Happy Song · Rock

D · G · A · Bm

I · IV · V · vi in the key of D

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 D, 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.

Practice this progression →

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 D — 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.

• D I up at the 2nd fret, spanning to the 4th, on 3 strings
• G IV up at the 3rd fret, spanning to the 4th, on 3 strings
• A V up at the 5th fret, spanning to the 6th, on 3 strings
• Bm vi at the 7th fret, on 3 strings

How it should feel

Strum

Driving 8ths

Groove

Backbeat

Tempo

132 bpm

Key

D

Voicings

The Climb

The top voice steps upward through the progression — a melody rising inside the chords.

The shapes

Low E on the left, high e on the right. 0 is an open string, × is one you do not play.

Posted Sep 19, 2026. Part of a growing library of guitar chord progressions.