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Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom

Robert Hutchinson

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Section 9.7 The Best-Seller Progression

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Figure 9.7.1. The I–V–vi–IV “Best-Seller” Progression
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The I–V–vi–IV progression occurs in many popular songs, has a Wikipedia page 1 , and has been mentioned in a New Yorker article 2  about bestselling novels (see the third paragraph from the end of the article). The music group Axis of Awesome made a compilation of several songs 3  with the I–V–vi–IV progression that makes for an entertaining summary (warning: there is some language after the 5-minute mark).
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Here is a written-out example that includes the I–V–vi–IV progression.
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Figure 9.7.2. Adele Adkins and Dan Wilson, “Someone Like You” (2011)
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The I–V–vi–IV progression can be rotated to become vi–IV–I–V and IV–I–V–vi.
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Figure 9.7.3. Example of I–V–vi–IV rotation to vi–IV–I–V
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Here is an example with the vi–IV–I–V progression.
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Figure 9.7.4. Adele Adkins and Greg Kursten, “Hello” (2015)
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The vi–IV–I–V progression can also be thought of as being in minor: i–VI–III–VII
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Figure 9.7.5. “Best-Seller” Progression with Roman Numerals in Major and Relative Minor
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Whether you hear this progression in major or minor depends on whether you hear the first chord as the tonic or if you hear the third and fourth chord as tonic and dominant.
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Here is an example with the IV–I–V–vi progression.
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Figure 9.7.6. Christopher Stewart, Terius Nash, Kuk Harrell, Shawn Carter, “Umbrella” (2007)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_containing_the_I%E2%80%93V%E2%80%93vi%E2%80%93IV_progression
www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-bestseller-code-tells-us-what-we-already-know
youtu.be/oOlDewpCfZQ
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