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  3. I - IV - V

I - IV - V

Also known as the three-chord trick.

Three major chords, the tonic, subdominant and dominant of the key, cover an enormous share of folk, country and early rock songs. Learn these three shapes in a key and you can accompany hundreds of simple songs without ever leaving them.

Hear it in different keys

In C major

I C IV F V G

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In E major

I E IV A V B

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Heard in

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

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.