Chord Progression
The 50s Progression
I – vi – IV – V
The doo-wop loop — the sound of slow dances and letterman jackets.
Key
The chords in C Major
4 shapes to learn — tap any diagram to hear it on guitar or piano.
How it works
Also called the "doo-wop changes" or the "ice-cream changes". You start home on I, fall to the tender vi, drift to IV and then let V push you back to the top.
It is a close cousin of the four-chord song, but by placing the minor vi second — right after the tonic — it feels gentler and more sentimental from the very first move. The V at the end is a classic turnaround, setting up the loop to repeat.
Ballad writers of the 1950s and early 60s built an entire era on it, and it never really left.
Songs built on it
A few well-known examples — every one of them the same chords, moving in the same order.
- Stand By Me— Ben E. King
- Earth Angel— The Penguins
- Every Breath You Take— The Police
- Perfect— Ed Sheeran
I – vi – IV – V in every key
The same numerals, twelve different sets of letters. Tap a key to explore all its chords.