Only Four Chords Are Needed to Make a Hit Song

1. JKirchartz
   January 27th, 2009 at 1:40 am

   There's only 12 notes, so 4 chords cover a third of that ... I did an essay on a popular chord progression I-IV-V, it's everywhere, new & old songs for the past 100 years at least.

2. erin
   January 27th, 2009 at 1:48 am

   This is great, because I can only play four chords on the guitar anyway.

3. lir
   January 27th, 2009 at 1:56 am

   Maybe this is more interesting/mindblowing if you don't study music...

   I IV V I, Tonic Predominant Dominant Cadence.

4. Larfin Jackarse
   January 27th, 2009 at 3:11 am

   The Sex Pistols worked that out over 30 years ago...(yes! OVER...yikes)

5. Oomi
   January 27th, 2009 at 3:53 am

   So basically they're all the same song.

6. hobo mike
   January 27th, 2009 at 6:00 am

   Another reason to never pay for your music.

7. Nicholas Dollak
   January 27th, 2009 at 7:01 am

   The vast majority of popular songs (and folk songs) use only three chords. The simple practice of adding a fourth chord at the right point adds an edge of pathos, or at least makes the song sound a little less generic. People who study music know all about this, and of course "classical" music has a tendency to be much more complex than four chords.

8. just a guy
   January 27th, 2009 at 7:37 am

   If all those songs use those 4 cords, why does it sound like "Don't stop believing" at first before any lyrics? I wonder if it's the little exra three-notes put in?

9. Caley
   January 27th, 2009 at 7:46 am

   Actually, I think these songs use a I V vi IV cadence, which is a little different than I IV V I.

   Just to be clear

10. Skipweasel
    January 27th, 2009 at 8:20 am

    Pah - yoof of today. When I was a kid it was three chords.

    Front cover of Sniffin' Glue magazine showed three chord positions with the strapline "Now go and form a band."

11. g.park
    January 27th, 2009 at 8:55 am

    This is I IV vi V, not I IV V.

12. C
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:09 am

    Congratulations, they've reverse-engineered what a month of guitar lessons could have told them about directly.

13. CheeseDuck
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:19 am

    Most of those songs suck.

14. Chuck
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:22 am

    You got it right in the headline, but not in the description. Maybe it only takes 4 chords to make a HIT song, but rarely a GOOD song. Most of these are hardly examples of good songs...rather, popular songs. And having a repeating progression from part of from PART of a song hardly constitutes the whole song.

15. DaveH
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:50 am

    You elite/effete music snobs need to lighten up a notch.

    This is funny.

16. A Noun
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:55 am

    Does anyone have a link to the video where it was proven that all popular songs derive from the Pachelbel Canon in D?

17. Scooter
    January 27th, 2009 at 10:05 am

    4 Cords and about 4 lines of lyric and you have a KISS song... Make Millions?

18. karlaanne
    January 27th, 2009 at 10:38 am

    this..... was excellent!

19. AnUnSi
    January 27th, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Good grief! What a waste of five minutes! And I got rewarded for this by hearing a gross obscenity at the end? Neatorama, you have reached a new low. Pathetic jerks! This widespread four-chord simplicity was NOT true when I was listening to pop music (late '50s through 1984). There were TONS of songs with much more complex chord patterns and progressions. Almost 100% of this aggregation of songs where from 1985 to 2008, I assume, because I had never even heard any of them (except three from before 1985)! What we see here -- the four-chord simplicity -- is emblematic of 2009 society in general: ultra-DUMBED-DOWN, lacking in talent or effort or both! Come on, you stupid composers. Come up with something original or quit and leave the rest of history to be used on listening only to "oldies."

20. xadrian
    January 27th, 2009 at 11:31 am

    This may cover verses or the chorus, but not necessarily both at the same time. That's a test of a well put together piece of music, one that changes. I also think it's very Western, but my scope of Eastern music is limited. Bridges and changes, while moving to another set of three/four chords, does add to the richness of a song. So, yeah, it's not that simple.

21. mallory
    January 27th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    I wasn't aware this was a new discovery.

22. MadMolecule
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    FOUR chords? Slow down there, Beethoven! Three was enough for the Ramones, and it's enough for me.

23. ragazzambulante
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

    One of my friends and I realized this when we took our first year of music theory together, and since then we can't listen to pop music because it bothers us so much.

24. LisaL
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

    DaveH- Ditto that!
    Whether if it's true or been around for forever, who cares, I still found it fun to watch.

25. DaveH
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:24 pm

    @AnUnSi: I think you should get your money back.

26. redhead
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    after 4 guitar lessons, i know 7 chords. so that means i can be a SUPER pop star!!! look out britney!

27. PaulVI
    January 27th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    I agree with others who say that this is a trivial finding. (Play most pop hits in 5 easy lessons...)

    What I want is a catalog of songs grouped by common chord progressions. You know - how this song has the same prog' as this other one?

