Roman Numerals. Now that you understand the basics of the system, start using the nomenclature nomenclature that the big kids k ids use: 1 = I, 2 = II, 3 = III, 4 = IV, 5 = V, 6 = VI, 7 =

VII. You may be wondering “What about the VII chord?” In fact it shows up far less frequently than 1 through 6. And when it does, it is played as a diminished chord. chord. Let’s worry about that one later!

BONUS Lesson

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Now, Go Forth and Play! Now that you know the secret system behind I-IV-V (that’s “One, Four, Five, remember), try it on some other common basic songs, just to get the hang of it. Try ‘Yankee Doodle’ Doodle’. ‘Rockabye Baby ’. ‘You Are My M y Sunshine’ . ‘Happy Birthday ’. ‘ Joy Joy to the World ’. ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ Shoes’… Amaze yourself and impress your your listener as song after song after af ter song pours out of you and your instrument, seemingly like magic. Now, that’s sexy.

Lisa McCormick is a guitarist, recording artist, and guitar instructor for GuitarTricks.com.. You GuitarTricks.com You can explore her tutorials, videos and courses at GettingStartedWithGuitar.net , including the The Guitar-Ease Play-by-Ear System and System and Chord Theory Magic which which cover just the kind of powerful material introduced in this lesson. She has also created a specific ear training program for program for guitar – perfect perfe ct if you want to learn to play guitar by ear!

BONUS Lesson

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The Perfect Next Step for Guitar Players Now that you know about 3-chord and 4-chord songs, there’s there’s a great way to continue learning and apply what you know to your guitar. Lisa McCormick (author of The Sexy Secret of ‘1, 4, 5’ ) has created a special video masterclass called “Guitar-Ease Guitar-Ease”” which which walks you through playing 3- and 4-chord songs by ear on guitar. Discover how the Guitar-Ease Play-by-Ear System works:

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Don’t stop there... Keep those ears improving! Find more information and the next steps you can take:

Learn more

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www.EasyEarTraining.com

3-Chord Songs and the 4-Chord Trick

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