Pop / Rock Chord Progressions

One of the important skills you learn as a musician, is the ability to listen to music, and recognize how it is structured.

If you are new to playing guitar, you will soon find that you can predict and identify chord changes in rock and pop guitar music.

This is partly because you are applying the theory you have learned, and partly because of common chord progressions that are used over and over again in both genres of music.

If you know what these Pop / Rock progressions are based on, you will have a much easier time accompanying other musicians, or composing your own songs.

For the most part, diatonic chords are used in Rock and Pop music. Major and minor chords are especially favorable, since they make use of perfect fifths. Unlike Classical music, Pop and Rock does not as much modulation, which is also why diatonic chords are so common.

Modern music is not bound to the same rules of composition, which applied to music from before the 20th Century. Parallel Fifths, found in chord progressions such as I, IV, V, I were not allowed in Classical music, if the same voicing was used for each chord change. This was supposed to preserve the individuality of each chord.

Three-chord progressions lend themselves to any modern music where lyrics and melody are used, with a rhythmic chord backing. One of the most common progressions is I, IV, V. It is popular because it can be used in endless variations and forms a circular progression over four bars.

Modern music makes use of a lot of repetition, syncopation and chord progressions that originate from Blues. One of the most fundamental influences on Pop and Rock guitar playing, is the basic 12-Bar Blues chord progression.

This is a variation of the basic I, IV, V three-chord progression. A typical 12-Bar Blues progression can be illustrated as follows: I – I – I – I – IV – IV – I – I – V – VI – I. Of course, there are many variations on this, and later Blues and Jazz chord progressions used chromatic chords and the ii – V- I turnaround.

Many Rock and Pop songs make use of relative minors and majors during progressions. 

• The song Black, by Metallica. The chord progression here is vi – I -V- iii.
• U2's With or Without You makes use of the following chord progression: I – V – vi – IV.
•  Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit uses this progression: ii - V – IV – I.

What you should notice with these examples, is the use of diatonic chords for the progressions, and the recurring basic I, IV, V theme, with added relative minors. Dominant sevenths also feature quite a lot, especially in Pop songs, due to their ability to lead a progression back to the tonic.

To further help you understand the structure of Rock and Pop chord progressions, get into the habit of writing down the chord progressions from tablature or sheet music. This will aid you in finding and identifying recurring patterns and themes in both genres of music, making playing it on guitar much easier and instinctive.

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