why a I IV V works so well.

[VG_StratGuy]

A picture is worth a 1000 words so I thought I would share this with anyone who didn't know why allot of music revolves around a I IV V progression.
If you take the chord tones of a I IV V.... the 1, 3, 5 of each chord and add them all together you have all the notes from the I chords major scale.

The A major scale is A B C# D E F# G#
I chord ( A chord) A C# E
IV chord (D chord) D F# A
V chord (E chord) E G# B

The A , D and E chord tones all add up to be the A major scale.

The below picture explains it all.

http://sites.google.com/site/ics1974site/Home/A_major_scale.JPG

[MadTaco]

Great post

[LearningBlues]

I'm confused sir...

[VG_StratGuy]

what part are you confused about?
Google CAGED and you will see how the CAGED template outlines the 1, 3, 5 of a chord. If you can see the template for the I IV V chords at once you have the major scale.

[bobthecow]

Wait... you write 1,3,5 and then I,IV,V... which is 1,4,5

Did you mean to do that?

[screamin eagle]

A basic major chord needs only three notes. The notes that make up a major chord are: 1, 3, 5. You don't need any other notes to make a major chord.

The I-IV-V, is referring to a chord progression--which is why roman numerals are used, to differentiate. What he is saying is that the 1,3,5 of each chord in a I-IV-V chord progression are all in the tonic major scale.

It is a little bit of a complex way of stating it, however it is good to know.

The I is the root/tonic.
The IV is sub-dominant
The V is dominant.

You begin your paragraph with a statement, this is your 'I'.

The IV doesn't provide any tension against the root, but if you stayed on the I for 8 measures, it would be completely boring. So the IV is like say, and then, and then.

The V is the point. The climax, the payoff, your reason for your first sentence. It has the most tension against the root/tonic, which is why it considered dominant.

Rock n Roll is really all based on tension and release. The 5 creates the most tension against the 1, so when you go back to the 1 from the 5 you resolve that tension.

Now I'll confuse you:

The 2 always substitutes for the 5--always. And the 2 is the 5 of the 5.

The turn around is just the tension resolve part of the song--look at common turn arounds--do you see a pattern?
V-I
II-V-I
II-VI-V-I
III-VI-V-I
III-VI-II-V-I

[jdawest]

this is why I love it here.
Great thread!

[Cobalt1254]

To make it even more simple....if any song uses chords that fall within what would be the "normal" chords for that key, no matter what the progression is then all the chord tones would make up the major scale for that given key. It's not just I-IV-V but any of the chords. It could be I-IIm-IV-V or anything and all the chord tones will fall within the major scale for the key. For instance in Last Kiss the progression is G-Em-C-D. If you look at the 3 chord tones for each key, the 1-3-5 notes or the 1-b3-5 notes for the minor chord you would see that they all fit into a G major scale. Thats how chords are built. You start on the first note of a major scale and you use every third note. For instance in C major there are no sharps or flats. The normal key chords for C major would be as follows: C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am and the last chord is rarely used in its natural form so Im not including it. If you start with a C note and then use every 3rd note until you get 3 notes you would have C-E-G which is a C major chord. Start with the second scale note which is a D and you have D-F-A which is a Dm chord. Start on the 3rd note a E and you have E-G-B which is a Em chord and so on until the 6th chords are built. You can build the last chord that I skipped but may have a hard time using it. It's not just limited to I-IV-V. Hope this helps.

Cobalt

[screamin eagle]

To make it even more simple....if any song uses chords that fall within what would be the "normal" chords for that key, no matter what the progression is then all the chord tones would make up the major scale for that given key. It's not just I-IV-V but any of the chords. It could be I-IIm-IV-V or anything and all the chord tones will fall within the major scale for the key. For instance in Last Kiss the progression is G-Em-C-D. If you look at the 3 chord tones for each key, the 1-3-5 notes or the 1-b3-5 notes for the minor chord you would see that they all fit into a G major scale. Thats how chords are built. You start on the first note of a major scale and you use every third note. For instance in C major there are no sharps or flats. The normal key chords for C major would be as follows: C-Dm-Em-F-G-Am and the last chord is rarely used in its natural form so Im not including it. If you start with a C note and then use every 3rd note until you get 3 notes you would have C-E-G which is a C major chord. Start with the second scale note which is a D and you have D-F-A which is a Dm chord. Start on the 3rd note a E and you have E-G-B which is a Em chord and so on until the 6th chords are built. You can build the last chord that I skipped but may have a hard time using it. It's not just limited to I-IV-V. Hope this helps.

Cobalt

Cobalt, while none of this is incorrect, it is a little misleading. First of all this only pertains to the major scale, which you never lead to believe differently, so, so far so good. However, there are more scales, but just saying that a C is in the major scale so it doesn't matter whether it is sharp or flat or major or minor for the chord progression is a little confusing and slightly incorrect--it is correct only from an elementary standpoint.

When you begin to hear the the eccentricities of specific genres some of these rules go out the window.

Take for instance western swing, some country and some jazz. These genres often use major versions of the II, III and VI in a major chord progression even though the rule is to use minor. Also, the use of substitutions supersede some of these more common rules as well.

Again, while none of what you said is technically wrong, it is far from the whole story. Even if we are trying to teach beginners it is important not to leave out the bigger things, or to teach with the use of shortcuts, because it will only make for greater confusion later when some of the short cuts to rules become ingrained.

One common mistake is that an A sharp and a B flat are the same note, or chord. They absolutely are not. They are two totally different chords. As different as a A7sharp 5 and a G7flat9. We can look to the major scale and chord progression to prove this. An A sharp may be called for in one chord progression, while a B flat may be called for another chord progression, but they are called for with purpose, intent and specificity. They are not the same.

[Cobalt1254]

Respectfully, Im not sure what is misleading about my post. This is really beginner music theory and what I posted is for beginners. Of course it's not the holy grail of music theory as sometimes it seems to be very subjective but for beginners this is basic chord building. I agree with you that any chord can be put into any progression but that would constitute a key change for one key and thus the "rule or theory" I posted would not hit that chord. I looked at the written materials here and there is one that is exactly what I posted. I agree with you that what I said is not the whole story because you can put any chord in any song anywhere you want...but it's basic music theory. I think when beginners progress that they will see the other ways to do things. I agree with you that A# and Bb are not the same note but on guitar would you agree that they are the same tone? Now when you write them in sheet music, they are certainly not the same note. Theory can be confusing with all the modes and key changes but my post was meant for beginners and how chords are built by stacking 3rds but here is one for you to think about, I like this one myself. In a blues song where the chords are E7 A7 B7 what key would that be in? This question kind of shows how music theory can be looked at in a few ways and be very confusing.