Common chord progressions
Chords rarely appear alone. These are some of the patterns they fall into most often, realized here in real keys so you can see and hear exactly how they work, not just read the roman numerals.
I - IV - V
Three major chords, the tonic, subdominant and dominant of the key, cover an enormous share of folk, country and early rock songs.
I - V - vi - IV
Four chords that turn up in an almost suspicious number of hit songs from the last several decades, across genres from arena rock to power ballads.
I - vi - IV - V
The same four chords as the pop progression, reordered to put the relative minor right after the tonic.
ii - V - I
The backbone of jazz harmony.
I - vi - ii - V
A relative of the '50s progression that swaps the IV for a ii chord.
I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - I
The harmonic skeleton under an enormous share of blues, early rock and roll, and jazz standards.
i - iv - V
The minor equivalent of the three-chord trick.
i - VII - VI - V
A descending progression rooted in flamenco and in classical practice going back centuries, walking down by step from the tonic through the flattened seventh and sixth degrees before landing on a major V.