I - bIII - IV

Also known as the rock bIII lift.

The tonic followed by a major chord on the lowered third, then the subdominant. Hard rock and grunge lean on it because the flat third adds grit while every chord stays simple enough to play with power chord shapes.

Hear it in different keys

In E major

I E bIII G IV A

Download MIDI

In A major

I A bIII C IV D

Download MIDI

Heard in

Famous songs built on this progression. Learn the loop above and you can play along with them.

Smoke on the Water — Deep Purple
La Grange — ZZ Top

Each key above has a MIDI download with every chord played back to back, ready to drop into any DAW or notation program.

Roman numerals show scale degree and quality: uppercase for major, lowercase for minor, a small circle for diminished. Tap any chord above to open its full page, with a diagram and playback.