Happy Song · Rock
A · D · E · F#m
I · IV · V · vi in the key of Am
Four chords you can sing almost anything over. Adam teaches these early, because once they are under your fingers you have a few hundred songs.
Four bars of happy song in the key of Am, written I · IV · V · vi and played driving 8ths over a backbeat groove at around 132 beats per minute. The chord shapes are below, and you can hear the whole thing play (and slow it down) without an account.
Opens in the Progression Lab. No account, nothing to sign in to. Ten minutes of playback a day, and an hour with a free account.
What the chords are
This is I · IV · V · vi in the key of Am. The degree of each chord is what makes the progression recognisable in any key, so the same four moves transpose anywhere once you know them by number.
- A I up at the 10th fret, spanning to the 12th, on 3 strings
- D IV up at the 10th fret, spanning to the 11th, on 3 strings
- E V up at the 7th fret, spanning to the 9th, on 3 strings
- F#m vi up at the 10th fret, spanning to the 11th, on 3 strings
How it should feel
- Strum
- Driving 8ths
- Groove
- Backbeat
- Tempo
- 132 bpm
- Key
- Am
- Voicings
- The Fall
The top voice walks down instead. Same chords, opposite story.
The shapes
Low E on the left, high e on the right. 0 is an open string, × is one you do not play.
| Chord | E | A | D | G | B | e |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | × | × | 11 | × | 10 | 12 |
| D | × | × | × | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| E | × | × | × | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| F#m | × | × | 11 | 11 | 10 | × |
More Rock
- E · A · B · A I · IV · V · IV in E · Wild Thing
- D · C · G · D I · ♭VII · IV in D · The Big Climb
- D · G · A · Bm I · IV · V · vi in D · Happy Song
Posted . Part of a growing library of guitar chord progressions.