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The "50s doo-wop" progression |
||: I – VI – IV – V :||
or
||: I – VI – II – V :||
This cyclical chord progression was very common in rock ballads from the 1950s and early 1960s, hence the name (example: “Duke of Earl” by Gene Chandler).
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:track:1CX9WKs56Ur7r1NDPmuowt" width="300" height="80" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>However, it has continued to be used frequently ever since (examples: the verse and chorus of “Friday” by Rebecca Black, the chorus of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler).
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:track:4fK6E2UywZTJIa5kWnCD6x" width="300" height="80" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe><iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:track:5prTs2HAw2G4idHZyeFp8o" width="300" height="80" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>
Because it is typically employed in cycles, it can also be found starting on a different chord in the cycle and then proceeding through the same succession of chords. For example, “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay works through a cyclical repetition of the same succession of chords, but their phrases begin on IV rather than I:
||: IV – V – I – VI :||
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:track:1mea3bSkSGXuIRvnydlB5b" width="300" height="80" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>