    Or for greater depth, after find the percent of songs use progression A, B, C.... Then we'll have a better idea of how much pop eats itself, and how we're paying (if we're still paying) for the same songs, over and over.

28. homero
    January 27th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    @ A Noun:

    Search for "Pachelbel rant" in Youtube.

29. Phil
    January 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

    Status Quo have been doing it with three chords, for years! Long live the "Mighty Quo"!!!

30. heather
    January 27th, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    Guys! If you paid attention to the tone of the video, they aren't taking it as seriously as you are. Their merely illustrating an interesting trend in popular music and making it FUNNY. That's the POINT of the whole thing. Lighten up music snobs!

    I personally cracked up when one of the singers went for the high notes in 'Take on me.'

31. pollardito
    January 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    Just add this background music to MicroSoft Songsmith and you'll be touring stadium to stadium in no time!

32. nicleT
    January 27th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

    Imagine with only tree chords !

33. Doclle
    January 27th, 2009 at 4:55 pm

    Anyone who writes a rock or pop song with more than three chords is just showing off.

34. Sheldon
    January 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    Hahaha I agree Doclle.

35. manik
    January 27th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    Pop is pop because it's popular not because it's interesting. It's easy to sing along to; catchy for the masses of people that still confuse music with magic. Tiring for anyone who studies music, is creative, or can recognize patterns.

36. Guest
    January 27th, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Pop music = sucks. It's only popular because pretty people sing it.

    Alot of great songs only use three chords. They don't have to be complex to sound good.

    And yea, what the title said, it only needs 4 chords to be a HIT song, not a good song.

37. MarcofVanier
    January 27th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    I lol'd at the Aha, Take on Me bit.

38. Carl
    January 27th, 2009 at 9:03 pm

    This is obvious and comedian-musicians have riffed on this for years. Still, it's good to get out there.

    The POINT? It PAYS to pay attention to lyrics and cadence, intensity and intent. That's what makes a song.

    Anyone who has posted in this thread needs to check out the brilliant lyrics of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and many other "classic" rockers who know how to turn music into magic.

39. DOJ
    January 28th, 2009 at 3:09 am

    This reminds me of Jimmy Fallon singing Can't Tough This

40. ted
    January 28th, 2009 at 7:24 pm

    What about the brown note?

41. Frannie
    January 29th, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    "I'm a birdplaaane!"

    ^ win

42. cat
    February 7th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    so what are the chords anyway

43. Sqwert
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    Sheer brilliance.

    It's easy to sit down and come up with a list of songs all starting with the letter G for example, but how on earth do you come up with a list of songs all in the same key with the same I V vi IV chord progression.

    Genius.

44. denzio
    March 4th, 2009 at 1:53 am

    it's not how many chords you use but how you put melody into it and how it is arranged to be appealing that counts..You can even use 1 chord and still make a good song with different melodies..and for those saying that 4 or 3 chord songs are lousy songs..grow up or shut up! you don't know what you are saying...the human perception of music (non musicians and masses) can only accommodate a few chords and an octave plus 2 of notes which will register well for recall.. for the chord progressions, even if it is the same with a thousand of other songs, there are still unlimited ways to make variations such as melody, tone, tempo, groove, etc....yes it has been the long-used formula for pop music..but it doesn't matter if it's pop, progressive of whatever..good music from the heart is still good music...

45. quoter
    June 5th, 2009 at 10:06 am

    look sure enougth its a simple chord progression and yes its cool and for all the wingers out there saying it isnt music you have lost touch about what music really is to the people saying it is soo simple it is soo easy these disgust me these are lame music isnt all about the theory you need soul if you listen to most of the songs sure they have the same riff but there diffrent there personal there sung from the heart so it isnt lame you need to learn what music really is expressing your self and letting your emotions flow freely besides it so happens that those four chords can sound the same but there all diffrent listen again and you will understand

46. Everton
    July 15th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    A previous comment said classical music is more complex. That is not stricly true! A melody line can be hamonized in may ways. Thats why you can have the same chord progression fitting many melodies. An extreme example would be take fou bars of the G, how many melodies can you come up with? I could ploy four bars of the 'G' note, BUT in some syncopated rythm. Then 'B' and 'C'. I could use G major appegio. This what a jazz and even Bach (baroque) improvisation is about. The songs have diffrent melodies but the same chord progression. The chords are not the song, the song is the melody and the words (or vocalised sounds).

47. Mikael
    August 1st, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    Im kindof new to this kindof thing, id like to know what the chords are? I IV VI doesnt mean anything to me
    i play guitar so if there's a way to convert it to guitar id be very thankful! like G, D, Em, C works for almost all songs but this '4 chords' thing arent these chords.
    thank you very much if you reply!
    my email is mgauffin@mail.com
    thanks again

48. ron
    August 13th, 2009 at 6:46 pm

    what are these four chords on guitar

49. Shar
    October 17th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    8 notes...4 chords.....I only know 3 chords. III, IV,and VII. The song would have been cooler without the bad language.

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