Hidden Gems
Here comes the fun part!
Now as you may have guessed, even though there are apparently limitless patterns available to the composer, certain ones shine through and stick in our heads due to the nature of both repetition and aural recognition. Some of the more common ones you hear are the I iv V IV. This goes by another name: Jazz. (Show a couple example videos where they use this setup.)
Perhaps you've heard something that sounds like a I vi IV V before? This is another popular one, that made a huge impact on music in the 1950's. You might know it as doo-wop. Below are just a few examples of the patterns linked to songs you might know:
This is a brief glance at the various combinations of chords that create the music we know. Many of the above progressions get repeated in different genres and generations, but by far, the most popular, highest grossing, most loved progression is the following:
I V vi IV
For the sake of clarity I'll walk us through this one. Pick a key, any key! Did someone say C? Perfect! C is the root note and root chord. Everything starts with C, so we will give it the Roman numeral I. Everything we do from this point forward is relative to our root. We dial our chord wheel to C, and quickly identify the remaining chords in this progression. This may seem like a lot of work, but it pays off, quite literally. Billions (with a B) of dollars in the past 50 years have been earned off these four numbers.
An Australian comedy trio of very talented musicians dug through the "Top 40's" list of pop music from the last 50 years and compiled a couple of the songs that use this progression. I say "a couple" because since they released this particular video, they've added an additional 60 songs.
They're called Axis of Awesome, and this is what they produced:
Now, while you might not recognize every song, anyone watching this knows at least one or two by heart. Multiply this by everyone who has listened to pop music in the past century and you will understand that the song compilation they just played has generated net profits that can rival some countries' GDP.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, or a cheap trick. It sounds good, we enjoy hearing it, and we're willing to pay for it. What really matters is that not all profits come from talent
Discussion of "Hidden Gems"
Add your voice to this discussion.
Checking your signed in status ...