The I, iii, IV, V Progression

The I, iii, IV, V progression is extremely common in several genres of popular music. The Roman Numerals refer to which note of the major scale serves as the tonic of for each chord. Also, upper case Roman Numerals denote major chords and lower case Roman Numerals indicate minor chords.

For example, the seven notes of the G Major scale are G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#. In the key of G major, G, C, and D (the I, IV, and V chords) are all major chords, and A, B, and E (the i, iii, and vi chords) are all minor. The seventh note, F#, forms the tonic of a diminished chord.

This pattern holds true for all of the Major keys/scales, and knowing this is one way musicians are able to quickly transpose keys.

Below is a sample I, iii, IV, V progression in the key of G Major. The notation shows one way to play this progression using major and minor chord shapes on the first three strings (see my previous post). For this example I used a simple "punch chord" rhythm, but be sure to experiment with different rhythms, different chord shapes, and different key signatures. I found being able to play this chord progression in all keys and using a variety of chord inversions helped to develop my ear and knowledge of the fretboard.

Once I have worked out a few software issues, I will put up the audio/video for this example.