Progression · I–ii–IV–vi

I–ii–IV–vi Progression

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

Heavy MetalR&B/SoulBeginnerAdvanced

What I–ii–IV–vi means

Every song below plays chords built on these scale degrees: I = degree 1, ii = degree 2 (minor), IV = degree 4, vi = degree 6 (minor) — 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 Eb 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–IV–vi

Candi StatonYoung Hearts Run FreeEb major: Eb - Fm7 - Ab - Cm7 QueensrycheSilent LucidityG major: G - Am7 - C - Em

Closely related progressions

I–ii–IV–V–vi27 songs I–ii–iii–IV–vi3 songs I–IV–V–vi38 songs I–ii–iii–IV–V–vi22 songs
🎭 Character: vi shares two notes with I and is one of the most common substitutions in tonal harmony — swapped in for I, it gives a softer, more wistful landing instead of a full resolution. 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. 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

Music TheoryRoman Numeral Analysis Music TheoryCommon Progressions by Genre

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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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