Progression · I–II–ii–IV–V

I–II–ii–IV–V Progression

2 songs from the corpus share this chord-degree set — open one to see and hear the real chords on an interactive fretboard.

Country Grebo Intermediate

What I–II–ii–IV–V means

Every song below plays chords built on these scale degrees: I = degree 1, II = degree 2, ii = degree 2 (minor), IV = degree 4, V = degree 5 — relative to whatever key that song is actually in. The degrees are the same; the real chords are different in every key, which is exactly why the same progression can sound totally different from one song to the next.

Hear it in C major

One real voicing for each degree, in a key real songs in this set are actually written in — tap any diagram to hear it strummed.

2 songs built on I–II–ii–IV–V

Closely related progressions

🎭 Character: The ii chord is the classic predominant — it sets up V the way IV does, but with a softer, more minor-key lean on the way there. V (the dominant) has the strongest pull back to I of any diatonic chord — its own third is the key's leading tone, the single note that wants most to resolve upward. IV (the subdominant) is what produces a plagal, hymn-like “amen” cadence when it resolves straight to I, skipping V entirely.

🔄 Inversions: An inversion is the same chord with a different note in the bass — first inversion puts the 3rd on the bottom, second inversion the 5th. Try playing any chord above with its 3rd or 5th as the lowest note instead of the root: the chord itself doesn't change, but the bass line moves by step instead of jumping around, which is what makes a progression feel smoother from one chord to the next.

Learn the theory

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Build a progression in any key and hear it played back on a live fretboard, or drop in a track and see which one it's actually using.

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