Does this chord progression have a name?

azzidodabass · 13 Mar 2009 at 17:45

Hi

My first post so be gentle

My musical knowledge is more than your average joe. I can play the piano - not super good but I can play nonetheless. I can generally play a track by ear as I am sure most musicians can. My technical knowledge of music though has fizzled to zero pretty much since I stopped piano lessons many years ago.

There is a specific chord progression that I love in songs. The progression is (but not limited to this key)

Am - F - C - G

Its a commonly used progression I believe - but does it have a name?

An example of this kind of progression (and the kind of music I am seeking) is "Bouncing off Clouds" by Tori Amos. If you have iTunes, search the iTunes Store for it and listen to the preview and you will hear what I mean.

Which leads me onto my next question - can anyone suggest any songs that have the same uplifting progression like this song? Or know of a website that you can search for songs based on their chord progressions? (A long shot I am sure

)

Thank you.

MikeHunt79 · 13 Mar 2009 at 18:22

Bob?

Dunno, it does look familiar tho, lots of 5ths, I've seen it before, but I don't think there is a site which has songs listed by key or chord patterns...

Nix · 13 Mar 2009 at 18:32

C.L.A.I.M.E.D.

Woop!

Dingleberry88 · 13 Mar 2009 at 18:42

Joshua Radin uses a lot of similar progressions. Not exactly "uplifting" though.

randal · 13 Mar 2009 at 18:48

Change the G to an Em and that's Amy MacDonald's "This is the life". Yep, the whole song... 4 chords.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/a/amy_macdonald/this_is_the_life_ver4_crd.htm

And the solo, so easy my cat can play it:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/a/amy_macdonald/this_is_the_life_solo_tab.htm

edit - knew I'd seen that exact progression before:

Funeral for a Friend - History.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/f/funeral_for_a_friend/history_crd.htm

SexyGreyFox · 14 Mar 2009 at 01:19

C Am F G was always known as the '4 chord trick' when I was a lad because so many songs use it.

russ0r · 14 Mar 2009 at 01:39

Exactly the same progression as Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers.
It doesn't have a name afaik, but when I was learning the piano every kid and his dog at school used to play some variation of it in music class. It's pretty popular.

SexyGreyFox · 14 Mar 2009 at 08:33

russ0r said:
It doesn't have a name afaik,

It's called a 'four chord trick'

Masterdog · 14 Mar 2009 at 09:20

It's called the Sensitive Female Chord Progression. Apparently.

Robosapien · 14 Mar 2009 at 12:08

i think save tonight and the passenger use it

Robosapien · 14 Mar 2009 at 12:16

Masterdog said:
It's called the Sensitive Female Chord Progression. Apparently.

That's rubbish

Masterdog · 14 Mar 2009 at 12:59

Robosapien said:
That's rubbish

Meh. I didn't name it. If I had, I certainly would have called it something cooler.

Cosimo · 14 Mar 2009 at 13:47

Masterdog said:
Meh. I didn't name it. If I had, I certainly would have called it something cooler.

dmpoole said:
It's called a 'four chord trick'

Almost there, a " four chord **** ", the groupies like it that way.

Naffa · 14 Mar 2009 at 14:24

Technically it would be a vi, IV, I, V progression or a i, V, II, VI progression depending on whether they key is C major or A minor (A minor is the relative minor of C major).